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Compton Bassett Village Website
A village in the rural heart of Ancient Wiltshire
Wiltshire Police criticised over protecting vulnerable people
"Serious concerns" have been expressed over how Wiltshire Police force protects the vulnerable and its public interactions.
In a recent inspection by the body responsible for police forces, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). Wiltshire Police has been found as inadequate in three areas and requiring improvement in five others. The HMICFRS said the force needed to improve.
Wiltshire and Swindon PCC Philip Wilkinson said the report was "sobering reading". He said, "My aim, alongside the Chief Constable, is for Wiltshire Police to provide a quality, effective, frontline policing service which prioritises those crimes which matter most to communities," he added.
The report highlighted that the force was "missing opportunities to protect vulnerable people and repeat victims of crime". Wiltshire is one of six police forces in England which are under special measures. The forces are the Met, Greater Manchester, Cleveland, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said: "I recognise this is a significantly concerning report. My responsibility as Chief Constable is to deliver a local policing service that the people of Wiltshire expect, pay for and deserve. I remain resolute in our effort to improve. I acknowledge the findings from HMICFRS and accept the recommendations outlined in their report - we take the concerns raised very seriously and we are already taking prompt and comprehensive action to address these.
The links below will take you to the full stories around the whole site. Whilst you are with us, please take a moment to browse some of the other pages.
Inclusion of stories is at the discretion of the site
COMPTON BASSETT WEATHERFrom Weather Widgets
Compton Bassett Main News
We include here a selection of main stories from around the area and within the village which we believe may be of interest to you.
Temporary disruption to recycling collection service
Due to severe staff shortages, the waste collection service provider, Hills Municipal Collections, is unable to provide all waste collection services as they are obliged to.
To enable the collection of essential waste and recycling such as clinical, residual waste, and garden waste some recycling rounds are running one, two, or in some instances three days late.
Wiltshire Council have set up a webpage to provide a daily update of the locations of any rescheduled collections. Residents are asked to check that webpage prior to reporting a missed bin collection to the council. The page can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling-collection-service-disruption.
If your recycling container is not emptied on the scheduled collection day, please leave it out and it will be emptied as soon as possible.
Wiltshire Farm Foods hit by 'cyber attack'
It's parent company, 'Apetito', a large ready meal food company based in Trowbridge which owns Wiltshire Farm Foods, with many customers across our area, has been hit by a cyber attack
There are still many people aged 75 and over that have not come forward for their Spring Covid booster. It is important that people don’t wait to be called by their GP for this booster but book their booster as soon as possible if there first booster was more than six months ago.
The statement went on; "We are very sorry to say that Wiltshire Farm Foods is currently experiencing severe difficulties with our computer systems.
"Unfortunately, as our systems are not currently working, we will be unable to make many deliveries in the next few days.
"We are also unable to contact customers personally as we do not have access to their telephone numbers."
They have assured they are "doing everything we can" to recover from this situation as soon as possible.
Don't forget to renew your garden waste collections
The cost of having your garden waste collected will be £60 per bin, to be emptied until June 2023.
- To renew your garden waste subscription this year, you will need to create a new Wiltshire Council account, or log in to your existing account.
Spring Covid Booster for over 75 year olds
Notifications recieved from Wiltshire Council
There are still many people aged 75 and over that have not come forward for their Spring Covid booster. It is important that people don’t wait to be called by their GP for this booster but book their booster as soon as possible if there first booster was more than six months ago.
Lower Compton Bassett Landfill Site Fire
Hills respond to Parish Council after their recent landfill fires
The full response from Hills and the parish councils subsequent observations can be found on page 4 of "Compton Bassett Matters"
- Hills play down the fact that they have had 3 fires in 4 years (not 5, as they state) and mitigate the impact by saying these were not classified as serious.
- Hills Waste Management argue that the wind was not blowing in the direction of the village so we were unaffected.
- The tyres which caught fire and produced vile noxious fumes are described in a dismissive tone as “baled tyres”. This does not make them any less of a pollutant
- The effect this incident has had on the local environment may never be known as rather than carry out any air quality monitoring, the environment agency did not have enough time to set up their equipment.
Traffic Mirrors Policy
Compton Bassett Parish Council do not believe it appropriate to have traffic mirrors in a conservation area, they are unsightly and distracting.
The Parish Council strongly advise against traffic mirrors and would object to any applications for traffic mirrors. Neither is it the practice of Wiltshire Council to authorise the use of mirrors as their road safety benefits are very much in doubt.
Experience shows that mirrors on public highways can increase safety risks, which include:
- reflected light and interference with adriver’s vision
- reduced ability to judge an oncoming vehicle’s speed
- creating an unreasonable dependence on the mirror
- if dirty, the mirror may distort or restrict the view
- mirrors may be a target for vandals.
Drivers involved in accidents often seek to apportion blame and the erection of a mirror on the highway could result in claims against the Highway Authority. Other solutions may be available, for example cutting backvegetation or realigning boundary fences.
Cllr Pete Szczesiak
Chair - Compton Bassett Parish Council
April 2022
New Speed Indicator Device
A new speed indicator device (SID) has now been installed in Compton Bassett as part of the ongoing speed management initiative.
- The SID will register any vehicles exceeding 27 mph and flash a warning that they are entering a 30 mph
- In addition to controlling traffic, the SID is also equipped with metrics which allow it to count vehicles, and record their speed with time and date.
- Even if the device is in “covert” mode, with the display switched off, it stillrecords the data.
- This will help determine if our request will go ahead for an extension to the 30 and 40 mph zones when approaching and entering the village.
Other News
Smaller items and other news are shown here
Village Hall - Social Evening
Thursday 14th July 7:00 pm
Wine & Nibbles free; cash bar available
Competition for a prize donated by Tesco
Tell us what you want to see in the village hall in the future
Catch up with neighbours old and new
Wessex Water
Wessex Water will carry out interim to permanent reinstatement from outside property known as The Old School for approximately 120m in a north easterly direction.
Speed Watch
Speedwatch has been carried out here since 2011. At this time, around 10-20% of the traffic was going through the village at speeds of over 36 mph with top speeds of over 50 mph being quite common.
How to Use a Defibrillator
If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally, you may need to use an AED (automated external defibrillator) to restart their heart.
This St John Ambulance training video shows you what a defibrillator is and how to use an AED.
Village Hall Goes Digital
The big news is that Wi-Fi is now freely available for hall users. Superfast Fibre Broadband was installed at the beginning of May and means that internet connectivity will benefit a wide variety of people and businesses. It will also enable the hall to accept cashless payments for occasions where this is worthwhile.
Patching Potholes
Every village, town and city in the county places demands on Wiltshire Highways to fill in the ever-growing holes in our roads and we were pleased to see the workmen out in Compton Bassett earlier last week. It is not as good as road resurfacing but any work to improve our roads is appreciated.
Bus Shelter Seat
The bench which used to be near the playground has been cleaned up and moved to a new position in front of the bus shelter, where we think it looks better and enhances the improvements already made to the corner of Briar Leaze/village road.
Village Speed Zones
The independent traffic consultant who was commissioned by Wiltshire Council to ratify their view of recommending the parish councils proposals for better speed zones in the village, an extended 30mph zone and the 40mph to be taken out to the parish boundary near Breach Farm, has yet to submit his report
News from The Parish Council
01
Public Notices
Parish Council Public Notices and Agendas of forthcoming meetings
02
Draft Minutes
Minutes of the last Parish Council meetings as yet awaiting approval.
03
Approved Minutes
Approved minutes of previous meetings of Compton Bassett Parish Council
News from St Swithin's
01
Church News
Our church is now open again for regular worship, subject to some restrictions. The benefice parish office is still closed due to COVID
02
From The Pulpit
The monthly message from the rector or his helpers as appears in The Villages Magazine
03
The Latest Thought
The Bishop of Salisbury's thought for the month, taken from The Grapevine
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