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ABOUT THE VISION

THE Vision for Warminster has not been designed as a manifesto of a political party but a series of thoughts about a number of serious issues of interest to the people of Warminster.

These discussion pieces have been written by two of Warminster’s former councillors who have decided to rejoin the debate about the town’s future after more than a decade on the sidelines as their community has continued to decay.

Over the past year several new topics have been added this website at regular intervals for the public to digest and comment upon.

The authors continue to welcome comments from all individuals and will refine and revise the vision in line with comments where they feel it is appropriate and also in line with changes taking place in the town - some of which are positive.

We are just two people who are concerned about the future of the town and although we don’t pretend to have a monopoly on wisdom we felt the need to initiate this debate and will continue to move it forward using a variety of means.

We believe that over the past months the site has played a role in stimulating the debate about the future of the town.

Our hot topics section will continue to highlight matters of local interest, specially in areas where we think local input can make a difference but also highlight other matters which might fall under the radar of convention media.

Steve Dancey                                                          Paul Macdonald

former county councillor         former district & town councillor

Warminster west                                                     Warminster east

September 2008 (updated April 2009, July 2009)

© 2008, 2009 Steve Dancey and Paul Macdonald.

PAUL MACDONALD's message

There is a saying that 'a week in politics is a long time' but the year in community politics producing a vision to stimulate a debate about how to take the town of Warminster forward has flown by.

The website is now well established and well-read and already some of the decision makers are taking a real interest in the ideas especially since March.

There is clear evidence that our approach of thinking long-term rather than 'quick-fix' while at the same giving clear priorities of projects that are urgent is concentrating minds.

The Town Hall is a real blot on the landscape and a disgrace. It is now firmly on the agenda of the town council. Public suggestions are rolling in to fund and support the restoration to community use.

The challenge to the town council to modernise. It now has a communications committee, a Mayoral initiative group with an agenda that could have been drawn directly from these pages, and co-opting valuable experience from the community.

The call for a community makeover has been met with a public response leading to the formation of 'WETS' led by another concerned citizen.

These few examples have shown that a new positive approach is replacing the negativity of those who usually worry about purse strings without using some imagination.

Our hot topics have enabled us to respond on an almost daily basis to the concerns of locals about issues like civic pride, anti-social behaviour, policing, and holding decision makers to account.

The June elections provided me with the enhanced opportunity of talking to locals on the doorstep.

I may not have won the vote (on the same day as the European elections) but to come first out of four opponents to the Tories shows real local support for our approach.

Warminster has a bright future if we can develop a positive can-do approach and challenge those who represent us foremost, the councillors, to put up or shut up shop.

What will they be able to show for their term of office?

There is a very real challenge that needs addressing. An overall vision for the town or a piecemeal reaction to situations as they arise. The first twelve months of visionforwarminster.co.uk have been productive and thought provoking and certainly Paul

stirred certain people into action.

The next twelve months will take it another step forward not as a party political manifesto but as an independent representation of the hopes, aspirations and ideas of the people of Warminster.

Watch this space!

Paul is in his fourth decade of community campaigning at local, regional and national levels which started when he was a pupil at Trowbridge High School as an 'A' level student. He was born in west London and he has worked and lived in Warminster since 1977

STEVE DANCEY's message

WHEN we hatched the plan to produce an on-line visionforwarminster in the summer of 2008 we little realised how successful the project would become.
Since March more than 3,700 individuals have logged on to the website to look at how we, as long-standing local residents with significant experience of current affairs, local government and of earning a living in the private sector, had a vision for the future of this town.
The past months have seen the long-awaited arrival of the unitary authority – the rather stupidly named Wiltshire Council (WC!!).
It promised much, has delivered rather less but still has potential to lead to improvements, a more understandable service and better value for money.
Sadly the decision to water down the public’s ability to hold members to account at area board meetings and to allocate so little money to these bodies to determine local spending priorities has been disappointing.
The way the council is organised though an omnipotent executive (known officially as the WC cabinet) is also deeply flawed and bad for the proper functioning of local democracy – but, of course, the framework for this has been imposed from above.
Locally in Warminster, things are looking brighter.
After the turmoil and dislocation caused by the years of roadworks we can now promote the town as being ‘open for business’ even if the prohibition of on-street parking in the Market Place makes life tougher for those with shop fronts in the area.
There is also a feeling that the town council may have a more hands –on approach and be more open to new ideas than before, although it is early days.
The issue of the Town Hall is the litmus test of whether things have really changed for the better with a greater readiness on the part of the town council to truly become more heavily involved in running the affairs of the town.
As someone who can remember Warminster when its heart was a truly vibrant place its current state is still very worrying and disheartening. In those days the fair would set up stall in the main street, hundreds of workers would flood in at lunchtimes and early evenings to spend their money and we still had the rural charm of our own cattle market.
We cannot wind the clock back to the 1960s but we can wind it up to ensure that we take hold of the opportunities offered by the modern world by making the most of the heritage we have been bequeathed.

My pledge is to continue the work we started in September 2008 and continue to chivvy, goad steve2010a

and embarrass the authorities and those in charge into taking action where appropriate.

Steve was born in Bradford on Avon in 1958 and has lived in and around Warminster since then. He was educated at St John's Primary School, Kingdown School and the University of Kent where he read economics and history at Eliot College.
Contact Steve Steve@visionforwarminster.co.uk