Wiltshire Councillor always Piping Up about local issues, marches off to the Black Bear 

Alongside his late wife Virginia, and supported by his daughter Olivia, (who continues the family tradition of giving back to the community through her community music projects), Ian worked tirelessly to be the voice of reason when policy, planning and commercial interests sought to forever change the parish of Laverstock and Ford.

      A former career as a music impresario and long-time member of the Ringwood Pipe Band, creator of the first ‘Scottish Tattoo’ to be performed at the Royal Albert Hall, led to some creative ways to highlight local issues; from ‘Bingate’, which saw residents stop ‘parent-parking’ on their driveways through the use of waste bins, to the production of his newsletter, The Viewpoint, which he personally distributes to all residents on his ‘patch’, updating them on relevant news, issues and plans that will impact their lives. He fought for and supported as Trustee a children’s Nursery at Old Sarum, noticed schoolchildren waiting for school buses in the rain at the newly built Old Sarum estate, successfully raised funds for a bus shelter and was an integral voice for the ambitious projects taken on by Laverstock & Ford Parish Council to protect local areas of biodiverse land by securing and seeking partner organisations to take on the Laverstock Water Meadows, now owned and managed by the Devonish Bradshaw Charitable Trust thanks to the generosity of benefactor Peter Bradshaw, and the Caste Hill Country Park, owned by the Parish and managed by the Land Trust and the remarkable River Bourne Community Farm, that saw Ben Parker, MBE work with volunteers to convert wasteland alongside the railway track at Laverstock into a working community farm.

Ian gave up his entertainment roots (for which he will also be fondly remembered) to become a Wiltshire Councillor, representing the Laverstock Division as Deputy Leader, Environment Select and Community Governance. As the man who brought the massed pipe and drum bands to the Salisbury City Hall for many years, the echoes of William Wallace, Braveheart, and the indomitable spirit of a proud Scots nation are evident in all he does. For over thirty years, residents on Ian’s patch have seen a remarkable level of commitment. When it comes to election time, many people struggle to put faces to names on the ballot sheet before them, but Ian’s guiding principle was to be a man of the people, for the people.  A face to remember as he knocked on doors and spoke to residents directly seeking their views, rain or shine. He has continually put party politics aside to achieve what’s best for the people and the local area

     Therefore, it was a well-deserved moment when members of Laverstock & Ford Parish Council voted unanimously to award Ian ‘The Freedom of the Parish’. This was presented at the Annual Parish Meeting held at the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection on March 04 with former colleagues, family, friends, residents, and councillors gathered to celebrate the highest honour a parish council can award and thirty years of laudable achievement on behalf of residents. It was a fitting venue, given the recent Government Inspectorate to settle yet another appeal by Airfield owners to build houses on the site of a historic, and now rare, grass strip airfield, which saw great service in both the First and Second World Wars. Afterward, Ian was ‘piped out’ by Piper Keith from the Wiltshire Caledonian Pipes and Drums, followed by a tour of the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection given by Operations Director David Berryman and Visits Manager Graham Horner..

      Ian McLennan will be a hard act to follow from his humble beginnings working as a Post Office operative, then for BT, and as a lifelong Labour and Burnley FC supporter,  his motto ‘never give up’ has enabled a vibrant parish to stand against organisations whose commercial interests are at odds with the health and well-being of residents and to welcome those businesses and projects that offer sustainable value and investment in the ecological, economic and diverse cultural development of a growing parish with strong historical roots. Ian, we wish you a well-deserved retirement back in your homeland; you will always be welcome in the parish of Laverstock & Ford, where you so generously gave so much of your time and devotion.