Looking forward - Chamber of Commerce has 2012 and beyond on the agenda
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2011-10-26 13:31:50 - Graham Ellis
It struck me as I was updating the Melksham Chamber of Commerce Web site after last night's meeting as to just how FORWARD LOOKING our Melksham Agenda has become.
We're looking at exciting times for the town and the area. The recession is, for sure, hitting some businesses but others are asking "recession - what recession?". And not only are we driving things forward, but we're seeing much more public input into that drive. We were delighted that Alan Byrne of Melksham Community Radio came along and was able to tell us about how he's gathering stories and interviews and will be launching live shows - initially at the weekend - in just a couple of months. This is a really useful initiative as it help reach everyone, including many groups that don't traditionally have much of a voice ... alas, all too often local things are driven forward by retired and semi-retired old men, when the services and the future are going to be used much more in the fullness of time by the younger generations.
Co-operation and co-ordination are the keywords. Alan was telling us about how he's working with the Melksham Independent News ([link]) and Melksham TV ([link]). And it was good to have Miriam Zacarelli of the Melksham Community Area Partnership [link] - who have provided assistance to Melksham Radio with licensing fees - at our meeting. And Steve Gray, the Town Clerk took. The Chamber also welcomes the positive activity of the Melksham Independent Traders, recently established, and is already working with them in feeding information / intelligence back and forth for our mutual and overlapping memberships and interests. Discussions followed on the Campus, with a report from the Chamber's representative on the Shadow Campus Operations board which is now meeting at least twice a month. At this point, it's very much a question of laying down strategies as I commented in a previous article - slightly frustrating for the people who want to talk about the specifics / tactics for their potential / current use, but (IMHO) a sensible way to do it to avoid all sorts of disjoint decisions.
Tonight, it's on to Seend Community Centre (for me) to update the Area Board of Wiltshire Council on the TransWilts Rail project, and tomorrow it's the Independent Trader's meeting. Another busy week looking forward in Melksham.