Mobile Police Station visiting Firsdown
Wiltshire police will be bringing their mobile police station to Firs Road between 1430-1530 on Tuesday 28th October. If you have any concerns about crime, or need advice, then please drop in to see them.
Play area bee update & tree down on foothpath
The Parish Council are undertaking regular checks on the bee colony in the anchor pit of the climb net. There were still there today (21st Oct). That section of the play area remains closed as the bees are also close to the zip wire. We will re-open that section of the play area as soon as it is safe to do so.
There is a tree down on the footpath from Firs Rd to the play area. The Parish Council have cleared enough branches for the footpath to be useable. We have spoken to the land owner and they are intending to remove the rest of the tree in the next day or so.
Join the Parish Council and make things better for Firsdown
The Parish Council currently has 3 vacancies. 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 our community.
Our work in the last year is outlined in this video.
We still have plans to do more, such as further safety improvements at the Dunstable cross roads, the junctions of both Firs Rd and Old Malthouse Lane with the A30 and replacement of the damaged benches in Firs Rd. We are always open to new ideas that can improve our environment and benefit our 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.
MoD road closure – evenings from 1700 next week
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 on the following dates – and during the prescribed hours as displayed in the table below. Diversions will be in place.
| Monday 13 October 2025 | 1700hrs – 0000hrs |
| Tuesday 14 October 2025 | 1700hrs – 0000hrs |
| Wednesday 15 October 2025 | 1700hrs – 0000hrs |
Bee colony in play area – update
The section of the play area with the zip wire and climb frame has been closed and the gate locked shut as there is a colony of bees under the mat covering the tension anchor for the climb frame. The Parish Council have taken expert advice and we have decided to leave the bees to disperse naturally or die due to the cold weather of the autumn. This is more environmentally responsible than having the colony destroyed. The stile from the other part of the play area is roped off to prevent access into the closed section and warning notices explaining the reason are in place.
Pitton Community Shop – pledge target met
The following update has been provided by the Pitton Community Shop.
WOW! Thank you so much to our amazing community across Pitton, Farley, Firsdown and East Grimstead!
We have now reached our target of £210,000 in pledges towards the community shop.
This means we can move forward with building the shop and we are already working on the next steps. These include:
- Developing our prospectus and launching the share scheme to collect your pledges.
- More detailed discussions with our chosen builder regarding start date.
- Applying for additional grants for shop fit out and equipment.
- Finding volunteers to help us with particular skills we need going forward – such as recruitment and cafe/retail design (please let us know if you can help).
- Updating the web site, business case and project plan.
- And so much more ….
We will keep you informed at every step. In the meantime thank you again!
External audit
The audit of accounts for Firsdown Parish Council for the year ended 31st March has been completed and the accounts have been published.
Please see the links below.
Pledge to support Pitton Community Shop
The Pitton Community Shop has raised pledges of £173.5k. Their target for pledges is £210k. If you would like to support them (the eventual contribution if the pledge target is reached is tax deductible) then please fill in a pledge form ASAP.
Repairs to Firs Rd, Malthouse Lane and A30 junctions
The Parish Council together with our Wiltshire Unitary Councillor Rich Rogers, have been lobbying Wiltshire Highways to repair the surface of Firs Road. We are pleased to announce that a multistage repair process has now started.
The entire length of Firs Rd has been surveyed which found “surface deterioration is noted along the length of Firs Rd, particularly on the approach to the village from Winterslow and at the A30 junction. The old surface dressing is stripping and the High Friction Surface at the east end of the village is breaking up, with drainage issues present.”
Immediate repairs have been carried out at the east end of the village with the previous temporary repairs being planed out and replaced with new tarmac.
A further stage of works will see the surface at the A30 junction replaced, this is already in the maintenance works program to be completed by 1st April 2026.
The 3rd stage of works expected during mid 2026, will see a new surface dressing layer applied to the whole length of Firs Rd.
Malthouse Lane will see repair work on the 18th September.
The A30 Pheasant/ traffic light junction will see repairs by 1st April 2026, with additional repair work on the A30 to Lopcombe Corner during the same period.
Winterslow church youth group
A new youth group in Winterslow is being set up by the church and they want to know when/what you want it to be. It will be a friendly inclusive space.
An online survey is here. Parents please encourage your children to respond. A QR code is also available for the survey – click on the graphic above.