Partial reply to a local body looking for input for their report. I'll put a fuller, direct reply together over the weekend - further inputs welcome.
"Melksham will be a thriving and accessible market town that respects its hetitage and rural environment while welcoming the expansion of local and inward investment from new high quality businesses. It will achieve balanced and mixed housing development appropriate to the existing town and its surroundings. This will be supported by accessible and improved leisure and recreational provision, increased healthcare and education facilities, canal related developements and IMPROVED AND INTEGRATED RAIL AND BUS LINKS TO SWINDON and neighbouring towns and villages. The Town Centre will benefit from new investment and will promote its riverside locations.
Question 3. Do you have agree with the suggestions? Do you have any suggestions as to how we could improve them?
ANSWER. I agree with the suggestions - especially in the area of Rail and Bus links of which I have made a particular study. It should be noted that the railway through Melksham, and the station there, has already been identified by the Country Council as a strategic route in their local transport plan, so this fits in well.
There is a golden opportunity to improve the rail service to Swindon from December 2008 - raising the number of trains from 2 per day each way to 3 times that, and full AND IMMEDIATE effort should be made to ensure this step is taken by all parties concerned.
Also
Question 2 - Trowbridge.
The improved transport links should also mention Swindon. IIt was notable that housing experts talking of future development in Trowbridge and Westbury talked about the links to Swindon, Bath and Bristol (in that order) at a recent meeting we attended, and that the A350 corridor - from Trowbridge to Melksham and Chippenham - is mentioned elsewhere in this core strategy as key. That is the same corridor / route as Swindon.
Author
Logged
