Nigel Carter – Chairman, Devizes Guardians – Wiltshire Councillor – Devizes North
Nigel Carter is a Chartered Environmentalist, working with industry on water and waste management, energy savings and resource efficiency. He has seen service with the Royal Navy and with British Petroleum. He is a school governor and, when time permits, likes reading and watching sport .
Jane Burton – Wiltshire Council and Devizes Town Council – Devizes East. Mayor 2008-2009
Jane Burton is Devizes born and bred. She is married to Richard with two children, Sarah and Daniel, and two grandsons, all of whom live in Devizes. She worked in local chemists as a dispensing technician for 33 years.
Jeff Ody – Wiltshire Council – Devizes and Roundway South
Jeff Ody has worked extensively in transport planning both in the UK and abroad. He was a Kennet District Council Member from 2003 – 2009. He is particularly concerned about the control of new housing developments, traffic congestion and parking within the town.
Ted East – Devizes Town Council – Devizes South
Ted East has lived in Devizes since 1992. He is a retired Chartered Engineer specialising in planning and environmental issues. He is the Chairman of the Trust for Devizes. Ted joined the Guardians because he believes that local government should be in the hands of local independents who can work for the benefit of our community, instead of being controlled by national political parties.
Peter Smith – Devizes Town Council – Devizes North – Mayor 2010-2011
Peter Smith has been married for 36 years and has 4 children and 5 grandchildren. Peter sits on the Recreation and Properties Committee of the Town Council amongst others. In his spare time he raises money for local children with special needs (he is a founder member of the MajorWrecks).
Sarah Bridewell – Devizes Town Council – Devizes North
Sarah was elected in the by-election on 8th April 2010 which followed the death of the Conservative Town Councillor and Mayor, John Leighton. Born in Devizes, and educated at Devizes School, Sarah has for the last 20 years worked for a local bank, reaching the position of Account Executive, and most recently as a Customer Advisor. During the last 10 years, she has balanced work and family life whilst raising two young sons who attend local schools. She has been married to Michael, an Aircraft Technician in the Royal Air Force, for 16 years.
Roger Giraud-Saunders – Devizes Council – Devizes East
Roger was elected in a by-election in July 2011 following the resignation of a Conservative councillor. Roger is sixty-two years old and lives in Devizes with his wife Nina. He attended school in north London and at the age of fifteen joined the Royal Navy, serving fifteen years in the Marine Engineering branch. After losing his right arm in an industrial accident he studied for a Higher National Diploma in Agricultural Engineering, which led to his present work for the Oil Advisory Technical Services based in Swindon.
Judy Rose – Secretary
Judy is married with two grown-up daughters. She chose to live in Devizes in 1983 because it seemed a very special place. She developed an interest in local affairs when the former Kennet District Council over-rode the wishes of local people and cut down the Market Place trees in 2001. As a result, she became a founder member of Devizes Guardians so that the local authorities could be called properly to account. She is also an active campaigner on local health issues.
Steve Valentine – Treasurer
Steve works hard behind the scenes to keep track of our financial resources. She appears in public for the Guardians when she delivers her report at the AGM.
Tony Duck
Tony Duck was born and educated in Devizes. He is married and has 4 grown up children. For fifty years he ran the family newsagent business, which traded in Maryport Street for over seventy years, and is very well known and respected in Devizes. He has also been a director of several companies associated with the news trade. Tony was a member of Kennet District Council until 2009.
July 17th, 2011 at 11:14 am
We live off Windsor Drive and are horrified by the news that a glasgow based builder may get permission to build up to a further 300 homes on the coate road off windsor drive. I do hope that the plans are widely advertised to all of us, that highways dont approve it and that we carry out some kind of demonstration – so far all planning has been agreed. The town is so conjested now – this is not why we came to live in this smashing town!!!!
July 18th, 2011 at 3:10 am
We do agree with you.
The Guardians do want to see better control of house building than has been the case in the past and have already queried this particular proposal with the Wiltshire Council planning officers. They have confirmed that there are good reasons for rejecting any planning application for the particular site. It is not within the areas previously selected as suitable for housing and there is currently a view that no more housing should be built before traffic and air pollution problems are tackled. That does not guarantee that the developer will not be able to build, but we will continue to watch the situation and do what we can to stop further excessive house building around Devizes.
The problem in the past has been that when the Council has rejected the development proposals, the developer has gone to appeal and a government apointed planning inspector has then given permission because the Wiltshire planning policies are weak. The current consultation process on the Wiltshire Core Strategy is very important because it will determine future planning policy in Wiltshire. We want to have no new planned developments in the Devizes Area until, at the very least, the new traffic model work is completed and the air pollution problem has been resolved. It is important that as many people as possible respond to the Wiltshire Council consultation before 8th August.