Five years in the making – a return to 2019 plans for town’s sensory garden

PLANS for a town sensory garden for the King George V Park are still in the making, five years after the idea was first raised in 2019.

At a meeting of the town council’s asset management and amenities meeting on Monday 5th February, it was reported that the town council is waiting on a final quote before groundworks can begin. However, cllr Jon Hubbard, pointed out that the town council has not yet seen any plans of what the garden will look like ahead of the works starting.

He said, “Before somebody digs all the ground out and does it all, [will they] give a report to council and say this is what it will look like [?] Surely, to understand the digging that needs to be done, there must be some vision of what it will look like. The council hasn’t seen or commented on that yet, so I am concerned that we are waiting on a final quote to undertake work on something we don’t even know it’s going to look like.”

In 2019, the idea was raised for a sensory garden on the Lowbourne side of the park, as part of the town council’s revamp of the town park. The sensory garden was due to be filled with scented and colourful plants, an accessible path and the refurbishment of the millennium mosaic, which is currently in storage.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust worked with the town council to create a design for the space which, in July 2019, was displayed in the library, town hall and some supermarkets so that the public could add their views.

Following a hiatus caused by the pandemic, the “exciting plans” were praised by councillors in 2021 and it was hoped that the project would soon begin. However, in August 2022, Melksham News reported that councillors were frustrated at the lack of progress and the plans had gone back to the drawing board. With a new budget of up to £80,000, the town council agreed for the parks working group to create a list of ‘must haves’ and ‘desires’ for the garden, which would be discussed at a future meeting.

But at a town council meeting in October 2022, plans were put on hold because no plans had been completed.

A year ago, the former Melksham Carers’ Champion, David Walker, appealed for the project to move forward due to the ‘benefit’ it would have for the community.

At the town council meeting held earlier this month, it was agreed that the council’s head of operations should investigate delivering the sensory garden in a two-phased process, incorporating designs created by the town council and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in 2019 that the public commented on, and to put the project out to tender for contractors to take on the work.

Cllr Hubbard said, “This one again has just turned into a very long-term drag, and I am mindful of the fact that sitting in my front room is a very nice plaque that I was presented with as mayor the first time around that I said would be wonderful in the sensory garden.

“Almost five years on now, it’s still sitting in my front room, and what would have been the sensory garden hasn’t changed. I am very reluctant to hand that plaque over to go into some cupboard somewhere in the town hall because it will never be found again and it will never actually go on display but I am very keen that it does perhaps go out.”

Plans are now due to be presented at the town council’s next asset management and amenities meeting, on Monday 8th April.