The latest updates for you on disruption in the BA12 area as Storm Eunice brings dangerous winds.

Roads

• Reports that Sambourne Road is blocked by fallen trees at Warminster Cricket Club.
• Reports of branches obstructing part of the road around Christ Church at the top of Weymouth Street.
• Report of a tree down in Copheap Lane.
• Barn building has been blown into the road on Lower Road in Edington.
• Wiltshire Police says tree is blocking the A303 at Grately.
• Tree reported to be partially blocking the A350 around Whitehall Garden Centre traffic lights.
• Part of Trowbridge town centre is closed after debris fell from a shopping centre roof.
• Reports of debris on the road at Cooper’s Bottom in Sutton Veny.
• Frome Road in Bradford-on-Avon closed due to car colliding with a tree. Driver is injured and his condition currently unknown.

Schools

• All Wiltshire schools and nurseries are being advised to close by Wiltshire Council.
• Acorn Education Trust has issued a statement saying all its schools will be closed on Friday 18th February to protect pupils and staff. This means the following schools will not be open: Avenue, Clarendon, Dilton Marsh, Great Wishford, Heytesbury, Keevil, Kingdown, New Close, Rowde, St John’s (Warminster), Wansdyke and West Ashton
• Warminster School’s Headmaster has announced the school will be closed on Friday. The school will revert to online learning.
• St George’s Catholic Primary School is closed on Friday.
• Sambourne Primary School is closed on Friday.
• Princecroft Primary School is closed on Friday.

Waste and Recycling

• Wiltshire Council collections are still scheduled to take place on Friday but the local authority warns of disruption.
• Residents advised not to leave bins out on Thursday evening and overnight.
• Bins should be put out in the morning before 7am and taken in as soon as possible after they have been emptied.
• Residents encouraged to consider whether it is essential to put out waste and recycling on this occasion.
• Household recycling centre is planning to operate as normal. Residents are encouraged to only visit if it is really essential and take extra care on the site.

Market – Warminster Market and Warminster Country Market have been cancelled for Friday 18th February.

NHS

• The Vaccination Centre at Bath Racecourse will be closed on Friday 18th February.

Railways

• All South Western Railway services have been suspended.
• Multiple trees have fallen on the line in the Bradford-on-Avon area. Trains between Westbury and Bath Spa likely to be cancelled or delayed.
• Great Western Railway is advising passengers not to travel on its network unless the journey is essential.
• Services into South Wales will terminate at Bristol Parkway.
• Long distance services into Devon and Cornwall will be significantly reduced.
• Rail passengers are being urged to consider if their journey is entirely necessary.

Tourist Attractions

• Longleat will be closed throughout Friday.
• Stonehenge will be closed throughout Friday.
• Salisbury Cathedral now closed all day rather than opening at 1pm as previously planned.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service

• Service requests residents not to call 999 about fallen trees unless someone is trapped and in danger.
• They expect it to be a very busy day for them.

Firefighters have spent much of the day battling a house blaze in Heytesbury. The fire at a property in Greenlands, close to the village primary school, was called in as an emergency this morning. Two people were injured and taken to Salisbury District Hospital. In an initial statement, the building was described as “well alight”. 35 firefighters from across Dorset and Wiltshire rushed to the scene to help tackle the blaze. Firefighters remain on site, damping down.

A weather warning issued for the BA12 area has been upgraded to amber level by the Met Office. The warning comes into force on Friday morning at 3am and will remain in place until 9pm. Forecasters warn that Storm Eunice may cause significant disruption due to extremely strong winds. They urge the public to be aware of the potential for flying debris, damage to roofs, downed power lines, closed roads, rail delays, power cuts, falling branches and uprooted trees.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is offering a ‘have a go’ event in Swindon later this month for any women interested in becoming an on-call firefighter. Stations across the Service area are recruiting for new on-call firefighters, and the aim of this event is to encourage more women to apply.

Station Manager Neil Tidball, On-Call Development Manager, said: “Traditionally, it’s always been difficult to recruit women into the fire service, as there’s still a perception that firefighters have to be big, strong men with superhero fitness. While those sorts of applicants are of course welcome, the role of a firefighter is so varied, there’s a place for people from across all parts of the community. While a good level of fitness is needed, we also need people with common sense, the ability to work as a team, and who live or work near an on-call fire station. This targeted event will hopefully attract women to come along, have a go at some of the selection tests, and find out more about being an on-call firefighter.”

Two sessions will be held at Swindon fire station on Saturday 26 February, with just 16 places per session. Each will feature six activities, and the chance to chat with existing firefighters from the on-call recruitment team.

To book a place residents can call the recruitment hotline on 01722 691444. Places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and will be confirmed via email on or before Monday 21 February. Further ‘have a go’ events will be held across the DWFRS area during the year.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for this Friday as Storm Eunice is set to hit the postcode. The warning states that the storm will bring “a period of very strong winds that could cause significant disruption.” Forecasters further warn that there is a small chance of danger to life from flying debris, fallen trees and large waves.

Wiltshire’s bin collectors have voted for strike action with the first day of disruption expected on Monday 28th February. 98 per cent of workers balloted at Hills Waste Solutions supported taking the action in protest over a 2 per cent pay rise. The GMB Union, which represents the staff at Hills, have given the statutory 14 days notice of a strike and said that it anticipated further days of action in March.

Gary Palmer, a regional organiser for the GMB Union, urged Wiltshire Council itself to take action. Mr Palmer said: “Perhaps Wiltshire Council should consider intervening here by insisting that Hills do the right thing and ensure that our members get the decent pay rise that all key workers should be receiving. Instead, they have been announcing a service redesign and round changes which will see our members’ workloads increase and therefore their pay shrink. There is a mutually agreeable outcome out there, and GMB will work with Hills to find it on behalf of our members, but we will need Hills to commit fully, and to stop with their insulting offers.”

A statement from Hills said: “Hills Municipal Collections is disappointed that GMB have balloted members on industrial action without first fully engaging in negotiations with the company on our 2021/22 pay review offer and not acting in accordance with the Tri-Union recognition agreement with the company.”

South West Wiltshire’s MP has said the number of people using hospital beds while waiting to be discharged to more appropriate care is not good enough. Dr Andrew Murrison pressed Health Minister Edward Argar on what more can be done to speed up the discharge of people into care outside of hospitals when their treatment is at an end.

Minister Argar said: “Discharge of people from hospital safely, either into a care home setting or back to their own home with support, is vital not only for their own health outcomes but for the flow of patients through our acute hospitals to enable A and Es and other parts of the system to function effectively. Through the national discharge taskforce and through the work we have done throughout the pandemic, we are bringing together acute hospitals and local authorities, and we have made huge strides together within localities in improving this and learning lessons.”

Warminster’s Town Clerk has said the more people respond to a council consultation, the more weight will be given to the Neighbourhood Plan.

Tom Dommett told Warminster Community Radio’s Andrew Robinson that the consultation was the first step to renew the town’s planning document. He added that no planning expertise is required to complete the six consultation questions online, describing the exercise as a ‘broad brush’ approach to seeking residents’ views.

The consultation can be found at http://www.warminsterplan.com.

Forty one young people from across Wiltshire are preparing to take their seats on the first ever Wiltshire Youth Council following a successful election campaign.

89 candidates from 21 schools and the local community took part in the election process with almost 5,000 votes cast across the county. The elections ran from 31 January to 4 February and young people voted online via their school to selected their preferred candidate.

The successful candidates were informed this week and now are being advised of the next steps to having their say in local democracy. A total of 4972 student voted across the county.

Wiltshire Youth Councillors will:

• Meet up with Wiltshire Council leaders and have their say on local decisions.
• Work with area boards to ensure funding for youth projects has the right impact for them and their peers.
• Inspect services to ensure they represent young people’s best interests.
• Communicate with their peers so young people’s views are properly represented.
• Opportunity to shadow council leaders as a shadow youth cabinet member for a particular area of interest.

Youth councillors will be asked to commit one evening per month to attend a full youth council meeting, which will focus on issues important to the young people. They will also be expected to talk to their peers about the issues and represent their views. There will also be training to support them in their roles, covering topics including debating, running a youth inspection and delivering presentations.

Wiltshire Youth Council has also recruited Special Advisors, these are young people that ensure that the views of the  underrepresented are heard. There will be Special Advisors that champion different causes such as young carers, children in care, LGBTQ+ young people and military families.  

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “Congratulations to everyone who took part in this process and well done to those who were successfully appointed. Having your voice to champion causes which are important to you and your peers is key to our work and I look forward to working with you in the future.”

Lily and Dennis are the Wiltshire Youth Councillors for John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge.

Lily, aged 13, said she’d wanted to put herself forward to campaign for a number of areas including equality and environmental issues. She said: “I’m very happy to be selected. I’m most looking forward to helping people in my new role.”

Dennis, aged 11 said: “There are so many problems in the community and I wanted to do something about them instead of waiting for someone else to do something. I didn’t expect to win the election because I don’t know many people the same age as me going for election so I was surprised but happy to be successful.”

Warminster Town Council has launched a consultation on the town’s priorities for the next 20 years. The body is asking people to take a short survey to share thoughts online. The town already has a Neighbourhood Plan that contains policies and proposals used in decisions on planning applications. Since the existing plan was approved, there have been changes in Wiltshire-wide and national policy. It means the town needs to update the existing plan to maximise its relevance and usefulness.

The survey can be found at http://www.warminsterplan.com.