Street pastors and grit bins on the way to Chippenham after area board agrees funding

Grit bins, a new cafe and 'street pastors' are some of the new things coming to Chippenham following a meeting of the council’s area board committee.

Area boards act as a forum for discussing local issues and making decisions at a local level in every town.

Chippenham councillor’s met recently to decide on a number of issues and the points below list the meeting’s outcomes.

• The winter weather has prompted councillors to install five new grit bins, one in Castle Combe, two in Nettleton, one in Christian Malford and one at Redwing Avenue/Fallowfield Close (Cepen Park North).

• Kington St Michael will become more environmentally friendly after it was agreed that 20 street lights will be modified to help reduce unnecessary lighting, saving money and energy. The parish council consulted with all 112 households in the village about this.

Street Pastors

• Chippenham is set to become one of the latest towns to benefit from Street Pastors. The scheme is something that is already up and running in 80 towns across the country and funding from the area board means teams of volunteers can to take to the streets to help listen, care and offer help.

Street Pastors is an initiative of the local churches, working together with the Police and the Local Council.  It is part of a national initiative run by a charity called the Ascension Trust.

Street Pastors will work between 10pm and 4am and weekends and say they're not there to preach at people, 'simply to care, to listen and to help'.

• A new cafe will open in the Sheldon Road Methodist Church after the area board agreed to give the project £4,250 towards equipping the church’s community cafe and kitchen.

Chippenham Area Board chairman, cllr Desna Allen said: “The decisions show just some of the wide range of issues that the area board is addressing on a local basis. We are now making decisions about funding and priorities in our community area and we are more able to react to local needs than ever before.”

The next Chippenham Area Board meeting takes place on Monday January, 17, from 6.30pm at St Peter’s School in Chippenham. Members of the public are welcome to attend and listen to any items of interest. So, if there’s something on the agenda for your area go along and see what the councillors decide.