PLANS to develop a ‘sensory garden’ in King George V playing field are moving forward.
The new area, which will be located on the right-hand side of the park, will include shrubs to stimulate the sense of smell, bulb planting, ‘wild’ unmown areas, new benches, and a new home for the Millennium mosaic, which was removed to make way for a new path.
Melksham Town Council has also met with a local artist to discuss the possible installation of ‘sensory stimulating’ sculptures themed on the senses of sight, touch and sound.
At a King George V committee meeting, town councillors also agreed to drop plans for a fence to demarcate the sensory garden from the rest of the park, saving the project around £12,000.
“I’d rather see the money spent on shrubs and artwork, rather than a bit of metal,” said chair of the committee, cllr Adrienne Westbrook.
At the meeting it was revealed that the original plan for the sensory garden, which was designed with the help of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and previewed to the public in June last year, had been deemed “too expensive” – instead the council is moving ahead with what can be achieved within a “reduced budget”.
At the meeting, councillors agreed to meet with their grass-cutting contractors to discuss leaving areas of the sensory garden to go wild; to draw up a list of plants for the area; and agree a planting plan, which will include bulb planting during the October half-term involving local school children.
New benches with information plaques noting interesting facts about the town’s history will be installed as part of the winter programme of works of the town council’s amenities team. The benches were purchased to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the town’s market charter, which was celebrated last year.
It was also noted that community groups have been asked to be involved in the future reconstruction of the Millennium mosaic, when a new location has been decided. The Millennium mosaic was created as a commemorative community project in 2000 by Gill Goodhind, to celebrate the many groups and clubs in Melksham at the turn of the millennium.
At the meeting, local artist Jack Raisey presented his ideas for three prominent sculptures that will appeal to a “wide age-range”.
The three sculptures, which will reflect and “stimulate’ the senses of sight, touch and sound are estimated to cost £3,000 each. However, councillors made no decision about whether they would proceed with Jack’s designs, explaining that they would need to “consider” their budget first.
The design for the ‘sound’ sculpture involved a large steel structure with hollow tubes suspended from it – similar to a wind chime – with drumsticks available for people to use to make sounds.
A four-foot cuboid mounted in mid-air was proposed as a sight stimulating sculpture that would encourage visitors to spend time examining it.
A table incorporating lots of textures and materials, that could also be used as a picnic bench/seating area, was put forward as the design for a ‘touch’ sculpture.
The sensory garden is one of many improvements being made to the town’s main park by the town council. The project has already delivered the splashpad, a new patio area outside the park pavilion, and a new path around the perimeter of the main green area.
Proposals for future improvements include an all-new play area located next to the splashpad, an adventure area, café, and a nature area.
