In the first 2 weeks since the soft plastic recycling bin was installed by the Parish Council, 5kg was collected. A great result.
The bin is for clean soft plastics such:
Carrier bags
Bubble wrap
Bread bags
Crisp bags
Fruit and vegetable packing
No polystyrene or plastics bottles, or other rubbish please.
The Parish Council weren’t successful earlier in the year in obtaining Local Highways and Footpaths Improvements Group (LHFIG) funding to allow the A30 speed limit to be reduced at the Firs Road junction.
However we have continued to work with Wiltshire Council to find alternative funding so that the scheme can take place. The Parish Council are pleased to announce that this has been successful and the speed limit will be reduced on the A30 to 50mph in the vicinity of the Firs Rd junction.
Wiltshire Council are undertaking the formal design work and the necessary legal procedures. The scheme will be implemented by their highway maintenance contractor. Unfortunately we don’t yet know when this will be, it could be 6-12 months before the new lower limit is in place.
The drainage works on the byway will continue for another 2 weeks.
There will be delivery of further materials including a large quantity of crushed stone via the footpath from Firs Road starting 23rd July. Residents are urged to keep clear and heed directions given by the contractors whilst heavy machinery is moving on the footpath.
Unfortunately due to the depth of the outfall, a swale will no longer be possible and a buried detention soakaway system will need to be installed. This will mean the byway ground level will be returned to a similar condition to before work started, and it will mean that the creation of wetland habitat will no longer be possible.
The daytime closure of the A30 to/from Salisbury between Old Malthouse Lane and the St Thomas’s Bridge roundabout for surface dressing has been rescheduled to:
Tuesday 30th July – Thursday 1st August between 0930 and 1500.
Signed diversion routes will be provided.
The parish council have set up a bin for the collection and recycling of soft plastics, which is located by the post box at the entrance of Great Croft.
The Wiltshire Council blue bin collection does not collect and recycle these items.
The bin is for clean soft plastics such:
Carrier bags
Bubble wrap
Bread bags
Crisp bags
Fruit and vegetable packing
No polystyrene or plastics bottles, or other rubbish please.
The Parish Council have been informed that the A30 will be closed to/from Salisbury between Old Malthouse Lane and the St Thomas’s Bridge roundabout for surface dressing during the following times.
Overnight: Thursday 11- Sunday 14th July between 1900 and 0600.
Daytime: Wednesday 17-Friday 19th July between 0930 and 1500.
Signed diversion routes will be provided.
Works starts on Tuesday 9th July to provide a permanent solution to deal with surface water from the drains on Firs Road. The existing soakaways and outfall within the byway are silted up and the pipework has collapsed. Heavy rain causes the outfall pipe to back up and flood gardens of properties in Firs Road. The Parish Council have agreed with Wiltshire Council that a long swale (channel) will be dug on the byway, adjacent and parallel to the field hedge. The swale will be approximately 100m long and will contain the rain water before releasing it slowly back into the ground. The swale will be deepest at the west end and will become progressively shallower towards its eastern end.
Tracked earth moving machinery will be in use, using the footpath from Firs Road for access. The work area will be fenced off but there will inevitably be some short term disturbance to other areas of the byway – it will look worse in the short term. The excavated top soil will initially be stored in the centre of the byway before being used to landscape and raise the edges of the swale and blend the edges into the surrounding land as part of the last phase of the works.
Long term, the Parish Council hopes that the swale will provide an increase in biodiversity due to the creation of a wetland habitat. Standing water is not envisaged to be present in the swale for long periods.
The photograph shows a similar swale elsewhere – it is likely that the Firsdown swale will be deeper but not as wide.