On Thursday 1st May, elections will take place for 98 unitary Wiltshire Councillors and across the Parish and Town Councils in Wiltshire.
Information for candidates is published on Wiltshire Council’s website Local elections – Wiltshire Council
The Town Clerk is happy to give further information to Town Council candidates on request. Please email lindseywood@merewilts.org or phone 01747 860701
The weather forecast for March that I read says that it will be a cold month. Time for indoor pursuits and one which I would recommend to you would be a visit to Mere Library and Museum. With a good selection of reading materials and such helpful staff and volunteers it is easy to spend purposeful time there and, if you have youngsters with you, there is plenty of provision for them. In the museum there is a standing exhibition of Mere history as well as resources relevant to Mere where you can find out about the Town and area that we live in. There is also a changing display on topics of local interest.
If you look through the diary in Mere Matters, I am sure that you can find other things to attend or groups to join. While there are so many things to watch on our televisions these days, few of them can hold a candle to spending some time with other people in a common pursuit and all within walking distance of your home.
Last March I reported on a highways meeting (LHFIG) where we persuaded the meeting to take on our suggestions to improve road safety at Edgebridge and Hazzards Hill. While money has been allocated, progress has been slow and we are still waiting for Wiltshire Council teams to finalise the matters and send in teams to make them happen.
At our February council meeting we took on board suggestions from Councillor Hansford about how we (the Town Council) communicate with residents and how we market Mere. The Chair’s contribution to Mere Matters will look different and be, hopefully, more useful to readers.
John Jordan
Chairman, Mere Town Council
for information on Town Council activities, minutes, agendas, etc lindseywood@merewilts.org 860701 merewilts.org
Information from the Town Clerk:
Town Council Elections
The Wiltshire Association of Local Councils has organised a special online event for anyone interested in standing for their local Town or Parish Council in the May 2025 elections.
If you are interested in finding out more about the role of the Councillor, the way a Town Council meeting works, which services a Parish Council can influence and how the Parish Precept is raised and spent, then this is the session for you!
Join a panel of experts drawn from a variety of roles within Town and Parish government to ask your questions and understand more about the role and responsibilities our representatives have on the first tier of government.
This event is for anyone interested in standing for election in May. To receive the joining instructions, please email Ian Nockolds the Local County Advisor at inockolds@communmityfirst.org.uk
Event Information
Date
05/03/2025
Dates
Wednesday March 5th 2025
Time
18:00 – 19:00
Open to
Open to anyone thinking about standing for their local Town and Parish Council. This event is NOT for current Councillors.
By Zoom
Anyone booking the event will be supplied with the link to the Zoom meeting ahead of the event.
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The Wiltshire Marque
A new accreditation scheme helping shoppers locate Wiltshire food and drink was launched in October 2024. The aim of the scheme is to collaborate and keep people buying from local companies who source, make and sell their products locally. It is to celebrate craft and passion in Wiltshire food and drink makers. Participants of the scheme will be showcased on a searchable, online directory that members of the public and businesses can access for free, which will also include news and updates from the initiative’s members, interviews with local businesses and foodie event listings. The Wiltshire Marque is being funded by Wiltshire Council’s ‘Wiltshire Towns Programme’ which is aimed at supporting activity on the high street. If you are interested in signing up or participating, please see the website below:
https://www.wiltshiremarque.co.uk/?trk=public_post_reshare-text
I hope that you have picked up this edition in time to see the Christmas Tree light up in the Square and the parents and youngsters lining up to see Santa in the Clock Tower, compliments of Mere Carnival. I know that, these days, with the comings and goings throughout the day of shoppers, deliveries and passers by the Square can be somewhat fraught but it deserves our best efforts to keep it calm and polite. The Museum has pictures of The Square over the years and they too are often busy but in other ways. The Square was the scene, on the 12th November, of an act of Remembrance and at a well-attended ceremony, poppies were presented by representatives of many groups.
I was at the AGM of the Friends of Mere Museum and it was pleasing to hear about the funds raised and to see the latest exhibition, featuring an informative display about six families of Mere. Well worth a visit. I was able to attend the AGM of Seeds4Success, my apologies for being late, where we were presented with the many accomplishments of young people in the area, ably assisted by the staff and trustees – my congratulations to them all.
An agreement has been signed between econetiQ, Wiltshire Council and Mere Town Council to fund and install a cutting-edge 120kW DC Fast Maxicharger in the Salisbury Street Car Park. It is envisaged that this Electric Vehicle charger will get used by the community and will also be another facility for people to use when they are travelling along the A303 and looking for somewhere to stop off and charge their vehicle. Hopefully, they will use other facilities in the town as well and help to boost the local economy. It is expected that this ambitious initiative will come to life in early 2024, pending completion of work between econetiQ and the distribution network operators (DNO)
The Town Council meeting in November dealt with many of the regular matters but spent some time looking at setting priorities for the future. Some of these will be funded by section 106 money received as a result of housing developments in the town but others will be funded through our precept, paid by residents of the town. It is important that we get this right and make the best use of this funding. Later in the month a group of councillors will look in detail at the spending and income forecast for the coming year and come up with a recommended precept. This is a considerable task with over 400 budget headings and a report compiled by our clerk consisting of over 19 pages of information. The meeting is managed by our Vice-Chair who prepares for it well in advance. Separate groups of councillors have also met to look at the future of Mere Chamber of Trade and to look at the use of Town Council land for leisure activities and how to make it the best provision that we can afford. I detail all of this to try and encourage you to put your name forward at the next election due to be held in May 2025. It is important work, and like all important work, worth doing. In the meantime – do come along to a council meeting to see local democracy in action and, in the public session, put your point of view.
John Jordan
Chairman, Mere Town Council
Wiltshire Council has published the draft Gypsies and Travellers Development Plan Document which sets out the vision and framework to allocate land for Gypsy and Traveller communities in Wiltshire. Comments are invited during the consultation period which runs to 5pm on Friday 4th October.
The Gypsies and Travellers DPD and supporting evidence documents are available to view and download at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planning-gypsy-travellers and people can also download a representation form and a simplified guidance note from this page.
Here is a link to the recent NPPF webinar from Wiltshire Council: National Planning Policy Framework webinar, 14 August 2024 – YouTube
Mere Town Council has requested, through Wiltshire Council’s Local Highways & Footpath Improvement Group (LHFIG) process, that the 30mph speed limit currently in place on the C59 Shaftesbury Road, Mere be extended to cover the section of road currently subject to a 40mph speed limit to ensure that there is a consistent speed limit in place along the road.
An independent speed limit assessment arranged through the South West Wiltshire LHFIG considered the introduction a 30mph speed limit to be appropriate for the length of road in question when assessed against the criteria for introducing a 30mph speed limit detailed on DfT Circular 1/13 Setting Local Speed Limits.
The Traffic Regulation Order currently being consulted upon proposes the extension of the 30mph speed limit to cover the length of the C59 Shaftesbury Road currently subject to a 40mph speed limit.
Deposit copies of the Order, plans and Statement of the Council’s Reasons for proposing to make the Order may be inspected at the offices of Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge during normal office hours. Details of the proposed scheme may be seen at Mere Library, Barton Lane BA12 6JA during the hours of 10am to 7pm Monday, 9.30am to 5pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10am to 2pm Wednesday and 9.30am to 1pm Saturday until 23rd September 2024. Details of the proposed scheme may be seen at Mere Town Council offices, Duchy Manor, Springfield Road, Mere BA12 6EW during the hours of 10 am to 3 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays. Documents can also be viewed online at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/troconsultations
Comments on the proposal together with the reasons for which they are made should be sent in writing to reach the Sustainable Transport Group, by email to TrafficOrderConsultations@wiltshire.gov.uk or via the website by 23rd September 2024 quoting reference LJB/TRO/MERE30.
During August this year Mere Town Council will be organising an event that promotes activity and fun.
The Activities in Mere (AIM) event will take place between 9th and 11th August and will encourage, this year, the over 50’s in Mere to try or retry sports and leisure activities, some of which will be adapted to promote participation. We hope that the event will not only encourage people to try something new, but that they may boost the membership of clubs and societies in Mere, as well as promoting health and wellbeing. We are providing this event using funds we have obtained from the Wiltshire Towns Fund.
More details will be provided in the coming weeks, in the meantime we would be grateful for any offers of assistance to help organise or provide a sport or activity. For further information please contact Roger Pipe, Project Co-ordinator at Mere Town Council Tel 860701.
Each month, the Town Council looks at planning applications and we decide on our support or objection with reasons. I must make it clear that the decision is made by the Wiltshire Planning team based on planning regulations but they do take into account comments made by us and by interested parties. Your voice can be heard on planning applications so do take the opportunity to go to the Wiltshire website and add your comment.
Feedback from residents has prompted us to consider a new approach to the format of the Annual Town Meeting. This will take place on the Wednesday, 24thApril from 6 to 8 pm in the foyer at Duchy Manor where we will be providing information boards with details of the various groups in Mere such as the Carnival and the Link Scheme. There will be information boards, and councillors to talk to, on the work of the Town Council and how this relates to the work of Wiltshire Council. There will be boards with ideas and future plans with space for your comments and, importantly, a suggestions board where you can add your suggestions. We are hoping that this format will give residents more of an opportunity to ask questions, comment and generally participate, rather than at a formal meeting. We are required to have some formalities and so at 6:15, I shall give the Chairman’s report and minutes from last year. Comments posted on the boards will be gathered together to form minutes and will be considered at our next council meeting.
In our last meeting we considered the implications of Martyn’s Law (which relates to the protection of premises in acts of Terrorism) for Mere and commented on the public consultation website. We also took note of the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s Community Safety plan. One interesting fact is that they are attending fewer emergency callouts and spending more time going out to residents and companies to discuss safe measure in the home and business.
As a result of a recent announcement made by Gillingham Town Council that their cemetery is now closed for new burials as they have run out of space, Mere Town Council has taken the decision not to permit any burials for non-residents. This means that if you do not live in Mere, you will not be able to be buried in Mere cemetery unless you have already purchased a plot. This decision has been taken to preserve our cemetery space for Mere parishioners. We will, however, still permit the purchase of cremation plots by non-parishioners, at double-fees as per the previous policy.
I was determined not to mention it but must say… ….I do hope that, after this wet winter, we are spared the April showers!
John Jordan
Chairman, Mere Town Council
for information on Town Council activities, minutes, agendas, etc lindseywood@merewilts.org 860701 merewilts.org
Due to the fact that the Clock Tower is a Listed Building in the centre of the town which is in the centre of the Conservation Area, the Town Council has a policy for the erection of display banners on the Clock Tower. The Town Council will only permit a maximum of 4 banners for community/charity events held within the town per year. The four banners for 2024 have now all been allocated as follows:
Lindsey Wood
Town Clerk
March has been described as a month pulled back by winter’s cold and forward by spring’s warmth, this year I think we would all ask for it to be either, but dry! At the last Town Council meeting we heard from a group of councillors about ways in which we might make the most of the grounds and open spaces available to us in Mere. There are a great many activities which take place here from archery to tennis and much more, but we will be looking to extend what is available to residents. Our plan looks to find enthusiasts in activities which do not already have a place on the Mere calendar and to hold an event later in the year for others to try these activities out, watch this space for news of what will happen. One such newcomer, which you will have seen information about on these pages, is pétanque and we shall be improving the facility on the old swimming pool site.
I have been to the LHFIG (Highways) meeting where, with our Project Co-ordinator and our County Councillor, we were able to put forward plans to make Hazzards Hill, Edgebridge and the end of Manor Road safer places for all road users. This is one step in a process which can take some time, but we will keep engaged until we realise our aim – of safer roads in Mere.
I had asked for suggestions for the commemoration of 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June and am pleased to report that we have had representations and will be holding a quiet tribute at the War Memorial. Though it will not be large, in the way of some recent commemorations, it will be important and will mark this day with due respect.
While it is not our business to provide banking in Mere, we are concerned about news that the Lloyds Bank mobile service is due to end in May. My thanks to Ted Hanson for drawing our attention to this. Here is a link to the information about this: https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/mobile-branch/closures.html. If this change is going to affect you then do contact Lloyds Bank. If you let us know as well, we would then make a representation from the Council about the impact on the community.
The Town Council has embarked upon a joint project with Wiltshire Council to make improvements to the footpath running from Clements Lane to Angel Lane – which is to be named ‘Eric Mitchell Way’. Work will start on 4th March which will mean that the footpath will be closed for the duration of the works. The official footpath closure is for 8 weeks but we will endeavour to re-open the footpath as soon as it is safe to do so.
John Jordan
Chairman, Mere Town Council
for information on Town Council activities, minutes, agendas, etc lindseywood@merewilts.org 01747 860701 merewilts.org
Mere Town Council are looking for a freelance Minute Secretary or Committee Clerk. Duties to include:
Minutes can be compiled from home. Full Council meetings are held monthly on the first Monday of each month and start at 7.00 pm and there may be one or two extra meetings throughout the year. We anticipate that it is unlikely to exceed 14 meetings per year.
Please apply to Lindsey Wood, Town Clerk 01747 860701 or email lindseywood@merewilts.org
FIREFIGHTERS NEEDED IN YOUR COMMUNITY
If you live or work in Mere or the surrounding area, have you thought about being an on-call firefighter?
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently recruiting for the fire station in White Road, and the recruitment team will be out and about in the local area during the w/c 13 June – so look out for them!
There are also plans for a ‘Have a Go’ event at the fire station, and details will be on their Facebook page once confirmed – www.facebook.com/DWFRSMereFireStation
When the pager goes off, an on-call firefighter can be called to a wide range of incidents, such as fires, road traffic collisions, rescues from height or water, animal rescue or flooding.
In addition, Mere is a co-responder station, where firefighters can opt to support the ambulance service by attending medical emergencies ahead of a paramedic arriving.
If you want to support your community, learn new skills and earn additional income, get in touch! Look out for the team next week, visit www.dwfire.org.uk/on-call-firefighters, email oncallsupportofficers@dwfire.org.uk or leave a message on the 24-hour recruitment line, 01722 691444.