Graham Ellis - my blog
Assembly Hall - name and rate change?
Monday's full Town Council agenda included the following (item 7.1), but time ran out and the item was deferred to a future meeting.
"To receive the report of the Acting Head of Operations regarding the operation of the Assembly Hall for the coming financial year, and to approve the revised pricing structure."
I have mirrored a copy of the report (five pages of it) (here)
In addition to hiring rates, the report suggest a rebranding to "The Assembly -the Place where Melksham meets" and describes how the team is catching up on maintenance. It also talks of VAT issues, and state "We propose to operate the Assembly Hall this year within the budget set on 13th December 2021 and minimise the costs wherever possible". No discussion was invited on the items.
Please take a look at the five pages. What do you think? Looks like the item may come up at an extra meeting next Monday which is on the Council web site tonight, but for which no agenda has been published.
Stop Press. The full council meeting shown on the council website for next Monday has been removed and there will not be a full council meeting that evening.
One year on - Openness
Part Two - OpennessA year since I started campaigning in public for the Town Council. Today's post in this series is on transparency and openness. I believe that local government should be made accessible to the electors and general public as widely as practical. There have been too many times that I, and others, have learned about things too late to make inputs to a process and perhaps help that process along for the better.
I wasn't shocked - but I was disappointed - when a fellow councillor "strongly recommended" at our first meeting after election that we be silent on social media. A firm lecture rather more recently has strengthed my resolve to keep the public informed - and to listen to the valuable feedback that results. I'm also keen on guiding the system so that information is more easily found; much of it is around and published, but buried. I had to go through 4 pages to get to the link for tonight's meetings at 7 p.m. when I think the next meeting should be featured on the front page. Here you go, from 19:00, Today, 4th April 2022
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83132776861?pwd=L0lBS2FDS0tLVEdxQWpYRDZRVDltZz09
It took a long time - in my view, longer than it should, to get our Council meetings on line. And we are still learning - but getting there. And I look forward to other projects in the pipeline which should bring far better waymarking of information and resources.
Published Monday, 4th April 2022
One year on - Equality
It's a year ago this week that I first let people know that I was standing for Town Council. I didn't expect to get in, but plan in place in case I did - to do a good job in representing the people of Melksham's South Ward, and at the same time being true to my own values.Funny how you remember little things, isn' it? During campaigning, I offered one gent my second leaflet, and he politely declined. Market research, I asked him why and he told me he would never vote for anyone who had supported the Black Lives Matter ... and I thanked him for letting me know. On just a few topics (the environment is a second, and openness of government the third) I'm uncomfortable representing opposing views at Council for my electors. I am very happy to help any of the electorate with other issues, but if it's supporting opposition to equality, count me out - perhaps Councillors Crundall, Goodhind or Hubbard would be better to support you.
Part One - Equality
I was going to post about the other topics today, but I got a reminder of the equality issue. Lisa and I have been working hard for the last week putting together a web site, forms and database to help match up potential hosts and guests under the Homes for Ukraine program, and help share information so that experiences of one person may prepare others. And so that we know where local resources are to be found locally. As a sponsor or host, we'll be entitled to a payment of £350 per month for a family staying with us if it happens, and it has been suggested we're only doing it for the money. No - it's basic humanity, and we have the resources to help.
I got a second reminder too. "Well - if you take them in, good luck getting rid of them" said another correspondent. Err - I'm speechless. We have no time limit and next steps will be by mutual agreement; we don't know what the future holds but we do know these are real people just like you and I (well - not "just like" - they have been through horrors that we have not)
I look forward to helping further with the matching, help and support site for Stuart. I look forward to welcoming [I'll give you names later] if the pieces fall in place. And I look forward to them being with us for as long as it mutually suits.
I have been asking myself why I am really confident in what we're doing here. So many people we know and respect and know are doing the same. We used to run a hotel and we're very used to guests from all over the world. We have provided emergency "fleeing" accommodation before - and it has worked out and enriched. And we feel we have the capacity to do it. Yes, of course there are risks - but there are risks in everything - nothing ventured, nothing gained. Back to the beginning of this piece - standing for council. There was a risk there too but I'm so glad I took it.
Find out more - (here)
Published Sunday, 3rd April 2022
Linking sponsors in the UK to guests from Ukraine
The last ten days, I have been busy helping put together a web site to help contact, inform and match up in-need guests who are looking to stay in our part of England for a while with generous residents in the area who are prepared to house them for a while. Amazingly, although UK hosts have been asked to sign up, there has been no central site of body to help hosts and guests match up - no "dating agency" - but rather an online scramble with lots of really genuine people who have opened their hearst and, I regret to say, people of both natioanllities (and others) looking to take advantage of the situations of others.There are lots of visas and forms and complexity for our potential guests, and a great deal to do here in the UK as each local authority is charged with ensuring that the housing offered is up to standard, and an adult residents there are suitable people to receive guests - and the information resource I have helped set up provides pointers in that direction, then going on to take a look at how to actually get here.
Getting in touch, getting approved and getting here are just the first stage. Just imagine, dear Melksham reader that you had to move with whatever you could grab to a distant land where you didn't speak the language and stay with kind people you had never met before. With that imagination, you're putting yourself in the their shoes - but only partly so; to be more complete, you also need to imagine that Melksham is a smoking ruin and you don't know (yet?) what's happened to your family and friends.
So the next stage is finding local help of all varieties; for sure "the authorities" will probably be helpful, but won't be there every hour of every day in each household, and their specialists will be in short supply - I don't expect there are many school teachers who speak Ukrainian, for example, nor officials to arrange transport and lifts of to provide (and there will be cases) bereavement councilling.
(*) - front page
(*) - our information database and forum
(*) - our smallprint
(*) - Sign up as a host (local support)
(*) - Sign up to offer other help (if you don't have a spare room)
(*) - Sign up if you are from Ukraine looking for somewhere to stay
(*) - Зареєструйтеся, якщо ви з України і шукаєте де зупинитися
(*) - our facebook page
Huge thank you to Stuart Pearce - A Melksham South resident - for setting up and running the group. Lisa and I are happy to be helping with the IT infrastucture, and to be working with a family to help them come and live with us.
Published Saturday, 2nd April 2022
Annual Parish Meetings
Annual Parish Meetings - Melksham Town on 28th March and Melksham Without on 29th March 2022 - agendas published. "At the Annual Parish Meeting, electors, public and press are invited are the to hear reports from the Chairman/Mayor, Unitary Councillors, community groups and any organisation that the town or parish council has funded during the year."
For Melksham Town - 28.3.2022 - 19:00 at Melksham Town Hall
https://moderngov.microshadeapplications.co.uk/MelkshamTC/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=633&x=1
No remote access details as yet - I have asked if it will be available
For Melksham Without - 29.3.2022 - 19:00 at Bowerhill Village Hall
http://www.melkshamwithout.co.uk/assets/agenda/Annual20Agenda.pdf
Remote access details in that document
Also a keynote speech at Melksham Without from Adam Walton, chair of Biddestone and Slaughterford Parish Council and the Wiltshire Climate Alliance on "What Parish Councils can do about Climate Change".
Melksham TOWN covers most of the continuous urban area of Melksham, and Melksham WITHOUT most of the surrounding villages such as Bowerhill, Beanacre, Berryfield, and Shaw and Whitley. Both are within the wider area covered by Wiltshire Unitary Council, and both are currently in the Chippenham Parliamentary seat
Published Sunday, 20th March 2022
Melksham resources on Facebook
There are lots of pages and groups on Facebook that cover Melksham and "things Melksham". Here are some of the current ones, sorted by number of members / followers.** Groups
These are places where any member can start a discussion:
32900 - For Sale Free or Wanted, Melksham (link)
(*) 11000 - Spotted Melksham Town (link)
5100 - Historic Melksham (link)
4300 - Melksham Community Group: (link)
1400 - Melksham and Area Local events and things to do (link)
1400 - Melksham Free Stuff offered / wanted (link)
976 - Melksham East Residents Group: (link)
629 - Melksham Discussions: (link)
317 - Melksham Amateur Photography Group (link)
240 - Friends of Melksham Assembly Hall (link)
125 - Options 24/7 (buses) (link)
104 - Melksham Seniors (link)
91 - Melksham Town Centre Businesses (link)
(*) 83 - Shout out Melksham: (link)
43 - DWH Hunters Wood Melksham Community Page (link)
Numbers are number of members
* - Spotted Melksham Town is no longer available for updates. It has been replaced by Shout Out Melksham run by the same admin for the same purpose, and Melksham residents are encouraged to (re)join
** Pages:
These are places where only administrators / owners can start a discussion:
7600 - The Sham Shout Outs (link)
4200 - Melksham Town Council (link)
1472 - Melksham Now and Then (link)
564 - Melksham Tourist Information (link)
577 - Melksham Without Parish Council (link)
463 - Melksham Transport User Group (link)
360 - Melksham Climate Action Network (link)
336 - The Well House Collection (link) (link)
101 - Graham Ellis, Melksham, Independent (link)
Numbers are numbers of likes or follows
* Listing of a group or page here is for your information and does not represent an endorsement.
* List as at 18th March 2022
* There are a number of much smaller groups around; I have chosen a cutoff of 30 members in selection above
* Please let me know if you would like me to edit / update this list - happy to revisit up to 31st March 2022
Published Friday, 18th March 2022
Trolling may feel good but does not help
Trolling is deliberately being disruptive by email or on blogs, forums or other social media. It's rare for it to target a town councillor - or indeed all fifteen of your councillors. But it's been happening this weekend. I hope the troller has enjoyed his vexacious behaviour. It has done him no good; see such things before, though very rarely and it really removes respect I could have for him.Onwards, upwards - town councillors can't please all the people all of the time, they cannot change most of what the previous council did, and they cannot ... oh, never mind, I have better things to do ...
If you have any queries of me or any other councillors, please let us know. Please tell us where you live (so we know who's best to answer) and don't lace your message with personal insults. We'll be delighted to get back with you - help you get your query or issue answered fully.
Published Sunday, 13th March 2022
Who should be Mayor for the next year?
With the Town Council's year coming to an end in the next couple of months, thoughts turn to who we should elect as our mayor and deputy mayor for the next year. Last year, with just two of 15 councillors continuing from the previous council, it was natural for the choice to fall onto one of those two with prior experience while the rest of us learned the ropes. For next year:a) Who could best represent the town and its council to the press, to residents, and to the wider community in Wiltshire, and ensure that the interests of the town are looked after in such circles?
b) Who could best lead the council's direction and team as it goes about its business, taking overall initiatives, chairing full council and perhaps other committees, actively garnering wide support and being the goto (wo)man of last resort.
The Town Council combined these roles last year, so (barring an exceptional change) you are looking for a person suited for both roles, and with the time and necessary resources to take them both on. Here are your potential candidates - and to help me think who I could best propose and support, I have added the number of meetings each has been 'invited/expected' to attend in the past six months, and the number of those they have actually attended.
| Councillor P Alford | 9 | 9 |
| Councillor P Aves | 14 | 14 |
| Councillor G Cooke | 15 | 10 |
| Councillor J Crundell | 13 | 8 |
| Councillor S Crundell | 17 | 12 |
| Councillor G Ellis | 12 | 11 |
| Councillor C Forgacs | 10 | 9 |
| Councillor C Goodhind | 21 | 21 |
| Councillor C Houghton | 12 | 11 |
| Councillor J Hubbard | 18 | 14 |
| Councillor L Lewis | 10 | 9 |
| Councillor S Mortimer | 18 | 18 |
| Councillor J Oatley | 17 | 14 |
| Councillor T Price | 12 | 5 |
| Councillor S Rabey | 16 | 16 |
More data on the Town Council's website (here) where you can drill down meeting by meeting if you wish. You will find all of our pictures there - the picture at the top of this post is purely illustrative in the interest of absolute balance.
So
• the number of meetings that councillors are invited to depends on how many committees they are on, and it would be a good idea for the next mayor to have a wide experience.
• I would be worried about supporting anyone who's missed more than a couple of meetings. It's a warning flag that indicates that they may not be in a position to fill an extended role. There may be exceptions due to short term personal issues.
• Just in case you ask, no, I do not wish to stand. I do not feel that I am smart and conventional enough to fulfill part (a) of the job speciication, and don't have the time, desire, or robustness to fulfill part, nor the general knowledge from being on lots of different committees to fulfill part (b). But I would love to hear your views!
Published Saturday, 12th March 2022
Museum for Melksham?
A question triggered the question in the Melksham News - "What shall we do with the Round House"? Lots of likes on their Facebook page - a clear public sentiment in favour of it, but is that practical and sustainable over time? A Museum was tried in there once before, but it didn't last, and it's been tried in other places too. That was before my time, but from what I understand, there were issues - some of these I list below. For a museum, you really need:
1. space for something big enough to house to attract visitors, and indeed to house some of the interesting exhibits you will gather
2. knowledbable people on hand to receive visitors when you are open, and opening hours long enough to attract visitors
3. a staff "rest room" and somewhere to make a cup of tea - tap, water, fridge
4. a place that's secure and an environment which is appropriate for the artefacts you have - heating, ventilation, humidity regulation
5. varied passing traffic on foot or something that draws the crowds to make you a destination
6. a passionate team who want to organise it and make it work
7. easy parking "just outside" especially for those with limited mobility
8. Funding to make the above happen, and publicity to ensure that people know it's there, are encouraged to visit, and are enouragage to come along with memorys and artefacts
9. Support from the whole (or most of) the local community with an interest in history.
10. Access to experts in history, running museums, evaluating artefacts, loan of items for exhibitions, training, etc
It's not just about putting a few small items on an old table in an otherwise-unused building somewhere and popping down to unlock it on the third Saturday of each month and extra over spring and summer back holiday weekends.
Melksham has a rich history, and a great deal in the past to celebrate and to inform people on. It's a growing town, with many new residents who won't know about its past, and indeed it's "ripe" for a museum. Looking ahead, as projects such as the canal bring in more visitors, and our town centre becomes much more a social centre and less a retail outlet, there is further reason for a museum.
It's been tried at the Roundhouse before, at Rachel Fowler, and we had/have a museum room here at our place - while we were a hotel, "open all hours", and now as we come out of Covid, by appointment. There was planned to be a museum / exhibition in The Campus and that would have provided a wonderful answer to many of the issues above (and the resources we have would have been very much available). At the time of writing, we know it won't be in the much-reduced Campus, Melksham House is up in the air (Wiltshire Council are advertising internally for users). There would be a logic to housing a museum in the Town Hall - many of the issues listed above are answered.
Lisa and I have a lot of background here. Every day, Lisa's On this Day report for Melksham appears on Facebook. Our much more stable Well House Collection page include links to the museum room and huge amounts of historic data.
I am more than happy to take a further interest in a museum project - I don't think the Round House is right, and there are many major issues to be addressed before "wouldn't it be a nice idea to ..." gets translated into a viable project.
Published Friday, 11th March 2022
A solution looking for a Problem?
The Round House on Church Road in Melksham is a wonderful historic building. Philip Wilkinson wrote about it in 2007: (link)This small surprise is tucked away in a side-street in the Wiltshire town of Melksham. It’s an 18th-century structure, built, Melksham being a wool town, as a wool-drying room. When the wool trade declined in the 19th century many such buildings were no doubt demolished. But this one survived, playing down the years a multitude of roles – armoury for the local volunteer militia, feed store, business premises, tourist information centre, and museum. England has many specialized structures like this, the often odd-shaped remnants of local industries – oast houses and lime kilns come to mind. Often they seem designed so precisely for their original function that adaptation appears impossible. But with a little imagination, many of them have been recycled to the delight both of their users and of passers by
Inspiration is needed for our Round House. It's owned by the Town Council and morally we retain it as part of our heritage (it's listed, so that is a legal requirement too) and we should also make best use of it an asset to the town in some way, at the same time keeping check on the amount of precept-payer's money we spend on it over the years. We could sell it, I suppose, the duty of care (listing) passing to the new owner, but I'm not sure anyone would want to buy it, and if they did your council would need to re-assured that the purchaser really could make a "go" of the building.
So - what use of such a historic buildings? It could be a shop but it's too small to be practical. It could be a 'bijou' self catering holiday flat but it has no sanitation. It could house an ATM machine though I have heard no expressions of interest. It has been suggested for a parcel hub but we have those elsewhere in Melksham and in any case it's not staffed for long hours as many opertors require. Perhaps it could house Pop up vendors but it is slightly off the beaten track and in an case that would only be occasional. It could be used for tourist information but the existing TIC is directly opposite! It could be uses as a store but I can't think that The Council needs a small store room there; could do if there were regular events in that parklet. And the perennial suggestion - it could be used as a museum. Actually, it was once but that didn't work out long term; nothing to stop us trying again, except that for a museum we need to learn from multiple past short-lived experiments in Melksham and find a suitable venue.
The next article will take a look at "Museum for Melksham" ... (it will appear above this one if you're reading my blog)
Published Thursday, 10th March 2022