Summary of news from Devizes Town Council, thanks to Simon Fisher, Deputy Town Clerk, for the update.
One Council for Devizes
Roundway and Devizes Councils are committed to ensuring that we do not lose the character that makes our town unique, therefore the two authorities have decided to combine to form “One Council for Devizes”. This will form a local council which is large and robust enough to take on and deliver those services that local residents and businesses tell us are important, but still responsive to local concerns and calls for action. To find out more visit www.OneCouncilforDevizes.org .uk.
Rough Sleepers
We know for many businesses anti-social behaviour in the town centre caused by many of our town’s rough sleepers is a continuing frustration. Pressure has been placed on the land owners to clear the local woods where rough sleepers stay and although this has been tortuously slow to see any results, we are hopeful that this process will start very shortly. Working with the housing agencies, police and homeless charities the challenge is now to tackle the underlying problems which have led to homelessness rather than disperse the problem to other areas.
Working with Local Businesses
The prosperity of the town is heavily reliant on a thriving town centre. Whilst the Town Council can’t wave a magic wand to make this happen overnight (as much as we might want to), we are committed to working with retailers and local businesses to promote Devizes and support activities that will stimulate footfall and retail interest. We are already working with some of the town’s retailers and tourism providers to achieve this, but we can’t do this alone. We would urge all local businesses to get involved to promote Devizes as a destination of choice as well as an interesting place to stop, rather than drive straight through, so why not join either the retail group or tourism group and see what a difference we can make together.