Graham Ellis - my blog
Melksham Town Council budget 2022/23
Melksham Town Council budget 2022/23What should Melksham Town Council do next year? What should it cost? How do we raise the money? In the next few weeks, we have to decide on the outline, and the mayor has called an informal meeting of all councillors for this evening. It won't be minuted, it won't be open to the public - it's for ideas and kites to be flow and tried out. Such pre-meetings are common in Wiltshire Council, and I suspect in the two groups on the Town Council, but this is the first I have been invited too. I wonder if the mayor knew I would be away when, early last week, he set the date. Anyway - I can't be there tonight - first council meeting I will have missed since elected. I would like to thank the Town Clerk for giving me a briefing last Friday. It allows me to take something of look, make inputs further into the process, and explain just what goes on.
Your council tax - on a Band D property (mid-range and the one usually quoted for comparisons this year has been just under £2100 - that includes unitary (County), police and fire elements as well as about £150 for Melksham Town. Unitary, police and fire elements may change for next year - probably somewhat upward - and are subject to separate consultation. I am looking at that £150.00
Three options have been suggested and are to be discussed tonight:
1. "Stand Still" - no project - £156.22
2. Raising precent to cover 3 possible projects - £182.02
3. Borrowing money to cover 7 possible projects - £164.78
Early days in this - the secrecy of the meeting is to allow councillors to explore views and thoughts away from public glare so they can understand - many of use are new. By posting this, I am waiving my right to anonymity on my initial vies and would caution reader that as I learn more, these views may change - based too on what I hear back from readers and residents on.
The three possible projects listed in option 2 are:
** Refurbishment and overhaul of town's play areas
** Reopen and refurbish all of Melksham's public toilets
** Town-wide CCTV and control room including KGV Car park
The seven possible project in option 3 are the three above, plus:
* Amenities Depot at KGV
* 20 is plenty campaign for the whole town
* Extension to / provision of public toilets at the Cricketer's Cafe
* Climate change improvements to council owned facilities
It should be noted that option 3 - borrowing money from the public works load board - puts up the council tax from the £156 not only for this year, but for years into the future too. I'm new at this game and will leave it for others to tell me how many years, whether it's a loan that is repaid over time or comes up for repayment all in a go by the next (!) council, and whether the interest rate is fixed or variable.
I had some further thoughts.
1. We are looking to move towards Zero Carbon and cleaner air, sustainability, in coming years. And I look at three more potential projects
* Labelling all bus stops in the town with service details
* Turning Melksham into an Air Quality Management Town (see pic - Marlow)
A notional climate change levy of 1p per resident per week (2.3p / day on band D) would add £8.50 per annum per household - around £50,000 in the year) to pay for the setup and maintenance of this.
2. Does any of the existing expenditure encourage activities which are not carbon friendly - there's budget for the car park redemption scheme, and a hope expressed that much more will be spent on that next year. Really? There's a balance here, but would funding be better directed to more sustainable matter? Shops remain welcome to refund, but should that attract a council subsidy?
3. Much of the main budget is pretty clear and offer no controversy, but are there elements there which should be reviewed? Staffing costs are always the lion's share of something like this, and it would be good to see where the dividend from reducing our team size has folded in. For sure, there are optional tasks like professional / expertise support for councillor which are now in very short supply indeed, meaning discussions and outcomes are far less informed than they used to be, and perhaps the worse for it.
Campus Pictures - 12.11.21
Thank You to the Campus team for showing five Town Councillors around the under-construction campus on 12th November 2021. You may spot Councillors Price, Rabey, Oatley and Aves in these pictures; I was there too - behind the camera though. A further group included members of the Melksham Town staff, and Melksham Without Parish Councillors visited too. I hope that one or two of your Consevative Councillors have found an opportunity at another time to see the progress at the Campus.
Published Saturday, 13th November 2021
Cycle and public footpaths - Melksham South
Looking at Heather Avenue to Dorset Crescent, and Hardie Walk (south of Spa Road).Almost all travel corridors have their "pinch points", and too many pinch points make a corridor less practical to use. Sustrans are busy removing physical barriers from the cycle paths - making it easier to cycle through; I came across a post yesterday (at https://www.facebook.com/Sustrans/posts/10157971927181315 ) describing the process. So it's ironic that Melksham Town Council voted last night to fund the installation of a bollard in the path between Dorset Crescent and Heather Avenue, with the purpose of preventing cars going through there, and of slowing down other vehicles passing through.
There's a balance to be struck here, and as a cyclist a single bollard in the middle of the path may make some sense. Cycles, mobility scooters, pushchairs, etc, will be able to pass on either side, and the path shouldn't be one where cycles would be passing through quickly anyway. The path IS an important one (and should be better waymarked and busier) as it offers a safe, off-road route from Bowerhill to the Town Centre. Far safer than cycling up Spa Road which is a bit of an accident blackspot with junctions, blind brows and foot traffic, mobility chairs, cars, vans and buses all there as well as cycles all in the mix.
Options should and were considered last night, and rather than £250 for a bollard the mayor proposed £500 for two bollards, one offset a third from the left of the path and the other offset a third from the right, making a chicane to help slow passage of cycles further. Good to discuss ideas, but I'm not keen on this one. Cycles, prams, etc would no longer be able to pass each other along the way, and the pair of obstructions separate by a few yards could be forming the very sort of restriction that Sustrans are looking to resolve. Sadly, my hand raised to speak was passed over (again - it was a pattern of the evening that I thought had been moved on from) and a vote went through to look to the professionals at Wiltshire Council to consider both options. Should they come back with an obstructive recommendation, there will be another opportunity to vote and - who knows - my concerns may have turned out to be frivolous.
I am very much in favour of footpaths and cycle ways between our various areas - a porous town which makes walking and riding around practical, rather than pushing people to driving cars all around the houses to get between points that are physically close. That does, perhaps, cause security issues at times for the police but it's something they need to work with and our infrastructure needs designing around daily climate friendly life with consideration for, but not overruled by, concerns over the behaviour of a minority.
One of the footpaths between area is Hardie Walk. Sadly, the start of the section from Spa Road south through Spa Court was lost when Spa Court was built, leaving a go-nowhere public path between the backs of the houses on the west of Kenilworth Gardens and the east of West End. I would love to see it re-opened as a walk through. But that (I think) is impossible. And it leaves the go-nowhere path as something of a problem. I understand that historically this cul-de-sac path was a bit of a magnet for antisocial and criminal behaviour, but that has died down because the path is now so overgrown it is impassable ... and impassable for residents to maintain their back fences too. Indeed, some of them are concerned that trees and bushes on the pathway may cause damage in their gardens, such as branches falling off unmaintained growth.
Exceptionally, the solution for this part of Hardie Walk may be permanent closure if it is impossible to get it back through Spa Court. Not too far away, an alternative route from Waverley Gardens to Spa Road exists along West End and across to the back of King's Street Car Park. Who would look after the land released? Back gardens could be expanded but who's going to pay and would it be consistently accepted? In the short term, how do safety issues get dealt with? One of the residents who has been at the forefront of the issue came to the public section of the Town Council meeting and there was a good interaction involving him and the mayor, who is also his Wiltshire Councillor. It's really a Wiltshire Council issue (their path, their responsibility). Not an easy one, but not really one that should have been allowed to fester on the "too difficult" pile for as long as it has, with opportunities taken to return it to that pile where residents look to move it forward.
Aside - it was really good on Monday to have members of the public at the Economic Development and Planning Committee meeting. The forum of public participation is there at the start of every official meeting, and I would encourage any resident who would like to raise an issue to come along and do so. The continuing lack of remote access at a time of continuing concern at Coronavirus is shameful, and as observers may have noted this situation was discussed in a session of full council from which press and public was excluded on 25th October. I am not at liberty to tell you what happened in secret ... though it's recorded that I and one other councillor voted against that secrecy.
Illustratation - Hardie Walk public footpath straight ahead, and impassable, as at 10th September 2021
Published Wednesday, 10th November 2021
Train service cuts push people back to driving
Climate change effects us all. We can all help - cutting carbon emissions by two thirds by taking the train. But trains are under threat.Do you travel from any of the places named in green to any of the places name in brown? If so, you have through trains (and they are well used). But the Department for Transport has decided to CULL them next month(*) - 7 trains each way withdrawn between Salisbury and Warminster - and you'll have to change at Salisbury to make the through journey. That is hardly going to encourage train use, especially when it will usually involve a wait of around 50 minutes at Salisbury or a second change at Basingstoke. Please sign my petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397
* - Just one through train per day will remain from London (Waterloo) to Warminster and Westbury, at 07:50. It will not continue towards Bristol from Westbury. See http://www.passenger.chat/index.html for links to further data.
I am posting this "original" thread on my Melksham Town Councillor page (I'm an independent here). As we look ahead, we are looking at moving to Carbon Zero, helped by a public transport network that links buses and trains and offers an encouragement to make their total journeys using shared transport - buses and trains. In Melksham (South) - my ward - you can take the x34 bus from The Bear, the Market Place, King Street (near the Conigre / West End)and Semington Road (near Hazelwood Road and Longford Road) to Trinity Church in Trowbridge, which is just across the road from Trowbridge Station, to catch these direct trains to London. This story is replicated all across Wiltshire and from Somerset too - into Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster stations (with, perhaps, the exception that not all buses go quite so close to the stations).
Even if you have NOT been a user of this rail service, many have. And its removal at the current time - without consultation or adequate alternative - is perverse, anti-green, and bad for the economy of the towns and areas that lose their through train service from London. So - please sign my petition. I am NOT a regular petitioner - this is my first for over fifteen years - but this one is important not only for the individual case, but also for the principle and precedent that it sets.
Published Thursday, 4th November 2021
Branding, dogs and cycles
And in other news from the Town Council on Monday (25.10.2021)... the old (smaller) dog exercise area in King George V Park will remain open and available while nothing else planned for the area. For nervous dogs, etc, a good idea that makes sense just like a learner pool in a swimming centre makes sense, especially if it's already there.
... cycle pumps / tool stations will be installed beside the Town Hall and in KTV Park; bicycle stands (something to lock your cycle to) will be provided near the spalsh pad in the park. Target date - well in place by next spring.
... new branding and a logo will start to appear on Town Council outputs and be available to organisations supported by The Council to use. The Town Crest remains for official papers, etc, and there is not to be a rebranding execise, with the new look arriving as and when new outputs are generated. I have asked that guidance protocols (when and where bodies can use the new look) are produced, and that high quality images be made clearly available ("original artwork") for thos who will be using them. My illustration accompanying this posting may well be updated to conform once guidance is in place.
Published Wednesday, 27th October 2021
Zoom council meetings
| 17. Confidential Session Members are requested to make the following resolution in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. In view of the sensitive nature of the business to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the public and press be excluded, and they are instructed to withdraw. 17.1 Hybrid Council Session To agree next steps and actions. |
Now - "Hybrid council sessions" are where we meet in the Council Chamber but can also be seen, and take inputs as appropriate, online. They're what was done when we were in the Assembly Hall shortly after the election, and attempted with the new system that fell over so spectacularly on 9th August and has not been functional there since. In my view, these sessions are important. They give members of the public the chance to see the council at work and were popular when we ran them. They are a help in open and transparent democracy, and should be encouraged, especially during Coronavirus and with the rapid spread of a new varient.
So I spoke against the resolution to discuss in private the future of our meetings being open to the public remotely. For sure, there are some "commercial in confidence" aspects, but the general way forward - next steps - should not be hidden under a cloak of secrecy.
In a vote (recorded how each of us voted at my request), 9 councillors voted to go into secret session, 2 including myself votes against. The other 4 councillors were not present.
And so, after that vote we went secret. I can't tell you what happened ...
We're talking about the sort of meetings that I ran in Didcot on 16th October, and Trowbridge on 20th October, that latter with about 40 people in the room several screenfuls (50?) online. Rather surprising the council hasn't found a way to make them work
Published Tuesday, 26th October 2021
How hard can hybrid be?
From the public agenda for Monday (25.10.2021) full Melksham Town Council meeting
| 17. Confidential Session Members are requested to make the following resolution in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. In view of the sensitive nature of the business to be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the public and press be excluded, and they are instructed to withdraw. 17.1 Hybrid Council Session To agree next steps and actions. |
The new "Hybrid Council System" - for meetings to be held in the Council Chamber, broadcast and with inputs on Zoom, and relayed on YouTube was used (or at attempt was made to use it) on 9th August. A full public gallery in person concerned at Assembly Hall future options, with screenfulls of people on Zoom able to see but not hear. Which is pretty useless when people are there to watch (and perhaps contribute) to a discussion. Since then, there have been various council meetings - one or two a week - but "The AV system" has not been in use to allow external access at any of them.
I am disappointed at the lack of progress in providing a practical system to allow hybrid council meetings. It should not be beyond the wit of the Assets and Amenities Committee (who I thing are the ones who oversee it) and the Town Staff, and I have been asked whether there are parties who might prefer public interaction to be limited - to those in the room. I have no answer on that.
I don't understand what the Town Council's problem is.I have run hybrid meetings in my own home meeting room for a while, and then last Saturday (16th October) the Great Western Coffee Shop AGM in the All Saints Church Hall in Didcot, and last Wednesday (20th October) a public meeting in the Bethesda Baptist Church Hall in Trowbridge with perhaps 40 in the room and more than than online.
It's not technically perfect, but all I have purchased in addition to my regular laptop computer is a meeting microphone at under £30, and USB-c and HDMI extender cables to that the microphone and screen connection can be at a distance from the computer. My previous (retired) laptop's camera relays the room to the remote audience, and the screen on it shows the home audience to the room when the main screen is being shared when I am speaking too.
Illustration - Mark Hopwood of First Great Western addresses question from meeting attendees both in the room and online from across the Thames Valley and South West last Saturday.
Like I say, my solution works and has been practical for groups far larger than we would expect, in person or online at the council. I await Monday's session with interest.
Published Saturday, 23rd October 2021
Save the Train rolls again
I have been quiet on my Melksham blog for the last 10 days. I have much to say and do, some of it important, but I have been pulled away by a wider West Wiltshire issue which is both important and urgent. Through trains are to be withdrawn from London to Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon and Oldfield Park (in Bath), with just one train a day in the early morning remaining to Warminster and to Keynsham. Bristol and Bath passengers to London travelling to the South Bank, Kent and Surrey will no longer have an easy route via Clapham Junction and Waterloo, and Westbury passengers will only have one early train a day from Waterloo.What's this to do with me? I have experience in fighting crazy rail (and bus) cuts - turning protest (which is necessary to get the stupidity of culling services onto the agenda) into later partnership (which is necessary to get something in place that pays its way and works long term). And this IS about Melksham too. It's about moving towards a zero carbon West Wiltshire - reducing road traffic (reducing the need for new roads?) and moving forward with cleaner air. It's about being able to take the x34 bus from within my ward at The Bear, the Market Place and along Semington Road to Trowbridge Station for a direct London train.
Please support my petition (yes, I am the creator) at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 to call for the route to be retained pending proper consultation - a Freedom of Information disclosure has revealed what is basically a stitch-up based on guessed data (I kid you not!). We have our MP calling for a review of the Department for Transport's decision to remove these trains. Other MPs all along the line are onto it too. As are the local transport authorities - Wiltshire Council and WECA, and even Transport Focus - the Department's own passenger watchdog.
There is much more online on the topic if you wish to read in further - start at http://waterloo.savethetrain.org.uk . And if you want to help further, please do so - you can share this post and web addresses. You can tell your friends. And you can write to your MP. I have spoken with Michelle in person on this topic, and both she and Andrew Murrison write that they welcome hearing from you on this. Thank you.
Illustration - public meeting, last Wednesday, Trowbridge.
Published Friday, 22nd October 2021
Through trains, London to Trowbridge
| Please sign the petition (it's in my name and you can ask me questions!) at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 asking for through train services from London to Trowbrdge and Bradford-on-Avon to continue for 2022. |
Transport changes - e-Scooters are legally available for hire in Bath. Next month, the railway line to Okehampton re-opens for regular passenger trains for the first time since 1972. And in December, Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon look set to LOSE their through train service from London.
Time passes, positive and planned changes are welcome, but withdrawing the though London trains to our county town, at a time when people are returning from Covid onto the trains, and at a time we want to encourage more use, without providing an adequate alternative and without public consultation is just - well - it just defies belief! These trains have always been popular and have become full and standing at times, again, on Covid return. Logic is to leave them in place for a further year, at which point extra "MetroWest" trains are running and the can be end-to-end joined to continue a regular, clock-face, strategic, attractive service.
The question comes "why are they being withdrawn". Different people give different stories. A Freedom of Information request has been stalled by the Department for transport while they do a "complex public interest" test, and that has me wondering what they want to hide. My personal view is that the Department for Transport wants to save money and thought removal of this service would be a soft target - not realising how busy it is, how popular it is. They also appear to be setting a precedent of not consulting - even their own watchdog says they should.
Over the last week, I have been helping co-ordinate the West Wilts Rail User Group, Two Tunnels, Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, Railfuture (Severnside Branch) TravelWatch Southwest, and the Coffee Shop forum to raise the profile of these services. Melksham retains all its train services in December - we are lucky - but we should support others as they have supported us in the past. And in any case, the trains being withdrawn are ones we connect into.
| YOU can help: 1. Please sign the petition (it's in my name and you can ask me questions!) at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 2. Please share the Facebook post at https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeShopCRP/posts/3072237909689974 to friends, colleagues, family, other groups, etc 3. Please attend the meeting (by Zoom or in person in Trowbridge) on 20th October at 19:00. Poster at http://www.passenger.chat/bri-wat_20211020.pdf and the Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87440868321?pwd=bDcyd3R3Q0E0elVySlNreHBvcm1jQT09 |
WE can then and in parallel talk to all parties involved and see if we can get a positive and more appropriate way forward. We don't know if we can prevail - but we can try. And we can increase our chances by making a constructive suggestion rather than simply looking to retain a really useful service which could benefit from an update/upgrade.
I am writing this on my Melksham Town Councillor web page. It has nothing to do with Melksham, but it has everything to do with Melksham. "There, but for the Grace of God, go we". We do not want a no-consultation precedent set.
Published Wednesday, 13th October 2021
Bus and train working together
Classic example of where buses and trains provide a good service together. I have a meeting in Trowbridge from 17:30 to 19:30 this evening.Down on the bus, back on the train ...
16:40 bus from the King's Arms, Melksham, 17:02 at Trowbridge Town Hall
20:12 train from Trowbridge Station, 20:22 at Melksham Station
* If I went by train, I would have to set out at 15:40
* Can't come back by bus - last one is at 18:01
What a pity that there are no return tickets available for you to swap between buses and trains, and buying two singles almost doubles the cost. What a pity there are no easy integrated timetables around that offer combined journey and fare information.
Published Tuesday, 5th October 2021