Community reveals wish list for future (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Community reveals wish list for future

A NEW arts centre, better shops and a fully restored Athenaeum are high on the wish list of Warminster residents.

Hundreds of people gave their views and opinions to a three-year project by Warminster and Villages Community Partnership (WVCP). The first ever ten-year plan for the town and surrounding villages has been produced, which aims to provide a "smarter Warminster."

Mayor Les Rose said: "This plan is not about what we in the council want but what the people of Warminster want.

"I am extremely excited and I hope the public will be as well. We are trying to smarten Warminster up to make it a more viable and friendly town."

The partnership, which received a £25,000 grant for the project, worked with the county, district and town councils to produce questionnaires and surveys and hold public meetings to find out the concerns of the community.

WVCP chairman Len Turner said: "It was all about finding out the public aspirations for the area.

"People are not hugely ambitious, but they universally love the surrounding countryside and want to ensure it is left as undisturbed and as natural as possible."

Other items on the priority list for change were better policing, improved facilities for young people and a generally friendlier town.

Residents were also keen to see the services of the Tourist Information Centre continued as well as an improvement in dental and health care.

Mr Turner said: "We want to make sure Warminster remains an effective and vibrant town which people are happy to live in and visit."

Both the partnership and the town council are now hoping the next stage of putting the plans into practice can begin.

Booklets containing details of the plan are available from Warminster Library, the Town Council Offices and the Tourist Information Centre.