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Construction on Melksham Community Campus started on 1 March 2021, and work is progressing well.
Some of the upcoming works include installation of external cladding, construction of ground and first floors, installation of internal partitions and pool concrete spray. Internal design details are also being finalised.
When complete, the campus will offer a host of top-class facilities under one roof, including a gym, pool, sports hall, library, and meeting space for the community.
The work is being carried out by Pellikaan Construction Ltd who specialise in the construction of sports and leisure facilities.
Regular information and updates will be posted on this page, including newsletters. You can also find some FAQs below, but if you have any additional questions or queries please email MelkshamCampus@wiltshire.gov.uk.
Newsletters
We regularly publish a newsletter to provide you with the latest news and developments on Melksham Community Campus. The most recent editions can be found below.
The new facilities will provide a vibrant hub; combining new and improved leisure facilities with the town's library services. which includes:
State of the art fitness suite with 69 equipment stations.
Stand alone changing rooms for users of the fitness suite, group exercise classes and sports hall activities.
Six lane, 25 metre swimming pool with village style changing rooms and a learner pool - including a pool pod to support with access to both pools.
Spacious fitness studio for group exercise classes.
Purpose built group cycling studio.
Large sports hall with six badminton courts and the ability to host two five-a-side football pitches.
Large open plan atrium including cafe area with family friendly seating areas with views of the swimming pool.
A Changing Places facility which will provide excellent personal care facilities for those who cannot use standard public toilets, making the campus accessible for everyone.
Multi-purpose activity rooms available to book for a range of community activities including parties, meetings, social events and clubs.
Office space and a meeting room for Melksham Without Parish Council.
The Fitness Suite will be equipped with top of the range Pulse Fitness equipment featuring interactive touch screen, internet capable consoles and smart technology. This will include a standard range of cardio equipment including treadmills, X-trainers and rowers as well as ski-erg machines, steppers, upright and recumbent cycles and Wattbikes.
As well as a standard range of resistance equipment, the fitness suite will also include plate loaded chest press, leg press and leg extension machines, a smith machine, battle ropes and a selection of free weight bars and benches.
The Pulse Move system included in the equipment enables performance tracking as you work-out and allows you to take your gym programme with you on your membership card and / or smartphone app.
We will honour our membership prices when the centre opens and you'll be able to use our Refer a Friend offer, when we start to promote for new memberships. This means that Life Zone, Fitness Zone, Swim Zone, Young Adult and Junior Zone members will be able to capitalise with a free month for every member you refer to us both prior to, and once the new facility is open.
The swimming pools will both have Pool Pods that make them very accessible, as well as pool steps and ladders. We will also have a Changing Places facilites available for those that will require them.
We will endeavour to limit any changes to swimming lesson day/times in the new Melksham Campus as much as we are able, however there may be some changes to the current swim lesson programme.
We will provide a further update on this in due course once our swimming programme has been confirmed.
These are currently being worked on and will be shared in due course.
Yes
Nearby car parks are available. Visit Melksham parking for more information.
Libraries
The new library will continue to offer a wide range of books and information provision alongside free computer access and support, as well as printing for a small charge. The library will also be a community space with flexible shelving to allow for events and activities.
Comfy seating, study tables and plenty of display space for the new stock being ordered will ensure the library is a modern, welcoming and flexible space for everyone in the community to use and benefit from.
A new addition to the library will be an IT Pod for online and face to face meetings, helpful for those without the space or quiet at home for job interviews or to meet with council officers or local support organisations.
The new library will be staffed 5 days a week for a total of 41.5 hours. This will include earlier opening on Monday mornings and a 5pm finish on Saturdays.
Customers will also be able to use the library outside these hours in self-service mode to borrow and return books, use the computers, print facilities and study space when the Campus is open
Further information
Construction work formally began on 1 March 2021.
It is hoped the campus will be ready to open by autumn 2022.
We are trying to keep disruption to a minimum but construction of this scale will cause some, and this is unfortunately unavoidable. We will keep stakeholders and neighbouring residents updated of any significant disruption during the works.
Large vehicle movements in and out of site will be restricted during school drop-off and pick-up times.
Therefore, large vehicle movements will be restricted to the following times during the school term:
7am - 8am
9am - 3.15pm
4.30pm - 6pm
If that is ever unavoidable for any particular reason, this will be managed effectively by the contractor and with a minimum of 5 days' notice provided to local residents and businesses.
Larger vehicles will be required to access the site, particularly at the start of construction, however, the majority of vehicles will be cars and vans.
Access to the construction site is managed by a gate operative.
This was considered, but following detailed consultation with the council's highways department, bringing construction traffic directly from the A350 was not considered to be the safest route into the site, and it would have caused considerable delays on the A350.
All construction vehicles, the majority of which are vans and cars, will travel from the A350, along Semington Road, and will enter and exit the Market Pace from either Spa Road or King Street. Where possible they will enter from one road and exit via the other, but this will be governed by other activity on the local road network. Construction traffic will exit the same way as it comes in.
For the duration of the construction period, the car parks on the site will be closed and access will be restricted to construction/maintenance vehicles only. The sole exception will be a small number of blue badge spaces for users of the sports clubs.
No, you will need to buy a pay and display ticket or pay via MiPermit to park at nearby car parks. The free parking on the site was only ever intended to be a temporary measure.
Pedestrian routes around the site remain open. These are clearly signposted, but access to the Market Place through the construction site will not be possible.
Steps are being taken to preserve the Market Place and the gates and pillars at the entrance to the Melksham House site.
A regular newsletter will be published on this page, and shared within the local community. Updates will be provided regularly at future Melksham Area Board meetings. People can email MelkshamCampus@wiltshire.gov.uk. This webpage will also be regularly updated.
You can also follow the Melksham Community Campus social media feeds:
The application reference numbers related to the campus project are:
19/03329/DP3
19/03394/LBC
PL/2021/10087
Please input the numbers on the planning portal to see the full applications. Please be aware that copying and pasting the reference numbers into the search box doesn't always work so if that's the case please input them manually.
