"Melksham is a friendly town", they'll tell you. And indeed it is. They'll say "hi" to you in the street, and on the footpaths. Visitors to the town are made very welcome - by the team at the Tourist Information (who see far more than just tourists!), by Bruce and his team at the Spar Garage, by Gias and his folks at The Refa, by Rod the Mayor, Peter the town crier, and all the people around. I love it here - wouldn't want to move. And I shout out and say to people "come and see us - use our town - stay in our hotel - learn on our courses - be one of our friends in this friendly town too."
When I gave courses in London (for another company), one of our tutors always used a taxi for fear of walking the street nearby. When I live in [village 10 miles from here], the locals had only just started to say "good morning" to me when I left after 20 years because I didn't have the "Huxxxx" surname that most of the others did (a local form of discrimination?). So what a pleasure it is to welcome people to Melksham, to say "the town centre is that way; the churches are ... the mosque is ... the good walks are ... the buses go from ... you can get great food at ... the swimming pool is ... " and know that the people I'm welcoming will be received with open arms, even if you can tell at a glance that they're not local.
But ... that does not mean that Melksham is perfect, nor that it can rest on its laurels / stay unchanging in a moving world even to maintain a status quo. There are little things to pick up and smarten in our own back yard, and in the yards of our neighbours and other businesses, and here too there's "jobsworth"s who could be so much more effective in what they do by just taking a look beyond their own narrow position.
And there are medium and longer term things to look at. To plan, to constructively review so they'll be even better. To help stear as they come to pass. To welcome / embrace as they go live. And to support as they bed down and become a part of our community.
Today, I'm helping (a very little) prepare for the Poulshot Village Fete in about an hour - Poulshot is part of the Melksham Community area, an odd decision if you look at the logic, but never the less we welcome them and tell them that we have a feedback system to the local authority (with some sweetener funding) - designed to give each and every part of the large area of Wiltshire a way of putting their views forward.
Then I'm going on (in what I think is an official capacity) to celebrate the opening of the first showhouse in the to-grow East Melksham area (yes, I do celebrate the growth - see other posts). Early evening will see Lisa and I at the launch of the Melksham Food Festival. And so it goes on - a vibrant town, and what a great place to live.
You're probably thinking that the text above is the editorial that I contributed to the Carnival / Party in the Park program. Well - it isn't. The text above is something that's just come off my fingers as if a letter to a friend or colleague, telling them how great Melksham is, and that they should come and see it.
My text for the Party and Carnival differs. It's written from the viewpoint of the Chamber of Commerce, it's written for the people who already live in the town, or have already come here on Carnival day. And it's written to go into a specific space on a printed program, and to have an "official hat" on in such a way that it raises contencious matters - such as the canal and perhaps the lorry parking issue, and the lack of a decent rail service - but in a way that minimised contention.
You may find it interesting to compare my "letter to a friend" above with my "letter from The Chamber" below. You can learn so much truth about a subject by reading different sources and pieces written for different target audiences. That's the way I get so deep into programming languages (to answer Jerry, Andrew, Anup and Justin's question yesterday) - but that's a story for another day.
Welcome to the "Melksham Carnival" and "Party in the Park".
The last year has seen a number of departures from Melksham's town centre, and a number of new arrivals, elsewhere things are changing too. George Ward school on the Bath Road is closing, and the new Melksham Oak is opening on the Devizes Road. On the business and industry side, some companies have dramatically reduced their staffing levels, but again new shoots are appearing. We welcome Waitrose, and Tesco (opening their first Melksham outlet on Bowerhill) just to quote some examples.
We look forward within the next year to around 600 employees transferred by Wiltshire Council to Melksham while County Hall is refurbished, to the new Countrywide location, and to Asda's new store providing an edge of town supermarket for those many people from the area who currently drive to shop in Chippenham and Trowbridge.
Further ahead, we should look forward to new business that may be brought by a re-opened Wilts and Berks Canal making Melksham much more of a visitor destination To the East Melksham area (with around 1000 new homes) feeding more prosperity. into the town and to other developments such as those outlined in the core strategy consultations and GWRUS, which envisage more business growth extending Melksham to the South, and enhanced public transport links.
The Town and Parish Councils, the Area Board of Wiltshire Council, Melksham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Community Area Partnership, and other local bodies are all working very much on behalf of the town - YOUR town - to help ensure a prosperous and vibrant future. All of these organisations very much welcome your inputs to help tell them where you think Melksham should be headed.
But Melksham is already a lovely town. I personally moved here 10 years ago, was quickly welcomed, and wouldn't want to move away. The people are friendly, there's a sense of community ... and you can get almost anything you need in the town from the wide variety of suppliers with open doors to walk in business - just look at the Chamber of Commerce's list of 200 traders with open doors on our website at www.melkshamchamber.org.uk.
Truely, Melksham is a gem we should promote and celebrate.