Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·       Mike Franklin – WFRS

·       Cllr Mary Douglas – WC

·       Andrew Roberts – Leader of Salisbury City Council

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 16 July 2015, as attached to the agenda.

Decision

The minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 16 July 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were none.

The Chairman will give an update on outcomes and actions arising from previous meetings of the Area Board.

·         Recycling centre opening times.

The Chairman gave the following Updates:

Recycling centre opening times

At the last meeting, the Chairman agreed to write to the Cabinet Member for Waste Services to express the level of local concern relating to the recent changes to the Salisbury household recycling centre at Churchfields. The Cabinet Members response was attached to the agenda and Associate Director Tracy Carter was in attendance to provide presentation.

The presentation from Tracy included four slides detailing attendance statistics for:

·         Visitors to Churchfields per week

·         Visitors to Churchfields by hour and day

·         Total HRC visitors by site (13 July to 27 Sept)

·         Average number of visitors per opening hour per site (13 July to 27 Sept)

The Council would continue to monitor and review the attendance figures, but expected to see a reduction in attendance at this time of year.

Comments and Questions were received, these included:

·         Was fly tipping also monitored and reviewed? Answer: The Council had not seen an increase overall. People could download the ‘My Wiltshire’ App which enabled people to report issues such as fly tipping.

·         Was there any evidence that people were being more efficient with their recycling? Answer: People may well be changing their behaviour, however there had not yet been any evidence of that. Some of the charities who used to use the site were coming in large vans and were taking some time to unload. They had now been asked to take their recycling to Amesbury to unload.

·         Could we have the graphs from the slides on the minutes? Answer: Yes they would be attached.

Action: A copy of the slides to be attached to the minutes - DSO.

·         What had become of the recycling waste bins which used to be offered by the Council? Answer: The Council offered:

o   Blue lidded bins for plastic bottles and card; these were originally rolled out by Salisbury District Council but additional bins could be requested from Wiltshire Council.

o   Black boxes for dry recycling – Issued by Hills Waste but again should be requested from Wiltshire Council.

o   Green lidded bins for garden waste – Issued by WC. There is a charge of £40 a year for collection of garden waste.

o   Other options such as home composting were available – Subsidised food composters available via WC.

o   Additional and replacement bins could be ordered online using a form on the WC website or by calling Customer Services.

·         The queues along to the recycling centre had caused extreme distress to the local businesses along Stephenson’s Road. If we could ease the problem by opening earlier then that would help. Is it true that the gates were being opened before 10:00? Answer: A higher attendance was anticipated at the Salisbury site over the bank holiday weekend, so staff there were advised that they could open earlier than 10am if a queue developed before opening. On the Saturday, they opened at 9.40am, but did not need to open early on Sunday or Monday.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the written information items attached to the agenda, or available online:

a.     Arts Funding Process Update

b.     Children’s Centres consultation

c.     NHS health checks

d.     Consultations http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

e.     Police and Crime Commissioner - Annual Report and New Crime Plan for 2015 -17

f.      Refugee Crisis

The Board noted the written information items attached to the agenda, or available online, as listed below:

a.     Arts Funding Process Update

b.     Children’s Centres consultation

c.     NHS health checks

d.     Consultations http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

e.     Police and Crime Commissioner - Annual Report and New Crime Plan for 2015 -17

f.      Refugee Crisis

Comments

Peter Williams commented that he had asked the Board to investigate the decision process in relation to the Art’s Centre cuts, and that the attached information paper did not answer his query. He referred to Protocol 5 - Leaders Protocol for individual decision-making and suggested that evidence showed that this was not followed.

The Chairman advised Mr Williams that as the Board was not a Scrutiny Panel it was not in its remit to query the work of the Cabinet Members. He advised Mr Williams to write to the Leader of the Council and to make a Freedom of Information request.

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

a)    Local Youth Network (LYN)

b)    Salisbury City Council (SCC)

c)     Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

d)    Police

e)    Fire

f)      Community Engagement Manager – Karen Linaker

g)    Salisbury BID

h)    Air Quality Group – Cllr Clewer

i)       Market Square Bins – Cllr Clewer

Note: Speakers are reminded that they each have a 3 minutes slot, unless they have previously discussed alternative arrangements with the Community Area Manager.

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

Local Youth Network (LYN)

The Board welcomed the newly appointed Chairman of the LYN, Kirstie Stage, who explained the remit of the LYN to the Board.

Winnie Manning, Community Youth Officer then explained that no youth funding applications had been received at the time of the last LYN management group meeting;  however one had been received a week later.

This was too late to make the deadline for the SAB meeting  and would be considered with others on the 28 October.

The group had discussed several project ideas and the role of the LYN commissioning new projects at the Campus. Ideas included fitness for 16-18 year olds and textile workshops. These projects  would also  be informed by the responses received from the questionnaire. To date 312 responses had been received out of the total 400 sent out with only another 2 weeks to go.

The South  ‘Youth News’  had gone out to encourage more take up of funding opportunities and to signpost organisations to safeguarding training and invite groups to write in.

The CYO also noted that the LYN wanted to ensure a good range of opportunities and spread of activities  across the whole of the community area so that  there would be some sustainability for the future. This would  leave a legacy unlike one-off events.

Some other areas of work the group would be looking at included:

• Activities available to young people who had been excluded from school.

• Responding to the issues in the JSA.

• Responding to the challenges presented in the child poverty strategy.

Salisbury City Council (SCC)

City Clerk, Reg Williams gave an update to the Board, this included:

·         There would be a meeting to consider the Asset Transfer proposals of Wiltshire Council to SCC.

·         The Mayor had recently enjoyed a visit to Salisbury’s twinned city Zanten.

·         On Sunday 18 October the Fair moves into Market Square.

·         The Salisbury Carnival would take place on Friday 23 October. Everyone was encouraged to go along and support the event.

·         The first Bemerton Heath fun run had attracted 54 runners, feedback had indicated that people wanted this to become a regular event.

Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

Chris Burnell gave an update to the Board:

·         David Burton had been elected as the new Chairman of the parish council.

·         The second planning application for Riverdown Park was still on hold as spoil was still being dumped on the back area of the site. Talks were ongoing with Barratt Homes to resolve this.

Community Engagement Manager

Karen Linaker presented a number of slides to mark the transformation from Community Area Manager to her new role as Community Engagement Manager (CEM) and to detail what it meant for the area.

The Five Rivers Campus in Salisbury would be a vibrant community space, it was important that it met the needs of the community.

All of the Area Boards had been asked to shine a light  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To clarify the matter concerning the byelaw for Avon Place, Salisbury, as detailed in the attached report.

The Board noted the attached update which clarified the matter considered at the Area Board meeting on the 16 July 2015, when members were of the understanding that a new byelaw was being requested.

Since that meeting, information had been sourced to provide fuller background to this matter, and Wiltshire Council’s Legal Department had since confirmed that a byelaw was already in existence (copy attached to agenda) which covered the concerns of the resident of Avon Place, and clarified that alternative action could be taken by way of a Noise Abatement Notice as detailed in the update.

To receive an update on the situation of the CCTV in Salisbury.

Officer: Tracy Carter, Associate Director for Waste and Environment.

Associate Director Tracy Carter gave an update to the Board on the current situation of CCTV coverage for Salisbury, Wilton and Amesbury.

Background

The current system was unsustainable and reaching the end of its lifespan. Revenue budgets for staffing and maintenance contracts were withdrawn for 2015-16. Wiltshire Council members agreed to invest £0.5m of capital in providing a new system.

Other CCTV networks across the county were provided and run by town and parish councils with cameras monitored by volunteers. Wiltshire Council wants to move CCTV from its current location of Pennyfarthing House.

Progress

Meetings have been held with Salisbury City Council, Salisbury BID, Wiltshire Police, Amesbury Town Council and Wilton Town Council. The priorities were the night time economy and purple flag for Salisbury.

Flexibility was required to provide solutions for Amesbury and Wilton and for the BID to expand the system in Salisbury.

Access would be required to a record and retrieve system and parties would be keen to retain a control room which could be staffed to allow monitoring. The new control room would be in Wiltshire Council offices at Bourne Hill giving police 24 hour per day access.

Technical survey has been carried out to check feasibility of a wireless system and the aim was to minimise the cost of running the system.

Existing System

Wiltshire Council had terminated the contracts for CCTV monitoring and for maintenance of the system. The system had been operated since then by Wiltshire Council as a record and retrieve service and access had been provided to the police and over 35 officers had been trained by Wiltshire Council to use the system.

BT lines had been mapped to see if any could be turned off before the new system was ready. During the transition no city centre cameras would be switched off. The existing control room would remain at Pennyfarthing House until the new system was in place.

Cameras in Amesbury and Wilton would continue to function until new solution had been agreed with the town councils.

The BID had employed two staff as volunteer co-ordinators and trained a number of volunteers to operate the system. Wiltshire Council was working with the BID to provide access to the system.

New System

Specification had been drafted and key parties would be consulted. Once agreed, the procurement process would commence. Options would be priced for solutions for Amesbury and Wilton town councils.

Once procured the new system would be transferred to Salisbury City Council as part of a wider agreement on the transfer of assets and services.

The Chairman noted that there had been several different accounts of the situation circulated through the media during the summer and meetings had taken place with SCC to discuss the future of CCTV in Salisbury, however the Board had not been invited to be a part of any discussions or consulted.

Questions and comments were then received, these included:

• Would the definition and quality of the recording be improved? Answer: Yes, the new digital technology  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive a presentation from Laurie Bell, Associate Director for Communities and Communications.

Steve Milton, Head of Community Engagement and Governance gave an update to the Board on the progress of the Five Rivers Community Campus.

The aim of the Campus was to bring a number of public services currently located around Salisbury, into one building. The site at Five Rivers had been undergoing a major development over the last 18 months.

A series of slides were presented which detailed the current stakeholder location summary, including Fire and Rescue, Learning Disabilities, Leisure and Salisbury Area Jazz Ensemble.

Steve gave an update on the phases of work programme as detailed below:

Phase 1

·         Sports Hall roof & internal change – complete Oct 14

Phase 2

·         AWP Change - completed Feb 15

·         Dance Studio - completed March 15

·         Fitness Suite  - Open 19th Nov 15

·         2 Storey Extension  - Hand Over 26/10

All Weather Pitch - Out of build programme.

Phase 3

·         Circulation Space & Reception – Open 4 November

·         Café Seating Area / Atrium Space – Complete 18th December

There would also be a portable climbing wall available at the Campus.

Green Travel Options

A slide showing the nearby bus routes which could be used when visiting the  site was presented. Bus number 4 stopped 470m walk from the campus to a northbound stop and 500m walk from the campus to a southbound stop. Bus number 1 stopped 800m walk from the campus and the Park & Ride Services stop at all Salisbury Reds bus stops on the route.

Questions and comments were then taken, these included:

·         There was disappointment that access to the Campus was reliant on the existing bus routes which were 800m away. When many of the users may have mobility issues. Answer: Part of the proposals included a dedicated minibus with lift service on site which could be used by those using the site. In an ideal world the Campus would have liked to have a shuttle bus, but realistically the cost of implementing that was too high.

·         Had the plans for the all weather pitch been delayed due to methane underground? Answer: Following original discussions, Football Foundation funding was in place, so work was expected to go ahead. They were looking at ways to ensure that there was no danger in covering over the area with plastic matting.

·         How would the governance work? Answer: It was anticipated that the operational running would be taken on by the existing team already in the Leisure Centre. The CEM would be right at the heart of the campus to bring services and community groups together.

·         The Campus was originally focused on meeting the needs of the community by having rooms available that we could book. But you have not mentioned us. It looks quite clear that the services you have going in there would rule the roost. Answer: The services based at the campus would provide an improved offer to the community including leisure, adult disability day services, a suite of community rooms for hire, and other services yet to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive an update from the Chairman of CATG, Cllr John Walsh, following their last meeting held on 7 October 2015.

Councillor John Walsh, Chairman of the CATG summarised the report which had been circulated at the meeting and explained that the future process for submitting schemes to the CATG now involved taking any new proposals to SCC for their support.

The Board considered the recommendations for funding as detailed in the circulated report (attached to these minutes).

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board approved CATG recommendations for funding and actions for new schemes for 2015/16 as below:

1.    3896 - Speeding vehicles- Beatrice Road and Radnor Road. – Note the Update.

2.    4000 - Improved cycle route signage on Avon Valley Shared Use Path – Approved £850 for Signs and up to £600 for painted symbols.

3.    4003 - Vehicles illegally parking on or driving over a grass verge in Rampart Road – Approved up to £600 of funding for the planning of shrubs on the verge.

4.    4067  - Relocation of bus stop on Roman Road – Note the update.

5.    4068 - Request for improved cycle route signage on Culver Street – Approved £500 for the provision of additional cycle route signs.

6.    4081 - Removal of parking to aid bus turning movements at the junction of Park Street and Queens Road – Note the update.

7.    4084 - Wheelchair users having difficulties traversing dropped kerb outside McDonalds – Approved £200 to move the sign.

8.    4196 - Lack of illumination of bollards on Avon Valley Path – Approved £825 for 4 Nightglo Knot Mill bollards and the removal of two unnecessary bollards.

9.    4201 - Concerns about parking related to the University Technical College (UTC) will take place in Charnwood Road – Approved £250 for a Private Road sign.

10. 4231 - Request for the introduction of a Zebra crossing  on Churchfields Road – To note the update.

11. 4239 - Request for Brown Tourism Sign for St. Martin's Church - Approved the provision a of sign subject to the church paying all costs for the supply and erection, as per the council’s policy.

12.4246 - Request for additional sign to inform cyclists that they can travel along South Street (against the 'One Way' Traffic Regulation Order) – Approved £125 for a new sign.

13.  Issue no. N/A - Request for improved pedestrian facilities on Old Blandford Road between Lywood Close (recent development) and where the existing footway begins at the northern junction of Old Blandford Road and Harnham Road – To note the update.

To consider 6 applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme for 2015/16, as listed below. Report attached.

The Board considered six applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme for 2015/16 as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

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

Decision

St Michael’s Community Centre was awarded £986.84 towards new tables.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2015/16.

Decision

Salisbury United Reformed Church was awarded £3,500 towards a new floor at the Fisherton Community Centre.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2015/16.

Decision

Circular Arts was awarded £5,000 towards the ‘We Can’ project.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2015/16.

Decision

Bishopdown Farm Preschool and Farm Friends was awarded £4954,78 towards relocation set up costs.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2015/16.

Decision

Wiltshire Geology Group was awarded £900 towards the publication of geological guide for Cathedral Close.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2015/16.

Decision

Salisbury City Football Club Youth Section was awarded £2,500 towards training floodlights for the Netherhampton pitches.

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2015/16.

To consider the Councillor Led Initiative put forward by Cllr Ricky Rogers, to support the Salisbury Streetwatch Scheme, as detailed in the attached report.

Cllr Ricky Rogers

The Board considered the Councillor Led Initiative put forward by Councillor Ricky Rogers to fund the Street Watch insurance which covered all schemes in Salisbury, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

The Board noted that this had become an annual request and felt that although it was a worthy cause, the Board did not usually award funding to repeat requests for the same project. It was suggested that Cllr Rogers write to the Police and Crime Commissioner to request that  funding be found to cover the annual insurance cost of the Streetwatch Scheme, as it was felt that the scheme had had a real positive impact in the communities which it covered.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board allocated £250 to the Councillor Led Initiative for Streetwatch Insurance cover, and agreed to write to the PCC to ask for funding for future years insurance.

The date of the next meeting is Thursday 12 November, 7pm at South Wilts Grammar School.

The Chairman asked the Board to consider an additional item, which was to agree to the delegated authority to the Community Engagement Manager, following the recent change to Karen Linkers’ post, from Community Area Manager to Community Engagement Manager.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board agreed to delegate authority to the Community Engagement Manager in consultation with the Area Board councillors, to approve expenditure between meetings as follows:

• Where the funding is needed urgently and the matter cannot wait until the next scheduled area board meeting.
• Funding may only be approved up to a maximum of £500 per decision.
• Decisions taken under this delegated power shall be reported to the next area board meeting.
• Funding may only be granted under this delegated power to applications which fully meet the Community Area Grants criteria.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and noted that the next meeting of the Salisbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 3 December 2015, 7.00pm at Salisbury City Hall.