Chair of Melksham Without Parish Council cllr John Glover’s Christmas message

I WOULD like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we complete another unusual year of a new normal.

I trust that you will be able to have a joyful celebration and keep all of your friends and relations safe, whilst looking forward to the coming year.

The Melksham area continues to owe a huge debt of gratitude to all those who have continued to help out with the Melksham Community Response scheme. The emphasis has changed from an initial parish and town led response to a true community supported scheme. Once again, wider Melksham has shown what a community- minded area we are.

As I write, restrictions have had to be applied again to safeguard the whole community, but especially those at most risk from the Coronavirus, in all its guises. The good news about the vaccines is, that whilst not totally blocking the virus, they are assisting in reducing the severity of any attack.

Melksham Without Parish Council has continued to meet during the pandemic, latterly returning to face to face meetings, with distance restrictions and adequate ventilation, in line with the law applied to council meetings.

But we have retained the use of Zoom to enable the public to access our meetings and take part in the public forum, should they not wish to attend in person. This has not been without technical issues as we continue to function in temporary accommodation until our new facilities in the Melksham Campus are finalised and agreements signed. Hopefully with an Autumn 2022 completion. This should re-provide a central facility available and accessible to all, from all areas of the parish.

The office team of our clerk Teresa Strange, Lorraine McRandle and Marianne Rossi have kept the wheels turning and Terry Cole and David Cole have looked after our play areas and allotments with their usual care and efficiency. They are keenly awaiting finalisation of the legal agreement with Wiltshire Council for the new facility in the campus.

The planning permission for our new village hall for Berryfield having been approved, then hit the buffers with land transfer issues which prevented the start on site during 2021. To forestall any funding issues with potential late payments from developers, (which are linked to completed houses), the council has taken a Public Works loan to ensure that we did not enter into a contract without funds being available.

We now have site fencing in place with contractors due on site for build works in early January 2022. Unfortunately, further delays by developers have prevented the Parish Council from taking over the new play areas on Semington Road (Bellway) and Pathfinder Way (Taylor Wimpy).

A success, this year, has been the reopening of the village shop in Whitley by the Community, (supported by MWPC and the Area Board), alongside a new cycle business and cafe. This following the closure of The Toast Office. Unfortunately, the re-provision of the post office has not been possible. We wish both businesses good fortune.

The Neighbourhood Plan was finally approved following a referendum. This will help us assure that all proposed developments are appropriate for Melksham. The Plan has already been identified by Wiltshire Council in their planning objections as a reason for not approving inappropriate development in parts of the Melksham Neighbourhood Plan Area.

Looking to the future, your council will continue to put the needs and requirements of the parish to the fore when assessing developments of any nature. Once again, I wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.