Chippenham residents' group gathers strength (From This Is Wiltshire)

Chippenham residents' group gathers strength

1:26pm Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

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People living in Cepen Park North in Chipenham are being encouraged to join the community’s first residents’ group.

Eighty people have already joined the group, which held a wine and cheese night where residents could meet each other and decide on future events.

One of the group’s organisers Helen Sinclair-Ross said: “We have been gaining support for the past year, and we officially started on March 5.

“We invited everyone on the street to the wine and cheese event, and even though the weather was really bad we had more than 40 people there.

“Initially this started because we have had the biggest council tax increase because of the boundary change.

“There was a lot of upset over that, and as the Burbages, a couple who campaigned against the increase, went around, it transpired that it would be nice to have a residents’ group.”

The group received £400 from the Chippenham Area Board to help hire halls and print newsletters informing residents about the new association.

Mrs Sinclair-Ross said: “We need a group within our community and we need a voice.

“There is the council tax issue and a political side, but there is also a social side to the group, which some people might want to be part of.

“I have lived in Cepen Park North for 11 years and there is quite a mix of people here.

“Some people have just arrived and others have been here, like me, for a lot longer.”