Braydon residents plead not to be part of Purton
They say it would be a "kick in the teeth" for the rural community
Residents of the historic parish of Braydon have pleaded to keep their identity separate from Purton.
At a meeting of Wiltshire Council’s electoral review committee Chris Herbert, whose family has lived in the parish for 124 years, told committee members that merging the parishes would be a “kick in the teeth for the rural community.”
Geographically large, but sparsely populated, Braydon – the last remaining element of a royal hunting ground dating back to the reign of Henry II – has 50 electors. Purton has nearer to 5,000.
Purton Parish Council asked the electoral review committee to merge Braydon into Purton – but committee members noted that no-one from Purton Parish Council had attended the meeting to speak.
Braydon, on the other hand, had garnered 35 letters of objection to the proposal – 70 per cent of the residents – and sent a delegation of four parishioners to represent them.
Mr Herbert told the committee that the bust B4696 runs through Purton and Braydon, and Braydon crossroads – an accident blackspot – is in Purton.
“We’ve had three fatal accidents in two and a half years,” said Mr Herbert.
“Our insurance premiums are some of the highest in the county because we’re in an accident black spot. We’ve been campaigning for rumble strips and signs and everything, but Purton will not support us.
“Purton offers us nothing. They’ve never supported us on anything. If you force us against our will to join Purton, this will be another kick in the teeth for the rural community.”
Debbie Goodman, clerk of Braydon Parish Meeting, said: “It’s to do with identity as much as anything else. And I do believe that we reflect our rural identity 100 per cent in Braydon.
“Purton has got a completely different identity to us, and it wouldn’t reflect us in the same way.
“We’re a very close community. We don’t see the advantage of being a ward of Purton.”
Emma Brook, chair of Braydon Parish Meeting, said: “Compare our 50-plus residents with the 5,000 residents of Purton. We simply have different issues.
“We want to be good neighbours, but we would like to remain independent because we don’t see any benefit whatsoever in becoming a ward of Purton Parish Council.”
Wiltshire Councillor Jacqui Lay, whose division covers Purton and Braydon, said: “It’s wrong to make a parish that has no connection to another parish join them. I really support Braydon Parish remaining as they are.”
And committee chair Gavin Grant said: “I can’t see how, in a council in excess of 5,000 electors, a community of 50 or so is going to be heard and regarded.”
The committee voted unanimously to recommend that Braydon maintain its independence.
Meanwhile, the number of councillors representing the different wards of Purton will undergo a review.
The meeting heard that while 11 councillors represent the 3,100 electors of Purton, only two councillors represent the much smaller, but more densely populated ward of Ridgeway Farm and Moulden View.
The committee agreed to recommend that the number of councillors representing the village be reduced, while the number of councillors representing the urban area – which is bounded on three sides by Swindon – should have its number of councillors increased to create more balanced representation in the parish.
The final decision will be taken at a meeting of Full Council in July, following a period of public consultation in April and May.