Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.   

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting and Board members introduced themselves. The Chairman thanked Malcolm Smith for use of the village hall for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Jack Nicholson (Fire and Rescue), Mark Lescelles (Dauntsey’s Schools), Paula Winchcombe (Devizes and District Community Hospital League of Friends), Noel Woolrich and Mr and Mrs Franklin.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2016.

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2016.

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

Cllr Sue Evans declared an interest in a grant application from Devizes and District Association for the Disabled, she would not participate in debate and vote on this item.

To receive announcements from the Chairman.

The Chairman gave the following announcements.

Wiltshire Online Programme

Wiltshire Council currently had a Basic Broadband Commitment Scheme designed to provide support to homes and businesses unable to receive broadband speeds in excess of 2 megabits per second (Mbps) and who were not benefitting from the superfast broadband rollout. There were further details available on the tables for those who required more information.

Update on Urgent Care Centre

A milestone plan had been received for an Urgent Care Centre in Devizes and it was envisaged that outline planning permission would be sought in July / August 2016. Work continued on the sizing of the building, how the building would be used, how primary care would operate at scale across the 5 practices of Devizes and the surrounding area and how services would integrate. It was expected that all of the current services in the existing community hospital would relocate to the new unit. Completion of the project was expected to be in September 2018.

Devizes School Open Day

An open day was to be held at Devizes School on 13^th July 3:30-6:30pm, the evening would be arranged around 8 faculties but would also feature guided tours of the Sixth Form Centre.

Anti-social behaviour

Members were aware of anti-social behaviour in Devizes at Station Road car park and were working to tackle this with other partners.

To receive updates from the following partners:

a.    Wiltshire Police

b.    Fire and Rescue Service

c.    Health Services

d.    Devizes Community Area Partnership

e.    Schools updates

f.     Town and Parish Councils

Inspector Nick Mawson spoke to a short video about a new policing model which would be implemented across the county from October. The new model was designed to be more efficient and to respond better to the public by having one officer as point of contact for each reported crime meaning less handovers of work between different officers. In response to questions from the public, the Inspector explained that further communications would be released over the coming months and it was acknowledged that communication and visibility of officers was very important.

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from the Clinical Commissioning Group and HealthWatch Wiltshire.

Devizes School promoted the School’s open day, Lavington School promoted the school fete, which was to be held the following week. 

The opportunity for residents to raise questions with their local councillors.

Members of the public were invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

Rowde Parish Council advised that the My Wiltshire App for logging maintenance jobs was not working well for parish councils as they could not access the system to see the work that had been completed, it was also commented that it was difficult to report the exact location of an issue on the App.  Cllr Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, advised that the App would soon be better linked to the operating system which would allow greater feedback of information and he was planning that in 2017 the App would be able to produce a report for each parish council of works undertaken in their area. Further questions were raised from the parish council on the need to improve the pavement on Dunkirk Hill and the issue of parking on pavements in villages. The Cabinet member advised that the pavement on Dunkirk Hill would be improved at the same time as the road works which were planned for the autumn; it was confirmed that parking on pavements could be reported to the Police, but only if it obstructed the path.

Residents from Erlestoke and Market Lavington asked what could be done to improve visibility at the ‘Black Dog’ crossroad and suggested that land be acquired from the farmer in order to move back the nearby fences. The Cabinet member responded that he would ask that the brambles at the crossing be cut back (this would give an immediate improvement to visibility) and the issue of permanent works would need to be raised with the Community Area Transport Group.

A question was raised over the height of speed bumps in the town since they were damaging the community bus. Cllr Whitehead advised that Kerry Rose would be contacted and advised that during a recent test of the speedbumps no damage had been caused.

To hear the latest news from the Local Youth Network.

To welcome a local youth club to the meeting to hear about their successes.

Helen Bradley, Locality Youth Facilitator, introduced herself as the officer that would now be supporting the Local Youth Network. Helen would be performing a different role to her predecessor, but would continue to work with local groups to organise grant funding in support of activities for young people. The officer encouraged groups in the area to introduce themselves to her and was pleased to have met a representative for the West Lavington Youth Club at the Area Board meeting.

Mike May, West Lavington Youth Club, was invited to introduce the club which was a registered charity. Mr May advised that the charity had an annual requirement for funding of approximately £15,00 per annum, which allowed the club to be open 3-4 nights per week. Adults running sessions at the club people were paid professionals, which meant they were reliable and fully trained in terms of first aid, safeguarding etc.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, thanked the youth club for all of their hard work to run a successful youth club for the last 30 years. 

To receive any updates from the Devizes Champion for Senior People.

To formally constitute the Health and Wellbeing Group in accordance with the attached Terms of Reference.

Mike Challinor, Devizes Champion for Senior People, updated that the Devizes Community Area Wellbeing Group was now established and would operate as a sub-group of the Area Board. Parishes or other interested people were encouraged to join the group if interested, the next priority of the group was to appoint a Champion for Carers locally and continue working on Devizes’ registration for a Dementia Action Alliance. Following comments from the public Mr Challinor advised the group would make contact with charities for older people such as Age UK, and would be working on a broader range of issues for older people, beyond Dementia.

The Area Board considered the update and the proposed Terms of Reference for the Wellbeing Group.

Resolved:

To constitute the Devizes Community Area Wellbeing Group in accordance with the Terms of Reference and the membership of the steering group to include Area Board representative Cllr Simon Jacobs and Mike Challinor.

West Lavington Museum

To commemorate World War 1 centenary, Roger Frost (Curator at Market Lavington Museum) will give an insight into the presence of Commonwealth soldiers in the area and the deployment of local men to the war effort during WW1.

To commemorate World War One centenary, Roger Frost (Curator at West Lavington Museum) gave a presentation on the presence of Commonwealth soliers in the area and the deployment of local men to the war effort during WW1.

The Chairman thanked Mr Frost for a very interesting presentation and encouraged residents to visit the museum.

To consider the following applications for community area grant funding:

·         Devizes and District for the Disabled: £3,261

·         St Joseph’s Nursery: £1,500

·         Devizes and District Opportunity Centre: £3,500

·         Kennet and Avon Canal Trust: £5,000

To consider a member initiative from Cllr Simon Jacobs for £2,670

The Board considered applications for community area grant funding, Cllr Sue Evans left the meeting in her capacity as a councillor for consideration of the application from the Devizes and District Association for the Disabled (DDAD).

Representatives from DDAD, St Joseph’s Nursery, Devizes and District Opportunity Centre and the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust spoke in support of their applications.

The Chairman explained that the application from Kennet and Avon Canal Trust for boiler repairs at Crofton Pumping Station was not in the Devizes area and funding had also been sought from Pewsey and Marlborough Area Boards, however was of great local interest and attracted visitors to the area. With this in mind, the Chairman proposed that the amount of funding granted be put to the public vote; the consensus was that £2,500 be granted for the boiler repairs.

Resolved:

·       To grant Devizes and District Association for the Disabled £3,261 to bring bathroom facilities up to date;

·       To grant St Joseph’s Nursery £1,500 for an ‘app’ to monitor Children’s Development;

·       To grant Devizes and District Opportunity Centre £3,500 towards an outdoor classroom;

·       To grant Kennet and Avon Canal Trust £2,500 for boiler repairs at Crofton Pumping Station.

Cllr Simon Jacobs introduced a proposed councillor-led initiative for funding to create a more user-friendly wooded area at Pine Walk. The project would involve clearing rubbish, planting trees and involving young people in the development, the project would be match-funded by Grist Environmental. Following questions from the floor it was confirmed that local residents were very supportive of the works which was designed to link up pathways around Devizes and tie in with works at Drews Pond. It was further noted that Wiltshire Council owned the land in question and Cllr Jacobs had liaised with Wiltshire Wildlife on the project as well.

The Chairman also updated that DOCA had advised the Area Board that they had £1,200 unspent from an Area Board grant of £5,000 and the Board agreed this could be re-invested in IT resource and resources for carnival activities

Resolved:

To approve a member-led initiative for £2,670 to support improvements to the Pine Walk Area.

To note that £1,200 unspent from an Area Board grant to DOCA was to be re-invested in IT resource and resources for carnival activities.

To consider the following recommendation arising from the Community Area Transport Group:

·         £1000 towards a traffic calming scheme on Rotherstone.

To hear an update from the Air Quality and Transport Strategy Working Group.

Cllr Philip Whitehead advised that the CATG had received, and supported, a request for funding to buy planters for a traffic calming scheme on Rotherstone and requested that the Board consider this application for funding.

Resolved:

To grant £1,000 towards planters for a traffic calming scheme on Rotherstone.

Cllr Cuthbert updated that the Air Quality and Transport Strategy Working Group, was hoping to work with other areas of the county on larger air quality initiatives such as promoting walking to school.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The Chairman advised that the next meeting on 26 September 2016 would now be held at Devizes School, instead of Potterne Scout Hut, and would feature proposed plans for the development of the wharf area of Devizes.

The Chairman encouraged residents to attend the Wiltshire Museum which was featuring an exhibition that would end that week, and reminded residents to keep logging miles if they were involved in the Road to Rio Challenge.