On Thursday, 1st May 2025, elections will take place for 98 Unitary Wiltshire Councillors and across the Parish and Town Councils in Wiltshire. We take a closer look at the candidates who will be vying for your votes in Calne.
Meet Celia Stevens, Labour candidate for Wiltshire and Calne Council for Calne Central.
Celia has lived in the heart of Calne for 27 years, raising her two children here, and deeply embedding herself in numerous community initiatives.
She's been a dedicated participant in the Calne Clean Up Crew, the Pocket Park project, and Sustainable Calne, demonstrating her commitment to the town's well-being.
"I think that being involved at a practical level with community activities means you can keep in touch with people. I’m passionate about Calne being a great place to live and building on the brilliant sense of community many people who live here feel."
Since 2021, Celia has been an integral part of the Calne Community Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, providing her with a comprehensive understanding of the planning system and how the council can effectively address concerns regarding new developments.
Her work with Sustainable Calne on Active Travel has also fostered regular interaction with the council and in 2024, her expertise led to her being co-opted by fellow councillors. "I put myself forward as I felt I had experience that would enable me to make useful contributions," she explained.
"I was one of only 2 councillors who spoke to put forward community concerns about lack of infrastructure, biodiversity, flooding, lack of safe crossings and the designs being proposed. Only last week I was instrumental in bringing together councillors from different parishes to pull together concerns about other development proposals that are at the edge of Calne but lie in a different parish."
Celia is particularly focused on promoting active lifestyles, ensuring safe pedestrian and cycling routes, and addressing traffic congestion and air quality issues in the town centre, especially around Silver Street. "I’m passionate about enabling people to keep active in their everyday lives and the need to make cycling, and even more importantly walking, around the town safer for everyone," she explained.
"The lack of safe road crossings in some parts of town is shameful."
Celia has spoken of the importance of urban green spaces for both the community's well-being and the preservation of nature. "I tried to ensure we had strong policies on this in the new Neighbourhood Plan and to get protection for as many places as possible.
"You may have seen new trees being planted around the town and at Beversbrook Sports Centre in the last few weeks – this was mostly the result of hard work by an officer with involvement from me and another councillor to make best use of funding coming from outside of the town."
Celia has actively participated in both formal committees and working groups, and has expressed her surprise at the low attendance of some councillors. "These meetings are where officers and councillors work together to get things done."
Investment in The Rec to create a destination play area is a priority for Celia, as is establishing a dedicated Youth Space. As a keen runner, she successfully established the Calne junior parkrun at The Rec, which has engaged over 500 children since its inception three years ago.
She is critical of Wiltshire Council's management of playgrounds, citing delayed repairs of broken equipment, and believes the Council's management of town centre shop units has failed to adequately support local businesses.
"I believe our Wiltshire Councillors have let Calne down – while I know they often deal with small issues raised by individuals, they have failed to take on the bigger infrastructure problems and in securing Calne its fair share of developer money and other investment that as the fourth biggest town in the county we should rightly have received."
Celia Stevens pledges to prioritise community needs, advocate for responsible development, and work tirelessly to enhance the quality of life for all residents.
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