Council votes for Wi-Fi in town park

THE town council has voted to install Wi-Fi in King George V Park (KGV), at the same time as the festoon lights and CCTV, to enhance the public’s experience of using the park and encourage people to visit. However, some councillors felt that the park should remain a WiFi-free zone, to promote family engagement and tranquillity. 

It was resolved at the full town council meeting on Monday 30th October, to install four internet access points around the park. They will be supplied by Kan Connections, a known and approved supplier of the council’s Wi-Fi, for £2,910. 

The motion was put forward by Cllr Jon Hubbard who highlighted the benefits of installing Wi-Fi in the park. He said it would improve signal and connection during events such as the Food and River Festival, particularly when people are making payments using their phones. He also said it would provide a service for people who cannot afford a phone contract, provide coverage where mobile data may be patchy, and benefit more people using the park and the Cricketers Café. 

Cllr Hubbard also said the system could be extended to the town hall to provide coverage in the Market Place. 

However, concerns were raised by some councillors, saying that installing Wi-Fi in the park takes away from it being a tranquil area for residents to ‘de-stress’ and the park should be a space for family time. 

“I don’t see the point of having Wi-Fi with the park,” said Cllr Claire Forgacs. “People go there to enjoy the kids, not sit on their phones. If they want to sit on their phones and ignore the children, they should be doing that on their own Wi-Fi, we shouldn’t be providing that. Again, tranquillity – you go there to get away from things. We should be encouraging family activity, not taking it away.  

“We are also talking about anti-social behaviour and gathering of kids in the park, if you give them free Wi-Fi, it’s there and gives them another place to gather. I do understand it in the Market Place and town where it’s a bit more beneficial for traders, but I don’t see the point of it in the park.” 

Questions were also raised about the Wi-Fi coverage at the Cricketers’ Café, with some councillors calling for conversations to happen with Craig who is the owner of the café, about his plans with Wi-Fi, to ensure his custom is not taken away. 

Cllr Jack Oatley said, “I would prefer that we have a better Wi-Fi system in the café, that would draw more customers to the café who would use that for their Wi-Fi, rather than provide it outside of the café, where the customers won’t necessarily have to go to the café to get their Wi-Fi.  

“My ears pricked up though when we said about improving Wi-Fi in the Market Place and the Assembly Hall, as I would rather [do this first] [and encourage people to use the café in the park] rather than us providing Wi-Fi outside.” 

Other points raised about installing Wi-Fi in the park included the fact there are plenty of places in town offering free Wi-Fi, leakage of signal outside of the park and bandwidth.  

Cllr Hubbard said, “Will there be leakage of the Wi-Fi outside of the park? Yes of course, the reason is because the outside points will have to go on the posts around the park. The houses on Lowbourne theoretically will be able to benefit from it, yes, but there are steps you can do when the Wi-Fi is set up, you can limit what any single person can do. The outdoor points have a range of 120 to 200 metres, pending on circumstances. So, if we put them where they are shown on the diagram, that would give coverage to the entire park, other than right in the middle in the field, where there would almost definitely be a dead zone.” 

Melksham mayor cllr Simon Crundell proposed an amendment to the motion, suggesting that the council’s Community Development Committee has oversight of the Wi-Fi usage and could take action if ‘harmful’ websites needed to be blocked. This was welcomed by cllr Hubbard.  

The project will be funded out of the major project earmarked reserves and follows the council’s recent success of approving festoon lights to be installed in the park and CCTV to improve safety of the area.