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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Melksham United Church,4 High St, Melksham, SN12 6JU

Contact: Kevin Fielding  (Democratic Services Officer)

Items
No. Item

38.

Chairman's Welcome, Introduction and Announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed John Thomson - Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Campuses, Area Boards and Broadband and

Laurie Bell - Associate Director Communities & Communications,

Wiltshire Council to the meeting.

 

The Chairman thanked the residents of Melksham for attending the meeting in such large numbers.

39.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

 

40.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

41.

Melksham Campus update

John Thomson - Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Campuses, Area Boards and Broadband and Laurie Bell - Associate Director Communities & Communications, Wiltshire Council.

Minutes:

The Chairman advised that the Campus update would cover:

 

·         Programme and investment so far

·         Melksham House site – update

·         Planned facilities

·         Site use and layout

·         Next steps and timeline for delivery

·         Questions and answers

 

John Thomson - Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Campuses, Area Boards and Broadband and Laurie Bell - Associate Director Communities & Communications, Wiltshire Council then outlined the current position, this included Oakfields sports facilities, Melksham Market Place redevelopment, Cricket & Tennis Pavillion and the Melksham House site.

 

An estimated time line of works was also outlined.

 

The full presentation is attached to these minutes.

 

 

 

42.

Q & A Session

Minutes:

The Chairman advised that planned to take questions in an orderly manner, taking questions on each Campus issue/topic, rather than a scatter gun approach.

 

Questions raised included:

 

Swimming

Q.Is Melksham likely to be left with no swimming pool facilities?

A.No, swimming facilities are always part of the offer.

 

Q.Will the swimming pool be the last work to be done?

A.Unable to answer that at the moment, it is planned to open the Campus as a complete complex.

 

Q.The Community Operations Board had spent a good deal of time discussing access and specs of the swimming facilities, will this work be feed into the design?

A.Yes, the work done by the Community Operations Board would feed into the pool design.

 

Q.Will the swimming facilities be run and operated by Wiltshire Council?

A.Yes.

 

 

Fitness Suite

Q.Does the Campus really need a fitness suite?

A.Yes, fitness suites are good income generators, which will underpin the swimming facilities etc.

 

Tea Dances

Q.Will Wiltshire Council provide tea dances?

A.Wiltshire Council were not looking to compete with Melksham Assembly Hall, or The Riverside Club etc.

 

 

Sports Hall

No questions raised.

 

 

Café/Library

Q.Will the new library have the same book capacity as the current one, and provide some facilities for local schools?

A.Yes.

 

Q.Will the proposed café overlook the pond area?

A.That is the aspiration.

 

Q. Will the proposed café/library be fully wheelchair accessible?

A.Yes.

 

Q.Will the café be run by Wiltshire Council?

A.Wiltshire Council are open to a local community group running it, or perhaps a local business.

 

Q.Will Wiltshire Council ensure that public transport links are provided for the Campus.

A.Experience has shown at County Hall that when the library relocated to the main site that numbers and footfall increased.

 

 

Squash

No questions raised.

 

 

Tennis

Q.Can the tennis club have new courts as soon as possible?

A.Wiltshire Council will look at what it can do to try and get the tennis court provision up and running as soon as possible. It was agreed that an update on this would be proved at the 18 February 2018 Melksham Area Board meeting.

 

Multi Use Games Area (MUGA)

Q.What will the muga be?

A.The same size as the one at the King George v playing fields.

 

Q.Will the new muga be floodlit?

A.This hasn’t been decided yet, if it was, then modern low level lighting would be used.

 

 

Outdoor Bowls

Q.The outdoor bowls club have concerns re the amount of footfall around the bowling green during the redevelopment, can we be assured that the bowling green during this time?

A.Yes, the area will be fenced off.

 

 

Cricket

Q.Would there be public access to the cricket club?

A.There would be some restrictions, regarding the security of the square.

 

Q. Was the cricket pavilion insured?

A. The value of the building did not meet the threshold for an insurance payout.

 

Q.Why have you provided such an expensive facility for effectively 18 members?

A. The club made a decision on where they would like to play and the council supported this.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

There was no other business.

44.

Close

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked Cllr John Thomson and Laurie Bell for attending the meeting.

 

The Chairman made the point that this was a massive opportunity for Melksham to have facilities that no other town in Wiltshire had.

Campus Presentation

Supporting documents: