A payday loans firm’s bid to open a branch in Trowbridge has sparked anger from debt experts after fears the firm’s annual percentage rate (APR) for interest of 2,115 per cent could land Wiltshire people in financial trouble.
A new cultural quarter is to be created in Trowbridge, with the town’s museum relocating.
Mental health charity Wiltshire Mind is to close two years after it lost its local government funding.
A fun-filled soapbox derby, which takes over Trowbridge’s town centre every August, is coming back “bigger and better” this year, organisers have said.
The mental health charity Wiltshire Mind is to close two years after it was stripped of its funding from Wiltshire Council.
Plans for green fields to be built on as the new home for a Trowbridge vehicle hire firm have come under fire from parish councillors. Hitachi Capital Commer-cial Vehicle Services wants to create 50 new jobs as part of a plan to move from the Canal Road Industrial Estate to land near North Bradley, opposite the Meridian Business Park. The move would mean building on a field close to North Bradley, where councillors on the parish council are up in arms about the application. Chairman Roger Evans said: “The general feeling among councillors is that it is not required here. It is not in the Core Strategy and there are other business parks where this could go. There are brownfield sites elsewhere to consider, but instead they choose this green field.” “This land is a site acting as a buffer zone between the White Horse Business Park and North Bradley. It was deemed not to be used for development when the business park was built and, as such, is sacrosanct. “The parish council feels misled over this proposal and feels the Hitachi threat of moving out of Trowbridge if it cannot have this site is tantamount to putting pressure on the council. Wiltshire Council is being ‘hoodwinked’ by Hitachi. “This application, if given permission, would open up development elsewhere and parish councillors believe everything should be done to curtail this concept in its early stages.” It will be up to Wiltshire Council members to decide what happens to the plans when the Strategic Planning Committee meets on Wed-nesday, August 22. The plans detail a glass-fronted office, a car park for a fleet of vehicles and a building for final preparation and cleaning of the vehicles before leasing. The company, which has about 100 employees, leases vehicles to national brands and utility companies. Hitachi Capital says it has added a raised woodland area to its designs, in order to screen the site, after listening to residents’ concerns. It says that will mean residents could one day look on to a woodland rather than nearby car dealerships. Changes to the lighting design have also been made, using the minimum illumination necessary and diffusing the light downward, to cut the impact of any light pollution.
Trowbridge man Shane William Gulliver has been charged with grievous bodily harm following the stabbing of 25-year-old Shaun Hulbert in the town on Tuesday evening.
Trowbridge man Shaun Hulbert was recovering in hospital yesterday after being stabbed in the chest on Tuesday evening.
Wiltshire College's Bev Flanagan, vice principal for enterprise, has quit her post after four years in the role.
The new Trowbridge Arts Festival, which runs from September 14-30, has been backed by the developers behind the St Stephen's Place cinema complex.
