Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Representative for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control services.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to Calne Area Board and introduced the Councillors and Officers present. The Chairman thanked Nancy Gosling for the music playing before the meeting.

Apologies were received from Shauna Bodman (Cherhill Parish Council), Geoff Dickerson (Heddington Parish Council) and Inspector Martin Schorah (Wiltshire Police).

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23 August 2011.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 August 2011 were approved and signed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will provide information (as in the agenda pack) about:

·       Improving services to support older people and vulnerable people in their homes

·       The launch of a new free home insulation scheme.

The Chairman drew attention to the written announcements included in the agenda pack.

This included information about how Wiltshire Council was improving services to support older people and vulnerable people in their homes as a result of a major review.

A new free home insulation scheme had also been launched. The new Wiltshire Warm and Well scheme was open to all home owners and private tenants and enabled residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes through installing loft and cavity wall insulation. To access the scheme, please freephone: 0800 512012 or go to http://www.warmandwell.co.uk.    

a.     The written update from Wiltshire Police was noted. The Chairman thanked Hans Monahan for attending the meeting in the absence of Inspector Schorah.

b.     The written update from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was noted.

c.     The written update from NHS Wiltshire was noted.

d.     Calne Community Area Partnership provided a comprehensive written update at the meeting. This was in the form of an annual report for October 2010 until September 2011. An update on the theme groups was provided; Culture, Crime and Community Safety, Economy, Education and Lifelong Learning, Environment, Health and Social Care, Transport and the Community Hub. David Evans thanked everyone who had been involved with the Partnership in the last year.

e.     Will Kay, the Voluntary Sector Youth Development Co-Ordinator, provided feedback on the summer programme for young people, which had received funding from the Area Board. Seventy four young people had taken part in a range of art, sport and residential activities. Kite boarding equipment had been used on residential trips and in Calne. A question was asked about the youth services budget; Wiltshire Council had made a commitment to continued youth service provision, however further changes were likely, with more information available from November 2011.   

f.      In Calne Without, the Parish Council and a group of local people were looking into having white gates. Hilmarton Parish Council reported they had a successful street fair on 3 September and the HAGGIS DVD regarding road safety which had been shown at the Area Board was soon to go live. Cherhill Parish Council asked to be referred to as such, rather than Cherhill and Yatesbury, and this was agreed by the Chairman.   

To consider one application to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as follows:

Castlefields Canal and River Park – seeking £2,821 towards the restoration of the lock.  

Consideration was given to the one application made to the Community Area Grants Scheme.

Decision

Castlefields Canal and River Park were awarded £2,821 towards the restoration of the lock.

Reason

The application meets the 2011/12 grant criteria and it addresses issues in the Calne Community Area Plan by enabling people to live in an area where the landscape and natural features are actively protected and conserved. In addition it can be seen to encourage a sense of community cohesion, pride and wellbeing.

Councillors and representatives gave an update on community issues and progress on Calne Area Board working groups.

a.     The Chairman thanked Andrea Pellegram, Technical Services Manager from the Hills Group and Andy Conn, Head of Waste Management, for coming to the Area Board to present information about the Lower Compton application by Hills Group. Councillor Crisp explained that as she and Councillor Trotman sat on the Strategic Planning Committee, they were unable to comment on this issue.

Andrea set out that an application had been submitted in August and representations on this should be made to Wiltshire Council planning services by 25 November 2011 in an extension to the consultation.

Andy Conn stated that Hills had been a Wiltshire Council contractor since 1996. The Lower Compton site would be used to manage changes to the waste collection services and the need to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill, which was taxed heavily under European legislation. There would be increased space for black box and blue lidded bin recycling and a more efficient waste transfer facility.

This was followed by a short question and answer session. Common questions raised and their answers were available to view on the Wiltshire Council planning portal. The main issues below were addressed:

·       There would be a small increase in job numbers linked to the application and all jobs would be retained in a climate where jobs related to landfill would otherwise be lost.

·       A traffic assessment had been undertaken and predicted that the increase in traffic linked to the application was small (a ten per cent increase in traffic from traffic at present was approximated). The Hills Group were taking measures to reduce concerns about traffic, for example by introducing a good driver’s scheme.    

·       An environmental and ecological assessment had found no grounds for refusal of the application.

·       Composting provision at Lower Compton would change; while household composting would move to Purton, the composting of other material, such as park sweepings, would be retained at Lower Compton. This material was not suitable for sale and was used to cap landfill.   

·       The proportion of waste dealt with at the site from outside Wiltshire was raised. Andrea would look into and answer via the planning portal.

Decision

Andrea Pellegram would find out the proportion of waste dealt with at the Lower Compton site from outside Wiltshire.    

b.     Skate board park working group. The young people involved in the skate board park working group had committed to raise £10,000 for the project themselves.  

c.     The cycle network working group would no longer meet regularly as projects identified would be passed to the highways working group. 

d.     Anne Henshaw presented a Calne Area Strategic Transport Plan on behalf of Calne Area Transport. The desired outcomes of the plan were to reduce the carbon footprint, improve air quality, provide safer travel facilities and quality travel information. An action plan was outlined that involved a transport hub, improved use of the web, transport information boards and comprehensive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.