I WAS pleased to read the item raising the problem of badly repaired pavements in Trowbridge in last week’s edition.
I am not happy, though, with the Wiltshire Council response. Do not employees of Wiltshire Council read and follow the council’s own policies? In the Wiltshire Core Strategy, which was only adopted a year ago, Core Policy 57 includes: “A high standard of design is required in all new developments... Development is expected to produce a strong sense of place... the use of high standards of building materials, finishes and landscaping...”
How can our planners get developers to satisfy these requirements when Wiltshire highway engineers adopt a contrary position? Someone at County Hall needs to get their staff to work as a team, as part of the council, and not as some independent body. The cost of doing a proper job in a sensitive area must be tiny compared with the overall maintenance budget. Often, this will only involve getting a statutory undertaker to do the right thing. We need someone to show pride in their work.
David Feather
Broadley Park
North Bradley