Graham Ellis - my blog
Melksham Town Council - budget and precept for 2023/4
Proposed Melksham Town Council budget coming before the full council tonight (19th December 2022). Worked on by the "Budget Working Group" last week - 13 of 15 councillors invited (*) and I understand it was well attended. Meeting was an extra one at short notice and I could not have attended anyway, no online option offered, and apart from the raw budget proposal figures, no notes or minutes as yet. Here are the highlighted increases I noted - no huge surprises:
* Salaries 225k to 300k
* Building repairs 0 to 70k
* Insurance 10k to 38k
* Grasscutting 18k to 30k
* Virtual Hub 1.2k to 12k
* Art project 2k to 10k
* Highway projects 7.5k to 12.5k
* Street Furniture 10k to 15k
* Legal 0.5k to 7k
* HR Consultancy 5k to 7.5k
* Switch on event 1.5k to 6.5k
* Service Contracts 7.2k to 12k
* Environmental Projects 1k to 5k
* Software / licenses 4.5k to 7k
* East of Melksham Hall legal 1k to 5k
* Reduced Assembly Hall income 82k to 55k (needs to be made up)
* Assembly Hall expenditure on events REDUCED by around £40k
* Many other rises for inflation, etc, especially things like utilities
* Many, many figures more or less the same from 2022/3 to 2023/4
Precept £966,204 to £1,248,000 - so that's up from around £170 to around £210 pounds for a band D home. Which is still less than other town councils THIS year. Allow 10% of the rise for inflation, and perhaps the biggest change is the £70k added for some catching up on the backlog of maintenance on the Town Hall, Assembly Hall, Pavillion in the park, etc; this is necessary overdue work. There has been a modest increase in housing in Melksham Town during the year, so the increase per houshold is a couple of percentage points below the headline precept increase.
I DO have background on most of these line items - better informed than I make out above - and happy to answer questions / discuss. I doubt this will go to a final decision tonight! In general terms, I can and will support most of the above, and if they all go through I can work with them.
"Earmarked Reserves", "General Reserves", CIL, Solar Dividend, etc - not listed above. Things like £250k for a maintenace shed, £80k for the sensory garden, £80k for lighting, £800k for the east of Melksham communuty Hall are all potentially funded / planned from outside the precept.
(*) - I understand that the inclusion of only those councillors elected on "Together for Melksham" and Conservative platforms to the budget working group was an error, and I have received an apology for being missed off.
Light Switch on - THANK YOU and comments
What at event! What a delight to see so many people in the Market Place and Assembly Hall yesterday - enjoying themselves - people from Melksham Town, the wider Melksham Area and indeed further afield coming to see our lights turned on - but, much more than that, to enjoy this whole event in the lead up to the festive season. THANK YOU - to the town council staff team, to the tree and lighting team, to the volunteers who came along to help (and that majorly includes your Town Councillors and mayor, who are volunteers), to the stall holders and their teams, to artists and performers, and to the contractors and professionals who came along to help too. Picking out individual names is so difficult - but I am going to mention Miriam Zaccarelli and Paul Weymouth as team leaders and figureheads; both of them have spent many weeks planning and leading up to the event and were so much there, and supporting their teams with such verve and enthusiasm on the day. Raise a glass too to their lieutenants who were so much there before and during the event (or both), and front of house or behind the scenes (or both).
A great time had by (almost) all. And that includes the people there on the team too. I may have been bloomin cold standing on the edge of the event directing people to alternative bus stops, but I enjoyed the music, the atmosphere and talking to people who for the most part were thoroughly enjoying themselves, some willingly and wantingly stopping to chat about Melksham now and into the future. A handful of engagements on that - but the quality of the discussions was key and some of the questions and ideas are significant - stones thrown into a pond that may cause ripples long into the future.
I confess that there were not many people for me to re-direct to other bus stops. A few dozen all afternoon across some 48 diverted services. But I think that's largely because of the excellent information and preparation work done, and also because it's not the first time the Market Place has been closed and regular users know where to go. So ironically the low numbers were a success. Certainly the last bus before the closure (the 11:54 to Bath) had crowds joining it, and left - on time - full and standing. I have no reason to doubt that the next Bath service, across from Bud's Bar, The Bear, and Avonside would not have been equally busy, and helper reports from team members arriving on the bus confirmed that the wider arrangements were working.
I - and the event leaders - are aware that it's almost all who had a good time. They / we are aware of the strain this event puts on the normal lives of a relative few, and every effort is made to minimise that strain, and inform you well ahead. It can never be perfect, but notes taken, and measured considerations and adjustments each year. Sometimes a small change can make a big difference, and Thank You for your forbearance.
And - finally - how good to see the Assembly Hall so packed that we had to have "flow control" ensuring it didn't overcrowd, so much food being eaten that we had rubbish runs all day, and a tree and firework display that's just amazing. Doubts about the tree chosen melted away at the great switch on ... as the event wound down, and I personally got past the point of being able to help further, I joined groups walking home down Spa Road - happily chatting in friends and family clusters after a great afternoon and early evening.
Published Sunday, 4th December 2022
Melksham Station - passenger numbers and prognosis
Rail passenger numbers (station entries and exits) from the year April 2021 to March 2022 have just been published. Here is a table of the estimated numbers for all railway station in Wiltshire, and also for nearby stations which people commonly use as railheads for Wiltshire.
Raw numbers tell us little - they need to be put into context. So I have added columns of numbers for
- number of journeys 25 years ago (1997) - the earliest for which stats are available
- number of journeys ten years ago (2012) - to give a comparison over that last ten years
- number of journeys to March 2020 - to give the latest (often peak) figure before Covid
- number of journeys to March 2021 - showing how numbers fell during Covid lockdowns
- number of journeys to March 2022 - showing some recovery, but it will be noted that these numbers are now over six months old and there have been considerable travel and national events which may mean that things have changed again in the last six months!!
A good measure of the success, or otherwise, of the promotion of appropriate train services is to look at how passenger numbers have grown over the years, or have withstood national events. The following three columns look at growth (or otherwise) over the last 25, 10 and 2 years. So taking the Melksham example which I have highlighted on the chart, we have grown to 1353% of our 1997 figure - 13.5 passengers for every one we had a quarter of a century ago. 4.5 times what we had a decade ago, but only 69% of what we were two years ago pre-covid.
The final two columns show journeys per person per annum - the number of passenger journeys taken per head of population each year. It's a measure of how much the railway has become / is an integral part of the town's life. So on average a Trowbridge resident will make 17 journeys by train a year, but a Melksham resident will makes just two (and even that's 4 times what it was a decade ago!)
What does the data reveal?
1. Passenger numbers were back up to about two thirds of their preCovid level in the year to March 2022. But in almost every case, that number is considerably more than it was 25 years ago.
2. Covid recovery has been noticeably slower at stations with major London commuter flows - Grateley, Swindon, Pewsey, Bedwyn, Chippenham. Recovery has been best at Frome, Warminster and Westbury which are perhaps not the traditional commuter stations; I also note Avoncliff and Dean up there, where the numbers are small and the traffic is strongly leisure
3. Journeys per head of population per annum remain in excess of 10 journeys right across the county - a number are in excess of 30 journeys indicating perhaps a town heavily reliant on its railways. Only Frome (just outside the county, included as a railhead) and Melksham have significantly lower figures, and I note that these are the only two towns for which this statistic is provided that have infrequent and erratic trains - all the others have a pattern that runs at least once an hour.
4. Growth at Melksham has been massive compared to any other station over the years - now at 452% of what it was a decade ago which is nearly 4 times the growth of anywhere else. However, it started from such a low point that passenger number remain truly appalling. Previous work suggests that the numbers would grow to a similar level as (say) Warminster - that's 5 times the current numbers / quarter of a million journeys a year should a reliable hourly train service, from early morning to late evening 7 days a week.
Here is the timetable for trains calling at Melksham from 11th December 2022 to May 2023.
Service prior to 10th December virtually identical.
See below for holiday, engineering and industrial action notes.
Notes:
Trains noted "A" and "B" and in green are seasonal - one OR other runs every Sunday.
Trains schedules may vary around public holidays
Planned strike days - service is reduced or totally cancelled on those days. When there are engineering works, rail replacment buses will be provided; these will take longer and often involve a change in Chippenham, sometimes bus to train.
Published Wednesday, 30th November 2022
Security issues in Melksham - lighting and CCTV
Two excellent debates last night at Town Council - a security theme looking forward with regard lighting in the East Ward and at CCTV for the town.
Lighting - East Ward
The new(ish) housing areas to the North of Snarelton Lane, (Skylark Road), Cranesbill Road (Verdana Court and the Water Meadow) and the Blueberry Road area are separated by green space with paths which are very dark indeed at night. And that includes the early evening, even at the time the children are walking home from school.
The lack of lighting provision from when the houses were built was regretted, and the need for lighting was agreed. Further work is to be done by a professional adviser to work out more closely what's needed, with regard such issues as providing a safe environment rather than an area which encourages anti-social behaviour, avoiding disturbing wildlife by Clackers Brook, and working out how it will be done, what it will cost to do, and who will maintain it at who's expense. The suggestion is that the work would be funded from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) - a pot of money set aside when houses are built for community facilities of benefit to the new residents. Excellent preliminary work by town councillor Louisa Lewis, Unitary Councillor Mike Sankey and a member of the public. The council also passes a resolution authorising the Town Clerk to work with Melksham Without to consider lighting the direct route from these new housing areas to the Melksham Oak school, which runs across the boundary of the two parishes.
CCTV - Town Centre
A proposal for Melksham to join with Warminster, Westbury and the West Wilts Trading Estate in a modern, real time monitored CCTV system was brought by councillor Goodhind. Our current system is old, low quality and not monitored in the same way, and there is a feeling that a more modern system that's monitored more could/should help reduce various crimes, and assist the police in their work.
Two gentlemen from Warminster, where a new control room and equipment is to be installed, answered councillor's questions and some concerns. Without expert input on where and how many cameras would be needed for the new system, Councillor Goodhind proposed that we agree in principle to joining the scheme, and spend a few thousand pounds getting such advice. Total scheme cost over four years, though, likely to be around £150,000. I suggested that we might to ahead with commissioning the expert input, but not agreeing to join "in principle" as the whole point of expert advise is to help answer the question "is this right for us". However, the proposal even to get expert advise was rejected in a vote.
So - what now on the future of CCTV for the town? I don't know ...
And also
There were 16 numbered items on the agenda. The Mayor, early in the meeting, switched things around to discuss the two items above, for which members of the public were present. We then started to discuss the budget for next year, but very little time was left and at 10 p.m. that discussion was suspended, and all the other items on the agenda were lost or deferred to a later meeting.
It was really good to see all fifteen councillors in the chamber last night, and to hear interaction and inputs from everyone. That is exactly how it should be - and it happened because this meeting was put into all of our diaries for the year, and we're a conscientious lot. But with unfinished business there's a call for an extra meeting and there seems no suitable date for everyone - 14th December chosen as the least worst date - however, I will need to send my apologies as I have already planned to be away that week, plans made secure in the knowledge that there were no vital council meetings. There may be exceptional circumstances that extra meetings are needed, but I can't help feeling that the exception has turned into the norm.
Published Tuesday, 29th November 2022
Learning for Melksham - and notes on the Town Council
I have only been around in Melksham around a half of the time during October and November, spending the rest of the time travelling around Europe by public transport (mostly train) with the intent of being better informed as I campaign for the UK - learning what is good and we could adopt for the future, and what we should be careful to avoid. It's not only public transport I've seen - I've seen river frontages, markets, tourism promotion, street scene, electric transport (private and public) and much more. And I will admit to having chosen some things to see and do for personal pleasure too - a.k.a. a bit of a holiday. And so, back to Melksham - and council stuff. Three more members of our staff team have just finished or are finishing in the next week or so. All of them have made major contributions to the town and council, and I thank the for all they have done for the town and wish them well for significantly different new lives.
We have already (in my opinion) been short of staff time for our team to effectively do all the tasks laid upon them. A great deal of time and money has been spent on human resource issues - I am not privy to all of that as I'm not on the staffing committee for whom much work is in confidence, but I see evidence of issues. One of my return visits to the UK in the midst of my travels around Europe was for three meetings, but only one took place as planned - one was cancelled because there was no staff member to run it, and for another the staff member did not show up. I think we have work to do to put our own house in order - longstanding issues which, however, have been coming to a head.
The need to put our own house in order extends to us councillors too - I hear of meetings which were not quorate, and further for which apoligies for absence were not received. I can understand that the frequent missing and late cancellation of meetings by staff sets up an environment where councillors, who are unpaid volunteers, themselves can feel they don't need to put themselves out to attend .
The Town Hall is now open to the public on just four days a week; a sensible though regrettable decision as the five-day hours had proven to be unsustainable with reliability. I personally supported a full council meeting which voted to reduce the opening from 5 days to four, but to include an evening up to 7 p.m. so that people in normal full time employment could come in and speak with the team in person without having to make special arrangements with work. Sadly, and extraordinarily, it appears that the new hours implemented are NOT what the councillors voted for, and it does feel at times that staff make their own decisions which are contrary to what their councillors voted for. In answer to my question on this example, I understand that there is an issue with requiring staff to work into the evening, but that really does not seem right when as part of their roles they support evening meetings and evening and weekend events anyway. It really should have come back to full council if the full council's decision could not be implemented for some reason.
Having written somewhat critically of what's going on, I really must add my appreciation of staff who are doing a magnificnent job in the difficult environment they find themselves in. Criticism of the whole is not criticism of the individuals who do so much good within it - quite the opposite; a big THANK YOU to those individuals. And a welcome to newcomers to the team too - although we have been at something of an awkward situation, we have a great opportunity now - for the town - to rebuild. With two and a half years to the next local elections, this is likely to be the time that those councillors looking for re-election start looking more towards building for the future than perhaps they have done in some cases for the last 18 months.
Published Sunday, 27th November 2022
Taxi - charges and (no) surcharges
If you take a taxi in Wiltshire, the fare you pay should be what's on the meter; there is no "fuel surcharge" or extra payment required if you are taken into the Bath clean air zone. There have been suggestions that some passengers have been asked for additional payments - that should not be, and if what's suggested is true, it's illegal. Further, many taxi passengers are vulnerable people, and the licensing authority (Wiltshire Council) would take a very dim view indeed of taxi drivers asking for extra money from passengers. If you are asked for an additional payment, please let Wiltshire Council know (here) so they can help ensure that the same thing doesn't happen to other customers who are less informed.OK - 99% of the time, no problem, and I'm not even sure how much my report is Melksham related. We have good excellent taxi services in the town ... though at certain times of day, not enough of them and sometimes it can be hard to find one available. On the Melksham Transport User Group site, I have a list of local taxi numbers - (here) - call that up on your smart phone and it's click and dial! Please let me know of any updates - taxi firms come and go. The criteria for listing are that a taxi firm must typically be available for journeys to and from Melksham Station, and it must be licensed by Wiltshire Council. I do not recommend any one firm over another, and indeed the list on that web page comes up in a different order each day so ensure no favouratism.
P.S. Not really a Town Council matter - but brought to your attention at the request to the council by a local driver who's worried that some of his colleagues may be getting them all a bad name!
Published Tuesday, 15th November 2022
Electric Car Charging in Melksham
On the agenda for the Economic Development Committee of the Town Council on Monday (7 p.m., also on Zoom, all residents welcome), we receive a report written "To establish whether the Town Council have an appetite to apply for the funding available through Wiltshire Council and Central Government to enable the Town Council to provide Electric Charging Points at various, agreed, and approved locations in the Town."The Town Council has pledged to do all it can to reduce its carbon emissions in the bid to tackle Climate Change. The Council has a 74-point Action Plan to promote biodiversity, which the Council has a duty to consider and take mitigating steps to reduce carbon emissions to tackle the Climate Change crisis. See (here) where I have mirrored the report written. It refers to the Wiltshire Council strategy mirorred (here)
Published Saturday, 12th November 2022
Town Centre Masterplan - draft
For the next neighbourhood plan, through which Melksham Town and Melksham Without can help guide the town's spatial developement, we require a vision for the Town Centre - and that's where the Town Centre Master Plan comes in. A draft of ths is coming before the Economic Development and Planning Committee on Monday evening ... members of the public welcome to come along and comment in the public participation at the start of the meeting (7 p.m., Town Hall, also on Zoom and broadcast on Facebook). I have mirrored the draft (here)Our agenda item reads as follows: "To receive the draft Town Centre Masterplan produced by AECOM (see attached). Members are requested to decide how the Masterplan should move forward in the Neighbourhood Plan review."
Two notes:
1. The funding for this report comes from neighbourhood planning grants available from Central Government, and not the local taxpayer
2. The Town Council is very very much aware of the end of production at Copper Tires and the 'brown-field' site left very close to the Town Centre, and is mindful that future strategic planning should include that site. At the same time, the Town Council is mindful of the sensitivity in considering this at the very time that the shock of job losses and the effect of the people concerned is of top concern.
Published Friday, 11th November 2022
About me as a councillor
In answer to a public comment that said:"All the Councillors living in their large detached houses with absolutely no respect for the general community that struggle day after day. !!!!!!"
Ah - I noted your comment, Liz, but felt it pragmatic to simply let it stand. I changed my stance and added an answer when Lisa, my wife, felt drawn in. But nothing in my answer should come as any surprise - nothing new here.
I have been asked (as, I think a one-off) to "check my moral compass" in the past, have done so, and found it to be pointing in the right direction. Sure, we live in a detached house and it IS large. It's home to Lisa and myself, who share a bedroom, and the other three bedrooms are currently the homes of guests from Ukraine. I am fortunate to have worked without significant break from 1971 until the 2020 lockdown provided a natural final retirement, and has allowed me to take up activities which I find fulfilling and enjoyable.
There is a big danger in me saying I do the councillor thing for "enjoyment" when the effect of the work we do as councillors is far, far beyond "enjoyment" for everyone else involved. Of course, if the system was different and I was paid (town councillors are not) you might be happier with my position, but then if I and the other 14 volunteer councillors were paid, it would add somewhere around £100 per annum to each Council Tax bill. Anyway - my choice to be a "muggins" and do it for free, when I could be spending my retirement playing golf, fishing, gardening, cruising around the world, or being a professional complainer!
I have faced (and been made) redundant twice. I have had to tell my wife and kids, packed to go off on holiday in the car for a week in Devon, that we are not going because of changes at work and that I'll loose my job if we go. If you ask if I have ever had to choose between keeping warm and eating, then, no, I haven't. To some extent, that's luck - but then I hope I have helped make my luck by being prudent and making appropriate choices. Just this morning, no trains in Melksham and a rail strike, I opted for a series of buses to my destination and not a taxi.
Every Councillor is different. These are just my personal comments, and I whilst I look at what others to and sometimes emulate them, that is far from universal. I spend, probably, much more time than most in communicating, but I try to make that communication be realistic and consistent, and not just what you want to hear. My story will be the same for everyone, though it will be presented as appropriate for the audience. And I learn; I'm not afraid to say "I don't know", nor am I afraid to change my stance as I learn more, or circumstance change, and to admit to those changes.
Every Councillor is different. So you cannot read the approach I describe in the previous paragraph to everyone. But I can tell you that in the 18 months I have been a councillor, my respect and admiration for the vast majority of them has grown hugely and as a town you are so fortunate to have this majority working for free on your behalf. I do have concerns where individuals have other interests such as being a Unitary councillor, for which they receive money. That makes it very difficult for them to take a view in the Town Council's interest where it may differ from the Unitary Authority's interest. For the most part, the interests are parallel, mind you.
A further though - I have massive time and respect for those who have themselves stood for Town Council (whether last time or before, elected or not) as they have being willing to put their time to the town and not just throw out word. Next elections are in 2025, and I would love to be there as part of a strong field, even if that lessens my chance of continuing. I also have huge time and respect for those who help the community in other ways without our groups around the time, and also a big understanding for those who don't find themselves in a position where they can help.
Sure, I live in a big house. In the middle of the ward I help represent too. You have 4 town councillors in south ward, 2 of us living here in the ward as well. My door is "always open" - but, please, that's in a virtual / electronic way. I can be reached by email or on Facebook any day, I can be phoned on my mobile, I can set up Zoom session and, please with an appointment, you are welcome to call round. That "with appointment" helps us plan to meet rather than suffering the frustration of guessing when I'll be home. Some of you may have noticed I have a public transport campaigning "hat" and I'm sometimes away - Indeed I'm not in Melksham as I write this - I'm awaiting transport that I'm learning about, but still "here" for Melksham.
- Illustration - helping at the Ukrainian and others clothes give away in the Assembly Hall this summer
Published Saturday, 5th November 2022
Planning for next year - Ecomomic Development and Assembly Hall
Some of the most important meetings of the Town Council are taking place this month - the budget working group which is looking forward to next year's anticipated spend and going through each committee's spending projections for the year 2023/24, informed by the expenditure we saw in the six or seven months from April, and what we know is coming up in the next few months. We should also be informed by a vision or a strategic plan, but we don't have one; early work was done on this when the council was new in the summer of 2021, but sadly the resource that should have been used for this important and long term stuff has been focused on immediate and more urgent issues. Last night, we took a look at the budget for the Economic Development and Planning committee segment - of any of the segments, that's the one that needs a strategy, and expert inputs which we've sadly lacked. The "Econ Dev" committee comprises seven members only one of whom was on the previous council, and there's no longer a business development post at the council which informs us. With those concerns in mind, I do believe that the budget committee, with three Econ Dev members on it, has come up with budget proposals which are prudent, but at the same time allow us to access experts to help us get it right for the future, and allow us to take in the very uncertainty of forecasting. Details will be written up over the next few days and should be in the public agenda pack for the committee meeting itself on 14th October, at which point I can explain further, and also fill you in on developments which are funded from other sources so appear elsewhere in the accounts, such as our earmarked reserves.
The Assembly Hall budget for 2023/4 was also looked at last night. That's with the Assets and Amenities Committee remit, but had been left off the working group meeting that met for that committee. There were changes to the charging regime structure, and thus the operating model, in May. And that's resulted in some massive movements of elements around for next year. Considerable discussions last night on those movements, and on the wider aspects of the overall balance sheet for the hall, bearing in mind that there are general budget things which benefit the hall, and there are hall resources used by the council which do not appear as income. It was suggested that these elements may balance out, but unless we accept that speculation as being correct, the Assembly Hall budget cannot be taken as being a correct operational balance sheet for the hall. What was positive from the discussions was a desire to make the hall work, and with more and better planning and community help coming into play in areas like marketing, promotion and assistance.
Published Wednesday, 2nd November 2022