What is the Bradford on Avon Area Board?

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With the arrival of the new unitary authority Wiltshire Council, we’re also getting a new layer of local government called Area Boards.

There will be 18 of them covering all of Wiltshire, each centered on a town and including its surrounding villages.

The Bradford on Avon Area Board will meet for the first time on 8th July at 7pm in St Margaret’s Hall. It covers the town plus the villages of Holt, Limpley Stoke, Monkton Farleigh, South Wraxall, Staverton, Westwood, Wingfield, and Winsley.

At the moment it’s not clear who will be on the BoA Board. The Wiltshire site says:

“Area boards will be made up of unitary councillors and a cabinet member from Wiltshire Council, elected representatives from town and parish councils, Community Area Partnerships representatives, senior representatives from the Police, Fire and Heath services and representatives of young people in the community area. They may also include Housing associations, the armed services and other groups and organisations that are active in the area.”

It also says there will be opportunities for people to participate in the Board’s activities:

“Area boards are not like old fashioned Council meetings and there are going to be lots of opportunities for local people to get involved. Meetings will take place about once every 6 weeks, but in between these, project groups and task groups made up of local people and Wiltshire Council staff and Councillors, will work towards addressing local issues by identifying and implementing potential solutions.”