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Tower and Town, April 2020

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Town Clerk; Shelley Parker

We interviewed the Town Clerk, Mrs Shelley Parker. She oversees the sixteen town councillors, which is a challenging job and she works very hard. Shelley has been there seven years, and in that time, she has accomplished many things from refurbishing the Youth Centre and making it better and more useable, to reopening the public toilets.

But she has one continuing difficulty - parking. Throughout her time, parking has always been a problem for the town as there isn’t much space. In the High Street, there are only some places where you can park, including in the middle of the road. The Town Council has had some ideas, like using the Common, but there are many problems because local people love walking there, and schools and clubs want to use the grass for sport pitches.

Over her seven years, she has seen a lot of changes in the popularity of the town and how well known it is. But many things have not changed; for example, the traditions and atmosphere of the town. One tradition is the Marlborough Mop Fair, which is a small amusement park that comes twice a year on a Saturday, and sets itself in the High Street. There are rides and places where you can buy sweets and chocolate.

Mrs. Parker spoke about how hard it is to please everyone.  For example, during the annual Mop Fairs some shops and businesses on the High Street find it more difficult to attract customers, but this is a long tradition spreading over many, many years and so popular with residents and visitors.  The occasion closes the A4, the main road from London to Bath, and can cause traffic disruption too so this, like many other decisions, are hard and take a lot of thinking through by our Councillors.

William Walduck and Charlie Kirkwood

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