You may recall I wrote to Marlborough News in October 2025 to inform you of the motion taken to Wiltshire Full Council by Councillor Allison Bucknell and myself to support the advertising of community events, following a clampdown on illegal fly posting citing the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2007and the Highways Act. This may all sound boring and technical but it is how policy is made and changed at Wiltshire Council as it is in every local authority. Policies affect residents daily lives and are therefore very important. At Full Council it was agreed that the issues of overzealous enforcement should be reviewed at overview and scrutiny committees and the relevant policy reviewed. This was reviewed twice by subcommittees and in March 2026 new officer guidelines were given allowing compliant event organisers to put up posters year after year without reapplying, provided agreed conditions were followed. Senior highways officers explicitly stated a desire to move away from “over‑licensing” and unnecessary restriction of community events, reducing bureaucracy and negative consequences for community events.
Therefore, I was once again incandescent (very cross indeed!) to find out Mantonfest posters had been refused again this year. (This happened last year but I was able to get it overruled.) So, I wrote to the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Highways, the Corporate Director for Highways and the officers involved locally asking them to review the decision and support local community event organisers to put up appropriate and safe advertising. I understand my requests have been successful and that Mantonfest will be able to put up posters this year and henceforth. Hopefully, this nonsense will not now repeat each year, but let’s watch this space. Like many local events Mantonfest is not just fun entertainment but raises crucial funds for local charities and offers valuable experience to our young talents. I have been actively engaged in resolving this problem since this time last year and will continue to fight bureaucratic overreach whenever it affects my community. If you have any issues with any services provided by Wiltshire Council in Marlborough West please do not hesitate to email me at Jane.Davies@Wiltshire.gov.uk or via my facebook page. I cannot promise miracles but I always try my best to get things sensibly resolved.
Yours,
Jane Davies
Wiltshire Councillor for Marlborough West
Wiltshire Council, Posters, MantonFest – letter from Colin Gratton
