Last night (Monday 8th December) at Full Council, the long awaited Kempsey Skatepark / Pump Track tender document finally made it onto the agenda. This should have been a straightforward milestone: present the tender, approve the process, and keep the project on track so the village doesn’t risk losing the £80,000 grant funding that so many residents worked hard to secure.
Instead, what happened felt painfully familiar.
The document was raised…
Debated…
Then deferred by vote, following the direction of Cllr Chris Waller.
And where has it been deferred to?
The Infrastructure Committee.
And who chairs the Infrastructure Committee?
Cllr Chris Waller.
Yes the councillor who pushed for the deferral has deferred it to himself.
You couldn’t write this stuff.
Why the Delay Matters
This isn’t a small agenda item. This is one of the most requested, most supported, and most positively received community projects in years. Kempsey’s young people – who currently have limited facilities – have been waiting patiently for progress. Parents have been waiting. Residents have been waiting.
Meanwhile, the £80,000 external funding isn’t guaranteed forever. Pump track grants often come with conditions, timelines and expectations of progress. When a council repeatedly delays its own paperwork, that funding can easily go elsewhere.
And given Kempsey’s track record for stalled projects (Pixham Ferry Lane, Plovers Rise, Old Road South…), residents are understandably nervous.
Last night’s decision does nothing to reassure them.
Déjà Vu for Kempsey Residents
This is not the first time a major project has been:
- Delayed
- Deferred
- Sent back to committee
- Put into a loop of procedural motions
And it is certainly not the first time a project has been slowed down under the direction of a councillor who then becomes responsible for progressing it.
Residents have seen this movie before – and they know how it ends:
- months of drift,
- sporadic updates,
- “awaiting committee decision,”
- “awaiting further information,”
- and eventually… nothing.
But this time, the stakes are not just inconvenience – they are £80,000 in potential lost funding and a major youth facility the village desperately needs.
A Pattern of Delay
Across multiple committees and meetings, residents are noticing a consistent pattern:
- Major projects are raised.
- Questions are asked.
- Items are deferred.
- Backlogs grow.
- Deadlines creep closer.
- Funding windows narrow.
- Money is wasted.
And now, the pump track – a project that should be a community win – risks becoming another casualty of this cycle.
Final Thought
A pump track is not a controversial project.
It’s not a risk.
It’s not a burden.
It’s a much needed facility, fully supported by the community, largely funded externally, and repeatedly promised.
Yet once again, bureaucracy has beaten progress.
Let’s hope we’re not watching another £80,000 opportunity slowly disappear into the same filing cabinet as Pixham Ferry Lane.
More updates to follow as the story develops.
