Graham Ellis - my blog
On Melksham Bypass and housing growth
Full item in the writing (to be published tomorrow morning) ... but I have referred to links in a Facebook exchange already - see bypass_input_20210116.pdf>((here)) for the Melksham Rail User Group input to the Bypass consultation and ((here)) for the group's input to the Wiltshire Council Local Plan.Both can be characterised as providing positive suggestions and noting concerns rather than campaigning; the role of MRUG is to promote and improve appropriate train, bus, cycling, walking (and powered private vehicle connections too) travel to, from, through, past and within Melksham. The MRUG response does not extend to the politics of whether Melksham should be extended.
While I am providing links ... readers may be interested in my talk at the "Connected Cities" seminar last August - see ((here)) which looks forward at transport within the area in our cluster of towns, as and if (which is likely) they continue to grow.
Here, for continuity and context, is my text to which I refer above:
Take a look at positive options (alternatives to a bypass) which offer long term solutions and benefits that fit in with strategic objectives, stated and unstated. The world IS changing and with those changes, and with other less intrusive and greener changes that could be made, I query the justification. Much of the analysis so far appears, to me, based on pre-covid, pre-zero-carbon data and if likely to be wrong, WebTAG needs updating. And good argument can be raised for a BETTER solution to issues and not a NEGATIVE "we don't want this". I helped co-authour the MRUG response to the consultation - not political, but it may give you some thoughts. I will post a link at http://grahamellis.uk in a couple of hours.
For readers in BOWERHILL - there were fewer candidates for the parish council that vacancies, so you could have got on the council by rights just by offering to stand. There will probably be a further opportunity after 10th May to be co-opted, but that will now be down to the people who have already put themselves forward to choose and invite. In MELKSHAM SOUTH - too late; both Town Council and Unitary are contested. Best you can do is choose the person or people who are most in line with you.
Long reply - in summary - there ARE alternatives; in my view, the best approach is to promote things light on lots-more-roads; if (in the end) we end up with a road - at least it will have been thoroughly tested and probably the better for that. And we will then need and want to work with it for the best ancillary outputs.
For readers in BOWERHILL - there were fewer candidates for the parish council that vacancies, so you could have got on the council by rights just by offering to stand. There will probably be a further opportunity after 10th May to be co-opted, but that will now be down to the people who have already put themselves forward to choose and invite. In MELKSHAM SOUTH - too late; both Town Council and Unitary are contested. Best you can do is choose the person or people who are most in line with you.
Long reply - in summary - there ARE alternatives; in my view, the best approach is to promote things light on lots-more-roads; if (in the end) we end up with a road - at least it will have been thoroughly tested and probably the better for that. And we will then need and want to work with it for the best ancillary outputs.
Town Councillor - job spec and what I can do for you
| These are my views about what a town councillor should stand for, be and do. They are what I will stand for if elected for the south ward of Melksham on 6th May 2021. They might look like statements of the obvious - they do to me. But I have learned that many of them are not shared by other candidates, so I am listing them as MY understanding. What do I stand for? * I stand for a vibrant Melksham with appropriate growth * I stand for a town that has a strong heart and healthy lungs * I stand for a safe, green and pleasant town * I stand for a town that is welcoming to all irrespective of gender, race, age, religion, ability * I stand for a town making good of climate change, and Covid recovery * I stand to help provide local services best provided through a town council at a good price * I stand for saying the same things prior to the election and then once elected * I stand for a town that treasures its staff, volunteers, councillors and residents * I stand for a town that encourages visitors to add to our life and economy * I stand for a town that encourages businesses of all legal and appropriate types * I stand to help make inputs to planning, unitary, regional and national issues as they effect the town and its people. * I stand for a town that cares for its schools, roads, parks, town centre, transport, playgrounds and residents. What do I believe a Town Councillor should do (and I will do my best) * Live in the ward they represent * Tell you (the electors) what's really happening and not decide issues in a caucus * Get back with people when they ask questions, be available to all * Nurture the excellent base we already have and encourage it to develop * Put his or her heart into positive change for Melksham and neighbouring communities * Represent the people who elected him/her * Be independent of political or group interest before and after the election * Look after funds prudently. * Offer only very limited grants to organisations with which (s)he is involved. * Have the time and energy to fulfil the role throughout the four year term * First picture - "Going through hoops for you" Now - experience, which will differ from that of other candidates. * Lived in Melksham for over 20 years * Run and grown a customer facing business here * President of Chamber of Commerce for 8 years * Campaigned for improved train service (and got it!) over many years * Campaigned against bus service cuts (and helped save many) * Worked to get new Campus in the town (rather than out beyond Bowerhill) * Provided evidenced inputs on behalf of groups to consultations to help steer thing. * Surveyed, organised and manned stalls, written and distributed leaflets, cleaned and litter picked. Not just for election, but ongoing and regular. * Stuck around with each of the above and worked with others to make sure they work. If you live in Melksham's South Ward, I would really appreciate your vote in the forthcoming (6th May) elections. I am standing as an independent, and being newly retired I have time to continue to serve the community - now in this additional way. |      |
Published Friday, 16th April 2021
Melksham Public transport - a growing need in the next decade
Bus and train campaigning and surveying has given me a unique insight into the lives of many people who live and work here in Melksham, including those for whom age, medical, economic or other reasons, or choice, use public transport rather than driving. And I am delighted to report significant public transport improvements which to some extent are the results of my work and that of many others. There are still gaps in provision, and areas where we have lost services - in some cases causing real hardship. And much remains to be done to tune things for the future. By providing an integrated public transport network of quality, we can not only provided better for those who cannot drive, but also provide an environment in which people who could drive choose to use public transport. That encouragement required running services as a network with connections between services, an understandable fair and flexible fare system, timetables and other information (including real time tracking so you know when your service will arrive), clean, well lit bus stops (with current information there), and welcoming warm, safe, smooth vehicles with friendly staff. It also requires in most cases service that run from early in the morning into the late evening, and at sufficient frequency to enable people to travel when they wish without having to plan around an infrequent service.
Does it sound like I am describing Utopia? Perhaps it does - but it is very practical, with more buses and trains, on a wider variety of routes, each carrying more passengers than current services do. Taking the train service, where passenger numbers have risen from 3,000 per annum to 75,000 in a decade (on a rise from 2 to 8 trains per day), modelling suggests a rise to between 250,000 and 400,000 in the next few years if the service rises to 15 services per day. That rise is not just numbers - it's people. It's your teenage son headed off to Swindon to meet friends. It's you yourself not driving to the office - but leaving the car at home for your partner to use during the day. It's your family day trip to Weymouth - no need to elect a designated driver as you can all have a pint at "The Ship Inn" or "The Fat Badger" before taking the train back to Melksham and the connecting bus to Windsor Avenue.
Public Transport - especially at present - is heavily subsidised. That's because so many journeys are made on ENCTS cards ("senior bus passes"), and many of the other have been made at peak times leaving expensive vehicles, staffed, underutillised the rest of the day. That changes - with office habits post-covid reducing peaks, there is a far more efficient spread of usage, and with sensible fares paid by new users, that subsidy burden can be much reduced.
The movement towards more use of public transport brings with it some reduction in private car mileage, eases up congestion, reduces the need for new roads, and allows existing infrastructure to be toward bus and cycle lanes, pedestrianised area, and walking routes. It also brings a reduction in fossil fuel burning and carbon used - a necessity for the next decade - and reduces particulates in the environment too. There is even a physical and mental health benefit too - and that's big enough to be measured - as people walk even a short distance to access public transport, meet people as they use it, and don't end up shut in their homes because they have no way of getting out.
I asked "am I describing Utopia"? No - I'm describing practical, positive steps to a cleaner, better mix of getting around. There will still be awkward journeys where private car is the obvious choice, journeys that require more to be carried than you can easily manage on a bus, deliveries and other cases. And what I describe is "Bus Back Better" - the government's plan to take buses forward in a passenger positive (and have it work for the operators and councils too). This is a remarkable policy from them in many ways, accepting the need to buses to be an integrated social service ... and it closely mirror what I and the Option 24/7 team have been saying and working on for years. We could almost have written it!The Bus Back Better mechanism offers funding to Local Transport Authorities - in our case Wiltshire Council - to continue to support buses provided that they provide and implement Bus Service Improvement Plans. Which involves either an "Enhanced Bus Partnership" or Franchising (Unitary's choice and I would be amazed if they go the latter route)
Published Thursday, 15th April 2021
Addressing Issues - School drop offs and pick ups
In my school days, I walked to my first primary school. Subsequent schools involved a train journey, with significant walks to and from stations at both ends. For a period, that gave me "Dad time" - he caught a different train in the mornings to his job just outside the City. How times have changed! These days, it's the school run in Mum or Dad's taxi for so many of our children, and that can create a very real problem around schools designed and built before habits changed - not only in terms of the congestion and parking issues for the school traffic, but also for the residents in nearby streets.There is one primary school in the Melksham South Ward - The Aloeric School - and it's at the end of a short cul-de-sac. Two further dead end (for vehicles) roads lead off the cul-de-sac, with around 70 private homes - many with two car families - living on them. "Someone's going to have an accident sometime" and "If an ambulance needs to get to my house, it won't be able to". Those are a couple of the comments to me as I went around dropping off leaflets.
The issue is not a new one. And you have what seem to be an immovable object (the homes and residents around) against an intractable force (parents wanting to deliver their children safely to school and pick them up later).
How has this arisen?
* Melksham has grown, and children live further from the school now
* More people have cars
* Government school choice policy allows the selection of a school which you can only reach by giving a lift
* The Aloeric school is popular / sought after
* There are fears for the safety of children making their way to school on their own in the modern world
* There has been / is no / not much extra provision at the school for car pick up and drop off
* People seem less inclined to share lifts (ride share seems a very hard sell!!)
* An arrangement to use the pub car park in the days it was a "Hungry Horse" is no longer in place
Yellow lines have attempted to reduce the problem, but it appears that they have just moved the problem, and also infuriated those who live behind the yellow lines and see them not fully enforced. Afternoons are said to be worse, as that's not so much the quick drop off but the wait for the kid(s) to come out of school.So - can anything be done? Does anything need to be done? Please let's look at the causes of the problem, and not just at sticking plaster measures to mitigate them.
* I am delighted to see a new primary school being added on one of the housing developments just off Pathfinder Way; although just outside the Melksham South Ward, that will be within walking distance of the end of Longford Road / bottom of Campion Road
* Improved provision of (and encourgament to use) Walking and Cycling routes. Some are good - but an exit on foot and for cycles onto Lime Avenue - a path 20 metres long - would save a 400 metre walk around, and that would offer a real encouragement to families living in Lime Avenue, Hazelwood Road, Cedar Close and half a dozen other streets to walk to school!
* I have to find myself wondering if a new arrangement to use the West End car park could be negotiated in the mutual interest of everyone.
* Towards the longer term, as we become more public transport and less multiple private fossil fuel car dependent, should we be encouraging parents to choose schools which fit in with this new style of living; I am not suggesting any transfer of children already at or booked in, but let's alert parents to the benefits of walking / cycling to a local school as they book the next generation in. Healthier, fitter, and perhaps saving the cost of that second car.
You will note that I have not put any onus on the householders near the school here. However, you can help mitigate the issue by timing journeys away from school time. "I shouldn't have to!" you may say; perhaps so, but you could really help if you did. When I was dropping off election leaflets, I planned my route in this area to be at a time away from school start / finish times.
And - if you drive the school and have little choice, please turn off your engine while you wait for Amelia or Oliver in the afternoon. And the residents would appreciate you keeping the radio at a reasonable volume too. Little thinks that would be greatly appreciated by the neighbours, and you may not have considered.
What's this got to do with Town Council? One of the roles of a town councillor is to help interface the elemets of the community - talk to people, help sort issues out, for the good of us all in Melksham South. Should you elect me (please vote GRAHAM ELLIS on 6th May), I assure you that this issue is on my radar and I'll see if there's anything to be done to improve the situation.
Published Wednesday, 14th April 2021
Persistance pays - overcoming political hurdles
How has the political situation in Burma affecting my campaign? What about influences from the behaviours of Donald Trump and his supporters? Well - these are two reasons (Myanmar and American Politics) quote to me on Facebook as I tried (but failed) to boost a post there to help me reach voters in the Melksham South Ward for the Melksham Town election. It turns out there's a whole lot more complexity involved in saying "Please take a look and me and vote for me" than saying "Please choose me for your python training" or "Santa will be oin the train on 12th December".Problem overcome, however, through persistance and a series of authorising steps - at each step trying again and being give another reason why I couldn't boost. I am very much reminded of the story of Robert the Bruce. From Wikipidia: 'According to a legend, at some point while he was on the run after the 1305 Battle of Methven, Bruce hid in a cave where he observed a spider spinning a web, trying to make a connection from one area of the cave's roof to another. It tried and failed twice, but began again and succeeded on the third attempt. Inspired by this, Bruce returned to inflict a series of defeats on the English, thus winning him more supporters and eventual victory. The story serves to illustrate the maxim: "if at first you don't succeed, try try try again."' And, like Robert the Bruce, I keep trying until the goal is achieved. Actually, I have something of a record on that ... be it getting a decent train service, Sunday and evening buses, the best hotel in Melksham or the library's new location in the centre of town rather than out beyond Melksam Oak on the Devizes Road. Image from ((here)) on WikiPedia - it's in the public domain, but still deserves a "Thank You" to Kaldari - its originator.
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Published Tuesday, 13th April 2021
Melksham, litter picking volunteer
I took the opportunity to help "Melksham in Bloom" volunteers picking litter from "The Woody" on Queensway yesterday - catching up with old friends, making new ones, and catching up with what's making the town tick. Nothing new in my helping with litter picks - first picture today is from just before Christmas, clearing up leaflet vandalism at Melksham Station; I didn't shout about it at the time - just let the "powers that be" know that we were having problems. So much of this sort of work does on site unseen and has done for years.You'll note the official GWR Hi-Vis tabard. Melksham Rail User Group volunteers are GWR trained and 'signed off' for rail safety and security, and at the station we keep our eyes open when at work. It's rare for an incident to require us to step in (though I can and have - on one occasion - had the line closed) but very, very common for us to provide a friendly face and help for people using the station, many for the first time.
Yesterday, however, was a picture opportunity, standing out from the back room for once and letting people know that I'm around and there to help. Really there to help too - I rather surprised the organiser by taking another bag after this picture was taken, and doing another round. Far too used to parliamentarians who stick along just long enough for the exposure and photocall - yes, I have organised them too ;-) .We see our parks, streets and station at their worst when we do a litter pick. From the previous pick through to the one we're doing, they have moved from good through reasonable to being at their worst - but actually not all that bad. And good to see that the majority do make good use of the rubbish bins along the way; we're clearing up just after the minority at such events.
Published Monday, 12th April 2021
Big changes in our streets - electric car charging
I know Melksham South "quite well" but walking around, delivering leaflets, is taking me into a number of quiet cul-de-sacs I have not visited before. I am struck by the number and variety of motor vehicles (not only cars) parked around. I have been considering just how much this or these vehicles need to change over the next decade, as we head for "Zero Carbon". Readers may agree or disagree with where we are headed, but we are headed there for sure and must look to establishing the best future quality of life for ourselves and for our community.
A move to electric powered vehicles is a partial solution. But (nationwide) only 40% of homes have car parking at which they can recharge their vehicles. Personally, Lisa and I are fortunate that we can park close beside our house, but so many, many people park across a pavement or remote and cannot trail cables / charge at home. There are charging points in King's Street Car Park and at the Melksham Hub on Station Approach, and a couple in Melksham without (Lowden Garden Centre and Beechfield House Hotel) too. But, really, these are not facilities that people who live locally will use on a regular basis - they're much more tuned for visitors, just as you (a Melksham resident reading this) would look to charge in Southampton or Taunton or Bristol if you drove a round trip there.One of the key elements of moving to electric cars will be an ability to refuel ("recharge") them in the same time it takes us to fill a fossil-fuelled vehicle. But even then, the electricty still needs generating somewhere, somehow. And you can have just as much road congestion with electric cars, and much of the same particles from rubber tyres on the road.
Thirty years ago, I drove 30,000 miles a year, in a fossil fuelled car. In the year to March 2020 (i.e. before Coronavirus), I drove under 1,000 miles and that in an electric car. It's not that I had stopped travelling, just that things have changed and I can use public transport for almost all my longer distance journeys. At times that may be slower, and I may have to wait a while for a service, but I can arrive at destination fresh rather than worn out, and if I choose I can work at my seat as I travel. It's really added a quality of life to my travel.As journeys get shorter, service frequency and local access to the service become more significant so although regional journeys and long distance ones have transformed easily for me, shorter distance trips have transformed less easily. It becomes more important for local public transport to become frequent, to pick up and drop off closer to home, and also to connect with onward transport. I'll come back to that topic in another day or two - but for the moment I'll conclude with re-iterating the news that we're going to need to see major changes on our residential streets in coming years - a re-organisation to aid charging electric vehicles and a reduction of vehicles over all - for quality of life purposed to be encouraged by much improved public transport, and much improved cycle and walking provision.
If elected to Melksham Town Council on 6th May 2021, it will not be my responsibility to pilot these changes through - but it will fall within my remit to campaign for best provision within all the changes for the residents of the town, businesses and visitors. And prior experience sets me up well for taking up that cause.
Published Sunday, 11th April 2021
How does Melksham Town spend your Council Tax?
There has been lots of talk about Melksham Town Council's budget / expenditure. From (here) I have extracted the budget figures for a recent year to help inform me. Here are all the individual entries of £5,000 or more:(A) £314,900 Central Costs
of which
£269,000 Salaries, National Insurance and pension
£15,000 IT monitoring, support and backup
£8,000 Insurance
£5,000 Conference and Training
(B) £53,000 Grants
of which
(£15,000 Miscellaneous small grants)
£10,000 Young Melksham
£7,000 Melksham Christmas Lights
£5,000 Citizens Advice Bureau
(C) £20,500 Corporate Costs
of which
£10,000 Audit, Year End Costs, Professional Fees
£5,000 Human Resource Consultancy
(D) £13,400 Civic and Democratic
£5,000 Election Expenses
(E) £0 Capital Projects
That's a total of £401,800, and that works out at between £25 and £30 per resident - that's about £75 per household. The rest of your council tax bill relates to Wiltshire Council, Policing, etc. Declaration of interest - I am vice chair of the Melksham Rail User Group, which received a grant of £350 last year (and very grateful we are too as it makes a massive difference). Until Summer 2018, I was also with TransWilts for whom the Town Council budgeted £3,500 last year but I have no knowledge as to if or when such a grant was actually paid. Credit must be given to other candidates who look to continue as town councillors for making similar declarations of interest and standing back from votes where Town Council expenditure has funded organisations with which they are closely involved.
In recent years, some elements of the budget and expenditure have changed dramatically year on year, and it is likely there will be other big changes in the next four years. I don't yet know what my detailed decisions / votes will be on future budgets - that will and should depend on the background circumstances at the time. I can confirm that I will steer a balance between being frugal with your money (getting best value) and spending where appropriate to continue to support our town and the community here. That is almost certainly a view shared with most candidates.
Published Saturday, 10th April 2021
Online answer questions, every 4 days.
Updated link at the base of this page - joining details for 4th May 2021
Starting on 10th April 2021 AT 18:30 (that's a day after we know all who's standing for Town Council) and every four days, I'll be online ... ready, willing and able to chat via Zoom about any issues you like in relation to my standing for Town Council (South Ward). That's an opportunity for YOU to tell me your thoughts, and to understand where I am coming from. As an independent candidate, I have more to tell you than most. Although I have been living in Melksham for 20 years and have a lot of community background, there is no current or recent political party position to tell you about me, so I have much more new to tell you than many others. my about me page and my philosophy and views pages tell you more - but why not come along to one of these Zoom sessions and have a chat?
I am delivering leaflets, but I am not knocking uninvited on doors to canvass you. Although it's now legal again (has been since 8th March) to cold call for this purpose, many people feel that it's an unnecessary risk as we come out (but are not fully out) of Coronavirus restrictions, and many more simply don't like being disturbed at their door by someone looking for their vote. I respect those views - however, I am more than happy to speak on the phone or online, to call round by appointment to speak with you (needs to be in the garden) or to invite you to pop round to my home in the heart of the ward on Spa Road, and speak in the garden here.You'll often hear people say "(s)he was around all the time when (s)he wanted my vote, but now that (s)he is elected, we never see (him/her)". You may say that of me, too, in the future - you'll see me less, but it will never be never. Once elected, energy moves from campaigning for permission to do the job to actually doing the job. And doing the job still involves listening and communicating both ways, but more targetted to individuals and groups rather than bulk publicity. So the Zoom sessions every 4 days will run up until the election; thereafter (if elected), I'll set them up so you can reach me every month but make sure that I'm reachable, anyway, by other means / at other times too.
Next Zoom meeting
I have selected every four days to ensure I'm around once on every day of the week before the election. If no-one's around, I'll stick there for half an hour - come on, unmute yourself and shout "hello"; if you're the only visitor, I may be working in another window!Graham Ellis is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Graham Ellis - Independent candidate for Melksham South Ward
Topic: Ask the candidate
Time: May 4 2021 06:30 PM London
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Published Friday, 9th April 2021
Making it walkable to the station - saving lifts and driving
Living here, you could walk to the station in 10 minutes. But I could not recommend it - far too dangerous. I would have to recommend an 18 minute route instead. And if you walked purely along roads, you would be taking a 27 minute walk.So what? Typically people (and that includes your neighbours and yourself) will walk 15 minutes (source - via Mendip Council) to a railway station on a regular basis ... about a half of that to a bus stop. So via that 10 minute route that I classify as unsafe, this part of Melksham (South) illustrated is the sort of place well set for a more carbon friendly future, where people will comfortably travel around without taking a car every time; no more need for Mum's taxi to be called on for every outing, and perhaps no need for that second car just to sit in some car park all day while Mum / Dad is at work.
Thank goodness for our network of public footpath and cycle ways. At least that reduces the walk from 27 minutes down to a much more manageable 18 minutes. But with some tuned changes, we could make our town so much more walking and cycle friendly. May of them need to be "waymarked" - here is a typical path, with no clues for the visitor that it leads anywhere but the play area!
Let's take the specific example above. I walked from the corner of Alder Way and Hazelwood Road to the Railway Station, with a HiVis vest and at a quiet time of day, via the Challeymead (A350, bypass) bridge. From the Cemetery Entrance to the bridge, there's about 100 yards of wide verge to walk on that could do with surfacing for walking. The bridge itself has a wide enough and surface sidewalk for pedestrians and cyclists BUT the way safety systems for motorists have been installed blocks that use; those systems could / should be modified to allow walking. There is then, perhaps, a further 100 yards of wide verge to the generous footpath-to-nowhere that starts at the Farmer's Roundabout.
Let's take the specific example one further step. Look at Wiltshire Council's Local Plan for Melksham which has been under consultation, with the suggestion to develop for housing the land on the other side of the (present) bypass, and the Wilts and Berks Canal plans to provide the canal through that area. Providing a safe pedestrian and cycling route to the Station (and stores and services on the way) would transform that area from a car-dependent suburb to being a much greener, healthier, more sustainable part of the town. Published Thursday, 8th April 2021