Calne Connection Winter 2018

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LOCAL COUNCIL AWARD SCHEME FOUNDATION

nnection Issue 68 Spring 2018

The offical newsletter of Calne Town Council You can follow us on

and

Inside: Wedding Fair Calne CCTV System The Story of The Pigs Plus lots more!

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Calne Town Council, Bank House, The Strand, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 0EN 01249 814000  calne@calne.gov.uk  www.calne.gov.uk

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Issue 68 Spring 2018

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Issue 68 Spring 2018

Calne’s CCTV System The recent incident when the theft of the town’s pigs dominated the local conversation and highlighted the town’s CCTV system. The discussions in the pubs and on social media initially asked “What was the CCTV doing?” highlighting some misconceptions regarding what it is, what it’s for and how it works. This seems like an ideal opportunity to, in a way, represent the system to the town.

On February 17th & 18th Calne’s historic Town Hall will play host to the annual wedding fair.

You are invited to attend the Town Hall to see an array of local businesses offering their services, to make your day a special one.

The event will commence at 11am until 3pm on each day.

The day looks to be perfect for all those busy brides & grooms to give an insight into ideas for their perfect day.

From caterers to photographers, table decorations to Venues... you will not want to miss out on this great event. Guided tours of the Town Hall & picturesque spots along Castle Fields will also take place through out the day.

Light refreshments, including tea and coffee will also be available for you to purchase.

There will also be free goodie bags for each bride &/or groom attending.

2 Hours free parking in the Heritage/Church street car park.

We hope to see you there!

Our CCTV system is, first of all, a state of the art and modern system; secondly, it is operational twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, it is either in ’Automatic Patrol’ mode or under a trained operator’s hand. At the core of Calne Town Council’s successful CCTV operation is an enthusiastic team of volunteer CCTV Operators, many of whom have volunteered for over four years and now hold a vast knowledge of the daily operational requirements and recognition of offenders within our community. The competence, vigilance and determination of the operators produce crucial evidence often leading to criminal convictions. The CCTV operators, who normally work in pairs, are all volunteers who have been fully vetted and are re-vetted every three years. Currently, they give the town between 200 and 250 hours of active cover.

We also work with the town centre retailers using the Storenet Radio and the Shopwatch Scheme. Regular radio communications has proven to be instrumental in the reduction of the town’s incidents of shoplifting with thefts from stores drastically decreasing over the past twelve months.

The public can have confidence that the Calne Town Council’s CCTV system is used appropriately, without disproportionate interference to the right to a private and family life. To ensure these standards are maintained and to pre-empt any enforced or recommended legislation from The General Data Protection Regulation, Calne Town Council’s CCTV Manager has completed a CCTV Public Space Surveillance course and holds a Security Industry Authority license.

The objectives published in Calne Town Council CCTV Code of Practice remain unchanged, but are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that they are current and relevant to

What’s On at Calne Town Hall

Calne Town Hall hosts a variety of regular classes and activities throughout the week, ranging from exercise classes to film screenings.

MONDAY Zumba Fitness Classes 7:45pm – 8:45pm b-lush@hotmail.co.uk

TUESDAY Ballroom Dance Classes 6:45pm – 10:15pm Claire33.mgm@gmail.com

Aspire Fitness Juniors 5:30pm - 6:45pm Adults 6:45pm - 7:30pm andi.applegate@aspirema.co.uk

THURSDAY Calne Larks Choir 12noon – 1pm Glenis Ansell – glen.ben@hotmail.co.uk

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Zumba Fitness Classes 6:45pm – 7:45pm b-lush@hotmail.co.uk

• To help reduce the fear of crime • To help deter crime • To help detect crime and provide evidential material for court proceedings • To assist in the overall management of Calne’s Town Centre • To enhance community safety, assist in developing the economic well being of the area and encourage greater use of the facilities in the town • To assist the local Police Constabulary in its enforcement and regulatory functions within the town • To assist in traffic management • To assist in supporting civil proceedings • To assist other emergency services In addition to the above objectives, the system is utilised to carry out welfare roles such as locating missing and vulnerable people. The night time economy brings many young people into the town centre, but occasionally over indulgence leaves some incapacitated and therefore vulnerable. CCTV operators have a duty of care and inform the police of any sightings, particularly lone females.

The camera locations are published on the town’s web site.

Friday Chris Long Boxing & Fitness 9:30am - 11am chrislongboxer@hotmail.com

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the town and will again be reviewed after the Home Offices consultation period, implementing any recommendations.

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ALL EVENTS BOOKING AND INFORMATION ON 01249 814000

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Issue 68 Spring 2018

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Issue 68 Spring 2018

© Dina La Vardera

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Richard Cowdy

The Story of Calne’s Pigs small plaster model to be presented to the Town Council for planning consent.

In 1973 I bought the old Guthrie School in Calne, for £3,600. It had been empty for five years and was ideal for a studio and bronze foundry. I took two years to convert it for domestic and work purposes.

I became known as a sculptor of farm animals and was approached by Dr. Arnold Hare, the chairman of Calne Civic Society. At that time the Coral gambling shop was a very rowdy pub called The White Horse. The Civic Society had attempted to establish a tree in the brick base outside it, but had abandoned the idea after the trees had been repeatedly destroyed.

The site had become a hazard, being full of broken bottles and other litter.

So, in 1978, Dr. Hare asked me if I could produce a sculpture, shaped so that litter would roll off it. I suggested a pile of pigs made of cement, as there was very little money available, and made a

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When it came up on the agenda the Town Clerk unveiled it, the response was laughter and it was rejected, because it was not considered to be dignified enough to represent Calne. A coat of arms was proposed, but that would not have solved the litter problem. After more rejection I proposed a bronze casting of two pigs, smaller than the cement sculpture owing to the lack of funds.

Dr. Hare and I lobbied some of the Councillors to see if we could get some of them on our side. There was one very vociferous Councillor who argued that the sculpture would attract young children into the street and they would get run over. However at the next Council meeting she happened to have flu and could not attend. The pigs got through by one vote.

Having now got the go ahead, I approached the Harris factory for pigs to use as models, but they were afraid I might spread pig diseases, so was refused. I finally found a very kind pig farmer at Horton, near Devizes, who allowed me to make a small clay sketch of two pigs. Back in my workshop I modelled the full size version which I then cast into bronze. This whole process took eight weeks. Michael Hadrell helped me install the sculpture

on the round tree base on Phelps Parade. As we cemented it in place a crowd, mostly hostile, surrounded us. People were shouting that it was rubbish and the money should be spent on education and the NHS. They didn’t know the entire cost had been covered by the Civic Society, which only amounted to £148 to cover the metal. We were very nervous about it being vandalised overnight while the cement set, so Michael Hadrell built a plywood casing around it.

Repairing Them When they were stolen, the thieves cracked off a section of the base plate, and bent it as they crowbarred it off the plinth. Blackford Engineering in Calne welded the broken piece back on to the base and straightened the sculpture back to its original glory.

The original fixture that connected the pigs to the plinth needed to be removed, and the base flattened ready for the pigs to be remounted. Calne

When it came to the unveiling a few days later, we suddenly realised we didn’t have a veil, so Paul Buckeridge rushed off to a farm to get a sheet of plastic to throw over the pigs. Lady Lansdowne unveiled the pig sculpture in the presence of the mayor, the press and the public. The mayor, Cllr Frederick Eley, said in his speech that he had, at first, voted against it because he imagined that they would be large, fat, sows, but went on to say that he was delighted to see that they were two young and healthy porkers!

Town Council grounds team were responsible for fitting the pigs back on to the plinth. Calne Lions Club kindly paid for the repairs and fitting.

How were they found On the 4th October 2017, the Wednesday after the pigs had been stolen, Calne Information Office recieved a phone call from Ronson Reclaim, Gloucester.

They informed us that they had bought the pigs for £850, with the intent of selling them on to an animal sculpture collector. Luckily, one of the employees had seen the pigs on BBC Points West.

The power of social media and news outlets was the key to finding the pigs.

The number of people who had seen the news on Calne Town Council social media reached over 100,000 people.

The news coverage from BBC Points West really helped extend the reach, and we were incredibly lucky!

Richard Cowdy, Sculptor of Calne’s pig statue

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The Pigs were unveiled on Friday 10th November by Town Mayor Cllr Tony Trotman and Rachel Viles of Calne Lions Club

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ALL EVENTS BOOKING AND INFORMATION ON 01249 814000

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Issue 68 Spring 2018

Calne in Bloom

A big thank you to Whitehall Garden Centre for their continued support of Calne in Bloom

Happy New Year and welcome to another year of community gardening.

The Neighbourhood Watch Group

Neighbourhood watch Local residents have come together to form a neighbourhood watch group. The group was formed after a resident in the area was burgled.

One of the founders of the group said: “I asked around and found several neighbours that were interested so we leaflet dropped 100 houses on Wessex Close, Wyvern Avenue and Brook way. More than 25 attended our first meeting. We have had local councillors getting involved, John Boaler, Robert MacNaughton and Ian Thorne have all attended our monthly meetings”.

PCSO Mark Cook and the bobby van trust have also attended a meeting.

Cllr John Boaler said “Mike, Les and their group of local residents have shown great initiative and moved their aim of creating a local Neighbourhood Watch area along very quickly.”

The first sign is up on the corner of Wyvern Avenue and Abberd Way, and the Town Council have agreed to fund 3 further signs for the adjacent streets. As Councillors we would welcome other groups of residents seeking neighbourhood watch status for their local areas and we know that this NW group would be happy to advise them on the steps they have to take; while we as a Council will do what we can to support them."

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Issue 68 Spring 2018

Beversbrook round up Wow, what a great start for the 2017 / 18 football season for Beversbrook. In total, 58 football teams are calling Beversbrook their home this football season, including Wiltshire’s only pro football club, Swindon Town Football Club, whom relocated to Beversbrook in July. Since then Beversbrook and Swindon Town FC has formed a professional working relationship and hoping to secure another season (2018 / 19) seeing the club training at Beversbrook. Since the start of the football season on the 15th August to the end of November, Beversbrook has hosted a staggering number of football activities, totalling 3,229 hours.

2018 cricket season which starts in April. The Community Hall continues to grow each year. Since the 1st April, there have been 2,182 hours of hall hire including 183 hours of children parties. Beversbrook has hosted 3 wedding receptions, a number of family functions and sport courses.

In September, the cricket square was put to bed after a successful cricket season seeing 40 cricket matches and over 70 cricket training sessions. Countdown has started for the

Calne in Bloom, once again achieved GOLD at the South West in Bloom awards in October 2017, our many local community groups and their volunteers, local schools, Churches , local gardeners, allotment holders and Calne Town Council ground staff undertake a huge amount of work to enable our town to maintain this result for 4 successive years. The beautiful displays improve every year and the visitors who come to see me in the Information Centre always comment on how pretty, clean and tidy our lovely market town is. We should always be proud of what we have achieved in the past few years.

Our plans for this year’s display are in the pipeline and we will again be inviting all the local schools to participate in the planting of the town centre displays.

Calne in Bloom dates for your diary:• Town Tidy Up – Friday 2nd March 2018, 11am – midday volunteers needed to help us with the national initiative to Keep Britain Tidy, meet at Calne Town Council to collect equipment.

• Plant swap – Saturday 12th May 2018, 10am – 1pm, The Wharf, Calne (Duck Race) • Garden Competition – entry form available from 1st May, closing date Friday 15th June, judging middle July.

Trudy King (Calne in Bloom Coordinator)

What’s on at Beversbrook New Voices Choir 7.30pm - 9.00pm catherineshillaker@fsmail.net

Monday Pilates 6.00pm - 7.15pm denabray@aol.com Yoga 7.00pm - 9.00pm cherishmariejackson@gmail.com Calne Camera Club 8.00pm - 10.00pm laneeddy@aol.com Tuesday Music Bugs for Under 5’s 9.30am - 10.30am maria@musicbugs.co.uk Soccer Sixes League 8.30pm - 9.30pm Bret Clark - 07495 671728 Zumba 6.15pm - 7.15pm jobeale@hotmail.co.uk

Calne Running Club 7.00pm www.calnerunningclub.co.uk Wednesday Slimming World 9.30am - 12.30pm 07525 807878 Slimming World 9.30am - 12.30pm 07525 807878 Calne Art Group 10.00am - 12 noon alan@dudleyjones.plus.com Calne Archery Club 6.00pm - 8.00pm www.calnearchers.org

Thursday Fitness Friendship 2.00pm - 4.00pm helen.shakespeare@gwh.nhs.uk Street Dance 4.00pm - 5.30pm di@xdance.co.uk Judo 6.00pm - 9.00pm jason@shodanjudo.co.uk Friday Supplecore Pilates 9.30am - 10.30am harobedgninwod@yahoo.co.uk Sunday Calne Archery 2.00pm - 4.00pm www.calnearchers.org

Councillors Supporting the Group

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Issue 68 Spring 2018 The Mountain Between Us Friday 23rd February 8pm Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.

The Death of Stalin Friday 16th March 8pm Follows the Soviet dictator's last days and depicts the chaos of the regime after his death.

Murder on the Orient Express Friday 20th April 8pm When a murder occurs on the train he's travelling on, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.

Films are shown at Beversbrook Sports and Community Facility - SN11 9FL

Your Town Councillors

If you have any issues or concerns that you would like to raise about your ward, please contact one of your Councillors.

Central Ward

Chilvester & Abberd Ward Town Mayor Tony Trotman* 01249 816062 07816830873 tonytrotman47@gmail.com Heather Canfer 01249 822249 07515810915 heather.canfer@gmail.com

Richard Jones richcalnetown@gmail.com

Robert Merrick* 01249 816048 07932357733 robertmerricklibdem@gmail.com *These Councillors also serve on Wiltshire Council

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North Ward

South Ward

Howard Marshall 07464699113 howardrmarshall@gmail.com

Deputy Town Mayor Glenis Ansell 01249 816164 07801270299 glen.ben@hotmail.co.uk

John Bennett 07737123181 cllrjohnbennett@gmail.com

Ian Thorn* 01249 816351 ianlthorn@hotmail.co.uk

Tom Rounds 01249 812464 07771760300 tomrounds@aol.com

Alan Hill* 01249 821855 aandc@vodafoneemail.co.uk

John Boaler 01249 819133 cllrjohnboaler@gmail.com

John Fisher 07557374550 Cllrjonfisher@gmail.com

Matt Riley mattjeriley@outlook.com

Terry Couchman 07910173336 terry-couchman@hotmail.com

Declan Boore 07908606618 declan.boore@hotmail.com

Rob MacNaughton 01249 815777 robertmacnaughton@mac.com

Mark Mewett 01249 818835 markgmewett@hotmail.com

David Conway 07973182646 david.conway@talk21.com

Greg Widger 07901 933755 greg.widger@btopenworld.com

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