The Melksham Area Board convened to discuss local priorities, funding allocations, and updates from partner organisations. Councillors adopted six key priorities for the area, focusing on youth support, community spaces, food poverty, housing management, and employment for people with special needs. The board also approved community grants for Broughton Gifford Village Hall and 4Youth Southwest.

Area Board Priorities

The Melksham Area Board defined and adopted six priority areas for the coming year, assigning lead members to each to drive specific actions and outcomes.

1. Youth Network: To improve opportunities for young people, the board will create a youth network in the community area, led by Councillor Charlie Stokes, Portfolio Holder for SEND. Initial work has begun with Caroline LeQuesne, Engagement and Partnerships Lead, to improve communication with young people and ensure services meet their needs. Future engagement will include events and a local podcast.
2. Street Art Workshops: Councillor Jennie Westbrook, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care, will lead the initiative to provide a safe forum for at-risk youth through street art workshops in collaboration with the Youth Offending Team. The workshops will be held in 2026 to ensure better light.
3. Maximising Open Space: To enhance community spaces, Councillor Jon Hubbard, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education, and Skills, will work with partners to improve selected areas, referencing the successful transformation of land at Canberra Youth Centre with Spurgeons. Councillor Andrew Griffin, Portfolio Holder for Safety Valve, will also be involved as the Area Board Environment Lead.
4. Food Poverty: The Melksham Health and Wellbeing Group will spearhead efforts to shift from food relief to community resilience by mapping provisions and identifying support gaps. The Bags of Taste Charity[^1] was mentioned as an organisation providing cookery lessons. [^1]: Bags of Taste provides free cookery classes via phone or WhatsApp.
5. Housing Management: Councillors Phil Alford and Nick Holder will explore establishing a local housing management group to improve services for residents on new estates, who often face poor treatment from existing management companies.
6. Employment for People with Complex Needs: All Melksham Area Board Councillors will collaborate with Wiltshire Council Adult Care Services to identify employment, voluntary work, work experience, or training opportunities for individuals with complex or special needs.

The Area Board adopted the respective priorities as above and identified the respective lead members for each priority.

Area Board Funding

The Area Board approved funding for the following community projects:

• Broughton Gifford Village Hall: £4,500 was awarded towards a new kitchen, with the condition that Broughton Gifford Parish Council provides a further £500.
• 4Youth Southwest: Two grants of £5,000 each were awarded to 4Youth Southwest for TeenTalk Young People Counselling and youth work delivery for young people in Year 9 and above.

The applications met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2025/26 and the Young People Grants Criteria 2025/26.

Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group

Councillor Andrew Griffin provided an overview of live priority schemes, ongoing issues, and new requests received by the Melksham Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG).

The Area Board approved the minutes of the LHFIG meetings held on 29 May 2025 and 14 August 2025, including the spending recommendations within.

Key recommendations included:

• A365 Bath Road/Bowerhill Lane: Allocate £2,000 for signs and road markings, with a 25% contribution from Melksham Without Parish Council (TBC).
• Eastern Way, Melksham: Allocate £1,250 for a pedestrian survey near MELK106, with no third-party contribution.
• Lower Woodrow Road, Melksham: Allocate £3,250 for a speed limit assessment, with a £1,083.88 contribution from Melksham Without Parish Council.

Partner and Community Updates

• Wiltshire Police: Sergeant Gemma Rutter provided a verbal update, highlighting decreases in most crime types except shoplifting. She stressed the importance of residents reporting crime. Future work includes drug warrants, addressing anti-social behaviour related to a local pub, and a family multi-agency event to promote safe streets. Targeted action on E-Scooters is also planned due to numerous complaints.
• Town and Parish Councils: Councillor Mary Winterburn, speaking for Great Hinton Parish Council and Councillor Pat Tucker from Keevil Parish Council, suggested reconsidering the LHFIG funding contributions, noting that other town councils were paying 25% rather than the 33% agreed by Melksham. The Chairman outlined that an Area Board Chairman's meeting would discuss how Area Boards worked, with Councillor Andrew Griffin representing Melksham.
• Spurgeons: Carl Houghton provided an update, noting that two library sessions were attended by 38 and 28 children respectively. Further work is planned to bring bootcamps to towns.

Chairman's Announcements

The Chairman, Councillor Jon Hubbard, made announcements and provided information on several items, including:

• Elections Update
• Highways dashboard of completed defects and potholes
• Completed Surfacing Schemes 2024/25
• Age UK Update
• Community First Update
• Reinvigoration of Wiltshire Carers Champions

Richard Rogers, Strategic Engagement & Partnerships Manager (SEPM), provided details on the reinvigoration of Wiltshire Carers Champions, encouraging interested individuals to contact him.

Reinvigoration of Wiltshire Carers Champions

Richard Rogers, Strategic Engagement & Partnerships Manager (SEPM), provided further detail on the reinvigoration of Wiltshire Carers Champions, with it noted that though this role had previously existed, it had been redefined and improved. People who might be interested were encouraged to contact Richard Rogers.

The initiative aims to strengthen support for unpaid carers through improved visibility, engagement, and collaboration. Carers Champions will play a key role in helping Area Boards and Wiltshire Council identify and address the needs of unpaid carers within their communities.

The proposed support offer includes:

• A simplified and less formal role description
• A comprehensive training programme
• A clear support structure with direct links to Adult Commissioners
• Localised support from the Engagement and Partnership team
• Community-specific What's On guides
• A closed Facebook and WhatsApp group for peer support
• Reimbursement of volunteer expenses

The aim is to recruit at least one Carers Champion per Area Board (18 in total), working jointly with Engagement and Partnership and Adults Commissioning to:

• Represent unpaid carers at Area Boards
• Raise local issues and insights
• Engage strategically with Commissioning to shape future support

A pilot phase is proposed in selected areas with higher levels of deprivation, where the need for unpaid carer support is statistically greater, following research from the 2021 Census.

Melksham Health & Wellbeing Group

The Area Board received a written update and an update from the Chairman on the work of the Melksham Health & Wellbeing Group. The update included:

• The Group last met on 10 July and had a successful meeting which was attended by Dr Abby Burgess from Giffords Surgery who spoke about issues in community care and the NHS.
• The Group decided that a key action for them would be food poverty with a task group meeting on 8 October 2025.
• Gratitude was placed to how the Group had supported Man Down in establishing themselves in Bowerhill.
• The next meeting of the Group would be 16 October 2025.

Melksham Local Youth Network

The Area Board noted the information provided earlier in the meeting by Councillor Charlie Stokes.