PLANS for the £15.1 million next phase of the Melksham Community Campus have been shown to the public at the town’s library.

Scores of residents attended two public consultation days on Tuesday and Wednesday (March 5 and 6) to find out more.

Sylvia Cook, 66, of

Littlejohn Avenue, Melksham, said: “I would love to see it happen but not a lot has happened since 2012. I am pleased to hear that there will be free parking for users of the new sports and leisure centre.”

Paul Carter, 68, of Semington Road, Melksham, said he was “delighted” that progress is being made on the development.

“I know there has been a lot of criticism about the way it has been handled by Wiltshire Council,” he said. “But it was inevitable that problems would arise and that things would get knocked back. It has been a difficult project but I am sure that it will be delivered.”

Fabien Coupat, of DKA Architects in Bath, said they hope to submit a planning application for next phase of the £23 million campus by the end of March.

The designs include a six-lane swimming pool and a learner pool, six-court sports hall, a new library and café on the ground floor, with a fitness suite, dance studio, meeting rooms and office space upstairs.

This will be as well as the existing cricket pitch, outdoor bowls and tennis courts behind Melksham House. There will also be a new multi-use games area with floodlights.

The plans also include the refurbishment and an extension of the existing car park to provide 200 parking places, plus a new car park near the tennis courts.

Other works will include landscaping, trees and a tidying up of an existing wildlife pond.

Natasha Gumbrell, Wiltshire Council’s project manager for campuses, said “no decision” has been made yet on what will happen to the Grade II listed Melksham House.

The Melksham Blue Pool is expected to close when the new sports and leisure centre opens but no decision has been made yet on whether its building will be replaced with a new GP surgery.

A decision on the plans is expected by the end of August. If the application is approved, then construction work is expected to start in 2020. The campus is due to be completed by mid-2021.