Trowbridge Town Park row sees Tory councillor quit group

Cllr Antonio Piazza resigned from the town park working group after a meeting of the council’s neighbourhood services committee on July 25.

The decision follows his concerns about much-needed repairs to the park bandstand, the town pond and the lack of public toilets for park users.

He says he has campaigned for three-and-a-half years to get the bandstand repaired and to replace toilets demolished in 2019.

Cllr Piazza said: “At the neighbourhood services meeting on Tuesday, I queried if sources of income had been identified for the three projects being discussed.

“The figures I have been presented with thus far are either too costly for this council when looking at budget forecasts or outdated. “

Cllr Piazza said the bandstand pre-tender estimate documented in the neighbourhood services report stands at £386,153.46.

He said figures obtained in December 2021 showed it would cost a further £238,308 to repair or replace the leaky lining of the town pond, which is now covered by weeds.

The pond in Trowbridge town park is now covered in weeds. (Image: Freelancer)

“It is truly disheartening to see that such a beloved local landmark, a place where my mother took me as a child, has been left to deteriorate and decline,” he said.

As of August 2022, to provide new modular eco toilets in the town park would cost the council £75,000.

Earlier this year, councillors shelved plans for a £150,000 project to convert the former Trowbridge Information Centre and Sweetshop into public toilets, including some for people with disabilities.

Last September, Cllr Piazza was kicked off the Doric Park working group for allegedly leaking confidential details to local media.

He has repeatedly raised serious concerns about the council’s bid for a £3.9 million government loan to help pay for a £4.8m all-weather sports pitch.

Cllr Piazza was also removed from the Town Clerk's Review Panel, following a motion submitted by Liberal Democrat council leader Stewart Palmen.

Cllr Piazza added: “The town has no accessible toilets, no pond, and no functioning bandstand. The town council only cares about Doric Park. Trowbridge Town Council has failed Trowbridge.

“I am still of the opinion, that as a town council we are spread too thin and we need to focus on getting the basics right for the town.

“We need to be ambitious but also realistic, maintaining existing assets within the town that mean so much to our local residents.”

Cllr Palmen said in response: “The town council is working hard for our town, improving the cleanliness of the town centre, managing the green spaces and providing many services via Active Trowbridge, The Museum, the Civic Centre and several community centres and putting on great events in the Park.

“It is also keeping the town park in excellent condition. The bandstand can be used for events now, but we are looking to improve it and seeking funding for that.

“The pond does need repairing and while doing that we are investigating improving the whole area of the pond and investigating sources of funding for that. Options for the toilets in the park are also being reviewed.

“I am disappointed that Cllr Piazza continues to criticise nearly everything the town council does.

“I am afraid if we had listened to Cllr Piazza, who sought to cap our precept and has voted against improving the town’s cleanliness and managing our green spaces properly, then we would have had to cut services and not maintain anything in the park at all. So, we will not take any lectures from him and his 'professional' opinions.”