Graham Ellis - my blog
Council Report - budget, planning, subway miscellany
I came home from the Economic Development and Planning meeting last night invigorated - somewhat by the meeting, but much more by the extra chat with others beyond councillors who were present too. Some are new to the Melksham scene, others familiar faces and I look forward to working with them all in coming years. Personally, I will be involved in a way I am happy - in areas where I have knowledge, a desire to learn more, and an aptitude to achieve for Melksham. So moving away from the generalist seat of being a councillor where I feel at very best tolerated. Perhaps that's a bit unfair of me to feel that way, as on some niche (they should not be niche though) topics, my council colleagues do put trust in me.So ... to report:
1. Listen to the strategy. What a relief that the Town Council now has a strategy and is thinking about how to implement that strategy as we set the budget for 2025/26. I had prepared ahead of time to address each of the five topic areas and how they might be funded next year and indeed through the next council, and it was good to hear that others see the logic of matching available finances to what we want to do. Early days - I think I'm ahead of my colleagues in taking a deeper look at this but as "Econ Dev" meets every three weeks, we all have an opportunity to think more thoroughly. I'm interested to hear how colleagues campaigning for re-election would like their financial foundations to b set.
2. Planning - I was swayed by debate, and changed my opinion after listening to public and fellow councillor comment. Bloor Homes have applied for a planning condition change to allow all 450 homes on the new estate to be occupied before the relief road is opened, rather than having to pause at 350 until the work is completed. My initial view was that I believe we are just weeks away from that road opening (yes, really!) so the planning application is a technicality that won't matter by Christmas. However, it would appear that there is a history of planning conditions, imposed for safety reasons as the new estates are built, being broken and to "roll over" and accept this request for change would set a dangerous precedent. So my vote went to putting in an expression of concern - an objection in planning terms - to encourage the application to be called in for proper full consideration.
3. Subway. Happy to be talking outside the meeting concerning access to our railway station. It is just an 8 minute walk from the Town Bridge but yet (I am told) feels out of town and unwelcoming. I agree with what I am told too - a walk of 8 to 10 minutes past an out of use factory, through a graffiti-strewn subway that frightens people, and though an industrial estate that's a pretty lonely place after dark. I/we have been aware of these issues for years, and have tried (and failed to date) to implement a solution that makes the route from the town to the station more welcoming. Talking with several new people last night was not the time to be going back through the history on this, but rather to acknowledge that I and we know there is an issue, for which a solution is proposed and being implemented. And I hope it really happens.
4. Real Time Bus Information. NOT on the Committee's project list (I wonder why not?). Agreed in the spring, implemented as planned in June in Melksham Without, but nothing yet in the two most used bus stops at the Market Place and outside the Kings Arms. I was promised last week in August, but ... the told that I mis-understood that promise. Maybe, but I HAVE now an assurance of an update rather than having this project get forgotten.
5. Railway - and a report back on the letter of concern we sent to GWR relating to the reliability of their train service at Melksham, in particular in relation to short notice cancellations. These are usually reported as being due to insufficient staff or working trains being available. The letter was sent a couple of months ago, and we still await a reply. We did hear back from our Community Rail Partnership, who explained why the trains are not reliable, but were unable to offer any substantive news on how the acknowledged problem will be fixed - they are in GWR's hands (and GWR's masters perhaps - the Department for transport who are the puppet masters in many ways). But I can report back on what may be things getting a bit better - hard to tell because the problems go up and down - and I can also report on a somewhat better provision of alternative road transport. On a (different) matter I have spoken with GWR managers twice earlier this month, and they have confirmed that their MD received the letter ... the fact that it has been copied around within the organisation is encouraging, as is the new Wiltshire Rail Strategy which I wrote about last week - you'll find that if you scroll down.
Clarification - end of councillor term
A clarification is needed. I am looking forward to the end of my term as an elected councillor on Melksham Town Council. I am not campaigning for re-election, which means you should not expect to see me on the ballot paper!! It has been the most challenging and personally unhappy experience over the last three years and has proven to be something I am not cut out to enjoy doing. I do have things that I could point to as achievements but at a huge investment in time that I could have invested on other positive and more effective things, and I look forward to being more focused on those into the future. Watch this space, or what it transforms into next May. Last time around, there were seven candidates for four seats in the South Ward, and I would expect there will be a range of candidates for you to choose from next year.
Legally, I would be able to stand in another ward if I wished - absolutely NOT doing so. I have been and remain a strong believer that a local (parish) councillor should live in and among the people he or she represents; that's not a universal view - indeed of the four councillors elected in 2021, I am now the only one who's still in place and lived in the ward at those elections. And I love the community around / delighted to work with and for the public - the term "work" is an odd one because the whole thing is voluntary - I've not received a penny in expenses and at times am asked to pay for things which are a natural part of my duty. I declined to spend £50 to be a town representative at something the other week, and being asked for money to undertake what I feel should be councillor duty gives me the opportunity to take a personal decision. Were I on expenses, "duty" would come in.
To complete my clarification. I too have felt the unpleasantness felt by others who have resigned or are far less visible these days, and barring some sort of miracle suggesting that things have changed and will stay changed, you will not find me on the ballot papers for the Town Council in May 2025. Nor, as I was asked at the bus yesterday, will you find me standing for Melksham Without Parish Council - I have been asked about that, but I no longer live in The Parish. I will continue to happily "work" with both teams, in spheres where my background and knowledge can help, for the greater good of Melksham. I will not be one of those ex-councillors who feels they know better and make life challenging for the new team, but rather looking to concentrate on helping steer public and sustainable transport and the longer term shape of the town.
* our new bus service enhancements that started last month need to run for several years before they can be proven effective, and promoted through that period.
* the rail strategy just published is undated but realistically looks forward a decade or two.
* the Neighbourhood Plan looks forward up to 2038
The bonuses / gains for our area will come from these projects long after next year's elections, and none of them is likely to be vote-winners when compared to some of the progress that we have started to make in recent months - and from the resolution of so many backlogged items.
Finally – to be 100% clear. We had some excellent staff when we took over. We started with a round of redundancies, in which we removed the role of strategic planning for the town and with that lost (IMHO) our human resources glue. The cost of that latter loss, because it effects people’s personal job roles, is confidential but if you look at various signs that are public you might start to see the depth. Such things take time to work through the system, but we have now started to employ further excellent staff – some already making a difference and others learning in and very promising. And I look forward to supporting and working with them, and I implore the personnel committee to look after the employee base – signs are that lessons may have been learned. Staff should be in roles that they enjoy, can do well, are provided with the tools and training for, are not overloaded, can do without fear of unjustified reprisal or bullying, and are appreciated and secure. The negatives in that list should be things of the past – the positives be the future way, and when I come to vote for my new councillors next May, how the candidates will treat the whole team will be one of my evaluators.
I have loved working with the public - still with you for six more months and therafter on specialist transport and strategy issues. And I love working with excellent staff team members too, and with some fellow councillors.
Published Sunday, 27th October 2024
Happy to Chat bench - Peter and Margaret Blackburn
"Happy to Chat" bench, in King George V Park, Melksham, dedicated yesterday (25.10.2024) in memory of Peter and Margaret Blackburn. Peter was a chair of the Melksham Railway Development Group from w-a-y back, seeing train services at Melksham move from 2 each way per day (too early and too late to be of much use) to 9 each way, with a 25 fold increase in passenger numbers, and that provided the background for a longer platform and longer trains. Such was the success that the group renamed from a development to a user group ( https://www.mtug.org.uk). when it was formed in 2010, Peter also became president of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. As well as his public transport support (you could always rely on Peter to be at and advocating our cause at events), he was president of Wiltshire Hockey, a key representative at the Federation of Small Businesses, and a Wiltshire Councillor who - although a member of a political grouping even to the extent of being an election agent - worked for and was respected by all.
Margaret, as well as being Peter's life supporter and always there at public transport events, held key roles in the Women's Institute in the Corsham / Melksham area for many years, and was a major player at Melksham's Tourist Information Centre too - she would welcome and help direct visitors to the town, and the "TIC" became not only a tourist information centre but a TOWN information centre too, where many a resident has been helped find out more about their town - a real welcome to newcomers, and a refresher and update for old hands.
Peter and Margaret had three sons, who they spoke of proudly as they made their way in the world - with international tales. Peter loved to chat about all sorts of things, and it's really fitting that this bench is designated as a "Happy to Chat" bench. Although busy business people, two of his sons made it along to the dedication, and they well telling me how proud they were of their dad, and how delighted and tickled pink he would have been at the bench and how it would encourage positive dialogue. They also found it very fitting that the bench is in KGV, just a few hundred yards from where Peter and Margaret lived in latter years.
Pictures - thanks to Bob Morrison, with us yesterday in the park to repressnt TransWilts. The headline piture shown Peter and Margaret's sons Richard and Mike chatting on the bench.
Published Saturday, 26th October 2024
Wiltshire Rail Strategy by Network Rail
A press release from Wiltshire Council welcomes the Wiltshire Rail Strategic Study by Network Rail, which I have a copy of and have shared [here]Yesterday morning, I spoke after Sarah Gibson, the new MP for Chippenham on BBC Wiltshire, who was talking about what it set as the strategy for her constituency - and the "high profile" news is that Network Rail, at long last, see the case for new stations at Corsham and near Devizes. Listen (here). The news for Melksham is much more important, and much more immediate - it is the top priority.
The report calls for extra capacity on the line through Melksham, where the current service of one train every 2 hours or so each way is "thin". We have done wonders over the years helping it move from "useless to almost everyone" to "thin" - and as a result journey numbers have risen 25 times over. But we still only have a fifth of the passenger numbers there are at Bradford-on-Avon, a town less than half our size. I congratulate them on doing so well, but look to learn so that we can bring our service up.
We need a train each way every hour. That's up from 9 to 16 each way each day, and with that done properly - a regular "clock-face" service - we might rival the B-o-A numbers - still be less journeys per head of population, but up from 70,000 to 420,000 per annum - a six fold increase for some more (less than twice) the number of trains. The problem is that the line through Melksham is a long single track section and it's full with our passenger and freight trains, and if anything goes wrong with the train running, reliability suffers and chaos ensues.
The Network Rail first stage proposals - even ahead of new stations - are to put in a loop where two trains can pass each other near Melksham. There used to be two tracks all the way (indeed they used to be "broad gauge" so wider) and there's no need for major earthworks. Some slewing of tracks and maintenance work on embankments and cutting at the loop would be needed.
A second step in the proposal is to restore a track at Westbury to add a fourth passenger platform. That would be partly used by the services through Melksham, and partly by the London to the West of England service that would call there every hour rather than every 2 hours. It would reduce traffic jams waiting for an available platform - all too common, and often a train waits for another passengers would LOVE to connect onto.
The Melksham and Westbury proposals are not the headline-grabbers at this stage, but they are very important for Melksham - a town with a population larger than Devizes and Corsham put together, and with thousands of new homes planned where Corsham has "just" hundreds. All are needed - Wiltshire has slipped behind with our last brank new station in 1937 (Melksham closed from 1966 to 1985 and some count it as a new station, but it wasn't).
Having got a proper trains service, the Network Rail report also looks at North-South connectivity - onwards from Westbury with thought trains to Salisbury and Southampton, or to Frome, Yeovil and Weymouth, with cross-platform changes to the other set of stations possible. And onwards from Swindon on a new service to Oxford and perhaps Bletchley / Milton Keynes and Bedford for the north, and then to Cambridge. Let me be very clear, these are NOT just Melksham benefit - they are equally benefits for both Chippenham and Trowbridge which are bigger towns even than Melksham, and also lined up for even higher new housing numbers.
Now - Melksham Station. It has come forward in the last decade from a bare platform for a single carriage where the industrial estate runs out, but it lacks a welcome, it lacks a public toilet, it lacks staff to make you feel safe, and it lacks any onward public transport to the Town Centre or to the residential areas which are mostly on the other side of town. These elements are not part of the Network Rail plan, but they are going to be things to be resolved for the new services to be accessible and used by all."The table shows that population is concentrated around Swindon and principal settlements of Trowbridge, Salisbury and Chippenham." ... Guess what - Swindon and Chippenham are to the north of Melksham ans Trowbridge and Salisbury to the South. We in Melksham are in an ideal position to benefit from a direct strong train service to all four principal settlements, with our trains shared and the economic case being reinforced by the strong through traffic.
Published Friday, 25th October 2024
A victory for common sense!
From the BBC
| Councillors in England will be allowed to take part in debates from home using their computers, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced. At the moment all local councillors are required by law to attend certain meetings in person. |
When I stood for election, local councillors WERE allowed to attend meetings online - not just "from home" but online from whereever they happened to be located. That was a change that was brought in during Covid restrictions and it made huge sense and as far as I was aware worked well with few problems. It allowed busy people to become councillors and to do a good job to represent their electorate even when physicslly not around, and it was one of the changes that "tipprd the balance" and persuaded me to stand.
Then the old rule was put back into place ... and Town and Parish councillors have to be back in the Council Chamber to take part in meetings. With the need for us to be careful if we are vulnerable, stay away if we are infectious, and plan holidays and trips around imporant meetings - for a role we undertake as unpaid volunteers for the community.
We can watch in as members of the public - and one of our three mayors was very good at suspending standing orders to let [me/us] speak in a circumstance. But the illustrative picture was taken on a flight I made back from Venice to attend a meeting during a holiday. At my expense, of course. The rule is all the more absurd in that members of our staff can (and do) attend meetings remotely from time to time, and very effective those meetings have been. They have also saved you (the taxpayer) travel time and expenses for staff who happen not to be in the Town Hall at 19:00 of an evening.
The rule was explained to me by a contact of the then locsl government secretary that it was put in place to avoid Town Councils being overrun by absentee councillors. Well - that doesn't wash; there's still and always has been a rule that you can loose your seat if you don't attend for six months, so the safety net's still there.
I have negotiated train time changes for you from mid-Atlantic. I have got (at least) the peak trains back between Christamas and 23rd January next when there are engineering works, done from Somerset, and both of those were during journeys that brought me experiences to apply (or suggest) locally for Melksham - I am proud to be able to travel AND talk about buses from the river bank at Stel am Stein ... but of course those are other activities. But I have had to be in Melksham and phyically in the Town Hall to speak for you as a councillor; I have been prepared to plan my trips around meetings for this term, and I celebrate that we'll have a return to sanity for the next set of councillors for the next 4 years from May 2025.
I wasn't well on Monday and sent my apologies to the meeting, and next morning I liatened back to the chair expressing great concern as to whether they were quorate, and expressing the view that the absence of councillors from the chamber was a real problem. Indeed, and had the rules under which I was elected been in place, I could have listened to the debate and indeed commented on things like the renewal of vehicles, where I feel we should be considering setting an example and going electric. I'm relieved that other councillors ahared that view and expressed it.
Published Thursday, 24th October 2024
Welcome new staff at Melksham Town Council
A warm welcome to new staff at Melksham Town Council, and to staff promoted to new roles - see attached text from a press release. Melksham Town Council has had quite a number of projects on their plate for some time now, without the active staff resources to take them all forward. A number of excellent existing staff have been thrust into roles for which they were not employed (and don't necessarily enjoy or have training for) in addition to their normal duties. A big "THANK YOU" to them - they know who they are - for taking on and helping with that work which has stretched them at times close to (and I hope not past) breaking point.
Our new team, alongside the established hands, will take time to learn into the detail of the town's systems, projects and character so - PLEASE - don't expect miraculous and sudden changes. Priorities are being set, with the urgent and then the important being prioritised. Some things need to wait, but I would anticipate that if you look back in six months or so you should see significant movement, and be able to look forward to the following council who can build on the team set up by this one and their work.
As a current councillor, I offer myself as available to help inform and ease the new teams into place - I am retired, and now have only limited other roles whilst retaining an unlimited enthusaiasm for doing right for the town and region.
Melksham Town Council is excited to welcome several new members of staff to its Officer team.
The Council tasked Tracy Predeth MPA, Locum Clerk, with recruiting a new administrative team to take the Council forward and work towards the new Municipal Year, as local elections take place in May 2025.
Hayley Bell has been appointed as Deputy Town Clerk and will be assisting with project management as well as taking on tasks to support the Locum Clerk.
A Part-Time HR Officer, Fran House, has been appointed to undertake all recruitment and personnel tasks, as well as ensuring all Council policies are up to date.
Christina Connor is the new Events & Community Development Officer, and will be overseeing all Melksham Town Council events, managing the Grants Scheme and developing new community engagement projects in Melksham.
She will be supported by a new Events & Community Development Assistant, Franchezka Cunanan, who will also be undertaking reception duties and assisting the Assembly Hall Team.
Brian Bennett, who has been with the Council for 7 months, is now moving into the role of Assembly Hall Manager, overseeing the operations in the Hall and assisting in running Council events. In addition, due to an increase in regular bookings and popularity, an additional Duty Manager will shortly be recruited to plan and run events in the Hall as well as out in the community.
The Town Council is looking forward to being in a stronger position to develop current and future projects, and to better support the community of Melksham. The Town Mayor, Councillor Tom Price, welcomes all the new employees to the Council.
Melksham Town Council can be contacted by email at towncouncil@melksham-tc.gov.uk or by calling 01225 704 187. Melksham Assembly Hall can be contacted by email at assemblyhall@melksham-tc.gov.uk or by calling 01225 709 887.
Published Wednesday, 23rd October 2024
New to Melksham or perhaps newly retired?
"I'm newly retired - how can I find the company I used to find at work?". "I have just moved to Melksham - what is there to do?". "Is there a chat club around here?". "How can I keep fit enjoyably?"I read a number of these every month. And there are plenty of answers - of course there are - this is a friendly town. But different answers and different new niches for different people. Here's another ...
On Friday of next week (that's 25th October 2024 for readers coming to this later), we are relaunching the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG). At the Campus, 14:30 and again - a repeat event - at 18:30, so we cater for everyone.
Public Transport is a social and healthy way of getting around, and can be inspirational in places visited. Our buses and trains are accessible to all, and there are a number of us in the community who can help with information, fares, getting you tickets, and perhaps even coming with you on a first trip - a favour that you could pass on by takin others at a later date.
MTUG is the official Station Friends group for Melksham Station (members of the Community Rail Network) and we work with other partners there. Amongst prospects we are exploring are the re-opening of the Cafe building (which could thrive as a volunteer club-run outfit as happens in many other places) ... for friends to meet up, information point, welcome to people arriving in the town, cup of coffee for those going on the train, and a re-assurance and human face for the timid. Come to the relaunch of MTUG on 25th (and it's at The Campus and NOT at the station!) ... or if you can't make it get in touch with me.
Published Wednesday, 16th October 2024
25th October 2024 - Melksham Transport User Group
Less is more ... so this is a short headline.Please come along at 14:30 or 18:30 (or both!) on Friday 25th October to the Melksham Campus for our relaunch of the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG), and/or at 17:00 on the same afternoon to the KGV Park to unveil a "Happy to Chat" memorial bench to Peter and Margaret Blackburn.Some background. If you have ANY interest in ...
* Buses * Trains * Cycling * Walking
* This year * Next Year * Next 10 years
* Helping * Meeting People and chatting
* Keeping Fit * Environmental Good
* Commuting * Personal Business
* Getting out and about * Trips out
* Buses on your street * Buses and trains to and from our town
* How to find out about travel * How to find places to go
* How to find the best routes and fares
... then come along a week on Friday. It will costs you nothing but your time.
Public Transport provides a vital travel element in Melksham for many of us, and over the years the Melksham Railway Development Group (MRDG) - which has morphed into the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG) - has had some notable achievements. Most of the changes have been informed by community input, and many of the current service users have learned via publicity circulated by the group.
Looking forward, we are in a time of great risk and also great opportunity. Now is the time for us to make views know and blow a little wind into the sails of the new government and the new systems they set up for specifying road and rail services. And also for helping plan where we want our town to grow and redevelop, and how. We should not wait to let people know after new systems and decisions are in place.
We also need to promote and use what we have today. The big increase in some bus service this summer is on a trial "use it or lose it" basis, and it makes sense to get more bums on seats by having people know what is around, how to use it at an economic cost, and how to help other use it and get it tuned already towards the future.
The group has taken a strategic break over the past couple of years. Many members are no longer around, and as acting chair I (Graham Ellis) am looking to reactive the group. Whether that succeeds will depend on the community response on 25th and at the time of writing I don't know how that will go. On 25th we will inform. We will (I hope) motivate, we will look to plans ahead where we can help you and you can help us from early 2025. Stopping by for a chat. Helping people with public transport. Us helping you. Promoting forward. Coffee morning and a natter with new friends. Trips out to show you how. Please come along if you're interested - no matter how small a contribution you feel you'll make. There are lots of different ways for different people to be involbed. Together, we can enjoy helping to make Melksham that town for the future.
For the agenda
- Current services
- Service project List
- Network for short term meeting
- Station hub volunteer cafe project
- Information exchange and friendship group
- Formal Membership
This is a community meeting – for the community and local representatives and specialist groups to help us get all our ducks in a line.
No need to book - just turn up. But I am very much available ahead of time - my email is graham@sn12.net and my phone number is 07974 925 928. Happy to meet in person - just let me know and check the time as I have a few other things in my diary.
Published Monday, 14th October 2024
Town Council - an extra £120,000 for staff after all
The Town Council budget which was detailed in December 2023 and confirmed the following month takes us through to April 2025. Sixteen months ahead, it really has to be a plan which can be updated within the overall boundaries set and not much more - even Town Councillors do not have crystal balls. Image from Melksham News in January - click on image for full articleAt Tuesday's Full Council meeting, we voted to transfer £120,000 from our "General reserves" to our staffing budget - full text of the public draft minutes below. The Town Council spends more that half of its precept income on staff, and for a town like Melksham £120,000 is a big sum.
I want here to correct an error of fact during the discussions. It was stated by another councillor that all councillors voted to pare back spending this year with a very small increase, below inflation yet again. That was not the case ad I was adamant at the time that we needed to set a realistic budget to take ourselves forward. Against protocol, I interrupted to correct the error of fact stated by another councillor, but in line with Town Council protocol, my interruption was stopped by the mayor.
In the tail of 2023, we set a budget which remains, in my view, inadequate and out of line with what we wish to do, and failed to allow for any contingencies. We do have a reserve which we are raiding, but that is a fix for this year only as years of keeping the precept low have resulted, inevitably, in a building problem and a need / desire to put up the precept for next year. That is no longer just my view - it was expressed by several other councillors too, including some party to the decision made last December that inevitably has driven us towards this situation, which has been exacerbated by the unplanned needs of the staffing budget.
Now - contrary to how this might read, I am 110% in support of us maintaining a well compensated, well motivated, permanent staff team at the Town Council and we have some excellent staff. I welcome all of those who have joined us in the last 15 months or so to do the very job that we as councillors have voted that we wish to have done on behalf of the town and its residents.
For the 2025/26 budget, which will be formulated in coming months and set in January, it is our duty as councillors to come up with something that will probably work. We owe it to the new councillors seated from next May, who have to work within the guidelines set by this current bunch - myself included - of old hands. And that includes any members who are looking to get re-elected for 2025 to 2029 based on current shorter term perceptions of them by the electorate.
There was discussion on the request Concerns about the effect on future years budget and precept were raised and discussed. It was suggested that the funds should be ring-fenced rather than transferred so that budget discussions for 2025/26 will show an accurate overspend on 2024/25 budget. Councillor Ellis wanted it recorded that he had misgivings but had trust in those who made the decision on staffing and would support the request. It was pointed out that there were one off cost burdens to the staffing budget this year and that £100000 had been cut during 2024/25 budget discussions. Some members expressed the view that if projects and events were to be actioned then council must provide the resources. It was proposed by Councillor Hubbard, seconded by the Town Mayor Councillor Price and RESOLVED to ring-fence the sum of £120,000 from general reserves for additional staffing costs. |
Image from https://melkshamnews.com/council-budget-cuts-staff-costs-and-maintains-services/
Published Thursday, 10th October 2024
Blue Pool - old pictures
These old pictures of the Blue Pool (source - Alfie Sparks via Terri Welch, with permission, rescanned) are fascinating - some showing clearly the older tall rear section of the Assembly Hall and very clearly the doorways and windows into that remain, but currently covered, between the two buildings.
Published Wednesday, 9th October 2024