W(C)C held an exhibition to display its Compulsory Purchase Orders for land, but with no CPOs to show...

Wiltshire (County) Council had a centre-spread (at our cost, of course) in a local newspaper which proclaimed that draft Compulsory Purchase Orders, for the land to build the eastern Westbury bypass, formed part of WCC's exhibition at the Laverton Hall on 28-30 June 2007.  This is also in WCC's leaflet.

Draft CPOs were not on display.  This was confirmed by the WCC highways officer we spoke to there.

The Government Article 14 Directive putting WCC's bypass scheme on hold was issued on 21 June '07.

We suspect that this left WCC on a back foot, such that WCC pulled the Compulsory Purchase Orders.

WCC's big bypass exhibition actually had no real purpose without showing the CPOs.  There were some unreferenced drawings of land parcels.   Little else about the WCC Westbury Bypass exhibition was new (apart from details of an intended cycle lane on Station Road, the purpose of which was not explained).

Another odd twist was 'news' in the Wiltshire Times of 20 July '07 about the Westbury Bypass exhibition,
of three weeks previously..., which said that CPOs were on display.    But, CPOs had not been on display.

The White Horse News of 2 August 2007 also carried the same strange W(C)C statement about the Orders and repeated Wiltshire Council's spin that its eastern bypass scheme was approved (when it had not been).

W(C)C's Westbury Bypass website wrongly said that land purchase orders were on display at the exhibition.

We remember how WCC presented a very misleading scenario of the funding situation, firstly to us, where it was queried, then the same to Westbury Town Council.  It is now well established, from various follow-ups, that the 'DfT letter Dec 2006', which WCC had put up to imply that funding was progressing, was fictional.

Wiltshire (County) Council's late issue of its proposed CP Orders delayed the start of the planning inquiry.

Wiltshire Council's Compulsory Purchase Order Schedule was published for consultation in September '07.

Wiltshire Council's proposed Compulsory Purchase Orders were sent to the Government in October 2007.

Wiltshire Council's CPO Schedule was deficient, as the only named utility company was Southern Electric.

After refusal of planning permission, it followed that the Council's proposed Orders were also not approved.