Six years after the idea for a Sensory Garden was first discussed, questions are being asked about when Melksham Town Council will deliver on the project, as groundworks are yet to begin.
The project, initially announced in 2019, was intended to create a sensory garden in King George V Park.
At a cost of £25,000, the initial plan was for a garden filled with scented and colourful plants, an accessible path and the refurbishment of the millennium mosaic.
However, despite Melksham’s mayor, Cllr Tom Price, stating at January’s full town council meeting that “work had begun” on the space, residents are questioning what this involves and when exactly it will start.
Melksham’s former Carers’ Champion, David Walker, who attended a full town council meeting in February 2023 urging the council to make a start on the project, says he is “frustrated” by the lack of progress two years on.
“We appear to be no further forward with something that would be of enormous benefit to the town and residents. Why?” says David, who was a full-time unpaid carer for 12 years for his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease.
“My frustration with the lack of progress is not just personal. I know how important local facilities such as a memory/sensory garden are, especially for carers, regardless of age.”
In 2019, David was also involved in a working party to discuss plans for the site. Wiltshire Wildlife Trust worked with the town council to create a design, which was displayed in the library, town hall, and some supermarkets in July 2019 for public feedback.
The pandemic then put the plans on hold, but in 2021, councillors revisited the project and praised it. However, in August 2022, Melksham News reported that councillors were frustrated by the lack of progress and that the plans had gone back to the drawing board.
At a full council meeting last February, town council officers reported that they were awaiting quotes before groundworks could begin. However, at the time, Cllr Hubbard highlighted that councillors had not seen any quotes or plans of what the garden would look like.
Melksham News has been contacting Melksham Town Council for several months to ask when work on the project will begin, what plan the council is working to, and when residents can expect to see the garden completed. However, the authority has failed to respond.
Pictured: David Walker at the site of the planned Sensory Garden in 2023
