News

Planning and Amenities Committees

📅 Thursday 19th February 2026
🕖 From 6.30pm
📍 The Council Chamber, The Manor House, Lime Kiln, SN4 7GJ

Members of the public and press are warmly invited to attend.

🕖 6.30pm – Planning Committee

Items for discussion and decision:

• Sustain Wiltshire Presentation – Green Halo Housing concept
• PL/2025/00700 (Revised Plans) – Car Dealership at Land at Junction 16 of M4
• PL/2025/02340 (Revised Plans) – Housing Development at Land at Midge Hall Farm, Swindon Road
• Communications

🕖 7.00pm – Amenities Committee

Agenda items for decision and discussion:

• Amenities Budget update
• Jubilee Lake maintenance update
• RISE Trust update
• Allotments update
• Christmas Festival Review
• Playpark development
• Designated Dog Area
• Communications

To view full agendas and supporting information please visit the calendar of meetings on our website. 

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council is excited to announce a big step forward has been taken to delivering a Skate Park in Royal Wootton Bassett, a long-held ambition of the council.  

Following an extensive tender process for the Skatepark Design & Build Project, the Full Council met on Thursday 11^th December 2025 to approve awarding the contract to Maverick Skateparks.  

Now the contract has been agreed, the next step will be working with the team at Maverick Skateparks to assess potential locations and design the skate park, with full involvement of the community. 

Russell Holbert, director of Maverick Skateparks, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council to bring an inclusive, contemporary skatepark to the town. Our design team are looking forward to consulting with the local wheeled sports community on features and key design elements for the skatepark in the new year.” 

Thanks to members of the Skatepark Working Group, including residents, skaters and Town Councillors, for their help and support over the past 2 years to get to this point, and for their involvement with the procurement process – and we look forward to working with them on the next exciting stage of this project for our town.  

We hope residents and visitors will be pleased with this news and we look forward to working with the community and Maverick Skateparks to bring a skate park to Bassett! 

There will be regular updates throughout the project.  

The Town Council is pleased to announce that it has completed the purchase of land to the west of Springfield Crescent, from Persimmon Homes.

This important acquisition secures the site for the future benefit of our community. The Town Council’s long-term vision is to develop the land into a Town Park, creating a welcoming green space for residents and visitors to enjoy, with open views across the surrounding countryside.

Residents will recall a few months ago the concern caused when this large area of land was put up for auction and reportedly sold to unknown buyers. Concerns were expressed on social media and directly to Town Councillors.

This area of land was already earmarked in the Neighbourhood Plan (2017 – 2026) as a Town Park, so the Town Council made enquiries and soon discovered that the sale had not gone through. And following negotiations between the Town Council and Persimmon Homes, the Town Council completed the purchase, paid for from the reserves of the Town Council, and will not impact the precept.

John Gantlett, Persimmon Homes Wessex Land and Planning director said: “We’re delighted to support the Town Council’s vision for a new community park. This land transfer reflects our commitment to creating spaces that enhance local life and provide lasting benefits for residents.”

And Mayor, Cllr Steve Bucknell, who has been the driving force behind the idea of a Town Park close to the High Street, added: “This important acquisition secures the site for the future benefit of our community. The Town Council’s long-term vision is to develop the land into a Town Park. This idea was first proposed nearly 20 years ago after a survey revealed the town’s need to improve dwell time, how long people stay in the town, supporting the long-term viability of the High Street and the Town Centre as a whole.

A Town Park will create a welcoming green space for residents and visitors to enjoy, with open views across the surrounding countryside.

In the short term we hope to work with RWB Environmental Trust and other volunteers to clean the site up. There are steep drops into the site from Springfield Crescent, and longer-term residents of the town will be aware that the land used to contain a large pond and an orchard. It is currently heavily overgrown and has been victim of some fly-tipping over the years”.

Further updates will be shared as plans progress, but this purchase marks a positive step towards enhancing local green spaces and quality of life in our town.

Press Release

Along with many residents, Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council are very concerned and disappointed about the planned closure of the Purton Household Recycling Centre HHRC), along with another site at Lower Compton, near Calne, announced at Wiltshire Council Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday 9th December; this decision was taken without any consultation with residents.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council along with our neighbouring parishes and towns, only became aware of these proposals with the agenda papers for the Cabinet meeting were published the previous week – these papers set out the proposal for discussion, and to agree were the consultation process about the possibly not renewing the two contracts with Hills Waste Service Ltd.

Mark Hopkins, Chief Officer of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council, watched the meeting via video link, and following a lengthy discussion in the Council Chamber, the Cabinet went into private session and amended proposal five: ‘to not take up the extension option with Hills Waste Services Ltd for the provision and operation of two provider owned Household Recycling Centres and close the two sites, Lower Compton and Purton, from August 2026 at the end of the current contract period’. This amended proposal was unanimously approved.

For Royal Wootton Bassett residents, and many others, this will leave our closest HHRC in Marlborough and Stanton St Quinton – a significant round trip to recycle waste.

It is not clear as to why the decision was made before public consultation was due to take place in January 2026.

Wiltshire Councillor Andrew Matthews, Royal Wootton Bassett East Ward, attended the RWBTC Full Council meeting on Thursday 11th December 2025, and expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the cabinet decision to close the HHRCs from August 2026, whilst highlighting that the increase in contractor costs have made it an unaffordable option for Wiltshire Council to keep them open.

Wiltshire Council are proposing to deliver waste services in house. Cllr Matthews confirmed that he has requested interim measures such as reaching out to Swindon Borough Council for an arrangement to allow Wiltshire residents to use its facility.

Cllr Matthews also explained, that following a discussion with Cllr Helen Belcher (Cabinet, Economic Regen), the Marlborough Road Depot in Royal Wootton Bassett was “the obvious first site to consider” and that work is underway to assess the site whilst also exploring alternative locations in the area.

The Town Council have recently been asked by Cllr Paul Sample (Cabinet Member for Environment, Climate and Waste) to work with community groups on a proposal for the use of the old depot, which could become a gateway to the Country Park and we are now seeking clarification about the site.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council believe that this decision, without consultation, will lead to higher carbon emissions, increased illegal dumping of waste, more waste being sent to landfill via household waste, higher travel costs for residents, increased costs for Wiltshire Council for cleaning up illegal dumping and enforcement, reduced participation in recycling and greater inequality by reducing access.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council, along with many others, will continue to make the strongest possible representations to Wiltshire Council about the need for Purton HHRC to be retained until such time as an alternative local facility can be provided.

MARK HOPKINS (Chief Officer)

🌱 Allotments Available Now! 🌿
Now’s a great time to take on a plot and get it ready for next year’s veg!
Grow your own food, enjoy the outdoors, and be part of a lovely local community.

Limited plots available – please apply via My Bassett Portal –  🥕🍓🥬 or you can email rwballotments@royalwoottonbassett.gov.uk 

At a meeting of the Amenities Committee on 12th June 2025, members resolved to install a new Multi Use Sports Area (MUSA) in Royal Wootton Bassett. It has been a long-term aim of the Town Council to provide a MUSA within one of our parks, a hard-court, fenced area, providing space for activities such as football, hockey, basketball and many more.

Following feedback from residents, the Town Council will be installing the MUSA at our Showfield Park and believe this new investment to the park will we welcomed by the local community. The Town Council is working closely with Scarrott’s Fun Fair to ensure minimal impact to the running of the fair.

The next steps will be obtaining planning permission from Wiltshire Council and engaging with the local schools, Rise Trust Youth Club and members of the community. The Town Council have secured a £90,000 grant from Community First, who manage and administrate the Landfill Communities Fund in Wiltshire and Swindon, to fund the project, with the Town Council’s 10% contribution coming from Community Infrastructure Levy funds.

The MUSA will create an accessible, free-to-access site, supporting one of the Town Council’s emerging objectives, Healthy and Safe in Bassett.