SAVE OUR GREEN SPACE NOW!  Community campaign launched to protect River Avon land 

 A LOCAL group has launched a campaign to protect a large piece of land along the river Avon as green space. 

The initiative, spearheaded by a new Melksham Green Space group, aims to preserve a 38.5-acre site, which is owned by Cooper Tires, as a vital natural habitat close to the town centre. 

The land is on the other side of the river to the Avon factory and is currently up for sale as part of the wider sale of the Cooper Avon site. It runs along the river Avon from the King George V Park to the outskirts of Melksham.

“The group has been formed with the objective of ensuring that the land remains an open space, but we urgently need the help of local people as time is running out,” says group member, Jennie Westbrook. 

“The Melksham Neighbourhood Plan does not as yet designate the land as green space and we want to change that. We need to protect the land in the Neighbourhood Plan or risk losing it. 

Short survey 

“You can respond to the Joint Melksham Neighbourhood Plan (JMNP) by Sunday 3rd December. Alternatively, you can send your comments by completing the short survey via this link https://tinyurl.com/yde7jdk4 or via the QR code below. 

“Please do fill in the form; it should only take a few minutes. 

“If we can secure it as a green space, then we can look to buy it for the community and a whole range of exciting opportunities will arise. 

Fantastic asset 

“It’s a large site with enormous scope for creating walking and nature trails, planting a community wood and wild flower meadows and establishing a haven for local wildlife. It would be a fantastic asset to the town, a vital natural habitat, close to the town centre.” 

Keeping ‘Area B’ – as it is known on the Cooper Tires plans – as an open green space for the purpose of re-wilding would have huge benefits for Melksham, says the group. 

It could: 

• Provide a public amenity in the centre of Melksham by offering diverse woodland with grass and wild flower meadows. 

• Protect open green spaces which help improve both physical and mental wellbeing. It will also help to mitigate land lost to all the ongoing housing developments. 

• Reduce pollutants along this stretch of the river. Land adjacent to the River Avon is currently farmed, and by-products from this run-off into the river. Part of the run-off along this stretch of the river ends up as silt. Samples taken from Conigre Mead Nature Reserve after flooding contain silt and maze, which is grown adjacent to the river. 

• Reduce flooding. More trees would help mitigate flooding. 

• Safeguard current, and attract more, bio-diversity. The creation of Conigre Mead Nature Reserve in Melksham is an example of what can be done, but Conigre Mead is only three acres; “Just think of what can be done with 38 acres,” says the group. 

• Provide a green corridor connecting other habits and other environmental initiatives. 

• Contribute in the reduction of CO2. 

To have your say on the Neighbourhood Plan, visit https://www.melksham neighbourhoodplan.org by 3rd December.