Ladies and Gentlemen,

An excellent meeting last night (28.11.2024) - the decision is that there is still very much a place for the Melksham Transport User Group. New committee / officer group:
* Clive Jefferies (Signatory)
* Graham Ellis (acting chair and Signatory)
* John Glover
* Mark Harris (Membership Secretary)
* Julie Colegate (Vice Treasurer)
* Pete Colegate (Treasurer and signatory)
The group fills a gap / need and the encouragement / push to continue feels universal with us interfacing and partnering with so many other parties.

Thank you - so many of your - for your emails of support even though you could not make it last night (sorry this is circular - I have so much happening today). You'll notice that we still have a handful of roles which can be usefully filled and if you want to get involved we would be delighted to see you on 18th December which is the follow-up meeting ( from 18:00 for 18:30 at 48, Spa Road, SN12 7NY )

There has been so much ongoing transport news this month that it'e hard to know where to start. Yesterday, Wiltshire's Local Transport Plan consultation opened and just this morning, we have had the resignation of the Secretary of State for Transport and the appointment of Heidi Alexander, MP for Swindon South. I'll be writing a newsletter over the next few days including their implications and opportunities.

A week tomorrow - Saturday 7th December - the Christmas lights are switched on, and I have arranged to have a table in the bus stops in the thick of the crowd where I and others who have offered to help (I will write individually with suggested times) direct people to alternative bus stops, and also had out immediate information and promotion - tricky one that; we need to be really careful not promoting rail travel over the holidays, for example, with all the engineering reductions until late January.

Email addresses - [forename]@mtug.org.uk (such as graham@mtug.org.uk ) ... general email address info@mtug.org.uk ... facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/ ... website at https://mtug.org.uk <https://mtug.org.uk/> -  these pages updating over the weekend

There are many transport challenges around for Melksham and West Wilts at present, and many feel insurmountable and we wonder what we can do. But look back a few years, the challenges were different other ones, and many have been met for the best, promoted and tuned for best local residents, visitors and businesses. We have had, and will have, opportunities to help steer and support, and the final outcome may be significantly better than without us. And it's rewarding fun working together as a team of volunteers too.

Questions / comments / anything … please ask / get in touch

Graham

Graham Ellis
48 Spa Road, Melksham - 07974 925 928
https://grahamellis.uk - graham@sn12.net
My emailling policy: https://grahamellis.uk/email

To those who came along last month, and those with an interest in helping with Melksham's public transport from the community over next months and years

Thank you for coming along to the "Melksham Transport User Group - what now" meeting at the Melksham Campus late last month, or other expression of interest. This [email] is to invite you if you may able to be an active helper / supporter to a meeting this Thursday evening - 28th November 2024 - in the cottage meeting room at Well House Manor (48 Spa Road, SN12 7NY). Arrive any time from 18:00 onwards - tea, coffee, biscuits and a couple of hours in which YOU can really help start to make a difference is on offer. Under way more formally underway at 18:30

There has been a very great deal of bus and train news recently. I will summarise (headline) it below but that is not what this particular meeting is mainly about. This meeting is about resetting the Melksham Transport User Group's organisation up - so that we have a coherent passenger voice across the town. "MTUG" already has links / contacts with partner organisations, and it is already a member of wider area groups, so it is well placed to hit the ground running.

Who will we be looking for? Ambassadors for public and sustainable transport across the wider Melksham Area. Committee members to help keep us informed as they travel. People who have ideas about what we should be doing short term, what we wish to see medium term and how this fits to the long term strategy for the region. Knowledgable people from both the rail industry and the passenger side, and newcomers who are happy point out where those of us who already know a lot make too many assumptions. People willing to take or to grow into our officer roles such as Chair, Vice, Secretary, and Treasurer.

Agenda - 18:30, 28th November 2024, at 48, Spa Road - Melksham Transport User Group

1. Welcome, and brief status update
2. Setting the scene for MTUG and what we should be doing
3. Around the room - who can do what
4. Next Steps for MTUG / "date of next meeting" but more than that
5. Community public transport strategy
6. Informing at the Christmas lights
7. AOB

Melksham Transport User Group is an unassociated association under the terms of its constitution; read more at https://mtug.org.uk/index.html about what it is and what the objectives are

P.S. The venue is at what three words ///rail.weary.stability which I felt was apt. If you drive, we have plenty of free parking here.

News this month - as told to the Melksham Environment Group last week

Rail
* RAIL Study for Wiltshire published
* Open Access operator Go-op given conditional permission to serve Melksham
* Reliability Issues
* A chat with GWR on their (First Group) intent and prognosis for Melksham Train Service
* Station Usage figures for 2023/24
* Engineering near-closure from 11 to 14 December and 24 December to 24 January

Bus
* New Bus service and Bus running
* Settlement for Wiltshire - Capital and Operational amounts and what we want from it
* Real Time Bus Information

All / both
* LTP4 Consultation starts 28th November
* Town and other councils support (?) for 2024/25 - early budget meetings

Thank you for coming along on Friday (that was 25th October) to the Melksham Transport User Group restart meetings. `I am including copies to those who sent their apologies but expressed an interest too - we are all busy people and a random date was bound to be inconvenient to some.

Over the three sessions, several dozen people came along. There was serious discussion about the future of the group, whether we need one at all these days, and how we might go about organising it practically. 

Headlines ...

* Melksham Railway Development Group has achieved so much over the years that it has to some extent worked itself out of a role, and the old hands are largely no longer with us or active after several decades of largely successful voluntary work.

* YES, there is a need for a community group to support and promote public transport in the Melksham Area and there is no other existing group that is doing it.

* We have the encouragement of partners such as the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership, Melksham Without Parish Council, Melksham Town Council, and the Melksham Environment Group in going forward. And the approach is that we partner with all of those and with so many other parties involved.

* It's emphasised that we are a TRANSPORT group and not limited to any single mode.

* We meet again at 18:30 on 28th November (a month from today and a Thursday) to look at appointing officer roles and structure.  Please tell others about it - we need a big, strong team of support everywhere from activists to "armchair" supporters.

* Melksham Environment Group meets this Wednesday. At least four committee members from there were at the various sessions on Friday, during which the thought of association to combine admin and work on mutual aims were discussed.  MEG (for example) included the rail timetable on their summer lesflet.

In one of the sessions, the question was asked about GDPR and the interest being collected.  The information you gave me is purely for use in the interim setup and restart / reform of the group and correspondence using it will be done via "bcc" - i.e. blind copies that do not reveal who's there. I will add an update at https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/ (a copy of this) that anyone can comment on and also onto the web site at https://www.mtug.org.uk and my personal details are at the base of this email and shareable. This is purely a setup while we work out how we're moving forward.

To note ...
https://www.mtug.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/MelkshamTUG/
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/mtug25.pdf - slides projected on Friday
https://mtug.org.uk/lib/constbrtief.pdf - constituency brief to Brian Mathew

Graham

Please come along at 14:30 or 18:30 (or both!) on Friday 25th October to the Melksham Campus for our relaunch of the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG), and/or at 17:00 on the same afternoon to the KGV Park to unveil a "Happy to Chat" memorial bench to Peter and Margaret Blackburn.

Some background. If you have ANY interest in ...
* Buses * Trains * Cycling * Walking
* This year * Next Year * Next 10 years
* Helping * Meeting People and chatting
* Keeping Fit * Environmental Good
* Commuting * Personal Business
* Getting out and about * Trips out
* Buses on your street * Buses and trains to and from our town
* How to find out about travel * How to find places to go
* How to find the best routes and fares
... then come along a week on Friday. It will costs you nothing but your time.

Public Transport provides a vital travel element in Melksham for many of us, and over the years the Melksham Railway Development Group (MRDG) - which has morphed into the Melksham Transport User Group (MTUG) - has had some notable achievements. Most of the changes have been informed by community input, and many of the current service users have learned via publicity circulated by the group.

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