THE Green Party has new prospective parliamentary candidates for the Chippenham and Devizes constituencies, as former candidates wife and husband Samantha and Mark Fletcher move away temporarily.

Mr Fletcher, a biologist, has been posted abroad for six months.

The Chippenham seat will now be contested by Tina Johnston, who for the last 11 years has run an organic farm in Box supplying the local area with organic veg boxes.

She said: “The Chippenham area is facing great challenges. The scheme to open a distribution centre for The Range on the northern side of the town is, I believe, an abomination and I will fight it in any way I can.

“I have an alternative vision for Chippenham; I would like to see a forest on the land marked out for The Range. Instead of lorries we would have boats and bikes, instead of vast warehouses we would have leisure and concert facilities and small-scale, local businesses.

“Chippenham has its roots in the cattle market and is still, at its heart, a market town. But the developers want to change that; they have pound signs in their eyes, and seem to see Chippenham as the next Swindon. Instead, let’s bring the heart back into Chippenham and try to preserve the very special characteristics of this market town.”

Political economist Emma Dawnay, who has had her home base in Wiltshire since the age of five, will be the Green Party candidate for Devizes.

She has a PhD in materials science from Cambridge University and an executive MBA from the London Business School.

She said: “I see getting the economy on the right path as a priority, and I will campaign vigorously against austerity and cuts to local services, and for a better safety net for the most vulnerable in society. I've always thought of our area as relatively affluent, but I have been shocked to discover that families in Marlborough and Devizes are relying on food banks to feed their families. That shouldn’t - and doesn’t need to be - the case.

“I will campaign for greater local power over decision-making and over how our taxes are spent. We need large-scale green investment in low-carbon technologies. There is great expertise in this constituency, and we need to harness it for the benefit of the people who live here.

“We also need to sort out the transport system so that bus and train services are linked, with buses serving local villages waiting to meet every train. This is vital in rural communities in order to stop our reliance on cars.”