Graham Ellis - my blog
Answering on Facebook - not always possible
I am very sorry that some people are getting snappy and upset with me about my lack of replies on Facebook on a Melksham community group. My posts there have been decline, previously with reasons given in a personal message to me, and understood - things like "nothing political" and "I don't want that meeting promoted" and it is totally up to the admins of that group to refuse posts if they wish. But I am now automatically declined ... "Your comment was automatically declined based on certain criteria in this group. Next steps. Review this group's rules." and I have done. I am trying to work out which rule I have broken, and cannot see it in the content (image above) nor in previous declined comments.
| These rules come from the group admins. 1 Be kind and courteous We're all in this together to create a welcoming environment. Let's treat everyone with respect. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required. 2 No hate speech or bullying Make sure that everyone feels safe. Bullying of any kind isn't allowed, and degrading comments about things such as race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated. 3 No promotions or spam Give more to this group than you take. Self-promotion, spam and irrelevant links aren't allowed. 4 Respect everyone's privacy Being part of this group requires mutual trust. Authentic, expressive discussions make groups great, but may also be sensitive and private. What's shared in the group should stay in the group. |
The rules are sensible ones, but as I said I am trying really hard to see which rule I have broken ... let alone broken enough to get an automatic decline of anything I try to answer ... in the latest case about progress on the request to the council to see if the old toilet block on Church Street can be reopened with part used as the pet food larder.
Please do get in touch with me directly - if I see you asking on a Facebook Group I will answer there if allowed. If I see you somewhere my reply is likely to be declined, I will get back to you personally. But of course while that may answer you, it leaves a pretty poor impression with all the other readers who think I have not responded.
Putting the shoe on the other foot, I DO do a lot of online moderation and admin myself, and know what a hard call it is in a theoretically public place to decide to put something in place thatautomatically declines a poster. Personally, I feel it is "Kind and Curteous" to let someone know why they're decline if it's an action you feel you have to take.
Should Melksham welcome Labour's expanded housing?
From Mike Sankey on Facebook in answer to Angela Rayner's plans to build more houses in Wilthshire, as reported on the BBCOh dear, Mike ... yes, a big gulp and deep breath taken. This strikes me as a post from you with seeming political unpleasantness aimed at the new government. They have been elected on a very open manifesto of building more homes. And that's just like more homes have been built around Melksham in the last 15 years by - let me see - which party are you with and who was the government? It looks rather hypocritical to me.
But let's take a forward looking view, should we?
This country needs housing to be provided. That's based on renewal of old homes that are beyond their life and not up to modern standards. The average household size has remained static (2.36 persons) for a decade, but there are now 33% of young men and 22% of young women (aged 20 to 34) living at home with parents, and those numbers suggest to me that there is a block in them leaving the parental home; anecdotal examples confirm that. Our population is increasing (perhaps 5 million in the last decade) and again those people need housing. Those are just the raw starting facts.
But then the question comes "how, what and where should housing be provided". "Who should build it and decide on how it's provided" and "what extra service and infrastructure should be provided to support that housing and those living around"?
Under the previous Town Council, the "Priority for People" project helped inform the town council as to our direction, and we had a Community Development Officer who did so much to guide us and help us through the first Neighbourhood Plan. Although one the first actions of the new council in May 2021 was to declare him redundant, we (or perhaps "I" since I cannot speak for the council as a whole) are now fairly well informed for future direction, and we have our development projects set.
Without David McKnight, and without anyone else picking up medium and long term planning issues, your Town Council essentially chose to abdicate the role it had been taking in the development of the Melksham Area. I am delighted to say that Melksham Without Parish Council officers and councillors have taken a lead role in the revision of the Neighbourhood Plan and with two councillors and funding from the town this work has continued - indeed we had consultations on the final changes last week.
Which leaves us in a pretty good position to react to changes from the region of country as a whole - even if not formally, for the people involved in the neighbourhood plan to do so slightly less formally. The mix of housing we need is known and defined. Building Standards have been defined. A huge number of potential sights for plan lead development - both ours and County's have been considered and when it comes to adding more homes as this government has asked, we are fast-tracked to knowing what we need, where it should be, and to what standards. And how will it fit with or have the infrastructure keep pace?
There will be challenges. I am far more positive than Councillor Sankey who to me seems to have taken a NIMBY (Not in my back yard) view, which I can understand as he's an excellent councillor who's up for re-election next year, and must say what is going to be popular with the electorate in East Ward. In the South Ward I am telling people the whole story, including things that won't be popular.
So what extra thoughts do I have? Adding extra housing around Melksham makes some sense
1, Developing around Market Town rather than in suburbs of major cities makes modern commute sense. Post-Covid and with people now able to work much more from home, there's no longer the same peak time pressure or need to make things as fast-commutable. 40 minutes 2 times a week each way is better than 20 minutes 5 times a week each way - and modern technology allows people to commute by train and work on the train, or relax, not adding to the road traffic. I'm not saying "train or bus" because the train is smooth and the bus is not.
2. Developing around a Market Town means that town can retain or grow facilities which would be uneconomic in a smaller town. This future Melksham will support an "Assembly Hall" as at present with the large, flat 400 seats PLUS a smaller raked theatre in the old Blue Pool with perhaps 180 seats, plus a museum for Melksham both for residents and to attract people from outside - infrastructure needs to grow, yes, but many elements not at the same rate as the population grows.
3. Life in a Market Town is much more sustainable. I hardly drive these days and that's because walking and cycling are almost as fast (sometimes faster) and there's no need to find somewhere to park, no need to clog the street with "smelly, dirty" cars and no need to build more big roads for those cars, nor hard standing at people's home where the private vehicle spends most of its time.
4. In a Market Town, we are in easy reach of the countryside, and indeed of other towns. I was brought up in the 'burbs of London, and it was a rare treat to go out into the countryside. For sure, if another ring of houses is build around Melksham, that's a bit further out to go but even with all this building I think it would take up no more that 2% of the countryside over the next 25 years (that figure may be out of date) - it just feels like a lot more because the natural building places are adjacent to the current settlement.
5. Communities of a certain size give scope for improved public transport. Around a quarter of Melksham households don't have their own private powered vehicle, and for those existing households a greater demand for public transport heralds exciting and practical improvements. How about a train service not every 2 hours, but every hour each way? And then as we grow further a direct Chippenham to Bristol service calling at Bradford-on-Avon, Bath Spa on the way? How about another vehicle on the Town Bus, this one taking in the Railway Station, The Campus, the East of Melksham and forthcoming residential areas, and the work areas on Bowerhill and Hampton Park West. We have recently got new Sunday buses to Chippenham and Trowbridge, and with a rising population perhaps they could be added back in the evening too?
6. Land and building costs here in a walkable community are lower than those in a city. So more afforable (however you define that!) housing can be provided, no longer forcing our children to remain with parents long after is natural, or to move away.
Lisa and I moved to Melksham in 1999 and we were welcomed here. This town has a huge spirit, a big heart and can and will welcome others, for the common mutual benefit. I am not a Labour voter (sorry, never have been, Kerry) but in this case the Angela Rayner policy makes sense. For sure, there is much devil in the detail but if it's done to plan we already living here, and the new arrivals, will have so much to gain.
Mike's original post, which I am quoting here:
Well, the reality is worse than we feared. Labour plans to decimate Wiltshire by raising housing targets here by 81%.
Look at the map and witness the stupidity of Angela Rayner. She’s not encouraging house building in large cities that have the most demand or the best infrastructure, nope, she’s pushing it out to our countryside.
She is also restricting local powers and reducing community input to firmly wedge the door open for the big house builders to concrete over our countryside.
Expect to see the bulldozers roll into our villages very soon.”
Published Friday, 2nd August 2024
Rail Nationalisation - is it the solution?
The headline is that the railways will be nationalised, and some have bought into that message: "I'm hopeful. Having public transport under private ownership always made the very term seem like an oxymoron. GWR's contract ends in June 2028, so enough time for Great British Railways to be established by then and soon enough that Labour will still be in power. Their days are literally numbered."But, sadly, that's a simplification. What changes?
* 1. The nation already owns the infrastructure, and maintains and operates most of it.
* 2. The nation already specifies 98% of passenger services, and already operates perhaps a half of those. The other half is operated by private companies ("TOC▸ "s) who are paid a fee for doing to, and with all income going to the government. So the risk is already nationalised
* 3. The majority of passenger trains themselves are owned by private companies - Angel Trains, Eversholt and Porterbrook - not the train operators nor the nation. I have seen nothing in the plans to suggest that the nation will buy out (nationalise) these "RoSCo"s.
* 4. Freight trains are for the most part owned and operated by private companies. Nothing changes as far as I can see
So what does the nationalisation actually mean?
It means that the current private companies operating trains (First, Arriva, Govia, MTR, Transport UK Group, JR East, Mitsui and Trenitalia) will cease to do so when the contracts run out. They employ thousands of staff many of whom are very highly skilled. All their staff, except at the very highest level, will be subject to transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) - or TUPE▸ - which means they will end up working for the new bosses.
The massive question is ... who will those new bosses be, what skills and experience will they have, what constraints will they have to work under - will they be the same financial and (of late) micromanaged constraints that there have been on the contracts.
There are some benefits from moving the contracts into a national operation:
A. There will no longer be the same need to have hundreds of people involved with "delay attribution" assigning financial implications when something goes wrong to the appropriate company. But that's only to a degree as assignment of delay for open access and freight operations will still be needed. "I would add that because there will be fewer players involved, there will also be fewer contractual interfaces. This means less friction and less need for legal contracts between different parts of the organisation, which should make things quicker, easier and cheaper. These benefits of streamlining could theoretically have been achieved without nationalisation - but who other than the Government would have taken it on?" says one of my reviewers
B. The competition for timetable "slots" will be reduced, again saving a degree of duplication of work, but that's only to a degree as Open Access and freight operations will remain in the private sector.
C. The fees to shareholders will be saved - but that's probably no more than a penny in the pound of your fare
There is plenty of POTENTIAL. Potential for a consistent fare structure and marketing, for example, and potential for investment longer term as money spent by TOCs has meant that they have had to take a very short term view.
But there are some disadvantages too
a. The very senior managers who will no longer be in charge know their stuff, and they and their skills will be sorely missed
b. Towards the end of a franchise or contract, Train operators have always wanted to do a good job to give themselves the best change of getting the contract for the next "n" years. There is no such motivation at present, and perhaps we are in a "couldn't care less" period end-of-term and f*** the passengers. Now the people involved ARE more professional than that, but you're already seeing people leaving the "sinking" ship rather than waiting for the very end.
c. Motivation to run a tight ship may be missing, and political interference with running the railways may lead to some interesting decisions based on (it has been in the past) how many marginal constituencies a line passes through.
What I don't see in all of this is the saving of billions of pounds, or the motivation to significant numbers of people to use the railway now the "we own it" - even though we don't actually own most of the trains themselves.
d. "The biggest loss is of the possibility of applying real penalties to operators. With a contracted private company any fine (if you make sure it can't be recovered) comes from outside the railway itself: the owners' pockets. You (and many others) have pointed out before that fining Network Rail is pretty ridiculous.
Beyond financial penalties you can go to the next step and revoke the contract ("franchise" agreements and later contracts offer many grounds for doing this). You can hardly do that to part of a government-owned operator!"
Now - let's look beyond nationalisation at what the Labour party has pledged for the railways.
I. Passenger input / feedback - how and how to go to when things go wrong has been a mess. Transport Focus, the Rail Ombudsman and parts of the Office of Road and Rail are to be combined into a stronger watchdog - but stronger for whom?
II. We have been pledged a simpler and fairer fare system - but missing from that pledge is any commitment not to put fares up. We have already seen on LNER, already nationalised, "simplification" meaning removal of the best value fares, and there are some excellent products that are inconsistently offered. Will they continue?
III. There is a pledge to make thing more reliable, and also to save money. At present, trains, staff and tracks are behind in support and maintenance and a logical way to reach the the goal of reliability and finance is to move the goal. Are we looking at longer and more closures for engineering? Are we looking at a reduced train service to that those that are left actually work? May we even be looking at service, line and station closures? I haven't seen any shouts about more trains, and the government has just cancelled "Restore Your Railway". Any yet one of my reviewers writes "It might be good to be intensely relaxed about that 'Restore your railway' concept and programme having been given the heave ho. From the start it came across as performative vote-bait, it was given a budget that pretty much guaranteed little progress, and the whole concept was trotted out with a most inappropriate aroma of Beeching-pomander" and I agree his point; there IS a need for some network growth, but putting it back to how it was 60 years ago is hardly lookimg to the future. Much more new railways and stations which in some geopgrahic cases will happen to be similar to where things were before.
IV. There is a pledge to bring public transport more under local care, and I wonder if that means funding is more expected from local taxpayers. In some ways good, but it potentially makes for a much more patchy service. Here in Wiltshire, many of our journeys are to the Bath and Bristol area and all sorts of cross-border, issues arise, as we saw with the 94 bus. We also should bear in mind just how few of our elected Wiltshire reps would be seen dead on public transport.
So - where would I look forward as a camapigner and proponent for improved public transport, which comes back to the very roots of "why do we have public transport anyway aand what do we want it to achieve".
In November of last year, I went along to the 50 anniversary of the Campaign for Better Transport, formerly Transport 2000, and already at that time work was underway to interface seriously with the Labour party in anticipation of the possibility or even probability of them becoming the government. It makes sense to partner and not protest - to be the criticsl but knowelegable friend to help towards common goals.
Published Thursday, 1st August 2024
Walking and Cycling Infrastructure - consultation
In order to encourage walking and the use of cycling, Wiltshire council has produced a "Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Melksham - a 74 page document you can read (I have mirrored) {{here}} and is consulting on it - seeking your view - via https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/news/have-your-say-on-cycling-and-walking-plans-for-calne-and-melksham - until 6th September 2024Walking and Cycling is an important way for people to get around locally - healthy, good, door to door, can be fast, sustainable. But with traffic on the roads in can also be dangerous, not well signposted, indirect and without secure facilities at journey's end. These latter constraints discourage people from cycling and walking - you can see the difference if you compare Melksham with - say - an equivalent sized town in the Netherlands or Denmark.
From my home on Spa Road (in South Ward), I can walk to the Town Centre in 5 minutes, the cafe in the park in 12 minutes, and the railway station in 20 minutes. And I can cycle to the park in 4 minutes and the station in 6. But how safe am I to do so? What can I do with my cycle when I get to my destination? Could it be improved?
The LCWIP analyses the historic and current flows of people, and the "hot spots" that need attention, and make some suggestions. I'm not sure at this stage that the solutions are fully defined, nor how they will be tuned, and whether they will be funded or implemented, but never the less the exercise in working out what we need to do is a useful one - not only to inform Wiltshire Council, but also to educate and plan for ourselves.
Some things have changed since the data used in the report was gathered. At the time of the 2011 census, the secondary school was on the Bath Road and the pupils walked to school from a different catchment. And at that time our train service was so poor that just five passengers a day left by train (now hundreds use it, and it should be more). Other things will are changing and will change into the future too. The plan needs to consider wheelchairs and mobility scooters too, snd surely electric scooters of the sort we see in cities like Bath will be legalised here too in some form in the future? The Cooper Tires / Avon site may have substantial residential, business and leisure built there, and for local access extra walking and cycling will be significant.
I invite readers to take a look at the LCWIP consultation and make inputs. I am aware that Melksham Without Parish Council considered it earlier this week, but I have not seen it (yet?) on any Town Council agenda - I will ask. There was an earlier round of consultation on this, and I am delighted to see a number of changes proposed as a result. Your input CAN make s difference.
Published Wednesday, 31st July 2024
Road Closures and seeking Events Officer
The Christmas Lights Switch On closes Melksham Town Centre to motorised traffic for a few hours one evening a year. And there's no doubt that alongside all the pleasure brought to thousands, the event inconveniences some residents and businesses in the area. Although early information is put out in the area, including door to door hand delivered leaflets, the closure and the effects of it always seem to take some by surprise, and each year has seen some pretty upset people and very strong words with abuse to the team who are there - volunteer and paid - to keep things safe and enjoyable.As a former President of the Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the SCOB that had the issue of reaching everyone with town plans, as one of The Council's representatives on the steering group as the Neighbourhood Plan, and as one of two Town Councillors representing the Town Centre ward and also living in it, I offered last night to help speak with those concerned ahead of time to avoid nasty surprises and altercation on the day. However, the Committee's decision was to delegate the letter writing to our communications officer, snd the visiting of businesses to The Mayor. Fair enough; the Committee's call and I defer to their decision. Christmas is still 5 months away, and detail for the day will be in the hands of the new Events Officer that we are recruiting at present,
The Christmas Event is popular and exciting, and if you would like to project manage it and have the background and robustness to take the lows of the job with the highs, you still have a few days to apply to the Town Council for the job of Events Manager - advert currently available at https://www.melksham-tc.gov.uk/local-news/melksham-town-council-job-vacancies. It's a permanent, all year job with challenges for the right person.
Published Tuesday, 30th July 2024
Sorting out the trains - what problems?
I was interviewed in that BBC Radio Wiltshire on 18th July (2024) about the new Government's plans for our railways, and the interviewer asked "What one thing could you do to get the railways up and running and people using them again, arriving on time, getting a seat and that sort of thing?". Listen to the interview again (here)A good question, yes - but:
* People ARE using the railways (though not as many as could be)
* Most trains that run ARE are reasonably on time (but too many cancelled)
* You WILL usually get a seat if you want one (but some pinch points)
So ... where does that leave us?
* A need to properly define what has to be / could do with fixing / updating
* A strategy to look at where we want to be in the further future
* Tactics to help get us towards that future
I'm going to suggest that trains and buses are mass transit and are a much more sustainable and carbon friendly way of getting around in bulk for people than private cars or planes and our strategy should be going beyond fixing current actual or perceived issues and look to having us able to get around "better".
Illustration - people joining the train at Chippeneham just before 8 p.m. on Saturday evening for Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury. There were 50 passengers on that train, more that half got off at Melksham and more joined it
Published Monday, 29th July 2024
My meeting attendance - record and plan
In the early days after my election to Melksham Town Council in May 2021, I attended a number of meetings via Zoom as a councillor, as did a number of my colleagues. But the rules (law) has been changed and I am no longer allowed to do that. I must now be in the Town Council chamber in the Town Hall to act as a councillor at meetings. Good on the Town Council for running meetings hybrid these days so that the public and staff can take part.Over the past year, I have done my very best to be in the chamber for full council meetings, meetings of committees I am on, and meetings of working groups I am on. And I have achieved an 80% attendance rate - a pretty average number. That's from "call"s to 56 meetings; my choice of how many groups I sit on, and again 56 is pretty average.
But it's all a bit frustrating - the system and how it's used does not value the unpaid volunteer resource of councillors.
* I have been present, via Zoom, at other meetings. The minutes record that, for example, for last month's full council, I was there as a member of the public but still the record shows a failure to attend. True, when I wanted to say something I raised my hand but was not called - perfectly allowed by law; as a member of the public the chair would have had to suspend standing order to let me speak.
* Meetings are in a calendar planned well ahead and that's good. And I make plans to be in Melksham to attend them. But they get changed far too often and casually. I have dashed back on the ferry from France for a town council meeting (that I must be there for in person!) to have in cancelled while I travel. I found out that last Thursday's Quiz night was cancelled only on Tuesday, and next Monday's full council that I have planned around was moved too - no reason given. For sure, changes are needed from time to time, but they are frequent, and made with scant regard to those of us who give our time for free and must plan to be physically present.
* We have several of our key staff attending meetings remotely (via Zoom) and indeed taking fully part in those meetings exactly as if they were in the chamber. Excellent, sensible, practical but so GALLING to be sitting there as a councillor having different rules applied to me because I'm elected.
Dear residents, I will continue to attend meetings IN PERSON as a councillor where I sensibly can - look back at the end of the current term next May, and you should still see an official 80% record. In reality that's a "being present" record of around 85% to 90%. However, I am shifting my decisions on what meetings to attend from what looks good and is in the line of duty to what I believe is good for the long term. And I am minded not to put myself in a position of making significant changes to none-council plans to be able to attend a less than crucial meeting of event that may not even happen.
On that basis, I have agreed to speak at an event this autumn where we are looking at the future of public transport in the constituency, a topic on which the direction for years to some is being set. And that's in preference to a Town Council meeting where topics might once again include 30 minutes on whether we should provide individual cup cakes or slices from a larger cake in the Town Hall after the Remembrance Parade.
Footnote - much of what I do is concerned with travel and transport, and that includes learning from other places. Next week I will be in Barnstaple seeing how their hourly train service works and is promoted. And I have recommended changes here from learning at Penryn, Cornwall, and from Estonia, and from talking to and listening to people the world over. Such activity does not put me out of contact ... just outside the law should I try to vote or say something during a council meeting. GWR train changes have been negotiated sucess fully from midAtlantic, resident's issues dealt with from Finland, and a bus presenation given from the Swiss / German border.
Published Saturday, 27th July 2024
Travel without a car - Better for me
When I'm travelling, I try to use sustainable and public transport as much as I can. Not *just* for the good of the planet, but for numerous other reasons too. I'm writing this text on the bus from home in Melksham to Bath, and there's an immediate benefit for me - I'm not having to concentrate on driving, but I can be writing, or sleeping and I could be chatting with others - so it's not time wasted. Let me look back at the last week, and the journeys I have made - not choosing a car even in one case.
On Saturday, I walked to Melksham Train Station and spent £14.90 on a day return to Weymouth, and from there I took the Portland Coaster bus out to the lighthouse at Portland Bill, which is included in my senior bus pass. Probably saving money, even with an electric car - certainly saving me parking fees, saving my energy. Providing interaction with a number of people I met, helping update and educate me on train and bus use and how these things go together - what's good and what's not so good about them.
On Sunday, it was Melksham Open Gardens day, and I took our electric bike around a number of the outlying gardens - Portman Road, St Margaret's Gardens, Redwing Road, St Michael's Road and I can think of a legal more rapid or greener way from one place to the next. An electric scooter might have been faster, but they cannot be legally used in Melksham - ironic!
On Monday, a trip to the Railway Station to meet with the new Coffee Seller who's just started there once a week. Electric Cycle again - 6 minutes each way to and from home, and I didn't time it down to the second because it's not a race. But I do know I would have allowed just over 20 minutes to walk each way. Followed in the evening by a full council meeting - that's a five minute walk from home.
On Tuesday, at home until late afternoon and then to Bowerhill Village Hall. As deputy chair of the Joint Melksham Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, it's good to meet the public coming to our consultations, hear what they have to say, explain, and answer any questions. Home for a 20:30 (yes, really!) Zoom call connecting with Bristol and with Somerset. 5 minutes on the electric bike to and from Bowerhill.
Wednesday was SplashPad duty - each Wednesday in July and August I am volunteering with the Town Council to supervise the water play area in the park, for which I have been trained. It involves switching the equipment on and off, cleaning and checking, water testing, logging, and helping / advising customers. Needless to say (this is getting repetitive), 5 minutes each way on the electric bike - or it should have been, but in fact I returned through the Town Centre to pump up the tyres at the Town Hall.
On Thursday, Lisa and I had an appointment with a solicitor in Devizes, and we took the bus up there. Timing on the way up perfect - 25 minutes from the stop just across the road from our home. Less perfect on the return, except we chose to make good use of the time by having a meal out and visiting the market. No parking hassle, even though it was market day. And in the evening a meeting of the Melksham Amateur Photography group - I'm on the bus on the way into Bath as I write this. Follow up (rest to come). Follow up - 272 bus into Bath, 522 to Bear Flat and a walk up to the Viewpoint - met friends there for a photography evening. Walked back down to Bath Railway Station; 22:13 train to Chippenham, change there to 22:46 to Melksham, walked home from the station.
And on Friday - now updating this. And I expect to be at home all day.
So there you have it - 7 days of not driving. And not because of some sort of climate or morality check, though I do feel good about those. Here are the good points:
*+ Somone else is doing the driving; I am not getting tired and neither am I "wasting time" - I can be doing other things
*+ On walking and cycling, it's just as fast in Melksham as driving and less hassle than getting a lift
*+ There's no issue on parking and no fuel costs (although with an electric car charged off solar panels, that's a moot point)
*+ There is excellent interaction opportunity with people on the way, and an excellent opportunity to observe and see how public transport is working
*+ It's healthier / excercise cycling, walking and also accessing public transport
But some things not quite so great
*- There are time when the public transport times are not ideal; working / writing at a laptop so much of the time, I am usually able to compensate for that - for example Lisa and I stopped out for lunch on Wednesday, and I gave McDOnalds in Bath some business on Thursday
*- Public transport isn't always perfect for the total journey. For our Devizes appointment it took us closer than the car park, but I've had a couple of walks to do.
*- There will "always" be journeys which are too long to walk or cycle and cannot be done easily by public transport, or where there is too much to carry on the bus. For people with very occasional travel requirements not met by walking, cycling and public transport, taxi / private hire car / Uber may be the sensible option
Published Friday, 26th July 2024
Dog Poo and CCTV
We had a long discussion in Council last night about our new CCTV system and how it's to be used, bearing in mind all the data protection requirements. I know that if you go into a shop such as a convenience store these days,the chap or chappess behind the counter will have a screen showing parts of the shop out of his/her direct view, but it's not that easy for us as a council and with monitoring public areas rather than private premises. Cutting the very long discussion last night short, lots of changes suggested to the CCTV policy and our staff team will come back to us with the suggested changes brought in at a later meeting.But I do have one answer to share. The system is there to help the police with serious crime issues and access will be very limited. I was asked last week if I could use the CCTV to find out who's dog had fouled in KGV right outside the children's play area. I raised this last night and, no, this is not what the CCTV is intended for; it's there to help the police dealing with crime and our involvement of two key and trained staff members who can view it is to help the police in that filtering. It is unlikely that the police will be interested in dog fouling or the enforcement of the bylaws.
In my view, our bylaws could do with updating. "No cycling in the park" is interesting when national cycle route 403 passes through and there are cycle racks and a repair station there. "A person shall not in the pleasure grounds bathe, wade, or wash in any ornamental lake, pond, stream, or other water" which seems to make it against the rules to use the splashpad. "A person shall not cause or suffer any dog belonging to him or in his charge to enter or remain in the pleasure ground unless such dog be and continue to be under proper control ... a dog shall not be deemed to be under proper control unless it is on a lead." which means that dogs are not allowed off-lead even in the areas set aside as dog parks.
The rules also suggest to me that "Council Officers" and "Constables" can remove people from the park if they are breaking the bylaws. Makes sense though I have not seen it done by council officers who might be uncomfortable in that role, and that they may fine people breaking certain bylaws £5 or £50 if they see them in the act of breaking the rules. But that's if the actually catch them in the act and not if they're seen later on a CCTV recording.
Footnote - the picture was NOT taken in the park, and on being asked about the mess last week, with a specific mess being pointed out, I cleared it away. Most dog owners ARE responsible about clearing up after their pups in public places - it's just the odd one who gets us a bad name
Published Tuesday, 23rd July 2024
"What is happening on ..." project list
I admit it - I have got pretty fed up with being part of a talking shop that passes resolutions and makes plans far beyond what we wish to achieve, with some projects going into a black hole where we don't know what progress is being made, and making enquiries in itself loads our very limited in number (but not limited in skill) staff. We want to do more than we can, and in trying to do so have failed to do very much at all. But there are some shoots of encouragement - our strategy, which we met to set in June 2021 (seriously!) and should have been our four year plan has moved forward and, hopefully this Autumn we will be able to set a budget for next year that will provide the foundation for the next council to actually achieve something.
I am asked, almost daily, about how "X" project is getting on and I have to waffle far too often, or say "I don't know", and I had planned to ask about each of them at last night's full council meeting. The public want to know, and I want to know. However, I changed my plan because one of our staff team is getting together a list of all the projects and resolutions to be implemented we have on the books for councillors to prioritise on 5th August, and we need to give that thread of action an opportunity. Hence I changed my plan to ask as follows:
Questions from Councillor - from Graham Ellis - for 22nd July 2024
Our Council has a very large number of projects in various stages. I am often asked by members of the public about progress on a particular job or project and I was going to ask at this meeting for updates in the public domain on perhaps a dozen projects. However, on Monday of this week (15th July) our "Strategy Task and Finish Group" met - 10 councillor and 5 staff members present and we resolved to get a list of projects to our officers so that we know what we've got on our plate to prioritise.
So:
1. Can you please give a brief public update on when, where and how members of the public and councillors can find updates on projects in progress now and in the future?
For information - I am aware we have been here before - Councillor Goodhind was steering a system though Sharepoint that we could refer to, and more recently Councillor J Westbrook was instigating a system of including an update on all projects in the agenda for each Finance and Performance meeting, but this has not happened either due to (I understand) a lack of staff resource, and indeed councillors have been reminded / asked to be aware of the load we put on officers by asking. We are encouraged to let things slide, on the basis that if we don't, we'll be putting pressure beyond reasonable expectation on officers. On that basis, and looking to help move things forward, I am asking below only items which are both important and urgent.
We have lacked an active permanent clerk, a responsible finance officer, and a deputy clerk for some time now. And we have lacked an events officer for several months. We have excellent staff in some other roles who are picking up an amazing amount of the extra work, but that's sometimes at the expense of their own job, sanity and perhaps beyond their training.
2. What steps are we taking to ensure that we are staffed appropriately in consideration of the welfare of our staff and our ability to perform as a Town Council working for Melksham in line with an agreed strategy.
I understand that councillors are providing a list of project by 22nd July (the date these questions will be addressed) and that a list and status on each of them will be available to the Task and Finish Group on 5th August.
3. May I assure members of the public who are asking me that I will be able to give them an update on all the projects they are asking me and I register with staff by 22nd July about shortly after the 5th August meeting?
Submitted by 09:00 on 18th July 2024
Answers ... as written by the clerk ahead of time and published here for the public record. You should also be able to watch back the Facebook feed to see the answers as they were actually stated
""The role of the Deputy Clerk and the Events and Community Development Officer are now live on the website
https://www.melksham-tc.gov.uk/about-melksham-town-council/vacancies they are also advertised in various other council locations.
""The Personnel Committee agreed to keep myself and Kalpesh as Locum Clerk and Locum RFO until the council settles and to see it through the next election period.
""I regularly meet with the staff to ensure that they are not stressed in their job roles. I am soon to conduct appraisals as these have not been undertaken since 2021.
""All staff are collectively producing a project list which we have been asked to provide for the next meeting on the 5 August. This will then be prioritised by Councillors.
""There is no statutory duty to provide to the public a list of our projects, however, this will be recorded in various committee meetings. ""
We have no fewer than five people who have been Mayor of Melksham on our current council - in alphabetic order Pat Aves, Simon Crundell, Jon Hubbard, Tom Price and Adrienne Westbrook. So no lack of experience. We have four councillors who have joined within the last two years and have a more youthful vigour than those of us in our fourth year. And we have three councillors who also sit on Wiltshire Council, with a wider view of the local government scene and remunerated for the time they spend serving the public. So we should have the expertise we need to get this house into better order. But perhaps we have too much expertise and history, and yet at the same time we are a bunch of people selected for our ability to woo the voters rather than pull the whole together
I would love to see a mayor, and a permanent clerk, leading and inspiring us as we move forward. He's been in post less that two months, so perhaps that's the current mayor and I offer my support, as I do to the locum clerk and financial officer who are helping us reset for the future.
At this stage - here is my "items of question" list - projects, and little things ...
Questions to council for 22.7.2024 – Graham Ellis. Aborted because of Task and Finish work to list and sort these things for 5.8.2024 ...
1. How are we monitoring and keeping councillors and public informed of projects? Goodhind failed, now not meeting J Westbook's even limited scheme for reports at each Finance meeting.
2. Happy to Chat and memorial bench - raised 17th Jan 2023 and now been chased around 9 times with 4 different staff. Last promise – May 2024 – "soon".
3. WC has offered us the option to buy the Blue Pool for £1 - that was last year. How are we doing?
4. I have been asked what is happening with the dog park. Should be on project list?
5. I have been asked about Assembly Hall availability dates - I understand we now turn away members of the public wishing to book on the ground of "no staff" or "not fair to ask staff that day".
6. I have been asked for an update concerning control / masking of the lights for residents near KGV
7. I have been asked to confirm that the AH is now watertight and that we have paid for the works done.
8. I have been asked about the status / progress on the Sensory Garden.
9. I have been asked about progress on potentially taking on the Church Street loos with particular reference to potential use by the Pet Larder
10. It has been noted that the real time bus information is now provided at "The Pilot" and but not (yet) at the Market Place stops. Is that still on track and if so when will it happen
11. What is the status of the splashpad resurfacing project?
12. What is the status of the subway project?
13. Are we clear of good stored for projects such as Homes for Ukraine and for the Melksham and District Historical Association?
14. Is the rear door bell on the back door too high for wheelchair users
15. How are we doing on health and safety monitoring for the assets team and public? I was supposed to be involved with a monitoring process but all seems to have gone quiet
16. Can we confirm that our "leisure" provision strategy covers both indoor and outdoor venues and events equally?
17. How are we looking on having the right staff in place, and retaining them?
18. Maple Close / Sandridge Road corner - what's happening?
19. Explore Wilts App - data feed, data updating, publishing, monitoring?
20. How are we implementing our environemnt and climate resolutions such as specification to hold an annual event (such as) ClimateFest and what is happening this year within the council
21. Staff room and staff toilets at the Pavilion - what is the arragement?
22. Clock on Town Hall - stopped. Will it be restarted?
23. Our council website, and with reference to an easier search capability and contact points for staff which are no longer there
24. Cemeteries, running out of space. What are we doing about it / how are we considering stuff
25. Public Participation and council questions at council meetings – revamp on how it works
26. Yellow lines on Waverley Gardens
27. Neighbourhood Plan - progress, etc
Written and updated late on 22nd July and to be updated. Illustrative picture is perhaps THE largest decision we need to make.
Published Monday, 22nd July 2024