Agenda and minutes

Councillors are requested to declare any pecuniary and nonpecuniary interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

To confirm as a correct record and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 13 June 2012.

The Board will discuss any matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting.

Wilton Cycle Event

The annual event which was hoped would take place in Wilton had been cancelled due to the Police Commitment to the Olympics, but it was hoped that it would go ahead the following year.

Wilton Youth Club

With new staff in place at the Youth Club, it was proposed that the opening hours should be left as they were for the time being and would be looked at again in the autumn when new proposals could be persued.

The Board will receive any announcements from the Chairman.

To note the information on current consultations, to take part and for further information, visit the consultation portal: http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

Councillor Fleur de Rhe-Philipe will give an insight into her portfolio - Economic Development and Strategic Planning, which includes:

o   Strategic planning including the Local Development Framework

o   Economic development - Tourism

Followed by an opportunity to ask questions.

Councillor Fleur de Rhe-Philipe gave an insight into some of the areas of her portfolio as Cabinet representative for Economic Development and Strategic Planning.

Strategic Planning

The Draft Wiltshire Core Strategy document was passed by Full Council in June and had been submitted for inspection by the Secretary of State. It was hoped that his report would be back by the end of the year so that Full Council could adopt the document.

The Core Strategy would be a 20 year plan which would guide where new housing could and could not take place. It is important to have an adopted plan detailing the numbers of allocated housing spaces, to prevent developers from building wherever they chose.

Economic Development

Wiltshire Council encouraged inward investment and is currently working with two large companies that wished to expand in the county, to provide employment opportunities for future generations.

Working in partnership with Swindon, a loan of almost £9 million had been acquired for the growing places fund. A large fund had also been secured from the Rural Growth network to set up small units; one possibility for this project would be the Tisbury Community Campus site.

Questions and comments included:

·       Could you confirm that the South Wiltshire Core Strategy document is embraced within the larger Core Strategy Document for Wiltshire? Answer: Yes that is correct.

·       There are traffic congestion problems on the A303 in Amesbury near Stonehenge, if you resolve the problem there, it is likely the problem will be pushed up to our community area, the whole road needs improvements. Answer: We are working with all of the partners and bordering authorities, this is a Highways road. We even have support from Cornwall. There are points of the A303 that are over capacity, and it is recognised that something needs to be done.

·       The economy depends on employment opportunities, is there an update on the provision of speedier broadband connections? Answer: The Leader of the Council was due to provide an update on this in the near future. There had been a hold up due to European rules, but this had recently been resolved. Wiltshire Council would start work in the higher economic areas and filter out across Wiltshire. It was thought that only 90% of the county would be able to receive a faster broadband speed, as problems existed within 10% of Wiltshire.

·       Councillor Deane asked whether the requests of the three villages which had entered talks with planning officers a year earlier, to discuss the locations of the planned 120 new houses, would be carried over into the Wiltshire Core Strategy? Answer: It would be down to those three villages to write their own Neighbourhood Plans, to determine where those houses would be built. The majority of new development would take place in Salisbury, Amesbury and Tisbury, with some in the surrounding areas.

The Board will receive verbal updates from partners present, some written updates are attached.

·       Police

·       Wiltshire Police Authority – Crime and commissioner update

·       Wiltshire Fire & Rescue

·       NHS

·       Youth Services

·       Tenants Panel

Other Update to include:

·       Mere Area Bus timetable – Rachel Hyde

Note: Following recent feedback highlighting the length of some area board meetings, verbal updates given in this section of the agenda will be limited to 3 minutes per speaker.

Police – Inspector Lindsey Winters

The general performance figures across Tisbury and Mere were down slightly on the previous year’s figures. There had been some incidents reported during the school holidays, people were advised to contact their local Neighbourhood Watch Scheme prior to going away, so that they could keep an eye on unoccupied properties and to keep all doors and windows secure.

Wiltshire Police Authority – Cllr Richard Britton

From 15^th November 2012, the way in which the Police are governed and made accountable to the public will dramatically change, when a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is elected for each force area.

The PCC will appoint the Chief Constable and set the Police precept. He will formulate a Police and Crime Plan and hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of that Plan. Legislation requires the formation of a Police and Crime Panel (PCP) for each force area. For Wiltshire this will consist of 10 members, 3 of those will be appointed from Swindon Borough Council and 7 from Wiltshire Council. The Panel will also appoint two Independent members.

The PCP has the power to veto the police precept and the appointment of the Chief Constable. It will hold the PCC to account for the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan.

Questions and Comments included:

·       The PCC in Wiltshire is to be paid £70,000 a year, will this come from the Police precept? Answer: The PCC salary and the costs of the PCP will be funded by central government.

·       Where do the candidates for the PCC come from? Answer: To date two candidates have come forward, one is a recently adopted Conservative candidate and the other is a Labour candidate. There is still time for others to be nominated.

·       The £5,000 deposit required by candidates may put some people off. Answer: Cllr Britton agreed that it was a lot of money for an independent candidate to put up, and that it may limit some from coming forward.

·       Cllr Jeans noted that there would not be a circulation of information about the candidates prior to the election, local people would not find out any details unless they went online. Answer: Cllr Britton confirmed that this would be the case adding that it was not his role to defend the way in which central government ran their campaigns.

Youth – Jaki Farrell, Youth Development Co-ordinator Mere & Tisbury (Locality Team Leader)

A group of 14 young people engaged in the National Citizen Service which is a national initiative for young people who have just left year 11 or 12. So far members of the group had taken part in:

·       Engagement activities,

·       A weeklong team building adventure sports residential in Wales

·       A week at the Ancient Technology Centre taking part in training in Peer Leadership, Employability & Food Hygiene and engaged in some planning days and fundraising events.

·       A junior leisure credits project for four days is currently being run with a view to running a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Board will receive information regarding the Wiltshire Community Bank which provides a credit union service around the County.

There will also be a display near the entrance of the hall prior to the start of the meeting.

Officer: Emma Cooper, Community Partnership Manager.

The Board will receive a presentation to raise awareness of the Digital Literacy Project which is due to start rolling out across Wiltshire.

One of the aims of the project is to recruit local people to act as digital champion volunteers to support local people to get online.

Officer: Jenny Wilcockson, Digital Literacy Coordinator.

Jenny Wilcockson, Digital Literacy Coordinator provided information on a Wiltshire Council project to raise awareness and to recruit volunteers to take part in providing IT assistance around the community to local individuals and groups.

Jenny explained that the Wiltshire Online Team had three key aims, these were:

1.     To roll out super fast broadband to 85 – 95% of all households across Wiltshire by 2015.

2.     To provide better access to services.

3.     To provide help to people so that they can learn skills to get online.

Part of the projects aim is to recruit two types of volunteers, the suggested requirement would be:

·       20 x Digital Champions – people who would provide one to one support

to others to get online.

·       2 x Local Volunteer Coordinators - responsible for helping register new

learners, matching learners with Digital Champion volunteers and acting as a communication channel between these volunteers and the Wiltshire Online team. Volunteer Coordinators are also encouraged to support the Wiltshire Online staff with the recruitment of Digital Champions and the organisation of volunteer coffee mornings.

Jenny was keen to hear about existing local groups may benefit from some free IT assistance, such as coffee groups. Local knowledge would play a big part in the success of getting the project to work.

The Digital Champion volunteers would be encouraged to use local wifi enabled spots within the community area to meet and deliver assistance, two sites already known of are the Queens Head and the Bennet Arms.

Schools would also be approached to see if they could be involved by getting

Young people interested in IT, to share their knowledge by providing assistance to others in their communities.

The Board watched a DVD which showed a 86 year old lady called Betty who spoke about the positive experience of being on facebook.

For more information and to pre-register to receive IT assistance, go to the web page: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshireonline/

Councillor Deane added that there was a team of officers and councillors who were working behind the scenes to ensure super fast broadband becomes available in the South West Wiltshire (SWW) community areas, councillor Jeans was one of the members of that group.

Councillor Jeans agreed that he would provide future updates to the Board on any progress relevant to the SWW community areas.

The Board will receive information on the new Blog site for the South West Wiltshire Community Areas.

Officer: Matthew Woolford, Business Support Manager (Communications)

Matthew Woolford, Business Support Manager delivered a presentation on the Launch of the new Blog site for the South West Wiltshire Community Areas.

The Council was looking at ways to use social media to improve two way interactions with communities at a local level. One idea which had been piloted in the Salisbury area in July was a Blog site, which was an online community notice board open to partners and members of the community, where they can post events and news and everyone can comment.

The South West Wiltshire Area Board would be the next in line to have its own Blog site, which will give local people, groups and organisations the opportunity to talk about local topics, promote local initiatives and publicise events and activities. The site will be launched on Wednesday 5 September at an event, which will be held at Dinton Village Hall from 12.30pm.

The South West Wiltshire ‘Our Community Matters’ Blog site will be moderated by the Council to ensure the site is not misused.

To view the site and to register, click on the link below: http://southwestwilts.ourcommunitymatters.org.uk/

To receive an update from a member of the Tisbury Campus Shadow Community Operations Board (SCOB).

Cllr Tony Deane

Councillor Tony Deane provided an update to the Board, this included:

·       A new questionnaire would be available by the end of August.

·       A feasibility briefing had taken place with the architects, who would be reporting back to the COB in September.

·       The SCOB was working with the AONB in relation to their plans to open a rural skills centre in the area, to explore what joint working opportunities there may be.

·       The proposals for the Tisbury Community Campus would go to the next Cabinet meeting, it was hoped that funding would be approved and available from October 2012.

·       The project would include building some incubation units which could be leased by small businesses, with the aim of those businesses moving on to the larger units as their businesses expand. Large industrial units are being constructed as part of the Hindon Road housing development.

·       A planning application had been submitted for the link road between Weaveland Road and Hindon Lane.

To receive an update from a member of the group.

Cllr: Tony Deane

The Board members will consider 7 applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme:

Update – on the Mere Skate Park project

The Board considered seven applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme for 2012/13. Applicants present were invited to answer questions. Following discussion the Board members voted on each application in turn.

Decision

Zeals Parish Council was awarded £4,872 towards their project to lay a hard surface to the playground for the Leaping Frogs Pre School and after school and holiday clubs.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

Decision

Zeals Parish Council was awarded £4,487 towards the Amenity site infrastructure.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

Decision

Zeals Youth Trust was awarded £450 towards the Zeals Community Games Event.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

Decision

Mere Museum was awarded £480 towards the preservation project of the Juvenile Total Abstinence Society Banner.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

Decision

Tisbury NPT was awarded £350 (Small Grant) towards their schools talent contest to challenge anti-social behaviour.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

Decision

Seeds 4 Success was awarded £5,000 towards their Leisure Credits rewards between August 2012 – February 2013, with the condition that a copy of their constitution and all accounts are provided before funding is released.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

Decision

Burcombe Parish Council was awarded £600 towards their community orchard and wildlife area project.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Wiltshire Community Plan 2011 – 2026 as detailed in the officer’s report.

To consider a bid for funding a replacement finger post, from West Tisbury Parish Council, as detailed in the attached officer’s report.

Officer: Stephen Harris, Community Area Manager

The Board considered the request from West Tisbury Parish Council for £550 of funding towards the replacement of one fingerpost for 2012/13.

Decision

The South West Wiltshire Area Board awarded £550 of funding to West Tisbury Parish Council; as set out in the report attached to the agenda, with the condition that each Parish Council that receives funding to replace or refurbish a finger post must provide evidence of doing so within twelve months.

To receive an update on the progress of issues to date.

Officer: Stephen Harris, Community Area Manager

The Community Area Manager proposed that six of the issues listed in the table should now be closed, as they had either been resolved or had been developed as far as was possible by the Board.

Decision

The South West Wiltshire Area Board agreed to close six of the issues from the Issue Tracking System list.

For further information and to track an issue online click on the link:

http://portal.wiltshire.gov.uk/area_board/areaboard_issues_search.php?issue_location_in=South%20West%20Wiltshire

A copy of the Forward Plan is attached for information.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

The next meeting of the South west Wiltshire Area Board will be held on Wednesday 17 October 2012, 7.00pm at Nadder Hall, Tisbury.