Wednesday 23rd May 2012
The Town Clerk, Heather Abernethie, on behalf of Warminster Town Council, has made the following written announcement ~
Mrs Dorothea Joan Main
It is with sadness that Warminster Town Council has heard the news that retired Councillor, Joan Main, has passed away.
Joan came to Warminster in 1946 but did not get involved in local politics until 1970. She stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party and was duly elected to the Urban District Council. In 1973 she was elected onto Wiltshire County Council and remained there until 2005. She was elected Chairman in 1995–1996 and was Chair of the Education Committee from 1979 to 1985.
She was also elected onto the old West Wiltshire District Council, and was elected Mayor of Warminster on three occasions: 1977–1978, 1987–1988 and 2003–2004. She served local government for 40 years before she decided to retire.
With her interest in the arts, Joan introduced the biannual festival to Warminster and remained a founder member of the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon, where she chaired the fundraising committee.
In the town, health remained one of her chief concerns. She helped to start the Family Planning Clinic at the Avenue Health Clinic in the mid 1960s and was heavily involved in trying to save Warminster Hospital. Along with Veronica Burden she fought hard in saving Beckford from closure; a case that went all the way to a judicial review in the High Court.
Additional voluntary work included being a governor at Kingdown, Dauntsey and Warminster Schools and a long-term member of the NSPCC committee.
Joan will have been known by many within the town of Warminster for her active involvement in the community on a range of topics. Our condolences go out to her family and she will be remembered with respect and fondness for the hard work and dedication she gave to the community.