The prospect of a Calne Community Commemorative Copse came one step closer when Calne Town Council agreed to pay £1000 to underwrite the cost of obtaining planning consent and drafting a lease with the Bowood Estate.

Members of the town council's amenities committee agreed at a meeting on Monday to support the project.

The Calne Area Parish Forum, working with Calne Area Board, wants to set up the copse to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the end of the First World War, to mark the hope for peace that followed and to represent all 400 lives lost from the Calne Community Area.

A site was found next to Castlefields Park, with access from the Sustrans cycle route, which could be leased for 100 years by the Bowood Estate to Calne Town Council for a peppercorn rent.

The Bowood Estate is considering allowing use of the Sustrans route from Black Dog for routine maintenance access, and Calne Our Place would organise a community group to manage the copse, once it is planted.