Residents campaign for safe space for children to play

RESIDENTS of Williams Close are campaigning for an overgrown green space to be cleared, so that their children have somewhere safe to play.

The residents have appealed to Aster Group, who manage the land next to the properties on Williams Close, near Queensway, for permission to maintain the area themselves, but were told that they couldn’t proceed because of legal issues.

Aster Group has told the residents that under their Section 106 agreement, the land is only meant to be cut once a year to improve biodiversity; with the next cut scheduled for September – after the school holidays have finished.

However, residents say that the only ‘biodiversity’ they have seen are rats and mice, which they feel is a danger to their children. Other concerns about the area include obstruction to the path that runs through the land and children being forced to play in the street as a result of the ‘neglected’ space.

Williams Close resident, Jonene Taylor, told Melksham News, “It’s become an eyesore and dangerous for our kids – we can’t get our pushchairs through there – the amount of animals – rats, mice – that come into the street is dangerous for the kids and the residents.

“They (Aster Group) have said that are cutting it in September, but that’s not good for the kids, they are on six weeks’ holiday and they’ll be back in school by September. We are willing to do it all by ourselves, just so the kids can play, but they won’t let us.

“This area gets used like a dump, people take their bin bags if their bins are full and dump them under the trees. I’ve seen people with wheelbarrows with mattresses in them, taken down to the bottom and dumped – it’s a massive dumping ground.”

Frustrated by their lack of progress with Aster Group, the residents have turned to Melksham Town Council for support. Speaking at the town council’s community development committee meeting, Williams Close resident, Natalie Fouracres said, “I’ve contacted Mark Curtis who is the head of Aster to see what they are going to do with the ‘waste land’. He said originally that it is meant to be cut once a year, but we’ve been there five years and it’s been cut more than once a year, it’s only the last year or so that it’s been stopped – and he’s saying that the town council tried to take it off them to maintain it, but wanted thousands of pounds to do so, but I now know that’s lies – I keep getting told different things. I asked what would you do if we cut it ourselves and he said that there would be legal issues.

“We just want it cut, it’s absolutely awful. Jo(nene) and I live opposite  and look over it – it’s supposed to be a wildlife reserve – I’ve done my research and the only area listed as a reserve is down at Sainsbury’s. We see more when it is cut – pheasants, ducks, rabbits, which is beautiful.

“A nature reserve is supposed to have plants, bushes – it’s just been neglected. It’s dangerous, there are spiky weeds hurting the kids and the risk of fire as it is so hot and the ground is so dry.

“Kids have to play in the streets rather than on the green because it is so overgrown – children in the flats have nowhere else to go – and that was meant to be a communal area for the flats. It’s just been neglected and left.”

In response, the town council has pledged their support to the residents of Williams Close to help find a short-term solution so that children can play on the land during the school holidays, and to agree a more long-term solution with Aster Group, so that the problem doesn’t arise again.

Melksham News approached Aster Group for comment but was unable to get a response from them before going to print.