Red tape holds up plans to renovate town park

Exciting plans to upgrade and improve King George V park have been thwarted by Wiltshire Council red tape. 

The park has fallen into disrepair in recent years bringing criticism from local parents, especially over the summer months. They have complained about tired looking equipment, a lack of seating and the closure of the paddling pool.

Currently it’s Wiltshire Council’s job to look after the park but plans to transfer the ownership to Melksham Town Council have hit a snag. And it means the town council’s plans to renovate the park could be delayed for three years or more.

Councillor Adrienne Westbrook has accused Wiltshire Council of neglecting King George V park and causing plans the council had to ‘bring the park back to life’ to be pushed back.

Exciting plans

“We’ve seen a wonderful flurry of activity in the park because of the Free Sport Roadshows and because now the grass is cut thanks to the town council,” she said. “It just shows what can be achieved. We want to make the park welcoming and open to the whole of Melksham and we had very exciting plans to do this but now we can’t move forward.

“The plans we have for the park are so exciting and would really bring the park back to life, but because Wiltshire Council are the land owners and are not playing ball, our plans have been pushed way back.

“I want to reinstate the park that we all remember fondly from 10 years ago, before Wiltshire Council took it over. I want it to be a park that the people of Melksham can be proud of.

Held to ransome

“Wiltshire Council won’t discuss anything until 2018/19 but they are so slow it will probably be more like 2020/21 and that’s just not good enough.

“They won’t let us take it over, but they’re not prepared to do anything at all, apart from minimal safety maintenance. We’ve already spent an extra £4,000 to increase the grass cutting and that’s made a huge difference – the park has been bursting with people since the grass has been cut more regularly.

“I will not take this lying down. Wiltshire Council are holding us to ransom and it’s not acceptable. I have requested an informal meeting with Wiltshire Council to discuss the ideas we have, so we can move this forward and to get what we want. I have also contacted Jane Scott, Wiltshire Council leader, to see what help she can provide.”

Councillor Jon Hubbard added, “Melksham is an incredibly community- focussed town and it is vital that we have the tools and facilities to be able to continue what the town does best. It’s important that our facilities are properly protected and maintained.”

Melksham Town Council currently manage two parks in the town, Methuen Play Area and Foresters Park Play Area and Wiltshire Council manage the rest – including King George V park. However, in 2018/19 Wiltshire Council will transfer responsibility of all the parks and play areas to the town council which would see the council paying to clean, maintain and repair all the parks.

Early transfer rejected

Given the concerns with the lack of upkeep of the park, Melksham Town Council requested King George V park be transferred to the council prior to the other parks. But Wiltshire Council have rejected an early transfer, saying that applications for transfers of assets in isolation will not be accepted ahead of the transfer of all the parks, and therefore King George V park cannot be transferred in advance.

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said, “The council will ensure the area [King George V park] is safe for users. Melksham Town Council is already funding ‘top up’ services to our provision in Melksham and we would be happy to discuss a similar arrangement for King George V Park so they can set the standard they feel is appropriate.”

Melksham Without Parish Council already own and maintain the play areas at Shaw Playing Field and in Beanacre and will take on the maintenance and eventual ownership of Hornchurch Road and Kestrel Court in Bowerhill and in Berryfield.

Richard Wood, chair of the Melksham Without Parish Council said, “We are very proud of the fact that we can look after the parks in the parish.

“Wiltshire Council has a budget of around £10,000 to spend on all of the parks in Wiltshire, which is ridiculous. How can suitable maintenance and upgrades be done with that budget? They simply can’t, so we made the decision to increase the precept to make provision for the parish council to support the radically-reduced services from Wiltshire Council in the parish; next year and in future years. This includes care of the play areas in our parish that would otherwise fall into disrepair and eventual closure.”

Wiltshire Council added, “We are working with a number of parish and town councils across Wiltshire to transfer responsibility for a package of local facilities and assets to them. We believe transferring facilities such as parks and community facilities in this way will bring long-term benefits as local councils will have more control over services and assets that affect their residents.

“To achieve this more efficiently, we are putting assets for an area together into one package called ‘Community Asset Transfers’ and we have a timetable for when these will be taking place. Melksham will be taking place in phase 3, currently scheduled for 2018/19. However, if there are financial contributions from developers linked to a park or play area which should be spent prior to the package transfers taking place, then we will ensure that funding is used to make those improvements.”