Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Linda Packard, welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the councillors and officers present.

The Board were reminded that there several guest speakers this evening each of which would give an overview of their respective areas of expertise followed by an opportunity to ask questions.

The panel members would be introduced at the beginning of the relevant item.

No apologies were received.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2013.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2013 were signed and agreed as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To receive any announcements as felt appropriate by the Chairman.

Although no announcements were available at the time of the agenda publication, several had subsequently been made available, copies of which were at the meeting and could be found on the Wiltshire Council website.

·         Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – A consultation would be undertaken on the Draft Charging Schedule.  The consultation would commence on Monday 13 January and end at 5pm on Monday 24 February.

·         Core Strategy – Following the Council’s submission to the Inspector, it was found that parts of the Strategy required change.  Two areas of importance to Chippenham were the increased housing requirement to 42,000 across Wilshire and specifically the options for strategic sites. 

Further information on the Inspector’s preliminary findings and the Council’s response could be found on the Council’s website at:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshirecorestrategyexamination.htm

·         Integrated Performance Management Report – The announcement, provided by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) also included details of the webpage where a copy of the Report itself could be found, namely:

http://www.wiltshireccg.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Paper-09-Integrated-Performance-Report.pdf

Connecting Wiltshire – The Chairman drew the Board’s attention to the display stand at the meeting which included leaflets on cycling and walking routes in and around Chippenham.  All were encouraged to take a look if not already done so.

Area Board Focus Areas – Although not included within the agenda, Councillors would be given the opportunity to provide updates on their identified areas at the end of the Partner Updates item.

To note the written updates provided and answer any questions arising from the floor:

      i.        Parish and Town Councils

    ii.        Wiltshire Police

   iii.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

   iv.        Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership (ChAP)

    v.        Chippenham Vision

   vi.        Chippenham Campus Development Team

  vii.        Youth Issues update

viii.        Chippenham Partnership of Schools

   ix.        Other Community Groups

Updates from partners were received as follows:

      i.        Parish and Town Councils

The written reports were noted.

    ii.        Wiltshire Police

The written report from Wiltshire Police was noted.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Angus McPherson, was invited to the podium to give details on the proposed precept.

Angus McPherson confirmed that a consultation was taking place with regards a proposed increase in the police and crime element of the council tax of £3.15 per annum for the average home (based on a band D property).

This proposed increase would reduce the potential funding shortfall for the next 3 years by £2.3m meaning that £12.5m savings would be required rather than the estimated £14.8m without. 

It was noted that the precept level, inclusive of any increase, would still remain the lowest within the South West.

The proposed increase would help to minimise the impact proposed savings could have on front line services.  £1.5m from reserves would also be used to enable continued recruitment of officers.

All in attendance were encouraged to take part in the consultation with paper copies circulated at the meeting.

   iii.        Chippenham Campus Development Team

The update was noted.

   iv.        Chippenham Partnership of Schools

The update was noted.

    v.        Wiltshire Time Credits

The update was noted.

As indicated within Chairman’s Announcements the relevant Councillors were invited to give updates on the following Focus Areas for 2013/14.

Road Safety

Councillor Bill Douglas confirmed that he continued to work with the Highways team.  It was hoped that the ‘No Need for Speed’ campaign would be up and running within the next few months.

Crime & Community Safety

Cllr Desna Allen had no further news to report since the last update.

Deprivation

Councillor Chris Caswill confirmed that a useful meeting had taken place before Christmas which had been hosted by Green Square.  Cllr Caswill hoped to bring some proposals back to the Board for its next meeting.

The following representatives will be in attendance to give a presentation on their area of expertise in relation to highways and transport.

·         Parvis Khansari, Associate Director Highways and Transport

·         Philip Whitehead, Portfolio holder Highways contract

·         Martin Rose, Principle Traffic Engineer and CATG member

A short Voxpops DVD will be shown

·         Bill Parks, Head of Local Highways and Streetscene, North

·         Simon Rowe, Weather and Emergency Officer, Highways and Streetscene, North

·         Claire Walker, Colerne Parish Council

There will be an opportunity for questions at the end of the presentations.

The Chairman welcomed the panel members in attendance to give details on their respective work relating to highways and transport.

Due to the extreme weather conditions currently being experienced two of the presenters originally scheduled were now unable to attend as they were dealing with highways related problems around the county.  The revised running order would therefore be:

·         Parvis Khansari – the presentation would now include details on local highways and street scene (originally scheduled to be presented by Bill Parks)

·         Martin Rose – the presentation would include details of the CATG and its work.

·         A DVD highlighting the responses received from the public would be shown.

·         Cllr Philip Whitehead – the presentation would now include details on weather and emergency plans (originally scheduled to be presented by Simon Rowe)

·         Claire Walker – details of the Colerne Parish Council Snow Plans.

The Chairman requested that the minutes reflect her thanks to the emergency planning team of Wiltshire for all their hard work in dealing with the extreme conditions over recent weeks before welcoming the guests to speak.

Copies of all presentations made can be found attached to these minutes but included the following highlights:

Parvis Khansari, Associate Director Highways & Transport

·         The UK was ranked 24 in terms of quality of roads with France currently holding first place.  This was in part due to the emphasis of investment in recent years being placed on protecting frontline services.

·         There had been a significant increase in traffic over the past 50 years resulting in much heavier usage specifically on A and B classified roads.

·         Since 2001 the authority had taken advantage of available funding and had increased expenditure significantly in highways with plans for further investment over the next 6 years.

·         Various data collections were used to measure conditions of the road networks to ensure they remained fit for purpose.

·         The Chippenham community area consisted of approximately 275km of road, the condition of which was better than in some other areas of Wiltshire.

·         Details of the maintenance scheme for 2013/14 were provided, further details of which could be found in the presentation.

·         The potential future road maintenance sites identified for 2014-2020 were to be considered by the authority’s Cabinet.  If approved the list relating to the Chippenham area would be brought back to the Area Board for discussion.

·         Central government had recently announced the release of funding that each local authority was able to bid for works that required urgent attention.  Wiltshire Council was successful in its bid regarding the A350 project with utilities expected to be in place shortly to begin construction works.

·         Further details on how services were being delivered at a local level were then provided on behalf of Bill Parks (who was unable to attend).  This included:

·         The Highways and Streetscene teams within the Council had now been merged as part of the new structure with staff for the Chippenham area as detailed below:

o   Western Area Manager – Chris Clark

o   Area Engineer – Paul Bollen

o   Chippenham  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider the following applications:

Capital Project Applications

·         Chippenham Rotary Hall - £1,050 towards an IT improvement project.

·         Kington Langley Village Hall Committee - £960 towards display screens

·         The Nature of It - £2,000 towards tools and equipment

·         Chippenham River Bank Clean-Up Project - £439 for the purchase of cutting tools

·         Happy Caterpillars Pre-School - £5,000 for the purchase of a new heating system

·         Chippenham ‘Parkrun’ Organising Committee - £3,000 towards the start-up costs

Revenue Project Applications

·         Wilts & Berks Canal Trust - £4,849 towards bank stabailisation

·         Sevington Victorian School - £1,000 towards an adult workshop

·         Chippenham Under 12s Girls Football Team - £498 for the purchase of a training kit.

Part Capital/Part Revenue Projects

·         Chippenham Sports Club - £2,722 towards sports equipment

·         Chippenham Folk Festival 2014 - £3,150 towards a community dance workshop and sound system

Area Board/Councillor-led Initiative

·         Defibrillator Workshop - £985 towards an event to raise awareness

Grants application packs are available from the Community Area Manager and can be found on the Wiltshire Council website.

The Area Board considered the following applications to the Community Area Grant Scheme 2013/14 and noted that the application from ‘The Nature of It’ had been withdrawn following publication of the agenda

       i.        Chippenham Rotary Hall

The sum of £1,050 was requested for an IT improvement project.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £1,050 to Chippenham Rotary Hall.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

      ii.        Kington Langley Village Hall Committee

The sum of £960 was requested towards display screens.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £960 to Kington Langley Village Hall Committee.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

    iii.        Chippenham River Bank Clean-Up Project

The sum of £439 was requested for the purchase of cutting tools.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £439 to Chippenham River Bank Clean-Up Project.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

    iv.        Happy Caterpillars Pre-School

The sum of £5,000 was requested for the purchase of a new heating system.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £5,000 to Happy Caterpillars Pre-School.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

      v.        Chippenham ‘Parkrun’ Organising Committee

The sum of £3,000 was requested towards the start-up costs.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £3,000 to Chippenham ‘Parkrun’ Organising Committee.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

    vi.        Wiltshire & Berks Canal Trust

The sum of £4,849 was requested towards bank stabilisation.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £4,849 to Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

   vii.        Sevington Victorian School

The sum of £1,000 was requested towards an adult workshop.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £1,000 to Sevington Victorian School.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

  viii.        Chippenham Under 12s Girls Football Team

The sum of £498 was requested towards the purchase of a training kit.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £498 to Chippenham Under 12s Girls Football Team.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

    ix.        Chippenham Sports Club

The sum of £2,722 was requested towards sports equipment.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £2,722 to Chippenham Sports Club.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

      x.        Chippenham Folk Festival 2014

The sum of £3,150 was requested towards a community dance workshop and sound system.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £3,150 to Chippenham Folk Festival 2014.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2013/14

    xi.        Councillor Initiative - Defibrillator Workshop

The sum of £985 was requested towards an event to raise awareness.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £985.

The Chairman will invite any remaining questions from the floor and will welcome the submission of any new Community Issues.

The next agenda planning meeting will take place on Wednesday 22 January. Any parish or town council representative interested in attending should contact the Community Area Manager or the Chairman.

The meeting is asked to note future meeting dates as detailed below.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance before asking those present to take part in an electronic evaluation of the meeting.

The next meeting of the Chippenham Area Board would take place on Monday 3 March 2014 at Abbeyfield School, Chippenham.  The focus would be on the results of the Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) event taking place on 18 February.

The Chairman reminded all present that the meeting to be held on 28 April would now take place at 2:30pm and not 7:00pm as previously advertised.