Monday night’s Infrastructure Committee meeting should have marked a clear step forward for Kempsey’s long-awaited pump track and skatepark.
Instead, it became yet another example of how progress in this village is repeatedly stalled – not by a lack of funding, not by a lack of public support, but by decision-making at the very top.
At the meeting, Cllr Waller proceeded to go through the pump track tender line by line. What should have been a short, focused discussion turned into a drawn-out procedural exercise that tested the patience of councillors and members of the public alike.
Throughout the process, public questions were ignored.
From Delay… to Disgust
As the meeting dragged on, frustration in the room became impossible to ignore. So much so that even the District Councillor present chose to leave and walked out of the meeting in clear disgust at how proceedings were being handled – a rare and telling moment that underlined just how dysfunctional the process had become.
When a District Councillor feels compelled to walk out of a Parish Council meeting, it should ring alarm bells.
Instead, nothing changed.
From Disgust… to Rejection
After all of that, the outcome was stark:
The pump track tender has now been REJECTED.
That decision effectively extinguishes – at least for the foreseeable future – the village’s hopes for a pump track and skatepark that residents, families, and young people have consistently asked for and supported.
Not because the project wasn’t wanted.
Not because the money wasn’t available.
But because of how it was handled.
A Pattern, Not a One-Off
This is not an isolated incident. It is part of a pattern of systemic failure that Kempsey residents have watched repeat itself time and time again:
- Projects delayed until momentum is lost
- Public money spent on schemes that never materialise
- Decisions bogged down in process, then quietly abandoned
- Legitimate public engagement ignored or shut down
While Kempsey does technically have other councillors, none appear willing to challenge the Chair, question the approach, or intervene when meetings descend into procedural theatre instead of decisive action.
The result is a never-ending cycle where nothing gets done and no one is held accountable.
Too Much Power, Too Little Progress
When one person chairs multiple committees, controls the agenda, dictates the pace, and filters public input, scrutiny disappears. What replaces it is stagnation – and that is exactly where Kempsey now finds itself.
The pump track didn’t fail because the village didn’t want it.
It failed because the system allowed one individual to derail it.
The Cost to Kempsey
Every failed project costs more than money. It costs trust. It costs confidence. And it costs the village opportunities it may never get back.
Kempsey hasn’t just lost a pump track.
It has lost patience.
And residents are increasingly entitled to ask the question:
How many more projects need to fail before something finally changes?
The only change needed is a simple one….a new chair!
Image: Cllr Waller, image publicly available 🫡
I had no option but to walk out last week, of the Parish Council Meeting. After a 7 minute break during the meeting , it was restarted discussing a new tender document that had been written during the days previous while the Chair re-wrote the tender document, circulated it to the Parish Councillors in attendance on the night and decided to go through this document line by line. I walked out because although this was a properly called meeting, the document that they decided to discuss had not been circulated to any Councillor prior to the meeting and those in the Public Gallery had no idea what they were discussing or deciding upon.
I understand that a Parish Council (may be a different type) meeting is to be held before Christmas. I have looked on the PC website and nothing listed. I was under the impression that for a meeting on a Monday, then Agenda has to be displayed on a Wednesday or Thursday. I may be wrong.
I am constantly discussing this problem of the Pump Track with 4 senior officers at Malvern Hills.
Hey Lovelies, I think you may have been misinformed… slightly. While much of your article rings true, the pump track hasn’t failed… not yet… (not ever if I have anything to do with it). We are moving forward… pushing forward… and confident that, despite shenanigans, like weirdly ignoring carefully prepared tender documents and replacing them with unwieldy new ones that need to be discussed line by line… regardless, we are still JUST on track to meet the deadlines and secure the £80k for Kempsey’s new pump track. We WILL get this through… The community want this, the district want this, and many people have asked and campaigned and worked for decades to realise the vision. We will not be defeated by little glitches – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world – indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Don’t give up on the pump track – we’re going to get there!