A NEW vision for Devizes over the next four years, which includes campaigning for a railway station and coming up with ways to maintain a vibrant high street, has been drawn up.

The town council has now come up with a strategic plan of action with objectives to be reached between 2018 and 2022.

In the introduction to the report, Mayor Andy Geddes said: “It is all too easy to take our town for granted, with its wealth of heritage, and its proliferation of attractive architecture and diverse cultural activities.

“However, below this façade, like many towns, Devizes faces some real challenges and without a vision and a plan about how we want our town to meet these, its current quality may not be sufficient to sustain it as the town we love.

“Whilst many of the challenges we face in the town are too big for any one group to manage on their own, the town council is committed to providing services that will assist us to achieve our vision for the town, or when needed to work in

partnership with others to strive for a town which is a great place to work, live in and visit.”

The town council thinks improving public transport is a key way to get more people to visit Devizes and to boost business.

The report said: “Many businesses are finding trading conditions increasingly challenging, due to the growth of the internet.

“The objective is to support initiatives that improve access to public transport.

“Devizes is recognised to have a number of transport issues hampering business growth.

“One such issue is the acknowledged remoteness Devizes has from the railway network. An initiative to encourage Network Rail to support the creation of a station nearer to Devizes is underway and the town council is committed to supporting the initiative.”

The town council is carrying out work to make the centre of Devizes as appealing as possible by putting in new signage, flower containers and improving other street furniture.

It also wants to support arts development in the town. The report said that many of the artistic events held in Devizes were undertaken by volunteers or semi-professionals and the town council recognised they need local authority support.