MELKSHAM Town and Melksham Without Parish councillors have finally reached an agreement on how to move forward with the proposed mini country park on the site of the former George Ward School playing fields.
The two councils had been struggling to reach a decision on how to form a committee to support the project since October.
In what was described as ‘a game of ping-pong,’ proposals from each council had been rejected by the other, and counter-proposals made in response.
However, at this week’s town council asset management committee meeting, councillors voted to accept the parish council’s proposal that a committee be formed of three councillors from both Melksham Town and Melksham Without, with an alternating chairperson who does not have a casting vote. The proposal also states that decisions by the committee will be made by a simple majority and that the project will be funded by a 50:50 split between the two councils.
Ideas for the use of the green space have included a public open space with footpaths, a community orchard, a wildlife and woodland area, allotments and the planting of trees to commemorate the lives of Melksham soldiers who died during WW1.
