Agenda and minutes

1.             (reports in pack where appropriate)

·         Results of Waste consultation

·         Local flood protection (gel sacs)

·         Localism Bill

·         Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2011 consultation

The Chairman welcomed everyone to Shaw School and explained that this was an extra meeting to cover all routine area board business prior to the meeting on the 29 March which would focus on the Melksham community campus proposals.

The following Chairman’s announcements contained in the pack were noted:

• Results of Waste consultation.
• Local flood protection (gel sacs).
• Localism Bill.
• Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2011 consultation.

Apologies were received from – Inspector David Cullop - Wiltshire Police and Mike Franklin – Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service.

Councillors are requested to declare any personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Agenda Item No.12 Community Area Grant – Melksham Without Parish Council.

Cllr Steve Petty – Prejudicial interest, member of Melksham Without Parish Council, would leave the room when this application was discussed and voted on.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2 Feb 2011.

Decision

• That the minutes of the meeting on 2 February 2011 were approved and signed as a correct record.

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

a.      Community Area Partnership Representative

b.      Wiltshire Police

c.      Melksham CAYPIG

d.      Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

e.      NHS Wiltshire

f.        Melksham Town Council

         g.   Parish Council Nominated Representatives

a. Community Area Partnership Representative

The update was covered at agenda item 8.

b. Wiltshire Police

The written update distributed with the agenda was noted.

c. Melksham CAYPIG

The update was covered at agenda item 6.

d. Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The written update distributed with the agenda was noted.

e. NHS Wiltshire

The written update distributed with the agenda was noted.

f. Melksham Town Council

Cllr Chris Petty advised that the Town Council had concerns about the proposed new council-wide street trading scheme which had been considered by Wiltshire Council’s Licensing Committee at its meeting on 30 November 2010.

Cllr Steve Petty drew to the attention of the area board concerns that private land would be covered under the new scheme, this would impact on schools and local charities who intended to hold fetes and other fund raising ventures where food would be sold and consumed.

Decision

• That the Melksham Area Board notes the concerns of Melksham Town Council on this matter.

g. Parish Council Nominated Representatives

MelkshamWithout Parish Council advised – that thirty six new allotments had been made available at Berry Fields, Melksham.

The Chairman thanked all partners and parishes for their updates and attendance.

An update from young people on projects which were funded at the special young people's area board which was held last September at the Melksham Oak School.

·        Project Parkour

·        Bus information cards

·        High ropes course

·        Subsidised bus travel

·        Minibus hire

·        Club Boom

Siobhan Chaplin – Locality Team Leader, gave an update from the young people on projects which were funded at the special young people's area board which was held last September at the Melksham Oak School, these included:

• Project Parkour

• Bus information cards

• High ropes course

• Subsidised bus travel

• Minibus hire

• Club Boom

Photographs and a dvd were shown which helped to illustrate some of the projects and the young people involved.

Siobhan Chaplin also advised that a young people’s version of the campus questionnaire was being used to ensure that they could feed into the consultation process.

The Chairman thanked Siobhan Chaplin for her update.

Presentation by Nick Bate, (Emergency Planning Officer, Wiltshire Council) to endorse and promote the concept of local emergency plans.

Nick Bate - Emergency Planning Officer, Wiltshire Council gave a short presentation that encouraged town and parish councils to draw up an emergency plan which they would use in the advent of bad weather or the emergency services being delayed or unable to reach their town/parish location.

Questions raised from the floor included:

• Some parish councils already have an emergency plan, would these now be redundant?

A.     No, existing plans can be built on.

• Would farmers/members of the public acting on behalf of Wiltshire Council be covered by the Council’s insurance in an emergency if they were unable to contact the emergency planning officers in the first instance?

A.     There should always be someone that was contactable, a common  sense approach should always be used.

• More 4+4 ambulances would be useful, perhaps the Ambulance Service should replace older ambulances with 4+4 ones.

Decision

• That the Melksham Area Board endorses and promotes the concept of local emergency plans.

 The Chairman thanked Nick Bate for his presentation.

Chris Holden, (Melksham Community Area Partnership).

Miriam Zaccarelli - Melksham Community Area Partnership Officer gave the Community Area Partnership update and then a power point presentation on the new Community Area Plan.

Community Area Partnership update, points included:

·        The Partnership’s consultation on the campus proposals is ongoing, the questionnaire had now been delivered.

·        Open consultation days were being held for residents to discuss the proposals.

·        The Community Area Partnership had been meeting with various local organisations to discuss the proposals.

Community Area Plan.

Points made included:

·        That the community area plan expresses local priorities & concerns and seeks to Identify solutions.

·        It aimed to gather local intelligence, identify priorities and issues.

·        Work with community/service providers – identify solutions.

·        Create an action plan – identify solution providers.

·        Gather local intelligence through public events, open days,  previous Melksham Strategy (2004), Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (2009), consultations by other bodies, Area Board issues, letters to editors (local press), Parish plans and Theme Groups.

·        What’s been done so far: Research, Theme Groups formed, Public Consultations and events 2010/11 and around 500 issues identified.

·        That the plan would be on the Partnership website after the Campus consultation had been concluded.

Points made from the floor included:

·        How many parish plans had been forwarded to the Partnership?

A.     Two so far, the Partnership wanted al parishes to get involved.

The Chairman thanked Miriam Zaccarelli for her update and informative presentation,

Cllr Jonathon Seed.

Cllr Seed hands over the chair to Cllr Eaton.

Cllr Jonathon Seed gave an update on Community Area Flood Plans.

Points made included:

• That Wiltshire Council had a duty under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to establish areas at risk.

• Wiltshire Council are the lead Authority on flooding plus the land drainage and Highway Authority.

• The mapping exercise would utilise parish and town council local knowledge.

• Provide information for planning applications.

• Result would make it possible to quantify, prioritise and cost flood alleviation within Wiltshire.

• That the Highways department of Wiltshire Council had a drainage budget set aside for such issues.

• The parishes were invited to get involved in the mapping process and attend the Flood Working Group meetings.

Cllr Jonathon Seed.

Cllr Seed now back in the chair.

Cllr Jonathon Seed gave an update on the recommendations from the meeting of the Community Area Transport Group held on Mon 21 February 2011. The purpose of this meeting was to recommend the allocation of funding to schemes prioritised by the group in October 2010. 

The remit of the Community Area Transport Group was to look specifically at requests for schemes which had been requested by local people and which aimed to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to travel around the community area. A discretionary highways budget of £250,000 had been set aside for area boards to deliver schemes requested by the community. The allocation for the Melksham Community Area was £13,000.

The group were advised that this funding was available for small-scale capital highways projects and that the funding could not be used for maintenance or bus services. It was also noted that all projects require feasibility studies to look at potential solutions.

Decision

• That the Melksham Area Board following discussion from the Community Area Transport Group agree that:

• £2000 is allocated to survey work for footways extension and pedestrian island in Bath Rd.

• £2000 is allocated to survey work for a zebra crossing in Pembroke Rd, Queensway.

• £3000 is allocated to the Spout Lane lay-by in Seend.

There were no urgent items of public concern.

a. Community Grants Scheme

Councillors will consider nine applications seeking 2010/2011 Community Area Grant Funding:

·        Seend Parochial Church Council (£1556) towards a new printer for the Spotlight community magazine.

·        Seend Trust & Community Centre (£959) for good quality projection equipment.

·        Broughton Gifford Friendship Club (£877) for trips for isolated older people.

·        West Wilts Interfaith Group (£400) to hire an Indian artists and storyteller for the Melksham Festival of Food. 

·        The Keevil Society (£999) to purchase a marquee for use in the community. 

·        Atworth Parish Council (£900) towards redoing the stone kerbing on the village green to prevent erosion. 

·        Poulshot Village Hall (£2490) towards the upgrading of the kitchen to facilitate meal preparation and cleaning. 

·        Melksham Without PC (£467) towards the purchase of a large screen for viewing of plans. 

·        Bowerhill Residents Action Group (£500) towards an information board and details of circular walks in the new picnic area. 

Copies of the completed application forms and grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically at

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

b. Councillor Initiated Projects

·        Cllr Seed: £3000 towards the creation of a lay-by near the canal, Spout Lane, Seend.

·        Cllr Hubbard, £1800 to run three positive parenting courses.

Community Area Grant Scheme.

The Wiltshire Councillors considered nineapplications seeking 2010/2011 Community Area Grant Funding:

Seend Parochial Church Council awarded £750 towards a new printer for the Spotlight community magazine.

Note: That the full amount of funding requested was not awarded, councillors felt that the printer the applicant was intending to purchase was too expensive for the task that it was required for.

Reason

This application demonstrates a link to the Melksham community plan in terms of ‘coordinating information for local people’.

Seend Trust & Community Centre awarded £959 for good quality projection equipment.

Reason

The project would open opportunities for many more people to participate in community activities in an enhanced village venue.  Also, the Community Centre, which is a charity, relies on income from hiring out its facilities, so having more to offer to potential hirers will benefit all users of the Centre in the long term

Broughton Gifford Friendship Club awarded £877 for trips for isolated older people.

Reason

The application demonstrates a link to the Community Plan: reducing disadvantage and inequalities.

West Wilts Interfaith Group awarded £200 to hire an Indian artist and storyteller for the Melksham Festival of Food. 

Note: That the full amount of funding requested was not awarded, councillors felt that the amount requested was too much for one day’s entertainment.

Reason

This application demonstrates equality and inclusion issues: raising awareness of different faiths and cultures that exist in Melksham.

The Keevil Society awarded £999 to purchase a marquee for use in the community.  The grant was awarded with the condition that the Keevil Society makes a £10 hire charge per marquee when hiring out.

Reason

This project  improves activities by the many local organisations in the open air by providing a robust, weatherproof marquee.  These events attract people of all ages from Keevil and surrounding villages.   The marquee would be used regularly and throughout the year.

Atworth Parish Council awarded £900 towards redoing the stone kerbing on the village green to prevent erosion. 

Reason

This application will be a useful contribution to easing the consequences such as erosion of the green. The Green is used as the evacuation point for Churchfields primary school, and it also well used by parishioners as a resting point and a nearby nursery school.

Poulshot Village Hall awarded £2490 towards the upgrading of the kitchen to facilitate meal preparation and cleaning. 

Reason

This project would improve the facilities of the village hall kitchen to facilitate meal preparation and cleaning up.

Note: Cllr Steve Petty leaves the room.

Melksham Without PC awarded £467 towards the purchase of a large screen for viewing of plans with the condition that this would not set a precedent for other parishes looking to apply for similar funding, and that funding would only be granted after the Community Area Manager had enquired as to whether Wiltshire Council had a surplus screen that may be suitable for this project.

This application demonstrates a link to the Community Plan: enabling everyone to have equal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Tues 29 March 2011 – Melksham Assembly Hall (campus discussions)

Thurs 12 May 2011 – Melksham Oak school

The Chairman highlighted the forthcoming meetings.

Tuesday 29 March 2011 – Campus discussions at Melksham Assembly Hall.6PM START.

Tuesday 12 April 2011 – Big Society and Localism Seminar.

Thurs 12 May 2011 – Young People’s theme at Melksham Oak school.

The Chairman thanked everybody for attending the meeting.