Caroline Thomas – Local Conservatives
Caroline is a local girl, attending the grammar school as it became St John’s and working as a ‘Polly girl’, before joining the Army and later forging a career in Financial Services. She returned in 2009, initially on Herd Street, before the traffic noise and lack of parking for locals forced a move across to the relative peace of Kingsbury Street.
“I loved my teenage years in Marlborough – summers spent in the then outdoor pool and the Mop fairs as an annual highlight – and always intended to return. But I also wanted to give something back for the great education I got at St John’s that opened up so many opportunities. I’ve been a governor at Crowdys Hill in Swindon, a non-exec director of Turning Point, the UK’s largest provider of social services outside the NHS and was Chair of St John’s school governors before being elected as a Wiltshire Councillor in 2021”.
In addition to her roles as a Wiltshire and Town Cllr, Caroline is treasurer of the Marlborough Area Poverty Action Group (MAPAG) and Chair of Trustees for the Marlborough Area Youth Forum, which she set up to support the Youth Club in town.
Why vote for me?
- Why are you standing for election?
Service is in my blood – from serving in the Armed Forces to being a school governor. It’s what I’ve always done. And, perhaps more importantly. because I can get things done that matter to local people. I’m a great listener and communicator – be that writing proposals and grant requests, presenting at Wiltshire and Town Council and providing information on Facebook – and I’m persistent in pushing through change. It may sometimes be small, but it all adds up.
- What have you achieved in the last 4 years
I set up The Marlborough Area Youth Forum charity to help ensure the Youth Club could run on a sustainable footing – raising money through grants as well as donations, totalling c£35,000 and counting! The Youth Club is now open twice a week and provides a hot meal as well as lots of activities, at no cost to our membership of over 90 with 70 regularly attending. I also secured £2,500 for Marlborough Area Poverty Action Group last year.
Linked to the Youth Club, I led the initiative for the Town Council to recruit its own apprentice Youth Worker who started last October and, with Cllr Jane Davies, successfully lobbied Wiltshire Council to devolve ownership of the Marlborough Community & Youth Centre to the Town Council rather than extend the lease.
On Roads:
- I led the initiative for the Town Council to invest in more Speed Indicator Devices – so one is now permanently in place on Herd St and others rotate around different locations. “SIDs” are proven to slow traffic as they provide that little nudge, we all need from time to time.
- I supported the introduction of additional 20mph limits. For George Lane, specifically, I wrote a rebuttal paper to the engineer’s initial report that directly led to it being included on the consultation that’s now underway.
- Cllr Jane Davies and I led on the work for Wiltshire Council and the Town Council to pay for the Traffic Survey and Modelling study to evidence the need to de-prime the A346 (so that we can place weight limits on it – probably on the railway/canal bridge north of Burbage – to remove HGVs travelling through the town.
- Jane and I are also working with Wiltshire and Town Council representatives along with stakeholders like ARK on mitigating future flooding risks.
In general, getting the Town Council to work collaboratively with Wiltshire Council has been a feature of my approach, along with supporting community groups.
I’ve also done a lot of case work – supporting residents with matters from calling in Planning Applications (one in Minal that succeeded even at the Planning Inspector level), liaising with Housing Associations and SEND teams. I’ve very recently secured cabinet member agreement in principle to have the Mammogram unit operate from the Leisure Centre rather than the back of Savernake hospital, which will provide a much better experience for everyone as well as mitigate a parking issue.
- What would be your focus looking forward?
In many respects, more of the same – ensuring our young people have great local services and supporting residents with specific matters.
My strategic focus will remain on the A346, given the daily blight created the hundreds of HGVs travelling through the town rather than using the A34 or A350, the strategic freight routes. My specific target is to get Wiltshire Council to undertake the necessary cost benefit analysis of de-priming the road. While there would be a financial cost, the social, health and community benefits would be enormous, in addition to far less need to dig up the roads for repairs!
Lack of parking is another hot topic locally. So, I will also be heavily promoting the introduction of more residents parking areas. After the success of the one on Kennet Place, we have two on the priority list (Lower Prospect Place and Cherry Orchard) and I’ll work to ensure St Martins is next on the list.
Residents’ support is of course critical for me to continue working on these challenges, and I hope to secure that based on my track record.
