Melksham Forest area will benefit from an initiative to replace and refurbish equipment in the Awdry Avenue play area and create a new Melksham Forest Community Garden adjacent to the Forest Community Centre.
Town councillors agreed to work with Melksham Forest Community Conversations and Wiltshire Council to improve the area, at a meeting of their asset management and amenities committee held on Monday 10th June.
Melksham Forest Community Conversations is a resident-led community group, set up by Wiltshire Council’s Community Conversations initiative. The Community Conversations residents in Melksham Forest have identified the play park in Awdry Avenue as an area they would like to see improved, and funding from Community Conversations has been set aside for this work.
Lead for the Melksham Forest group, Bridie Hanraads, has also approached Melksham Town Council to discuss creating a Melksham Forest Community Garden.
Last year, cllr Tom Price, proposed updating the Awdry Avenue play area with new equipment, and town councillors unanimously voted to set aside £55,000 to carry out the works. Since then, Wiltshire Council has set up the Community Conversations initiative, which includes funding for local projects.
Praising the idea for Melksham Town Council to work with the Community Conversations group, Melksham’s mayor, cllr Tom Price said, “It genuinely really is the best thing we can do as a council; I will be so happy for the Forest area.”
Chair of the meeting, cllr Adrienne Westbrook, said it was important to remember that this is a Wiltshire Council initiative and therefore, Melksham Town Council would not be going out to tender to find a suitable company to upgrade the park.
For the funding to be awarded, a panel (made up of residents of Melksham Forest) will vote at their next meeting at the end of the month.
Picture: Melksham’s mayor, cllr Tom Price (by Megan Robinson)
