Agenda and minutes

The Chairman; Councillor Brian Dalton, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Salisbury Area Board and introduced newly elected Member, Councillor Atiqul Hoque to the Board.

Members of the Board introduced themselves.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·       Frances Chinemana – WC Associate Director

·       Mike Franklin – Fire & Rescue

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 12 November 2015, copy attached.

Note: If you have any queries regarding the minutes, please contact the Democratic Services Officer prior to the day of the meeting to discuss.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 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.

The following declarations were made:

Item 10 – Community Grants

Cllr Douglas noted that her daughter had previously attended South Wilts Grammar School (SWGS), but were no longer in attendance. This did not constitute an interest; therefore Cllr Douglas took part in the discussion and vote for this application.

Cllr Clewer noted that his Daughter was in attendance at SWGS, he did not take part in the discussion or vote on this application.

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

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·         Stanhope had been invited to return to the March 2016 meeting to update on the progress of the proposed Maltings and Central Car Park development.

Note: Since the meeting this invitation had been declined, the Board hoped to receive an update later in the year.

·         March Meeting – The Board had hoped to hold the next meeting in March at the newly opened Campus building at Five Rivers. However due to the Campus being unavailable on Thursday evenings, the Board would consider whether to move the date of the next meeting.

Note: Since the Area Board, it had been decided to keep the original date of Thursday 10 March 2016 for the next meeting, at South Wilts Grammar School.

a.    Your care, your support - Healthwatch

The Board noted the written and verbal information items which were attached to the agenda or presented at the meeting.

·       Your care, your support – Healthwatch

·       Wiltshire Passenger Transport Review – Consultation starts on 11 January 2016.

·       NICE – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence would be holding a Q & A session in Salisbury on Wednesday 20 January 2016.

Papers circulated at the meeting are attached to these minutes.

A brief presentation from Public Health, followed by a round table discussions on some key themes, leading in to an interactive voting session to prioritise suggestions for local action.

The Community Engagement Manager; Karen Linaker introduced the item, explaining that the Board had sent out target invites to ensure the discussion was well informed.

Kate Blackburn, Public Health Specialty Registrar and Sarah Heathcote, Head of Child Health Improvement gave a presentation to the Board. A copy of the slides from the presentation are attached to these minutes.

The Board invited people to join them in shining a light on child poverty in Salisbury, to look at what was being done already by statutory, community and voluntary sector partners and to decide what more was needed, and how we were locally going to respond. 

The Board then heard from Professor Al Aynsley Green who helped to summarise the information from the presentation and provide inspiration for local action planning.

Following this everyone in attendance took part in a round table discussion on some key themes, to identify some actions which were then fed into an interactive voting session to prioritise suggestions for local action. The results of the voting session are shown below:

Karen would feedback on the progress of this initiative at the next Board meeting.

To receive a presentation on a concept design for a shared space scheme along Blue Boar Row.

Officer: Spencer Drinkwater, Principal Officer Transport Strategy Sustainable Transport

Spencer Drinkwater, Principal Officer Transport Strategy Sustainable Transport, delivered a presentation on a concept design for a shared space scheme along Blue Boar Row.

The Salisbury Vision’s Traffic and Movement Strategy had identified three key aims which the Blue Boar Row scheme would try to incorporate. The aims were to:

•         Minimise traffic movements circulating or moving through the City Centre;

•         Make the City more ‘friendly’ for pedestrians and cyclists; and

•         Improve the streetscape within the core of the City.

What was shared space?

•         Shared space was an urban design approach which sought to give all users more freedom in how a space was used.

•         It meant different things to different people, and design must reflect the local context of each site.

•         The aim was to create a multi-functional, flexible space, with ‘place’ qualities prioritised over vehicle movement.

•         The aim was an inclusive, comfortable environment for all non-vehicle users that was not dominated by vehicles.

•         Definition and segregation of ‘vehicle space’ was reduced, creating a greater sense of uncertainty for drivers and removing their sense of priority - thereby reducing vehicle speed and deterring drivers.

Coming to the Board was the first stage in the consultation process, to gain the support for the initial development and design stages of the scheme to move forward. If the Board supported the concept, then the scheme would move forward and there would be further consultation including:

•         Consultation with Wiltshire Councillors, the City Council, and Disability and Access Groups  

•         Consultation with other stakeholders

•         Consideration of representations

•         Report to Salisbury Area Board (Select preferred option)

•         Report to Cabinet Member

•         Decision to progress to detail design and implementation (Yes/No?)

Comments and questions included:

·         It was refreshing to see something new for Salisbury, this would be an opportunity to try something different.

·         Would the road close during the works? Answer: Yes the junction would close for some time whilst the works were undertaken.

·         This would be good for cyclists as vehicle speeds would reduce with this scheme.

·         Businesses would love this scheme, it would encourage people to stay in the City for longer. It would be important to spend time on the consultation and to get businesses on board.

·         How soon could a scheme take place? Answer: A scheme could be implemented as early as 2017.

·         The congestion and air quality issues at this part of Salisbury are an issue, this scheme would ease the problems here.

·         Could the scheme be expanded in the future? Answer: It was recognised that the scheme could be expanded in other areas of the city, perhaps in Castle Road to change the environment there.

·         Would making this area shared space have a negative impact on users of the crossings there who were blind or disabled? Answer: All of those issues would be considered and consultation with all groups in Salisbury would take place to gain a wider understanding of the concerns of disabled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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)    Salisbury Business Improvement District (BID)

d)    Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

e)    Police

f)     Fire

g)    Community Engagement

h)   Air Quality Group

i)     Community Area Transport Group

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

Local Youth Network (LYN) – Winnie Manning

A copy of the notes from the last LYN Management meeting held on 15 December 2015 was circulated at the meeting. Kirstie Stage, Chair of the LYN gave an update, explaining that the group had met to consider funding requests as detailed in the report. The recommendations would be considered by the Board during the Community Grants item later in the agenda. A copy of the report is attached to these minutes.

Salisbury City Council (SCC)

City Clerk, Reg Williams gave an update, this included:

·         The Policy and Resources committee had met to recommend a budget to full council. It recommended a 0% increase to the precept for 2016. These recommendations were then approved by Full Council on 18 January 2016.

·         The Guild Hall roof project was on budget and was hoped to be complete in mid May 2016.

·          The Victoria Park project was so far under budget, however due to poor weather this was a few days behind schedule.

Salisbury Business Improvement District (BID)

Steve Godwin, Business Manager explained that the BID was well into its third year and was well established at working on behalf of the City Centre businesses.

The BID was working in partnership with Salisbury City Council and Wiltshire Council to produce a Waste Charter for the city.

The two Street Rangers were out and about the city to report on any issues which occurred.

Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

Cllr David Burton gave an update which included:

·         River Bourne Community Farm creator Ben Parker was honoured an MBE in 2016 New Year's Honours List.

·         Two Councillors had been doing tremendous work at the Youth club at Old Sarum, which had now received the Phoenix award.

·         The Parish Council operated a small community grant scheme, funded from income unconnected with council tax. Applications from local community based, ‘not for profit’ or charitable organisations e.g. voluntary groups, societies, clubs (including new startups), sports clubs, youth clubs, playgroups, and Community Projects were invite. Full details available on the website: http://www.laverstock-ford.co.uk/

Police – Inspector David Minty

Inspector Minty invited questions from the floor. These included:

·         Was there a local Youth Strategy that the Police were working to? Answer: There was a force Youth Strategy, but locally they ran a Cadet scheme in Swindon and Trowbridge. This was where the Police worked with groups of 20 young people to get them involved in beneficial activities and work for the community. It was hoped that a scheme could be started in Salisbury in the near future.

·         Would this include life support training for cadets? Answer: Yes that would hopefully be included.

·         There had been reports that manpower had been reduced for Salisbury, what were the implications of that? Answer: The Journal had published an article about Community Policing in Amesbury. The new model would see Officers working a 5 shift week on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider four applications for funding from the Community Area Grants scheme as detailed in the attached report.

The Board considered four Community Area Grant Applications for funding for 2015/16, as detailed in the report and online. Applicants present were invited to speak in support of their projects. Following discussion, the Board Members voted on each application in turn.

Decision

Wyndham Park Infants School was awarded £4,860 towards the Somerset Road Educational Trust Cycle to School Initiative.

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

Decision

Salisbury Malayalee Community was awarded £1,000 towards Kitchen Appliances.

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

Decision

The application from the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust was deferred until a future meeting, to allow time for the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to be asked whether this service could be funded by him.

Reason – The Board felt that this was a valuable service for the community, which could be funded by the PCC.

Decision

South Wilts Grammar School for Girls was awarded £5,000 towards the Salisbury Athletics Track Improvement Programme from the Youth budget.  Also, the board agreed in principle to support the granting of a further £15k to be ratified in May 2016, noting that such a decision was necessary to facilitate the submission of the Heritage Lottery Funding bid by the 11 January 2016.

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

Note: Cllr Clewer had declared an interest for the above application and so did not take part in discussion or vote.

To ask the Board to confirm funding support for The Sound Emporium’s Youth Nights project to the 31 March 2016, as detailed in the attached report.

The Board was asked to confirm funding support for The Sound Emporium’s free youth night’s up to the 31 March 2016, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board awarded a grant of £4,375 to support the continuance of the youth group at Hendrix House until the 31March 2016.  This funding would be deducted from the Salisbury Area Board’s Youth Budget.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board ratified an urgent decision to grant £500 from the Youth Budget to cover TSE costs during the first weeks of 2016 was agreed by councillors and implemented on the 17 December 2015 under the Community Engagement Manager’s delegated authority.

The date of the next meeting is Thursday 10 March 2016, 7pm at the Health and Wellbeing Centre, Five Rivers, Salisbury.

There was discussion surrounding the possibility of a change to the date of the next meeting, the Chairman agreed to look into the options available and circulated the outcome in due course. He then thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.

The next meeting of the Salisbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 10 March 2016, 7.00pm at South Wilts Grammar School.

Actions to be followed up: