Wiltshire Lib Dems mourn the sad passing of Rosemary Brown

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former Liberal Democrat councillor Rosemary Brown this week.

Rosemary was a Lib Dem councillor for 18 years, first being elected to Bradford on Avon Town Council in 1999 when she took over from Minna Gillham. She was elected to West Wiltshire District Council in 2003, along with future Chippenham Lib Dem Member of Parliament Duncan Hames. Rosemary served on West Wilts for six years representing Bradford on Avon South until the council's abolition. From 2009 until last May she was the Councillor for Bradford on Avon North on the newly formed unitary Wiltshire Council.

She worked hard on many local issues, some will remember the battles to get rid of the smells from the pig farm to the North of the town. Another was the battle to improve air-quality in the centre of Bradford on Avon, notably on Masons Lane. The pedestrian crossing on the Winsley Road just by Conigre for which she campaigned is heavily used and a great addition to road safety.

Rosemary was diligent, preferring to work behind the scenes and did not particularly court publicity, but no doubt she contributed to many potholes being fixed in her nearly two decades as a Bradford councillor and delivered many a Lib Dem FOCUS leaflet.

Upon standing down in May 2017 she described the honour she had felt about serving as a councillor for Bradford on Avon and urged others to come forward and serve their community like she had. Throughout her time as a councillor Rosemary worked full time as a solicitor with BLB in Trowbridge, originally coming from Ireland, she will be missed not only by her former colleagues but also her children and grandchildren.