Economy & Regeneration
Economy and Regeneration (New ChAPTER)
Chair: John Clark email john@seagry39.wanadoo.co.uk
‘New ChAPTER’ is the New ChAP Team for Economy & Regeneration.
It addresses issues of economy and regeneration under three headings, each with a separate project team:-
- The River Team
- The Town Centre Team including; Transport Traffic and Parking
- The Tourism Team
Our teams meet about every 6 weeks at venues in Chippenham, to discuss issues that concern them in each area and work on projects identified from the Community Plan. We always welcome new people to our meetings. Should you like to find out more or come to one of our meetings (see the Events section for the dates of our next meetings) please contact chap@live.co.uk. The teams work closely with the Chamber of Commerce, the Chippenham Vision Board and others. Progress report – here are some of the achievements of the teams up to now, and the projects that they are currently engaged in.
River team, chaired by Bob Swaffield – organised the 2009 Chippenham River Festival which was a great success. This will be repeated on the 28th and 29th August (Bank Holiday weekend) and this year will feature Raft Racing and a performance by the Army’s famous ‘Red Devils’ free fall parachute team. Visit www.chippenhamriverfestival.co.uk to keep up to date. Also the team contributed to the design of the new entrance to the Island Park, and organised the clearance of debris from the river below the weir. Future work will be tackle how the river banks may be sustainably maintained.
Town Centre team, chaired by Rob Perks – working with the Town Council and Civic Society, volunteers are concerned with removing eyesores from our town centre and extending the market down into the High Street. Progress was made recently when the Town Centre team and the Town Council co-organised a meeting of all parties concerned with the market extension, and a target date of July 3rd for an extended Saturday market was agreed. Transport Traffic & Parking is also represented at these meetings, working to improve the information for bus users on the routes of the different companies. ‘Spider diagrams’ like those used effectively by Transport for London are being designed and locations for the information such as the railway station identified.
Tourism team, chaired by John Clark – prepared the first Chippenham Area Guide, in partnership with VisitWiltshire, and the www.visit-chippenham-area.co.uk website, setting out things to do and see in the Chippenham area. The web-site is being updated with all the tourist offerings and accommodations in the area.
