Councillors’ Corner: Cllr Russell Hawker

Warminster Journal invites a Wiltshire councillor to write about issues of their choosing.

It’s an honour and privilege to serve as the new Independent Town and Wiltshire Councillor for Warminster West. It’s also a pleasure to write this update on my key activities since the elections in May.   

As chairman of Wiltshire Council’s Warminster Area Board for 2025/26, I was delighted by the larger than usual attendance by the public at my first meeting. This was due to an agenda item I had raised about dangerously fast drivers which our local Police Inspector, Lou Oakley, came to discuss along with a good question and answers session.

We learnt that the dangerously fast driver of a White Audi (well known to local Facebook “Spotted in Warminster Town” users) was about to be re-arrested and have his car seized (i.e. crushed), when they find him. Also, when a Wiltshire Councillor writes directly to our local Police Inspector or Sergeant about a serious issue that concerns many people (demonstrated by hundreds of concerned Facebook posts), immediate action can occur and specialist police units can be drafted in to sort the issue.

I called a public meeting of residents on the new Jubilee Gardens estate and a new residents association was unanimously formed with a committee of 10 volunteers. It will help get issues sorted.

Working with town councillor Stacie Allensby and Michael Grizzell from Selwood Housing, I’ve asked Wiltshire Council to repair damaged brick planters, bollards, pavements and roads on the Westleigh Estate. This badly-needed work will have started by the time this article is printed.