Wiltshire councillors back support for Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Wiltshire councillors have unanimously agreed to support Wiltshire Air Ambulance as it raises the issue of recovering outstanding costs with the government.

At a recent full council meeting councillors recognised the outstanding work of emergency, Armed Forces and other services including the Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA)  in responding to the Novichok attack in Salisbury and Amesbury. A motion put forward by Cllr Brian Dalton was supported by all members following amendments proposed by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Philip Whitehead.

Cllr Brian Dalton said: " I'm very happy that the council, after a good debate, accepted my motion to continue to support Wiltshire Air Ambulance as it seeks to receive compensation from government. The emergency services who lost equipment were given funding, but Wiltshire Air Ambulance, which is a charity, are still waiting. I hope this comes to a successful ending for Wiltshire Air Ambulance."

It was agreed to meet again with the leadership of Wiltshire Air Ambulance to formulate a campaign  and make further representations directly to government to recover the costs. It was also agreed to work with Wiltshire MPs to support the campaign for fair treatment of Wiltshire Air Ambulance

Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council said: "The Wiltshire Air Ambulance is a precious resource which plays a crucial role in responding to emergency events in Wiltshire. This was an important motion which was supported by all councillors at the meeting."