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Purely a personal note ...

Running our own business has eaten a considerable chunk of my time for the last few months ... it always does eat a lot of my time, but this has been even more than usual.  So I've not had any of the time I would have liked to put in around here - for which I would like to apologise.

I'm happy to report that I've got a busy autumn of training courses to present and hotel bookings, but that does mean that I'll continue to be stretched to the extreme for a while. 

Any company should have contingency plans in place to cover exceptional events - such as staff sickness and leave for new parents, as well as vacations.  And we do.  However, during times that such plans are in action it's the immediate work that is completed, and some longer term elements are allowed to backlog a little.  This summer, as well as holidays, we've been hit by long term sickness which leaves are team "short" for the next couple of months, and we have a parental leave coming up too as the days get shorter.

So - as well as being busy - we're looking for short term help ... we need someone to join the team and it could well turn into a permanent, really good long term opportunity for the right person.  There's a page about it at http://www.wellho.net/jobs.html ... and please feel free to pass on that URL.

Sad to say ... it faded away ...

[Car parking consultation - draft of response to be submitted prior to 9.2010 deadline]

Submission as follow to be made to Wiltshire Council shortly (deadline coming up):

Car parking consultation - draft of response to be submitted prior to 9.2010 deadline

We appreciate the need to re-visit car parking schemes and charges with a view to having a system that's suitable for the future, encouraging of vitality and businesses in the town, positive in the impression it leaves on users (be they regulars or occasional visitors to the area), broadly county wide rather than a plethora of different schemes to maintain, and cost effective in how it operates.   And we will applaud the county moving forward with these goals.

Some issues with the current system / some of the proposals

1. Melksham offers free parking of up to one hour in the central car park, which is accessed via a cul de sac which itself has a no right turn at the entrance.  So traffic for that car park from the northern half of the town has to pass along the High Street, around the Market Place and back along the High Street before turning in.  This traffic causes jams and detracts from the town's attractiveness for people once parked up / after they've walked in / got off buses.

2. The current system requires you to know how long you'll be parking for, does not allow for extensions, and punishes heavily if you overstay.   This is against the interest of businesses in the town who would be helped by people being able to stay (and spend more money!) if they wish.

3. All day parking for staff - some of whom are on the lower wages - takes a disproportionate amount of their wages, and for many of them there is no viable alternative.

4. There is a view that rules and regulations are complex, and are applied to the letter with a primary intent of maximising income.  Much of this relates to item (2) where a long queue in the post office can result in a stiff fine for just a couple of minutes.  But cases such as parking on the white line on the edge of a space (only space available ... neighbouring vehicle on arrival overlapping it) have also been raised as being harsh.

5. Charges which require multiple coins of different denominations and machines that do not give change again lead to an overcharging which results in negative feeling. It has been suggested that such pricing (and the complex rules of (2), and pay on arrival) are a cynical ploy to increase revenue without raising the headline parking rates, and in the absence of definitive and east to follow evidence to the contrary, this reflects badly on the organisation in control of the scheme.

6. Figures quoted as being the running costs for car parks have not been fully explained; we find it hard to understand why it costs 48000 per annum to look after a piece of tarmac with a machine to take money on it.

7. All day parking for employees is expensive, and threatens to be more so if the only changes made at this stage are a standardisation and hike in prices. 

8. The current scheme encourages people to park in some residential areas which are close by the town on foot.  Note that there is no major private parking or tied scheme in Melksham as there are in some other towns.

Positive approaches for Wiltshire Council

1. A system which allows people to pay for the time they actually stay (rather than the time they estimate) would be welcomed.  This could be pay on departure, or some form of mobile phone topup system (that last being less favoured as it will be obtuse for occasional visitors).  By standardising systems across the county, you'll have the benefit of scale on a system that would be potentially impractical in just a small area.

2. Car parks at different rates should be re-arranged to ensure that the high turnover spaces are no longer in the car park that requires much of the traffic to pass twice through the centre of town on arrival and again on departure.

3. Practical public transport alternatives should be provided - it needs more to encourage people to use buses than just putting up parking rates.  In Melksham there's a specific opportunity available with changes already underway and the No. 14 bus provides a good starting point.  Add to that services provide by the "section 106" Asda bus which could usefully serve the new housing area BEFORE everyone there buys second cars, and retime Chippenham - Trowbridge and Bath - Bowerhill buses to run every 30 minutes, and you'll have a network that runs every 30 minutes to most areas of the town.  The new zigzag bus (already funded) provides access into town from other villages. With 600 council employees transferring to the outskirts of Melksham for a period of 2 years, this is an ideal time to re-tune the system; I spoke with Faresave at some length (w/c 16 August 2010)  and understand much better why their service isn't already on the opposite half hour.  The employee move may provide an environment in which this can change for the benefit of all concerned.   A bus service should call at Melksham station to connect from and to each of the trains that should be running under the GWRUS proposals.

4. Backing up (3), council owned land at Melksham Station can provide car parking (initially 150 space on currently unlet council owned land, expanding to 300 later) for walk or bus connection into town centre and for rail passenger use.  The current expansion of Melksham would otherwise put more pressure on the town centre.   The coming of the Melksham Link / Wilts and Berks canal is also an opportunity for Melksham, and parking changes should take that into consideration.  Parking at this edge-of-town site should be at a low rate, all day (echoing the response of the president of Chippenham Chamber who's calling for similar things in Chippenham, and probably many others)

5. Consideration should be given to resident's permits for places like Stratton Walk, but we appreciate the cost of running such a scheme.   Have better if the money could be gainfully and positively spend on items (3) and (4).

6. Current very-short-term roadside spaces should not be reduced in number, though there may be a case to switching them to 30 minutes rather than one hour if done in conjunctions with items (1) and (2).

In town today ... went to the market but it wasn't there.   Has the experiment failed  ... or is it just an "off week"?

Submissions have been made; and the "with inflation" rises for this year just announced.  It seems that some of them (up from 80p to a pound) are fuelling inflation, rather than just being alongside inflation as we were promised; I do hope that they'll stick with their promise of listening to inputs and giving them full consideration prior to the major review that's to be completed for next year.

Congratulations to Duncan Hames on his election as our new MP.

The Liberal Democrats may not be the natural party of business (and in my role as President of the Chamber I am not going to get political in this post), but I have to say that I'm proud to have Duncan representing us.   I listened carefully to his acceptance speech on the night of the election, and here's a man who says that he's going to look after the people of Wiltshire.

Melksham was previously a park of the Devizes seat, and I think I had seen our MP 4 times in 4 years; it could be argued that preventing bloodshed in Palestine is an important role (and indeed, it is - I spend much of last week with Omar, a Palestinian from Haifa, and it was heartbreaking to hear him talk). However, I do feel that an MP's duties and allegencies should belong - at least in a major part - to the people who elected them as their representative, and I saw no political swell in Melksham calling for us to intervene from here in the Middle East which, by my understanding, we had a huge part in screwing up around 1948.

So - 4 times in 4 years.   I have seen Duncan since the election ... 4 times in 4 weeks.  As our representative, it his his role to go to Westminster and represent us, so I have to say I wouldn't expect  him to be anythink like as present on the ground as he has been - but I am impressed by the start he has made.

Phil - how apt are your comments about the need for community space ... and the need to keep people within the community.   Just yesterday, I was hearing just how hard it is to get a booking for Rachael Fowler or for the Assemby Hall - and I'm told that's it's unusual to find such a sense of *community* in towns these days!

It's distinctly non-green to ship train bus people off for education out of the town, and as I recall the college in Trowbridge isn't exactly near the centre where the 234 235 and 237 bus routes arrive, is it?

There is a proposal for a new length of canal to be built from Semington to the River Avon in Melksham, as part a new through "Wilts and Berks" route ... following the historic route for much of the way, but of necessity taking a new route through Melksham, where the old canal bed has been built over.

I have "blogged" in two sections - the first factual to document the routes / options and the second somewhat subjective (but looking to describe both sides where there is disagreement) ... see

http://www.wellho.net/mouth/2807_Canal-through-Melksham-the-options-and-issues.html

I read with some sadness in the Melksham News that the local campus of Wiltshire College is to close.
 
How sad when we seek to minimize waste and pollution by avoiding unnecessary travel that residents of Melksham are now being forced to incur additional costs for transportation in order to attend courses once available locally.

And there may be some people who no longer attend - how easy is it to get to the campus in Trowbridge by public transport from Melksham? One imagines that will require an additional level of commitment, especially on a dark winters evening.

And what will become of the buildings in Melksham once Wiltshire College departs? Is there any possibility of the space being made available to the community?

May I suggest that consideration is given to making the space available to Voluntary Groups in Melksham?

regards

Phil Vossler

[well]

An update - I have been somewhat out of commission for the last month or so; followers of my blog will have an insight into the background behind that, and will also know that I should be back - and well back - in coming weeks and months.   Thank you for your understanding at patience - Graham