Why you should vote for Lisa in Melksham Central
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2017-05-01 13:34:13 - Graham EllisDear Reader,
This is written to you if you live in Melksham, and especially if you live in the newer housing area to the east of the town. That area's been moved from the rural "Melksham Without" Parish to the Melksham Town, and for the first time you'll have the opportunity to vote for Town Councillors. This redrawing of the boundaries is logical - many of us (my wife Lisa Ellis who is standing for Town Council and myself, Graham Ellis) have long lived in Melksham's urban area, yet been include in the outer parish (who do fine work for their villages) rather than the town.
I'm going to ask you to vote for Lisa (that's Lisa Jennifer Ellis) if you're in the "Central" Ward - that includes Cranesbill, Snarleton Land, Skylark, Sandridge Road, Ingram Road, Blackmore Road and Queensway north of the brook, and the roads off them, as well as the centre of the town. Lisa and I moved to Melksham in 1999 and have run a business here since, bringing visitors from far afield to the town. We have both been involved in travel and transport, planning and history issues, with the good of this growing and developing town very much in our hearts. It's my name rather than Lisa's you're likely to have seen with regularity in the Melksham Independent News, and that's because we work as a team and my role in the team has been the mouthpiece. We both believe in a welcoming, growing town rather than one that's stifled into stagnation (which does no-one much good) but at the same time making the most of ongoing developments so that new building brings in positive new support in the form of section 106 and CIL payments for developing the town as a whole.
Melksham Town Council needs to be strong and cohesive to promote the town's case in the wider Wiltshire context, and within the town itself too. I've know most of the rest of the Liberal Democrat team for a number of years, and they're all good people with their hearts in the right places and sensible positive pragmatic moderate ideas. Many of the other candidates are excellent too, but I worry about the bickering and the split that has left the other main party short of candidates, with former senior members standing on their own platform, and development policies ranging from pure preservation (which is ideal for places like Lacock) on one side, and support for aggressive building programs on the other.
This morning, as I've done before, I was walking around the east of Melksham houses. I've walked round that area even from before the house were built; we knew it well, and we're getting to know it well in its new form. It's got a lot that's excellent and a few things that could do with a nudge of improvement. Local activity can achieve thos things - as from next Saturday, the afternoon bus service return both to make access to and from Rugby and Football grounds easier, and to allow you and your family to get to and from the town and onward transport easier. Little thing, but based on inputs from Lisa and me.
Picture below - Lisa ... a couple of months back, at a campaign event in London. We're putting Melksham on the map, and having it move forward as a great place to live, work and relax.
Thursday, 4th May. Local elections. Melksham Town Central. Vote for Lisa Ellis.
