KING George V playing field will be the place to be next month as new facilities are welcomed to the iconic park.
A brand new play area, new catering facilities, a new-look sensory garden, and a number of new park benches and picnic tables, alongside the reopening of the splashpad, will breathe new life into the town’s main park, in time for when the country begins to emerge from lockdown next month.
The raft of improvements are part of the town council’s ‘masterplan’ for the King George V park, which has recently picked up speed.
“As anyone who has walked through the park lately will have seen, our contractors have made great progress on the new play area. It will be just brilliant to see it utilised as the weather improves,” said chair of the town council’s King George V sub-committee, cllr Adrienne Westbrook.
About the developments in the sensory garden and the pavilion, cllr Westbrook said, “This really is the icing on the cake, and brilliant that it will be ready to provide a service this summer…fingers crossed!
“Driving this project has been a great pleasure. How wonderful to envisage the people of Melksham out and enjoying the new facilities. Hope for warm weather, plenty of picnics and nobody saying that word pandem…”
Members of the council’s King George V sub-committee received updates on progress at the park at a meeting last month, when it was also agreed to spend up to £7,500 on the sensory garden.
About the new play area, which is located next to the splashpad, councillors were told that work is on target for an April opening.
“Everything is progressing as expected, there have been no snags or hiccups,” said the town council’s clerk Linda Roberts. “It looks like it is going to be delivered on time.”
The opening of the new play area will also coincide with the reopening of the splashpad, and the arrival of new contractors who will take over the running of a café in the park’s pavilion.
Whilst renovation works are taking place in the park, the town council hopes that the new operators of ‘The Cricketers Café’ will sell food and drink from a mobile unit.
At the meeting, councillors earmarked 1st April as a potential date for when the facilities could be opened to the public – dependent on the Government’s Covid-19 guidelines.
“I’m really, really excited that we have got to this point,” said cllr Westbrook at the meeting.
The former site of the play area, next to Clackers Brook, will be “made good” by contractors – and any benches or picnic tables that are in a good condition will be re-used.
The existing fencing around the site of the old play area will also be removed in the future, and re-used at another site. It is planned to leave the site next to the brook to “rewild”, creating a small nature reserve.
“It’ll be nice to have the fence removed and open up the park,” said cllr Westbrook.
Eight new benches to commemorate the town’s recent 800th anniversary of its Market Charter, will also be installed in the near future, as well as new picnic benches.
The town council’s amenities team is waiting for better weather before starting work.
Work to transform the sensory garden, which is located on the right-hand side of the park, will also begin in the near future.
At the meeting last month, councillors agreed to spend up to £2,500 on shrubs that will be used to help demarcate the area from the main park.
Up to £2,000 will also be spent on wildflower turf that will be used to transform the raised bund in the sensory garden.
The town council has also commissioned Melksham Shed to make 10 wooden Blue Hearts, that will show the park’s support for the ‘Blue Campaign’ – an initiative that is encouraging areas to be left to ‘rewild’ across Britain.
Local artist, Jack Raisey, has been commissioned to create an art installation. Presented with three options, councillors selected a sculpture based on the sense of sound as their preference. The sculpture is described as being made of steel, consisting of a steel hoop and hollow tubes, that visitors can “play” and create sounds with.
Councillors agreed to spend up to £3,000 on the art project, with the condition that the sound created by the sculpture not be “too loud”, and that there be a facility to restrict the sound in the evening.
It was also suggested at the meeting that the council consider installing lights in the trees of the sensory garden, and that a commemorative tree be chosen to be planted in the sensory garden area to commemorate Melksham Town Council taking over ownership of King George V Playing Field from Wiltshire Council.
“After years of general neglect by Wiltshire Council, we are finally providing the park with the care and attention it deserves,” added cllr Westbrook.
“What Melksham residents want and deserve is a park for the town run by the town. Our local contractors, amenities team, and slew of volunteers are ready for this challenge and eager to assume the responsibility. Thank you to everyone involved.”
