THE King George V Playing Field could be awarded Green Flag status as the town council has agreed to apply for accreditation. The Green Flag scheme recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces in both the UK and around the world.
Councillors unanimously voted to apply for the award at the full town council meeting on Tuesday 28th May.
Putting forward the motion, cllr Adrienne Westbrook said, “King George V Park has undergone a lot of positive changes in the last five years. The splashpad, play area, café, lighting, CCTV, Wi-Fi have all been added. Many more users and user groups now access the park.”
To achieve the status, the town council must demonstrate certain criteria for the park which includes the area being a welcoming place; well maintained and clean; protecting biodiversity, landscape and heritage, along with community involvement.
Councillors considered how to take the proposal forward and whether a group or subcommittee will consider the bid for Green Flag status.
Cllr Adrienne Westbrook said it was important to have input on the subcommittee from park users and also suggested that all parks in the town could also be improved. She said, “If we don’t have a subcommittee with users on it, we will lose the importance of going for Green Flag status.”
Melksham mayor cllr Tom Price said, “Personally, I wouldn’t want a subcommittee for just King George V; I want it to be for all the parks. A subcommittee of the parks, I can fully get behind. I can understand putting time and effort into [the KGV], but there are so many other parks such as Awdry Avenue – this park is not a park, it is completely derelict.”
Cllr Jon Hubbard also suggested setting up two subcommittees, one that looked into the Green Flag status for King George V Park, and the other that looked at how to manage all the parks going forward.
The council says that a task and finish group is being set up to devise an action plan and next steps for implementing the new Melksham Town Council strategy. The group will discuss how to achieve Green Flag status for the King George V Park and will “consider the formation of a subcommittee” specifically for this purpose.
The task and finish group will then bring an action plan to the full council meeting on Monday 29th July for further discussion which, it is hoped, will also consider other parks in the town.
