RESIDENTS in and around Semington will be able to tell Wiltshire Air Ambulance what they think about their plans for a new base at Outmarsh Farm next week.

The charity was granted outline planning permission by Wiltshire Council for a new Operations Centre on land at Outmarsh Farm in February which would enable WAA’s helicopter, aircrew and office staff to work from one site for the first time.

The proposed layout and design of the new home will be on display in Melksham Town Hall, Semington Village Hall and County Hall in Trowbridge all next week in hope to hear people’s views.

Kevin Reed, Head of Operations at WAA, said: “It is very important for us to have feedback from the public to our design proposals for our new home at Outmarsh Farm.

"We had really good engagement with local residents, businesses, councils and other stakeholders when we held our first consultation event last August to explain our initial plans for our new home.

“We would encourage people to look at our proposed plans, either at the places where they will be on display or by looking on our website, and give us their views.”

WAA anticipates submitting a Reserved Matters Planning Application to Wiltshire Council this summer and will show the detailed design and layout of the new home.

If planning permission is granted, construction work is expected to begin before the end of 2016 and take about a year to complete.

Currently WAA’s helicopter and aircrew are based at a hangar at Wiltshire Police Headquarters in Devizes, while the charity team is based at offices on Porte Marsh Industrial Estate in Calne.

The lease on the hangar runs out on December 31, 2017, and the lease on the offices runs out at the end of January 2018 which is when the move is hoped to be completed by.

The plans will be on display at Melksham Town Hall on Monday, 10am-8pm, Tuesday, 9am-5pm, and Wednesday 9am-4pm; Semington Village Hall on Thursday from 10am-7pm and the foyer at County Hall on Friday from 10am-4pm.

Feedback forms will be available in all of the locations and WAA’s plans will also be available to view on its website - www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk - from Monday. The deadline for comments is June 24.