Update, 22nd July 2012. With so much going on over the last few weeks, and summer holidays now with us, it's a good time to summarise where we stand on a number of issues.

For Part 2 - Rail and Canal - see [here]
Further sections to be added

Melksham Campus .... The SCOB has completed the feasibility brief - in other words, we've worked out what we would to achieve and we've passed it through to architects to look at the various options for achieving this on the Melksham House site. Over the next month, there will be discussions back and forth to clarify some elements of the request, culminating in options being presented by the architect to the SCOB and - at a special area board meeting early in September - to the Area Board and public.

I believe that the feasibility brief covers the aspects that are important to Melksham, and it includes the mandated elements required as part of the Campus projects by Wiltshire Council. Community inputs are strongly featured, with groups, clubs and associations concerned with each activity having contributed, and indeed with such groups working with their sport's governing body or equivalent where applicable to ensure that the facilities sought are appropriate, and also to help us leverage funding via such groups to support their element in the campus. Individual / additional inputs - from the MCAP consultation, from the SCOB website, from the youth survey, older people's meetings, discussions and emails direct with SCOB members (this is not a complete list) have also been reviewed, and have gone forward as Yes / Maybe / No items to the feasibility brief. Strategic approaches such as "we want to spend our money providing things that are NOT going to be otherwise available", "we are not in the business of providing something that should be commercial" and "what we provide needs to be maximally used and operationally practical in the longer term" feed these decisions, which will be published on the SCOB website in due course.

At this stage, little is completely set in stone, and the feasibility brief may well be tweaked by "have you thought of ..." from the feasibility architects, who after all are the experts on the practical. And then once the options offered by the feasibility brief have been considered by the Area Board, we'll be into detailed design for the selected option, architects yet to be chosen, planning, and implementation.

Melksham Chamber of Commerce and Industry .... The Chamber met last Tuesday, takes a break in August, and meets again on Tuesday 11th September, at Well House Manor. All Welcome.

Melksham Chamber is a member of the Wessex Association of Chambers - originally set up to let all the various Chambers share admin / office / secretarial / phone / postage services, and to provide a co-ordinated voice to local and regional government. Over time, the Wessex Association grew much bigger and stronger than the individual chambers - in Melksham's case being responsible for some 94% of our expenditure, with just 6% of the money (collected by the association on our behalf) paid back for local activities and works. However, expenditure has been exceeding income at the Wessex Association, and the new CEO there has the unenviable task of building an organisation for the future. Some plans were presented in the Spring, with further rather different plans to Chamber Presidents at the end of June, and in turn these were presented to the Melksham Chamber at last week's meeting.

Wessex's plans suggest a radical change - a dramatic rise in entry-level membership price, a major enhancement of benefits for members, and an elimination of the local membership tier with all members being the equivalent of what are the second tier "association members" today. It's fairly early days on this just yet - plans are being made - but it would appear that on current membership levels that it's proposed that the extra income generated be used to fund the Wessex Association with (in local member's cases) even less of the fees in actual terms coming back to Melksham.

Are these changes right for Melksham? There are some excellent ideas but there are elements which (as proposed) aren't right for our members and would leave the Melksham Chamber much weakened. And whilst there's logic in being active in making inputs to the process, we're not in a position to nail our flag to the new Wessex Mast - we don't even know what shape it will be. But we do need ongoing operations, and we have been without secretarial support from the association since April.

So, until the end of 2012, Phil McMullen will take over the role of Secretary of the Melksham Chamber, minuting meetings, managing mailing lists, sendout out Agenda, updating websites, and general correspondence (on a contracted time basis). The Wessex Association will be providing training for its own support staff, and that training will be open to Phil. A financial settlement (see minutes of 17th July meeting) has been reached for members payments for last year, based on the provision of a secretary for just 4 of 12 months this year, to cover the extra costs incurred by the Melksham Chamber.

During the Autumn of 2012, the Melksham Chamber will engage with the process at Wessex to see if the Chamber wishes to remain as a full member of the association, or to take a detached role where the Wessex Association represents all Chambers including Melksham and others in our position, but our membership becomes "town local". We have a choice to make, and our route forward in 2013 will depend on that choice.
(written 2012-07-22, updated 2012-11-04)

 Z405 - Melksham Campus
  [3193] Melksham Campus - what, why, questions, concerns and how you can input - (2011-03-04)
  [3214] Melksham Campus - any last minute inputs from Melksham businesses? - (2011-03-26)
  [3224] Melksham Campus - a win / win opportunity, but a severely lacking decision process - (2011-03-31)
  [3225] Campus - answer to business questions - (2011-04-01)
  [3246] Melksham - the way forward. 26th April, Well House Manor - (2011-04-13)
  [3277] Between a rock and a hard place. - (2011-05-04)
  [3279] Letter to The Editor - (2011-05-06)
  [3325] The Olympic Torch, and Melksham House - (2011-06-14)
  [3481] Some thoughts in answer to some Melksham Campus questions - (2011-10-14)
  [3500] Campus Shadow - a great responsibility - (2011-10-30)
  [3503] Melksham House - a community facility - (2011-10-31)
  [3518] Melksham House / Melksham Campus - Seniors Input Sought - (2011-11-12)
  [3520] Quintessentially English - scenes from our Wiltshire town - (2011-11-14)
  [3735] A walk around Melksham this morning. Can you place all of these? - (2012-05-17)
  [3736] Abstraction - (2012-05-19)
  [3741] Low carbon and other environmental lessons for the Melksham Campus? - (2012-05-23)
  [3748] Not everyone has a computer - 9 more ways to learn about the Melksham Campus - (2012-06-03)
  [3888] What a difference a year made - Melksham Campus - (2012-10-12)
  [3901] How much parking should there be at Melksham Campus? - (2012-10-21)
  [4048] Art, Catering, Transport - Melksham Campus Elements - reaching local experts - (2013-03-19)
  [4103] Questions from children about Melksham Campus - (2013-05-26)
  [4311] Melksham Campus - how is it going - October 2014 - (2014-10-06)
  [4399] The Campus in Melksham - name, logo, and livery choice - (2015-01-18)
  [4418] Melksham Community Campus - which of these potential signs do you like? - (2015-02-07)
  [4423] Campus - about the logos / way marks you have been choosing from - (2015-02-11)

Z402 - Melksham Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  [717] A customer service company - (2006-05-11)
  [1223] Asda opening large new store in Melksham - (2007-06-08)
  [1250] Business speed networking - a place tonight! - (2007-06-28)
  [1429] Remembrance day - inside a church and inside the day - (2007-11-11)
  [1432] Wiltshire County Council - Budget Consultation - (2007-11-15)
  [1476] Shopping for Christmas and looking forward - (2007-12-17)
  [1504] Flooding by Asda-s proposed new supermarket - (2008-01-12)
  [1507] Comments on proposed Asda Superstore for Melksham - (2008-01-14)
  [1633] Changing a screen saver from a web page (PHP, Perl, OSX) - (2008-05-06)
  [1642] Summer! - (2008-05-15)
  [1748] Hotel room prices - Melksham, Wiltshire - (2008-08-11)
  [1792] All the pieces fall into place - hotel and courses - (2008-09-10)
  [1880] Melksham Chamber of Commerce, or the FSB - (2008-11-12)
  [1881] Wiltshire Council says - part 1 - (2008-11-13)
  [1892] Melksham Chamber of Commerce and Industry - (2008-11-17)
  [1904] Ruby, Perl, Linux, MySQL - some training notes - (2008-11-23)
  [1934] Lidl opens in Melksham - (2008-12-11)
  [1979] Looking forward, in Melksham, in 2009 - (2009-01-05)
  [1987] One Cheer for Local Democracy - Asda in Melksham - (2009-01-11)
  [2043] Confidence, Customer Service and Tourism in Melksham - (2009-02-15)
  [2095] Blue Ridge and Melksham Chambers of Commerce - (2009-03-21)
  [2111] Business Networking for Melksham - 23rd April - (2009-04-01)
  [2119] Make your business a DESTINATION business - (2009-04-05)
  [2181] You cannot please all of the people all of the time - (2009-05-14)
  [2194] Melksham Business Map - Chamber of Commerce, Tourist Information and Town Council - (2009-05-21)
  [2220] Melksham Traders - where do we go? - (2009-06-05)
  [2260] Important - the future of Melksham / Chamber of Commerce - (2009-06-28)
  [2288] Wiltshire Community Area Partnerships - (2009-07-15)
  [2289] pre-Inaugural briefing - Melksham Community Area Partnership - (2009-07-15)
  [2328] Melksham - no trains, no southbound buses through the town - (2009-08-08)
  [2437] Wiltshire Unitary News - Chamber of Commerce Intelligence - (2009-10-04)
  [2459] New Web Site for Melksham Chamber of Commerce - (2009-10-18)
  [2465] Melksham Town - asleep or awake? - (2009-10-21)
  [2487] Melksham Forum - (2009-11-01)
  [2495] Planning the future of Wiltshire - (2009-11-07)
  [2508] Community Area Partnership - inaugural AGM - (2009-11-20)
  [2514] The road show has been - where now? - (2009-11-27)
  [2521] Melksham Market - Tuesdays, 09:00 to 14:00 - (2009-12-01)
  [2531] Melksham - new Tuesday Market - (2009-12-09)
  [2540] Rock and hard place .. and the relaxing right one won - (2009-12-18)
  [2544] Vision for Wiltshire - (2009-12-20)
  [2546] How well do you know Melksham - a quiz for Christmas - (2009-12-21)
  [2568] Forums for your Melksham and open source discussions - (2010-01-09)
  [2594] Melksham Area - your community view is sought - (2010-01-23)
  [2640] How is your tax pound spent? - (2010-02-18)
  [2666] Random thoughts on Melksham Town Planning and development - (2010-03-08)
  [2683] Car Parking in Melksham - (2010-03-18)
  [2725] How do our tactics help us meet the strategy, for the greater good? - (2010-04-16)
  [2770] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - Presidents report to AGM - (2010-05-19)
  [2779] The history and future of Melksham Chamber of Commerce - (2010-05-25)
  [2782] Tell the Melksham Chamber or you only have yourself to blame - (2010-05-26)
  [2827] Melksham - a gem in Wiltshire - (2010-06-26)
  [2837] Lorry Parking in Melksham - (2010-06-29)
  [2853] Transport in Wessex - today and into the future - (2010-07-04)
  [2867] Cycling in Melksham, and looking forward - (2010-07-11)
  [2872] Moved - Melksham Lorry Park - (2010-07-15)
  [2883] Melksham Oak - photos of the new community school - (2010-07-22)
  [2891] Wiltshire Council ask how they can help businesses - (2010-07-27)
  [2932] Getting into and out of Wiltshire towns .. a.k.a. Car Parking? - (2010-08-23)
  [2957] Welcome to Countrywides new Melksham store - (2010-09-15)
  [2959] A Melksham news roundup - (2010-09-18)
  [2982] Travel, Transport and Tourism - A vision for Melksham, 2026 - (2010-10-03)
  [2995] A river in Melksham is not just for boaters. - (2010-10-11)
  [3088] Melksham - two many councils? - (2010-12-16)
  [3113] Trowbridge and Melksham to Chippenham - more roadworks, even slower journey over the winter - (2010-12-30)
  [3117] Opportunities for Melksham - new businesses in the town - (2011-01-01)
  [3141] Wiltshire Rail services - a golden opportunity - (2011-01-21)
  [3162] Keep your business customer-friendly! - (2011-02-09)
  [3172] On consultations, car parking, and Melksham town centre - (2011-02-17)
  [3173] What is the Melksham Chamber of Commerce? - (2011-02-18)
  [3188] What proportion of the British Workforce still works a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, week? - (2011-03-01)
  [3217] Vandalism and riot from the minority - the effect - (2011-03-28)
  [3249] Events - Spring and Early Summer 2011 in Melksham - (2011-04-17)
  [3272] Melksham Car Parking - current charges and limits - (2011-05-01)
  [3275] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - grows to appoint new Press Officer. Welcome. Sam - (2011-05-02)
  [3299] Presidents Report to Melksham Chamber of Commerce, 24.5.2011 - (2011-05-24)
  [3307] Melksham Community Radio launches - (2011-05-28)
  [3334] A lesson from the sporran market? - (2011-06-25)
  [3340] Summer Sunday Timetable - TransWilts Trains - (2011-06-30)
  [3343] Summer Sunday Train Service Starts - Swindon Chippenham and Melksham to Weymouth - (2011-07-03)
  [3380] Melksham Jelly - An Occasional Office for Home Workers - (2011-08-06)
  [3383] Are people who walk into Melksham being asked to subsidise parking? - (2011-08-09)
  [3420] Making best use of the new enthusiasm for Melksham - (2011-09-05)
  [3423] 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12? - (2011-09-07)
  [3427] What is on the Melksham Agenda? - (2011-09-09)
  [3438] Melksham to become a part of Trowbridge? - (2011-09-13)
  [3470] Currently pictured in Melksham - (2011-10-09)
  [3475] Havant - Shop Frontages. - (2011-10-12)
  [3492] Upcoming events in and about Melksham - more dates for your diary - (2011-10-22)
  [3495] Looking forward - Chamber of Commerce has 2012 and beyond on the agenda - (2011-10-26)
  [3496] Melksham - Business to Business Speed Networking - build ahead for 2012 - (2011-10-26)
  [3527] Melksham - changing times, an opportunity for the future - (2011-11-23)
  [3560] Melksham, Month by month through 2011 - (2011-12-23)
  [3598] Melksham Civic Awards - report and pictures - (2012-01-29)
  [3627] Meeting Report - Tuesday 21st Feb - to Melksham Chamber of Commerce from Shadow Community Operations Board - (2012-02-27)
  [3663] Changing shops and organisations - Melksham, the last and next five years - (2012-03-21)
  [3672] Melksham Train Service - please support the TransWilts case for regular trains - (2012-03-25)
  [3677] Some advise for guest speakers at meetings - (2012-03-31)
  [3682] Melksham Business Newsreel - (2012-04-03)
  [3693] Wiltshire Business Support Service - (2012-04-11)
  [3696] Melksham government and business organisations - (2012-04-14)
  [3697] Events in Melksham - read all about them, and tell us about yours - (2012-04-15)
  [3700] Why do people use chains rather than independent traders? - (2012-04-18)
  [3706] An exciting Chamber of Commerce AGM - sound like an Oxymoron? - (2012-04-25)
  [3710] Encouraging business in Melksham and its neighbourhood - keep business local?? - (2012-04-27)
  [3714] Just 12 winners? Or 371 or more? Town Centres. - (2012-04-30)
  [3732] Ten more visitors to your premises every day? - (2012-05-14)
  [3739] Go green - business seminar in Melksham - (2012-05-21)
  [3751] Public transport for international arrivals into Melksham - (2012-06-04)
  [3752] Melksham Visitors Map - Bus routes and train lines to and from the town - (2012-06-04)
  [3767] How well do you know Melksham? - (2012-06-17)
  [3768] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - looking to our future shape. Pivotal meeting next Tuesday - (2012-06-19)
  [3787] Melksham Pride - the Chamber of Commerce, and the future - (2012-06-29)
  [3818] Making things happen - litter and ASB and lost dogs in Melksham - (2012-07-25)
  [3850] Bus times - Chippenham Station to Melksham, with London connections - (2012-08-25)
  [3867] The difficult interface between the business, council and voluntary sectors - (2012-09-19)
  [3880] Chamber of Commerce - looking forward in Melksham and in Wessex - (2012-10-04)
  [3889] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - whence in 2013 and beyond? - (2012-10-12)
  [3948] Quiet little town? Advanced Technology Centre? - (2012-12-08)
  [3987] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - join us in our future - (2013-01-21)
  [4002] Images of Melksham you havent seen before - (2013-02-13)
  [4014] Costa Coffee in Melksham - is it a good idea? - (2013-02-22)
  [4041] Report on the last year - Melksham Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Melksham Without Parish Council - (2013-03-11)
  [4046] Over a hundred welcoming businesses - Melksham Town Centre - (2013-03-17)
  [4097] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - Report for AGM, 21st May 2013 - (2013-05-21)
  [4151] Tell me a bit about Melksham - (2013-08-10)
  [4164] Melksham Market - every Tuesday - (2013-09-03)
  [4170] Herman Miller coming to Melksham - the Chamber of Commerce is briefed - (2013-09-10)
  [4278] Future Swindon - Westbury train services. At current level into the future? - (2014-05-25)
  [4672] Annual review of Melksham Matters for Chamber of Commerce AGM - (2016-05-15)
  [4738] Melksham Chamber of Commerce - my final Presidents report - (2017-05-10)

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Want to escape the Olympics? Learn to program in the countryside!
The Melksham News - July 2012 - Part 2, TransWilts Rail, Wilts and Berks Canal
Returning guests - a sign of a good product. Cream teas and hotel rooms.
Injection Attacks - PHP, SQL, HTML, Javascript - and how to neutralise them
The Melksham News - July 2012 - Part 1, Campus and Chamber of Commerce
Associated Classes - using objects of one class within another
Reading files, and using factories to create vectors of objects from the data in C++
Dwarf Exception Unwind Info
Can you put names to faces?
Reading (and writing) files in C++