Graham Ellis - my blog
Melksham Town Council Play Areas
As Spring comes, our play areas and outdoor facilities across Melksham come back into sustained use. There are fifteen of them (I think) owned and maintained by Melksham Town Council, ranging from smaller facilities such as this neighbourhood one to the play and recreation areas in the KGV park. The Spalshpad re-opens today for the Easter school holidays, then will be open again from half term in May right throught the summer.In additions to the Lewington Close play area, there are four other in South Ward each serving their own local neighbourhood. Common / central / older plays such as the skate park, zip wire, bigger slide and so forth are to be found at the riverside and in KGV, where facilities such as public loos are available to older children and young adults that use them, and the youth can be there for longer periods without any concerns of them distrubing close by residents.
There is talk of a BMX track being supplied, funded and maintained by the Town Council and I am minded to think this is a good idea. For older children and youths, it's probably sensible for it to be sited either in KGV or in Melksham Forest, perhaps near the Forest Community Centre. Much as I would like the facility in my own ward, I don't think we have any site that's appropriate and has that infrastructure and neighbours to support it. I suppose the play area that adjoins The Campus might be considered, as being close to the facilities there, but I think I prefer other sites outside the ward.
Re-hi - and an introduction for new readers
Written 27th March 2024 to help inform new staff on the council team.
* Elected as an unaffiliated (independent) Councillor in May 2021 - one of four Town Councillors representing the South Ward, where I live. That was the first (and only thus far) time I ever stood for election to any government body.
* Moved to Melksham in 1999, where I ran an IT training business, hotel and meeting and business event venue until I retired shortly before Covid. Our success was largely down to our excellent, motivated, customer caring and stable staff.
* My key council areas of interest are transport, communications, the environment, facilities such as The Campus and the Assembly Hall, and strategy. I tend o work from strength of technical knowledge rather than marketing rhetoric, though I understand that both approaches are effective.
* I'm 70 now, and my hearing and balance is not what it used to be and limits what I can do, especially in noisy environments and physically; at council meetings I sit towards the rear on the far side of the room to enable me to manage.
* Outside interests include wider public transport improvement and use across Wiltshire (I would describe myself as a partnering advocate and campaigner) and support for the Homes for Ukraine program. Married; Lisa, my wife, is very close and supportive. Children long since flown the nest; replaced by two greyhounds.
* I am motivated by making a positive difference for others - in their environment and life, in equality and fairness, and helping keep them fully informed.
* I am available to help the council and staff and public as best I can - just ask at any time. This spring, while I still can, I am taking the opportunity to travel widely - HOWEVER I am still reachable by phone and email, and able to attend and participate in meetings via Zoom to the extent that is arranged and permitted.
Published Wednesday, 27th March 2024
Annual Town Meeting - happening in Melksham
An excellent Annual Town Meeting last night - the one time in the year when the Melksham Town (Parish) comes together to receive updates, ask questions, and where community groups are given the opportunity to tell others about their activities. 10 (out of 14) councillors, 4 staff members, and 14 members of the public attended. Unusual for a council meeting to be seated around the room at tables, and four of us councillors (myself, Andrew Griffin, Jacqui Crundell and Jack Oatley) chose to sit at tables shared with members of the public, as I personally believe we should at such events. Between twenty and thirty organisations in the Melksham Area apply for grants each year from Melksham Town Council to support their community activities and initiatives, and it was good to hear from eight of them - from a representative of the Food and River Festival for their major grant, and from the Cactus and Succulent Society, the Cats Action Trust, the Melksham Garden Society, the Melksham Lions, Melksham Remembers, the Melksham and District Historical Association, and the Wessex Multiple Sclerosis Centre. From my view point, by coming along to tell us about what they have done with the funding, they are showing their appreciation and saying "Thank you" and that would make me more positive to future applications; there is no requirement to come along though.
I would also caution the reader of this item - there are many, many wonderful community organisations in Melksham who don't ask the Town Council for financial support, and so their names are not listed in this post.
Thank you to Jack Oatley - Wiltshire Councillor for Melksham Forest - for giving us his update from that council on the activities in his ward for the year, and to our mayor - Councillor Simon Crundell for a council update, and to Councillors Tom Price and Saffi Rabey updating from the various committees of which they are chair. I noted thanks to the Melksham News and Paul Weymouth for park lights, to Colin Goodhind and Jon Hubbard for their work on the council's end of the getting the Cafe in the park operational again. There were thanks to Hugh Davis and David Elms on our team for their work at / on the Splashpad last year. And a big "thank you" to the community in The Forest for their support especially in light of recent events there.
Gemma Rutter of the Wiltshire Police gave a thorough briefing on community policing and whilst there as issues in Melksham, they are not unusually so in Melksham. There were questions asked and a good discussion and explanations and background given.
The Mayor looked forward to the next year, looking ahead to work on a BMX track, to council sponsored work on Sandridge Road to widen the pavement by the path to Maple Close, and to ongoing work on the Neighbourhood Plan, taking it through to a local referendum so that we have a supported strategy for the development of our town in the future.
Simon Crundell is coming up to the end of his second year as mayor and is openly making it clear he does not wish to continue in the role. In answer to a question from a member of the public asking if the council would benefit from a leader in post for more that a year of two, Simon firstly clarified that the mayor's role is not that of a leader, but rather as first among equals. As a voluntary role with a major committent, it means to a great extent that life and family need to be put on hold, and that two years is plenty. Indeed, huge thanks to Simon for all his hard work in what has not been an easy two years. Simon spoke that a better continuity would have been possible had the strategy work that we did soon after being elected had been taken to adoption and implementation.
This post so far is a report on what happened at last night's meeting, and not what was not said or done. I will just add a personal comment that I was disappointed in the absence of reference to the Assembly Hall, Blue Pool, and the Environment and Climate work that has been undertaken and needs to be continued. It could have been that brief reference was made when I was out of the room (called out re: Assembly Hall fire alarm) but I doubt it.
Finally, a "thank you" for all the work that Simon has put in, voluntary, over the last two years, and to the hard work and committment to the town that's been and being shown by other councillors and by staff
Published Tuesday, 26th March 2024
Four years on from Covid - Assembly Hall
Four years ago today, the UK entered lockdown and how things changed for us here in Melksham, as indeed they did across the country and the world. It was wonderful to see all the people at last night's mayor's reception making full use of the Assembly Hall that's provide by the people, through the people and for the people. And what wonderful people we have in Melksham.Covid was cruel - very cruel - to us getting out, being social, and meeting, learning, exercising, buying and selling, supporting one another, eating and drinking and being entertained. And it was cruel on our venue such as the Assembly Hall too - on its uses and finances. There were some extra uses as we supported our communities from there and held distanced council meetings in the much larger space than the Council Chamber, but the cost to tax payers was significant, and decisions made might have been appropriate for the short term, but have hindered recovery.
What a variety of uses - Thursday night the Melksham Historical Association. Last night (Friday) the mayor's reception. Tonight, the Rock and Roll club. Tomorrow (Sunday) the West Wilts Model Car Club Championships, and so it goes on. It's good to see so many events busy at the Assembly Hall. Post-covid it has kicked back hard - full houses, day after day uses, and so on. There's still a lot of work to be done to maintain the supply of bookings, bums on set seats at these bookings, staffing to support the mix of uses which are predominantly out of normal 9 to 5 hours, and a pricing model to make sure that prices are fare to bookers and to the Town Council and its ratepayers, and with payments (where we collect them on behalf of events) promptly paid.
We're in a very interesting position now - we're getting very high booking rates. It's been pushing staff resources, of which we have been very short, as well as venue space. Better staff availability will allow us to make better use of the venue space and set up up well to grow.
Published Saturday, 23rd March 2024
A full Town Councillor diary for next week
It's Saturday. I'm back in UK on Monday; as regular readers and correspondents will know, I have been very much around online - Messenger, text messages, email, phone and WhatsApp, Zoom and Teams live meetings, on Facebook and on the forum I administer at http://www.passenger.chat and as usual a couple of times a week on my blog at http://grahamellis.uk . And ("of course") I have been able to read on local matter too - often from trains where beautiful passing scenery makes an inspirational backdrop for what is voluntary work. However I admit have not been able to walk around Melksham, nor to meet people face to face who wanted an informal chat (done those last well by Zoom, mind you!). Next week's diary looks "mad" ... a series of meetings to be attended in person, and I'll certainly be out and about too. Happy to meet up / chat where appropriate.
* 18th Electric Bus meeting - 13:00 / Full Council 19:00
* 19th Environment and climate group - 18:00
* 20th West Wilts Rail User group - 19:30
* 21st Neighbourhood Plan - 18:00
* 22nd Mayor's reception - 19:00
Over the weekend, I'll be continuing to study the 92 page agenda pack. Council agendas are published a week ahead, so I've already been looking at items of specific interest and in correspondence where appropriate. One item was marked "to follow" and a further 19 pages were received yesterday afternoon - Friday afternoon with a decision on a quote of over £29,000 to be made on Monday. This does not make for a good decision by councillors who have not had a reasonable time to read in, nor by the public as the 19 page proposal has not even been made public on the Town Council web site and may come as a surprise to interested parties. I think back to similar late submissions in the past and believe that in some cases your council could have made a better important decision by sticking to its own rules.
After next week, a quieter week to follow in the run up to Easter. It starts with the Annual Town Meeting on Monday. The newly formed Communications Working Group meets on Tuesday - not one of my key meetings as the three positions were filled when it was set up by those who volunteered fastest. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.
If you want to catch up with me "in real life", please do so before Easter; I will remain available over Easter but probably via remote access.
Published Saturday, 16th March 2024
Melksham Train Service - summer and later in 2024
1. A Summer Saturday through train from Melksham to Weymouth is timetabled to run from 8th June 2024 to 7th September 2024 (inclusive) dates, "like last year" - news from GWR at their briefing to community reps on 14th March. Early timetables show it as leaving Melksham at 09:10 and getting to Weymouth at 11:08, returning at 19:32, and getting to Melksham at 21:33.2. Other train services at Melksham are "unchanged" and in the current economic and rail climate, that is a cause for relief and perhaps even celebration. However, please read on.
3. About six months ago, I put in a report to GWR suggesting certain train time changes by no more than 4 minutes to improve connections at Trowbridge and Chippenham for passengers to and from Bath and Bristol. In answer to a question yesterday I was told that these had been impossible to do because of their effect on other trains - HOWEVER I note that the 06:36 from Melksham now leaves at 06:32, and connects at Trowbridge to reach Bristol Temple Meads at 07:28 rather than 07:48. I need to take a fuller look back at my requests for other connection changes; data recently received from industry sources show that Bristol Temple Mads is the third most popular destination from Melksham by train, after Swindon and Chippenham. I am writing this on a train so can't spread out all my papers!
4. There are some more general timetable changes, effecting Westbury and Swindon in particular, with a few extra trains. I asked about whether GWR had the staff to run these reliably particularly (for example) because we have had a couple of cancellation this week due to staff shortage. I was informed that this week has been especially tight because of extra crews needed for Cheltenham (Gold Cup) trains. I'm not totally convinced - there seems to be a wide variety of short term reasons given for long term reliability issues.
5. From the close of service on Christmas Eve (24th December 2024), Westbury will be closed for engineering works for 30 days. I asked about services from Trowbridge to both Bristol and Swindon and was assured that trains from Bristol and from Swindon WILL continue to run, terminating there and with ongoing buses to Warminster and to Frome for continuing services. Train times may vary (not a surprise - there are limited platforms at Trowbridge); it's a big relief that GWR aren't running buses all the way from Westbury to Bath and to Chippenham.
These are "first notifications" - more to follow, no doubt.
Published Friday, 15th March 2024
Melksham Councillor - but answering from somewhere else
Well - here I am at 4 a.m. up to answer a query to which I promised an answer in the morning to find when I come to post the answer that I can't find the original question. I don't think that's "just me" - I think the original poster has been given further information which means he's a little embarrassed to have asked (I will have to paraphrase) "How can you possibly represent and do things for Melksham when you spend so much time travelling - we need someone local".What one person asks, another ten will wonder. So let me answer not just for the one but for the ten, and perhaps for a hundred who didn't wonder but may read and be better informed.
I live in Melksham - have done since 1999, when we renovated one of the Spa Houses. In 2006 we bought a property on Spa Road to run an IT training business from there, and when we retired just before Covid we moved into that property as our home. Running a business in Melksham shows a love of and faith in the town. We provided training on specialist topics and half the time I was in Melksham, with delegates visiting us from all over the UK, and half the time I was away - usually within the British Isles but sometimes further afield. When teaching in Melksham, delegates stayed with us and our place blossomed into a hotel with others staying when there was no course on. We had a superb, committed and stable staff team and learned a lot about Melksham and the area, and about employing people and how things work. We are (I admit) light on employment and human resources dispute law because of the team we built up, and because our business had a strategy so it was almost always obvious and agreed what to do. It worked - we ended up with high occupancy, and rated no. 1 in Melksham on Trip Advisor. And we got to know all the local eating places, taxi firms, things for visitors to do, and so on - and the local councils and regulators at various levels too.
I live in Melksham - where am I writing this? Sitting up in bed, Lisa beside me sleeping having watched TV late last night. Dark outside. But "outside where" does not matter. My laptop is my mobile office and I'm actually just as effective (sometimes more so) working away, even on the move. Being away does restrict my attendance in real life at meetings, and when elected I could attend and participate fully in meetings via Zoom. That was something allowed / introduced by the government during Covid times and I regret them changing the law back so that councillors must now be physically in the room to vote; it doesn't make much difference as I am just one of 15, and I normally schedule times away around the council calendar anyway. The current mayor and some of the other councillors are very good when chairing meetings at taking remote as well as local input.
But think about this. We have a Town Council full time paid staff. They get holidays, weekends, etc and you don't expect them to answer when away nor should you. I am probably in Melksham more than their working time, and I am purely a volunteer, so I think you are getting more than value (sure, you could say I am paid nothing so of no value!).
It was a massive decision of mine to stand for the Town Council. I did so this tie and not in the past because I am now retired and have time I can give to the role and town. And I also did so in the full knowledge that there are three other councillors in the ward who will know things I don't and it should work as a team. Others - Councillors Lewis, Goodhind and Mortimer took similar views and it's a tragedy that they're no longer on the council. I can totally understand their reasons for leaving. I am very happy in working with and informing the public as this post is doing even against a backdrop of a questioning criticism, but I find myself frustrated and bashed by other matters too.
Dear electors, you have me in Melksham for a further year "whether you like it or not". Then you will be offered an option as to who's to be in the Town Councillors for the next four years. If I stand (and I have learned the job now), you could chuck me out for someone who you feel would do a better job. I know that the town has a history of replacing most of its councillors (which in turn seems to lead to its replacing most of its staff) every four years, so I'm in no doubt that I would not be a "shoe in". And, yes, as I get older I get slower, and there is so much I want to do. My friends have mentioned trains and the Assembly Hall / Blue Pool; I'll add buses, long term strategic planning for the town and the Splash Pad and the environment - and helping to keep people informed as to what's going on. And, yes, I can do most of that from just about anywhere in the world. Perhaps one of the differences is that I chose to keep doing it while [off duty/away] and others are silent.
So what's the picture about? The "Jazz Service" was the name that the Great Eastern gave to its high frequency train service into Liverpool Street in the early 1900s - just turn up and travel. Good idea and a spectacular piece of transport planning. It doesn't matter where I am this morning - but the local trains around here are running what they call the "Jazz Service". I know where they got the idea. Learning from elsewhere is so key to what we do ourselves.
Published Monday, 11th March 2024
The Subway (under the A350)
In answer to a Social Media discussion - some background.The Subway under the A350 was built many years ago in part to provide a safe way to George Ward school and includes an early cycle lane and footway. It was decorate with somewhat dark coloured images on a plaster base that were life expired a decade ago, and plaster was flaking off making it shabby to say the least. Maintenance is by Wiltshire Council, and they together with the community used money from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to clean up an white paint the subway. That was never intended as a final solution - the subway was to be taken on as a project by the new Oak school to provide a new finish that wasn't tempting to the graffiti artists we have these days, and if it did tempt them for it to be easy to clean up. That project did not deliver, and my view in hindsight is this that it was a nice idea - the heart was there, but the head of who pays for it, and who does the work, weren't.
So we were / are left with a blank canvas so tempting to write on, and in modern time such painting / tagging has become prevalent giving a real and ongoing issue. Wiltshire Council do clean up from time to time, and the town council (who are purely advisory in this) chivvy them to do so with parish stewards, the sparkle team, and so on. The real direct input is to Wiltshire Council and you are requested to do so through the myWiltshire App. Posting concerns on social media MIGHT get noticed but it's not the way to get things done - there are so many channels they can't all be monitored and if they were you would be grumbling about the cost of paid council officers spending their time on Facebook / X / Instagram / NextDoor / Pinterest / LinkedIn and so on. Direct action - you could come along on Tuesday evening to the Economic Development meeting at the Town Hall and ask in public participation at the start if something / what can be done; that committee usually provide guidance to the parish steward and sparkle teams so is a good place to ask, but do not expect to get a full answer on the evening to a question they don't know is coming.
Some other possibilities.
1. There was a local cycling and walking improvement plan consultation - I was busy gathering thoughts on that and inputting to Wiltshire Council last month - did you make an input? If not, I have a sneaky thought that a late input written to the team involved would most likely still influence there plans.
2. From Town Council minutes in the web site - Community Development Committee, 22nd June 2023 - Presentation from Natalie Remington. To receive a presentation from Natalie Remington on Art in the Underpass. "It was proposed by Councillor Houghton, seconded by Councillor Rabey and UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Town Clerk starts negotiations with Natalie Remington to move the project forward". It would be good (I would be interested too) to know how this is going on; there are many twists and turns and things almost always take longer that we would wish. This isn't a committee I am on (there are limits for all of us volunteer councillors) and the subway is not in my ward.
Overall, I would LOVE to see the subway being transformed / updated into a welcome to the town. I note that it's very much a key place in the neighbourhood plan and the long term plans set an environment to get it sorted out. There are community / volunteer options but they should take a look at following up and working with the stuff that started last June rather than giving up on them, competing with them. And as well as "fixing it", we need to fix it in a way that's going to last and be maintainable for years ahead.
Published Sunday, 10th March 2024
Councillor vacancy - who and how to choose
With the resignation of Sue Mortimer as a Town Councillor, there's a vacancy in Forest ward for a fifth councillor to sit alongside Jack Oatley, Claire Forgacs, Tom Price and Pat Aves. It works like this:
If 10 voters in the ward write in to the chap at Wiltshire Council by the 28th March, requesting an election, then nominations for candidates will be requested by a date soon thereafter. Should multiple nominations be received then an election will be called. If only one candidate is nominated, that candidate gets the seat without a vote.If less than 10 (or no-one at all) writes in asking for an election, the councillors can choose between themselves and co-opt the person that the most of them like.
OK - it's not that informal (but you get the principle, I'm sure!)
Should there be an election? My view last time was strongly YES. It's the principle of democracy letting the electorate choose. And it also gives the new councillor the same authority as all of the rest of us who were chosen as their preferred councillor rather than being there as the only (wo)man standing, or becaused (it could be suggested) his/her friends in the biggest groupings sought a further vote. New councillors can be uncomfortable but that's a price worth paying.
Those were my reasons - but this time I am not so sure. If an election if held, the new councillor will have less that an year to serve, so it's an awful lot of fuss for a short period. Concern has been expressed at the financial cost, and I'm also going to express concern that it will take our councillor minds off the substantial number of significant things piled up on our plate at the moment.
Words of caution, though, to anyone considering standing. You need to be robust, you need to have time, and you need a supportive home network. That's a comment about personsal matters. And it comes before the qualities you need and can bring as a councillor.
Published Friday, 8th March 2024
Assembly Hall update and new program
A great deal has happened at the Assembly Hall in three months and I wrote a news update for our volunteer team - copied below to update wider friends too.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I can't believe it's three months since you last posted Assembly Hall brochures through letter boxed in your part of Melksham, and - wow - what a contribution your help makes. Even in the low mid-winter months when people tend not to venture out, there have been a number of sell-out events and plenty more where we can make it go even better.
Are you available to distribute newsletters again, please - help us continue to make a real difference? They arrived from the printer yesterday, and I have picked them up. Same areas / set of streets as last time, please. Available for collection from us (48, Spa Road)
Friday 1st March
Saturday 2nd March
Sunday 3rd March
Monday 4th March
For distribution at your convenience, ideally over the following two weeks. I will be away from very early on 5th - available online and there will be people around but would be great for the vast majority to be with you over the weekend.
This email is (blind) copied to around 15 people, and for some of you there may be elements that don’t apply to you. Sorry about that; please forgive.
The following is "for your information" - no further calls for help hidden in it!
An update on the Assembly Hall, 1st March 2024
On immediate operation, Sara, Sarah, Hugh and Gloria on the Town Council staff are doing a sterling job, wonderfully helped by the staff who are called to help on the bar and in the hall at events. The term is "casual" for their jobs, but they are far from that. Kevin has moved away from the area, but is still helping out as he passes things over, and Bruce - though he has left - can occasionally be seen at events like the record fair. And there's a small and select number of volunteers (but too many to name here) helping out - some who have done so for many years, some quite new.
Repairs have started on the Assembly Hall roof, and the council's amenities team has, during their quiet outdoor period, done a really good job in the changing rooms behind the stage - vital for performs but a part of the hall most of us rarely see. Bookings are already being made / accepted for 2025 and we are looking forward with optimism.
Looking a little further ahead, I note that all the staff currently overseeing events at the Assembly Hall were taken on for different roles, predominantly weekday daytime where the hall is so much weekend and evening. So from a purely personal viewpoint each of them will, surely, be considering the future beyond the immediate - whether continuing hall roles are a career and learning opportunity they cherish, or whether they want to drop back into the jobs they were employed for or something similar. They are doing a hugely positive job ... but we are short of people in a number of areas. There is good news - there's recruitment underway and no question that the Assembly Hall has a future beyond the immediate future.
At Melksham Town Council, we have lost four councillors in the last year and you'll be hard pressed to find any staff members who have been consistently with us and at their normal place of work throughout the last year and a half (vacations and short illnesses excepted, of course). That's not a stable environment or one in which tasks are quickly and routinely undertaken through familiarity. Lots of questions are raised and that puts pressure on senior people too. The fact that these issues are noted and accepted is an excellent step to actually moving us forward towards a happy, efficient, motivated council with a strategy in the future. That's not something that will happen overnight but work is being done with that objective in mind. I know a lot more that I can openly say, but please bear in mind that I am not on the staffing committee so there are areas I am limited; that committee - thank goodness - is now sharing wider than it traditionally has done and is listening a little more to other councillors who have experience of business operation, including staff issues - both technical and motivational.
So what of the future of the Assembly Hall and Blue Pool? There is no doubt that the facilities, events and opportunities provided are loved, wanted and there are more needs. For the future, "do nothing' is probably a poor option, but we don't have the team and resource within the team to plan ahead for efficient change to an excellent future with minimised risk. For a few weeks, staffing the hall and doing immediate stuff is OK - but beyond that we really need to move on. Some of tat may be with existing staff as they pass on day to day stuff to others, but in so many areas we need to buy in or bring in others as volunteers or operators. That needs to be directed by the full council as building owner, and sooner rather than later they need to tell Wiltshire Council that they'll buy the Blue Pool. That's before WC get tired of waiting. The Friends presentation of 17th July last stands, looking at the options, though much has move on with the friends, and a little bit has crept on with the council (we know that the Blue Pool structure is basically sound) since then. A big THANK YOU to our active friends - quite a number of you - who have been doing background work and indeed (thank you) standing up at council meetings and pointing out the need to act. At times it feels like the inputs are ignored; they are not in that they are helping set the environment to us (as a council) moving on, and indeed the publicly shown sentiment has now moved on from any proposal of permanent closure.
A very long email which should be read for the most part as from me personally and opinions stated are not official from the council. But I ain't far out, thank you all SO much for your help, and can see ahead a really exciting future, in which the publicity of leafletting that you're helping with is an ongoing key element.
Nothing above is particularly secret - written for the Friends core team and sent to them first (yesterday) but no problem with wider sharing.
Published Saturday, 2nd March 2024