Eight years on: Work begins on footpath to Melksham Oak School

Work has begun on the long-awaited footpath linking Melksham Oak Community School to housing developments in Melksham East – eight years after local residents and councillors first began calling for it.

Wiltshire Council has faced repeated criticism over delays to the 450-metre path, which will provide safer access for the school’s 1,300 students. The path is expected to reduce the number of pupils using the busy A365 and replace the current informal route across a field.

Although the pathway was first promised in 2016, progress has been slow. Wiltshire Council has attributed the delays to the Covid pandemic and a sharp increase in costs, with the project now estimated to cost £450,000.

In a recent update, the council confirmed that the path is due to be completed in time for the new school term in September.

Mike Sankey, who was the Wiltshire councillor for Melksham East when the work began, said, “This path has been required since the new estates in Melksham East were built and is now very long overdue. To find ourselves in the position where this hasn’t been delivered is reprehensible – although not altogether surprising, considering their track record on project delivery.”