Wiltshire Council have changed the scope of the next stage of the storm water drainage works.
It appears that the road closure of Firs Rd is postponed and may not need to take place.
There will however be further works on the byway near the field hedge.
Heavy machinery will be accessing the worksite via the footpath from Firs Rd, residents are asked to take care and keep clear whilst these movements take place.
This week is National recycling week.
https://www.recyclenow.com/news-and-campaigns/recycle-week
Make a difference and recycle more of your waste. The link above provides details of where just about anything can be recycled.
Details are here of the Wiltshire kerb side recycling scheme.
The Parish Council has a bin for recycling of soft plastics by the Great Croft post box.
Our Environment Pages on our website have even more details for recycling – you can even recycle your wine bottle corks!
Firs Rd will be closed between the Ilynton Avenue and Firs Close junctions for a period between the 21st and 31st October. Access to driveways of residents in the closed section will be maintained, buses will be escorted through the closed section. Access to Firs Close and the eastern section of Firs Rd will be via the east end of the village (from the Winterslow direction) only.
The closure is to install a silt trap in the storm water drainage system. The work is expected to take around 3 days but the closure is for 2 weeks to allow for unforeseen issues. Once the work is complete, the road closure will be lifted.
Come along to the village hall on Saturday 12th October for all the excitement of a night at the races!
You can bet on the horses and win money on the Tote or just watch the races while enjoying a light supper, quiz and raffle.
All the funds raised will go to the Pitton Community Shop project.
In advance, we are ‘selling’ horses to owners at £5 for each horse you buy, so if you would like to be a racehorse owner with your own named horse(s), and the opportunity to win a prize if your horse wins – please get in contact by 9th October. Please note however that all the races have now been sponsored.
For tickets and further information, see the attachment or contact Brian Cudby on 01722 712600 or email
Update: All tickets now sold but we still have five horses available for you to own for the night.
Total Attachments: 1
Download: Race night poster (1 MB)
The MOD section of Winterslow Road that crosses Porton Down Ranges will be closed to all traffic from the junction of the A30 to Blackbarn Road from Monday 16 September 2024 through to and including Thursday 19 September between the hours 10:00 to 15:00.
Diversions have been agreed with Wiltshire Council.
The bus times through Firsdown of the 87/88 and the R7 park and ride service have been amended. On Saturdays, most of these services will be run by Stagecoach. The timetable is available here and a summary is below.
Sept2024 87 88
The Salisbury Winchester service 68 that runs during school/college term time is also slightly revised. A summary is below and for download here.
Sept2024 68
The Parish Council currently has a vacancy. We are looking for residents of Firsdown to join us, no prior experience is necessary and an hour or 2 of your time a month can make all the difference to improving facilities, the environment and benefitting the community.
In the last 4 months the Parish Council has:
Our work in the last year is outlined here, or why not watch the video.
We still have plans to do more, such as further safety improvements at the Dunstable cross roads, and we are always open to new ideas that can improve our environment and benefit the community.
Get in touch using the contact us link on the homepage if you are interested in joining with us and want to make a difference for Firsdown.
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.