Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Ricky Rogers welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Salisbury Area Board and invited the members of the Board to introduce themselves.

The Chairman informed the Board that Steve Milton, Head of Community Area Boards, who had been standing in as Community Area Manager for almost a year, would be replaced by Tom Bray, formally Community Area Manager for the Southern Wiltshire Area Board. The Board thanked Steve for his support over the last year.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·         Frances Chinemana – Consultant in Public Health

·         Mike Franklin – Wiltshire Fire & Rescue

·         David Law – Laverstock & Ford Parish Council

To confirm the minutes of the meeting and health fayre held on 18 September 2014, as attached to the agenda.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting and health fayre, held on Thursday 18 September 2014 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters Arising

Councillor Mary Douglas asked for an update on whether further information had yet been provided on the CIA for Salisbury, as requested by the Board during the last meeting. Mary added that the Salisbury Area Board was the local input on this matter and should be fully consulted on our views before any decision was made.

Answer: Officers were putting together additional information, which would be provided to the Board members in due course.

Councillor John Walsh, had requested that the Licensing Committee schedule the meeting to discuss the CIA for Salisbury, in Salisbury so that local residents and businesses impacted on by the implementation of a CIA could attend to put their views across. However the committee had decided not to come to Salisbury but instead would hold the meeting in Trowbridge on 8 December at 10.30am.

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

There were none.

To note the following information items:

a.    Current Consultations
access the online consultations here

b.  Car Parking Review – paper attached
access the online papers here

c.   Bass Connection

d.  Community issue system
A reminder that issues may be submitted to the Area Board via the online community issues system

e.  Our Community Matters

A reminder that local people can access and report their own community news on the Salisbury OCM Blog

The Board noted the following information items, as detailed in the agenda:

a.     Current Consultations access the online consultations here

The Chairman drew attention to the Flood Risk Management Strategy and the Parking Review consultations available online.

b.   Car Parking Review – paper attached
access the online papers here

The Board would be holding a Special meeting which would focus on the Parking Review, to enable local input and the Board to form a view. This meeting would take place on Wednesday 17 December, 7.00pm at South Wilts Grammar School, Salisbury.

c.   Bass Connection

The Boards request for Grosvenor House to remain open for use by Bass Connection had been agreed, and the order would come in to effect on 14 November 2014. Steve Milton and Winnie Manning had met with Bass Connections who would aim to open the building in two weeks time.

d.   Community issue system

A reminder that issues may be submitted to the Area Board via the online community issues system

e.   Our Community Matters

A reminder that local people can access and report their own community news on the Salisbury OCM Blog

To note the written updates attached to the agenda and to receive any verbal updates from representatives present.

a)    Salisbury City Council

b)    Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

c)    Police – written update attached

d)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

e)    COB (Campus) – meeting notes of 8 Sep attached

The Board noted the written updates attached to the agenda and received the following verbal updates:

Salisbury City Council (SCC)

The Leader of SCC, Cllr Andrew Roberts gave an update to the Board.

·       SCC would meet to discuss the Parking Consultation and form a view.

·       SCC also owned two car parks in the city, one of which was found to be making a financial loss, so the decision was taken to make that car park free.

·       The Christmas Lights switch on would take place on Thursday 20 November, by Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) from Eastenders.

·       The Christmas Market opens on the 27^th November and closes on the 20^th December.

·       Charter Markets would also be open on a number of Sundays leading up to Christmas and on the days immediately prior to Christmas Day.

·       The Salisbury Carnival held the previous week had raised just over £1,600 for the Mayors appeal.

·       The Remembrance Sunday event had been well attended; the Adlam Family had given thanks to all who had been involved.

Police

In addition to the written update attached to the agenda, Inspector David Minty gave an update.

·       A new Beat Manager for the city would be appointed the following week, from one of four candidates.

·       New PCSO’s were independently patrolling in the City Centre.

·       Crime figures were all very good, with violence against person crimes showing a 0.4% reduction.

·       Victim based crime as a whole was down 20% on the same period as last year; which was down to Sergeant Goodman and his team.

·       There was now a facebook page:

 https://www.facebook.com/salisburypolice  

·       Inspector Minty was now on Twitter, and could be followed at:  @wiltpoliceDM

·       The Police would be issued with new mobile phones which could track their location. This would enable people to see where they had patrolled.

Questions and comments received included:

·       What was the actual meaning of Victim Based Crime in the statistics? Answer: Inspector Minty agreed to find out the specific definition and report back.

Note: Since the meeting, the following information was provided:

Victim based crime included:

·       Violence Against the Person

·       Robbery

·       Sexual Offences

·       Theft Offences

·       Burglary

·       Vehicle Crime

·       Shoplifting

·       Bicycle theft

·       Theft from a person

·       Other theft

·       Criminal Damage and Arson

·       What had happened about the request for a public parking bay at the back of Bourne Hill, for people needing to pop in to the Police Station? Answer: The request had been forwarded to the Council. In the meantime, if you needed to visit the police station on police business then you can park in one of the marked out police bays in College Street car park.

·       To aid the public perception of lack of visibility, Officers would be located in the Market Place on market day.

·       Thanks were given to Richard Goodman and his team for making themselves accessible even during recent staff shortages.

COB (Campus)

In addition to the attached notes from the meeting on 8 Sep, Councillor Clewer added that the build was now going well,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive a presentation from John Potter and Peter Thompson on the work of the partnership.

The Board received a presentation from John Potter and Peter Thompson on the work of the Partnership.

The SLP’s aim was to forge a closer and more effective relationship and to strengthen, monitor and promote the mutual benefits to be gained from business and community organisations working with local schools and colleges and to act as the hub of a network of stakeholders and a forum for ideas, projects and initiatives.

It was felt that there were not enough effective contracts between businesses and young people in Salisbury. A local project was underway at the Salisbury Cathedral, where they had started to involve young people in providing guided tours.

Other organisations had been approached and discussions were underway to establish if further opportunities could be opened up.

Questions and Comments were then received, these included:

·       Could help be given to the 20% of 18 – 20 year olds who did not have a good level of reading and maths skills? Answer: There were Government initiatives to tackle that issue. However one way to help those people could be to involve the Salisbury retirement population, bringing people together to share skills and experience.

·       What involvement do you have in the process? Answer: Both John and Peter had many years of experience in working in related roles across the country. Now located in the area they had joined forces to pull together in providing advice and guidance across the curriculum.

·       Other groups of people which could benefit from this sort of scheme were those over 45 who were illiterate, the ex military suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome, those with Aspergers and groups of people with stable mental illness. Answer: It was recognised that there was such a demand for this sort of service, we are focusing on 14 – 19 year olds, but the need is much greater, from 0 – 90.

Steve Milton and Winnie Manning will give an update on the changes to the provision of youth services in Salisbury, introduce the new local youth network and explain the role of Salisbury’s new  Community Youth Officer.

The Board will note the information in the attached report and papers circulated at the meeting, and will consider the following recommendations:

Recommendations

1.   To approve the terms of reference and membership of the LYN management group (to be tabled at the meeting).

2.   That in respect of urgent matters that may arise from time to time between meetings, the Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Community Youth Officer and the Chairman of the Area Board, be granted delegated authority to approve expenditure not exceeding £1000 from the youth budget for projects in relation to positive activities for young people.  A report explaining any such decision and the reasons why it was considered to be urgent shall be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Area Board.

3.   That authority be delegated to the Community Area Manager to manage an annual budget of up to £500 to cover expenditure related to the management of the LYN  and its activities.  A report giving details of any expenditure incurred will be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Salisbury Area Board.

Steve Milton and Winnie Manning gave an update on the changes to the provision of Youth Services in Salisbury and gave an introduction to the new Local Youth Network (LYN) and explained the role of Salisbury’s new Community Youth Officer.

The Council had asked each Area Board to establish a LYN, and a wider LYN, which was a database of groups involved with youth work, within the community area. Those on the wider LYN would receive regular information on activities going on for young people across Salisbury.

The LYN would be a smaller group of individuals who would come together six times a year, with the primary role of engaging young people. The membership would include a full representation of young people and the group would be supported by the Community Youth Officer, Winnie Manning.

In 2014/15, the Board targeted £26,000 of funding for activities young people, next year the funding available would be higher. Any applications submitted to the Board for youth activity funding would be passed to the LYN for consideration and recommendation back to the Board.

Young people would be put at the heart of the process, with the LYN being an important method for them to have their view without being phased or intimidated. The LYN would work in a transparent way to ensure that a fair distribution of projects across the city was possible.

In the LYN toolkit which had been produced, there were 14 categories of guidance. Two of those which would be looked at were areas around poverty and depravation and areas of antisocial behaviour.

Questions and Comments included:

·       How would success be measured, would you start from now with no young people involved, or from other figures? Answer: Young people would have a key role to play. We do not know how everything will work at this stage.

·       Middle class articulated young people are best at achieving funding, how would you ensure that all areas of the community area able to access funding? Answer: We have already approached the schools to make contact with young people, to establish how they would like to be engaged. The idea was to target young people from different backgrounds, similar to the work the YAG carried out with these groups of young people. Winnie already had experience of making it work there.

·       Funds would not be spent on things which middle class families would already be funding themselves.

·       The measure of success was key. We should ensure that we prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable and that the overall purpose is to promote positive lifestyle choices.

The Board noted the information and the recommendations in the attached report and papers circulated at the meeting.

Decision

Salisbury Area Board agreed the following:

1.   The terms of reference and membership of the LYN management group (tabled at the meeting).

2.   That in respect of urgent matters that may arise from time to time between meetings, the Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Under current Open Space Bylaws, any new open spaces created after 1 April 2009 are not covered. Cllr Tomes has asked the Board to consider whether there a need for the Bylaw to be varied to include all new open spaces.

Cllr Ian Tomes

Councillor Tomes explained that under current Open Space Bylaws, any new open spaces created after 1 April 2009 were not covered by the same bylaws. He asked the Board to consider whether there was a need for the Bylaw to be varied to include all new open spaces.

Action: Community Area Manager to contact the relevant Officer to request that the necessary changes be made to the current policy, to include all new open spaces after 1 April 2009.

The Board will consider the request of the Salisbury City Council for the release of £60,000 of developer contribution money held by Wiltshire Council for the refurbishment of the children’s play area at Macklin Road, as detailed in the attached report.

The Board considered the request of the Salisbury City Council for the release of £60,000 of developer contribution money held by Wiltshire Council for the refurbishment of the children’s play area at Macklin Road, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

Decision

Salisbury Area Board approved the request of Salisbury City Council to release £60,000 of developer funding to the children’s play park project in Macklin Road, Salisbury, as detailed in the report.

To receive an update from the Chairman of CATG. The Board will note the report of the last CATG meeting held on 13 October and consider the recommendations as detailed in the attached report.

Cllr Brian Dalton, Chairman of CATG

The Board received an update from Councillor Brian Dalton, Chairman of CATG and considered the recommendations as detailed in the attached report.

CATG had been given a budget of approximately £14,000 for 2014/15, with an additional £5,000 for smaller highways schemes. Two bids had been submitted by CATG to the Council’s Substantive Highways Scheme, one for the realignment of the Roman Road junction and the other to renew bus shelters around the city. These schemes had not received approval for funding; CATG had been advised that they could fund the schemes at one per year in the future.

Questions and Comments were then taken, these included:

·       Cllr Douglas had requested that the bus shelter on Balmoral road since 2009.

·       The bus shelter in Pembrook Road was funded as this had been demolished years ago by a car.

·       Cllr Moss asked if the repair on the carriage way along the London Road could be extended as it was in a terrible way. Answer: The Group had requested that the works there be brought forward, it was hoped to take place the following year.

·       The process for implementing new drop kerbs in areas where requests had been made due to the needs of disabled residents, currently took too long. It was reported that some residents had waited up to two years. Could this be addressed? Answer: The Board would look into this matter to see what could be done.

·       There were concerns over the safety of children crossing Coombe Road.

·       Cllr Douglas suggested a discretionary fund for projects like drop kerbs.

Action: CAM to investigate the Drop Kerb issue and report back.

Decision

The Board approved the recommendations for funding for 2014/15 as detailed in the CATG report attached to the agenda.

The Board noted the minutes of the last CATG meeting held on 13 October, with the following amendments:

·       It would be requested that the developers would fund the Kimpton Ave scheme.

·       CATG supported the Chafyn Grove scheme but the school would be paying for the work and not CATG.

·       CATG agreed to recommend funding for the Roman Road/Wilton Road junction.

To receive an update on the tree planting project, which took place on 8 November 2014 at the University Technical College in Wilton Road.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Chairman of Salisbury Air Quality Group

Councillor Clewer gave an update to the Board. The group had been working with South Wiltshire UTC to deliver a flagship project to plant silver birch trees along the frontage of the old police station. Local volunteers came together on the morning of Saturday 8th November to assist with the planting.

Ten birch trees were planted on the site, as these trees had been scientifically proven to reduce particulates and improve air quality.

The project was one measure being examined by the group, along with the provision of real time monitoring information, promotion of green transport options and improved transport planning.

The air quality levels recorded that there had been two days of exceedance along Exeter Street. People could sign up for a service which would send alerts out if the levels exceed the maximum; this could help those who had conditions affected by air pollution. The Group was looking at possible providers to develop an app for mobile phones.

Cllr McKeown asked if the pirate play park in Churchill Gardens could be monitored, as it was close to the ring road. Answer: With regard to checking air quality at the churchchill gardens park it was felt that there had not been a previous issue with air quality there when initial checks were done.  That it may be possible to get a monitor put there temporarily but this would need to be handled by the officers responsible for air quality monitoring.  A request would be made and any high pollution level reported back to the board.

Action: Officers would look at options for measuring the air quality levels at the Pirate Play Park in Churchill Gardens and to report back.

To consider the Councillor Led Initiative put forward by Cllr Rogers, to allocate £250 of funding to the Street Watch Scheme for volunteer insurance, as detailed in the attached report.

The Board considered the Councillor Led Initiative put forward by Cllr Rogers, to allocate £250 of funding to the Street Watch Scheme for volunteer insurance, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board awarded £250 to the Councillor Led Initiative – Street Watch Scheme, as detailed in the report.

To consider the Councillor Led Initiative put forward by Cllr Walsh, to allocate £750 to the Historic Street Sign Maintenance Scheme as detailed in the attached report.

Cllr John Walsh

The Board considered the Councillor Led Initiative put forward by Cllr Walsh, to allocate £750 to the Historic Street Sign Maintenance Scheme as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

Cllr Douglas suggested the project could be promoted through ‘Our Community’ website and that the Salisbury Journal could be approached to publicise the scheme.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board awarded £750 to the Councillor Led Initiative – Historic Street Sign Maintenance Scheme, as detailed in the report.

The Board will consider applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme for 2014/15, as detailed in the attached report.

The Board considered five applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme for 2014/15, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

The Chairman invited applicants present to speak in support of their applications. Following discussion the Board voted on each application in turn.

Decision

The Elim Centre Sports Hall was awarded £3,350 towards a new air conditioning system.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2014/15.

Decision

Bemerton St John’s Trust was awarded £10,000 towards St John’s Place: a focus for the Lower Bemerton community.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2014/15.

Decision

Stratford Social Club was awarded £5.000 towards a new air conditioning system.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2014/15.

Decision

Harnham Memorial Hall £5,000 towards their roofing and insulation project.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2014/15.

Decision

Wilton Cricket Club was awarded £1,000 towards the Installation of fixed seating.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2014/15.

The date of the next meeting is Thursday 8 January 2014, 7pm at City Hall, Salisbury.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and noted that the next meeting of the Salisbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 8 January 2015.