calnetalk.com

rosco · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:26 pm Post subject: Political History of Calne

So, for someone new(ish) to the area, what's Calne's local politics been like over the last 20 years or so?

Any changing trends, power struggles, etc.?

GTB · Bentlian Oldboy Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 614

I suppose the biggest change in Calne over the last twenty or thirty years has been the demise of the Harris factory which put a large amount of the Calne workforce onto the street when it shut its doors for the last time. The local council then had to find and sucure land to build new factories to house this redundant workforce. Porte Marsh Ind. Est. has grown to quite a large area now since Harris has closed. As for trends, people will always vote for somebody who says that he/she will bring jobs to the area or improve the local roads and housing. The biggest thing to happen in Calne in the last 15 years has to be the by-pass which has helped alleviate traffic congestion from the Oxford Road area. The local council then permitted a large housing estate to be built right upto the by-pass filling in the gap between the new road and the town. There was also uproar in certain parts of Calne when the council allowed the long established allotments wo be sold off and used for housing.

Spooks · Aspiring Calnite Joined: 19 Jul 2007 Posts: 63

Calne never seems to get the balence right.At this moment in time we have far to many houses which the town just can not fullfil all the needs.

Bear · Bentlian Oldboy Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 703

This is mostly because Calne is what could be called a dormitory town with people living here but working in other towns. In some cases, and I think Calne is an example, this leads to the towns commerce centering on the service industry hence the number of hairdressers, takeaways and estate agents. the only way to break this cycle, if that is what one wants to do, is to attract large industries to the town, something easier said than done

Bear · Bentlian Oldboy Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 703

A bit of Calne political history topical at the moment is the last result of the Lickhill Ward for the election held on 4th May last year

Caroline Ramsey (Conservative) 431 Elected
Andrea Pier (Conservative) 423 Elected
Jill Martin (UKIP) 380 Elected
John Ireland (UKIP) 378 Elected
Ellenor Bland (UKIP) 356
Peter Dolman (Liberal Democrat) 312
Roderic Stowell (UKIP) 279
Robert Garraway (Liberal Democrat) 253
Thomas Briggs (Liberal Democrat) 247
Alexander Davison (BNP) 91

GTB · Bentlian Oldboy Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 614

It would be nice to get a few more of those names on that list onto Calntalk.com in the furture to gauge their viewpoint.

I sent an e-mail to all the major political parties (including UKIP) in the Calne area a while back and didn't even get a reply from any of them. Even an acknowledgement would have been nice, especially as we were offering them a soap box stand to make their views known. Confused

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Clunk · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:07 pm Post subject:

They have no control over this forum. If we heckle them and say we don't like something, they can't hide it in red tape.
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GTB · Bentlian Oldboy Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 614

I'm sure any real politician would be prepared to listen to contructive views and comment on them even if they didn't agree with the correspondent's viewpoint. You don't need to be a Jeremy Paxman or John Humphries to get a straight answer by barracking their every sentence - just measured questioning and a rational mind.
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