PLANS by Melksham Town Council to create a sensory garden in the King George V park have been put on hold.
The sensory garden was due to be a space filled with scented and colourful plants, an accessible path, and the refurbishment of the millennium mosaic, which is currently in storage. However, at last week’s full town council meeting, it was decided that the plans would be put on hold until a clearer plan of what the project will involve and who can undertake the work, has been agreed.
Plans for a sensory garden area on the right-hand side of the park were first discussed in 2019. At the time, the town council invited the town to get involved and make suggestions of what they would like to see in the sensory area. This was part of plans to revamp the park, which have now produced the new play area, Splashpad and dog walking park.
Some work began on the sensory garden in 2020, when it was agreed to not fence off the area due to increasing costs. The addition of sculptures in the area was also abandoned due to costs.
At last week’s town council meeting it was explained that plans have been in discussion for a few months and the parks working group were compiling a list of things they wanted to be included in the garden, and plans would go out to tender for the work to be carried out.
However, following discussion, it was highlighted that planning of the sensory garden has not been completed and as a result, the project would be discussed at a future meeting. The mayor, cllr Simon Crundell said, “The working group haven’t even finished what they want to include in this, so I propose that we do defer this.”
Echoing the mayor’s proposal, cllr Jon Hubbard said, “What I really want to see happen is that we complete the process that was already started, which was the going out and getting people to undertake tenders for this piece of work.”
Town clerk Linda Roberts said, “Adding a sensory garden gives another reason for people to come to our park.”
