Block Management in Melksham
Three watercourses in one flood warning area, and a single 95 metre defence wall.
Melksham's residents' management companies, RTM companies and freeholders can hand us the day-to-day running of a block, its accounts and its compliance. The town's flood warning area names the Avon, Clackers Brook and South Brook, and 23 recorded flood outlines run from 1925 to January 2014. Radon, by contrast, is in the lowest band across all fourteen squares.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Melksham
Check the Block Against the Named Streets
The Bristol Avon at Melksham warning area names New Broughton Road, Bradford Road, Lowbourne, Webbs Close, Northbrook Road and Roundpond among others. We would confirm at handover whether the block is inside it and record the result in the compliance file.
ComplianceBase Insurance on Boundaries, Not Names
Twenty-three flood outlines intersect the town, three of them from overtopped defences, yet two warning areas carrying Melksham's name do not reach it. We would base insurance disclosures on the block's actual position rather than on area titles.
InsuranceHold Reserves for Limited Defences
Against that flood history, the engineered defence is a single 95 metre wall on the Avon to a 50 year standard, with no named alleviation scheme. For a block in the warning area we would allow for flood recovery in reserve fund planning.
Reserve fundsObtain Consents in the Historic Core
134 of the town's 158 listed entries sit inside the 27.5 hectare conservation area. For a block in that core we would obtain the necessary consents before specifying external repairs or redecoration.
ConsentsManaging a Block in Melksham at a Glance
- Local authority
- Wiltshire Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Wiltshire Council Building Control
- County
- Wiltshire
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- From our Plymouth office
- About 111 miles in a straight line
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Melksham to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
Three Watercourses, and Almost No Engineered Defence
The mid Bristol Avon alert covers 11.51 per cent of the built-up area, and the Bristol Avon at Melksham warning area covers 4.57 per cent. That warning area names three separate watercourses and their streets. On the Avon it names New Broughton Road, Old Broughton Road and Bradford Road. On the Clackers Brook it names Lowbourne, Webbs Close and Bath Road, and on the South Brook, Northbrook Road, Southbrook Road and Roundpond. The upper Avon alert clips a further 0.86 per cent of the northern edge. Two nearby warning areas name Melksham in their titles without reaching the town; one of them starts downstream at Challymead Bridge. Twenty-three accepted flood outlines intersect the town, running from 1925 to January 2014. Three of them are attributed to overtopping of defences rather than simple channel capacity, and the largest covered 29.7 hectares in May 1932. Against all that, the engineered defence is almost nothing: a single 95 metre wall on the Avon to a 50 year standard, with everything else recorded as natural high ground. No named alleviation scheme is published. For a block, insurance disclosures should rest on the building's actual position against the warning area rather than on area names.
Most Melksham Flats Are in Purpose-Built Blocks
The census output areas inside the built-up area hold 7,851 households, with 977 in flats, 12.4 per cent. Of these, 787 are in purpose-built blocks, 79 in a converted or shared house, 43 in another converted building and 68 over commercial premises. Three Melksham-named wards sit wholly inside the town, and Melksham Without North and Shurnhold is about two thirds inside. Two further wards, Melksham Without West and Rural and Bowerhill, have no output areas inside the built-up area despite their names. Most flats here are in purpose-built blocks, so roofs, communal areas and fire safety are the main shared responsibilities.
158 Listed Entries and No Grade I at All
One conservation area, recorded as designated in 1981, though only the year is published. It covers 27.5 hectares, 5.42 per cent of the built-up area. An appraisal is recorded as existing, but its adoption date is not published and the council's own mapping carries no designation date. For a block in the historic core, external repairs and alterations should be checked for consent before they are specified.
158 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the built-up area, and not one of them is Grade I. Two are Grade II* and 156 Grade II, with 134 of them inside the conservation area. Bradford-on-Avon, five miles away, has eight Grade I buildings. For a block in the core, a Grade II listing still means listed building consent for works to the fabric.
Every One of Fourteen Squares Reads the Lowest Band
All fourteen one-kilometre squares over the built-up area are in the lowest band. The published wording is that all parts of the square are in the lowest band of radon potential, with under 1 per cent of homes at or above the action level. The advice given is that radon measurement is not advised. There is no square of class 2 or above anywhere in Melksham. For a block, radon is a low priority in the compliance programme.
That is national advice about the ground, not about the building. The same map excludes basements, cellars and underground spaces at every band, so an enclosed plant room, undercroft or lower-ground flat is still worth a look even here, and whatever is found belongs with the compliance record.
A Joint Neighbourhood Plan with 49 Local Green Spaces
Decided under the Wiltshire Core Strategy, adopted 20 January 2015. The emerging Wiltshire Local Plan reached examination in November 2024 but was withdrawn on 22 May 2026. Its replacement is not expected to be adopted before 30 April 2029. The council states that the 2015 Core Strategy's policies are not automatically out of date, despite its plan period having run to 2026, and will continue to guide development. The Joint Melksham Neighbourhood Plan is shared between the town council and Melksham Without Parish Council. It went to referendum on 31 July 2025 and was carried by 1,903 votes to 239 on a turnout of 10.79 per cent. It runs to 2038, carries 21 bespoke local policies and protects 49 local green spaces. It builds on an earlier joint plan adopted in 2021. The date the council formally made it is not published. None of the 48 Article 4 directions in the county covers the town. For a block, any proposal for new flats or external change should be checked against the neighbourhood plan's local policies as well as the Core Strategy.
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Melksham Questions
Which Neighbourhood Plan Applies in Melksham?
The Joint Melksham Neighbourhood Plan, shared between the town council and Melksham Without Parish Council. It went to referendum on 31 July 2025 and was carried by 1,903 votes to 239 on a turnout of 10.79 per cent. It runs to 2038, carries 21 local policies and protects 49 local green spaces. The date the council formally made it is not published.
Is the Wiltshire Core Strategy Still in Force for Our Block?
Yes. Melksham is decided under the Wiltshire Core Strategy, adopted 20 January 2015. The emerging Wiltshire Local Plan was withdrawn on 22 May 2026 and its replacement is not expected before 30 April 2029. The council states that the Core Strategy's policies are not automatically out of date and will continue to guide development. There is no Article 4 direction in the town.
Should We Test Our Communal Areas for Radon?
The published advice for Melksham is that radon measurement is not advised. All fourteen one-kilometre squares over the built-up area are in the lowest band, where under 1 per cent of homes are at or above the action level. There is no square of class 2 or above anywhere in the town.
Nearby Areas
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