Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the forthcoming year.

The Community Area Manager Tom Bray opened the meeting and invited those on the top table to introduce themselves. He then called for nominations for Chairman for 2013/14.

Decision

Councillor Richard Britton was elected as Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2013/14.

To elect a Vice – Chairman for the forthcoming year.

The Chairman, Councillor Richard Britton called for nominations for Vice-Chairman for 2013/14.

Decision

Councillor Chris Devine was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2013/14.

There were none.

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

There were none.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 31 January 2013.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 31 January 2013 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive announcements from the Chairman including:

·         7 June Parish Council briefing on How the Local Highways & Streetscene will operate from 2013.

The Council had recently changed the service provider for Highways maintenance and Streetscene services. The new contract had been awarded to Balfour Beatty; a workshop had been scheduled for the next evening, Friday 7 June, 6.00pm at City Hall Salisbury, to provide information to Town and Parish Councils. 

To appoint Board Members to the Working Groups and Task Groups of the Area Board, as per the attached table.

The Chairman noted that the table attached to the agenda required one change, as the representatives listed for two of the groups were incorrect. This table has since been amended online and a correct version is attached to these minutes.

Decision

The Board agreed the representatives to Outside Bodies and Working Groups as per the table attached to these minutes.

There are currently no consultations open on our website. To keep up to date with consultations go to: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/consultations.

There were currently no consultations open on the website. To keep up to date with consultations go to: http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

To receive written and verbal updates from the following:

·         Neighbourhood Policing Teams

·         Fire & Rescue Service

·         NHS

·         Wiltshire Council Updates (Bus route X3 proposed changes & Safeguarding Thresholds)

·         Youth Service

·         Southern Wiltshire Issues System

·         Community Area Transport Group Update

·         Footpath Project Update

·         Any other comments or reports

Police – Inspector Andy Noble

A Neighbourhood Team update was attached to the agenda pack, in addition Inspector Noble gave a verbal update.

The current focus throughout the sector was on vehicle crime and non-dwelling burglaries.

A current scheme in Wilton to tackle rural crime was due to be rolled out across the Southern Wiltshire community area within the next 4 – 6 weeks.

In Whiteparish recently, one resident had discovered and reported three burglars at the rear of a premises. PC Henry Clissold arrived at the scene and arrested three Polish nationals, who had been active across the border in Dorset. The resident had been nominated for a police award.

The new Police Sergeant (PS) Dave Lennane had been visiting the parishes within the community area. Redlynch, Firsdown and West Grimstead noted that they had not yet met him, Inspector Noble explained that PS Lennane would get around to all of the parishes in due course.

Questions and Comments were then received, these included:

·       What was the situation with the nominated lead members in the Parish councils for Community Safety? Answer: Tom Bray explained that Parish Councils had been asked by the Area Board to nominate one of their councillors to act on community safety matters by liaising with the police and the Neighbourhood Watch groups within their communities.

Inspector Noble added that other schemes such as Community Speed Watch and the Neighbourhood Residents Street Watch schemes like those in operation in the Salisbury area, could also be incorporated.

Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service – Mike Franklin and Mike Bagnall (Station Manager Salisbury)

Written updates were attached to the agenda pack and circulated at the meeting, in addition to this Mike gave a verbal update.

The Draft Public Safety Plan for 2013/16 had been published and was under consultation. To view a copy, click on the link: http://www.wiltsfire.gov.uk/

If you have any comments or views on the future plans, please send them to consultation@wiltsfire.gov.uk before 01 August 2013. If you would like to become a stakeholder to contribute to any future plans or ideas the Service has, please fill out a Stakeholder registration form found on our homepage under ‘Have your say’.

Over the last 10 years the number of fires attended had dropped by 48%. As many as 20 – 30% of homes do not have a smoke alarm fitted or in working order. Mike circulated referral cards for people to take away and complete if they wished to receive a free home safety check.

In May 2013 there were a total of 5 reported fires within the community area, 4 were accidental and 1 was recorded as deliberate. In February one of the fires had resulted in a fatal incident where a person had lost their life. 

Alan Westmore of Landford Parish Council thanked the Fire Service on behalf of the village, for their efforts whilst attending the fatal incident. He added that they had arrived very quickly and had tried to gain entry into the property.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Our Footpaths project shows that collaboration between Parish Councils and other bodies, facilitated by the Area Board, works really well.

What new projects would you like to see developed in the same way over the next couple of years? What projects would most benefit YOUR village?

The Chairman explained that as this was the start of a new council, the Area Board wanted to hear from the community on which types of projects they would like to see the Board working on.

In previous years the community had not wanted to form a Community Area Partnership (CAP), so instead the allocation of funding which was usually available to support a CAP, had been used by the Board to support the types of work which may otherwise have been carried out by a CAP.

The Area Board satisfaction survey carried out in April 2013 indicated that people in the Southern Wiltshire community area would like to see more participation and involvement in the meetings.

A workshop then took place where people worked in six groups around the room to produce two ideas from each group for future Area Board projects.

After the workshop the ideas were fed back to Tom Bray the Community Area Manager, who then created a voting session on the screen using the top 10 ideas. Those present were then able to vote on their top three by using the voting handsets. The results of this are shown below:

Tom would also be circulating the survey those registered on the Community Area Network.

The Board will consider applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme.

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

The Area Board considered three applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme for 2013/14. The Chairman invited applicants present to speak in support of their applications, following discussion the Board members voted on each application in turn.

Decision

Nomansland Sports Association was awarded £5,000 towards their project to install a new skate park and a sports facilities building, subject to the following  condition:

1.    If the other sources of funding outlined in the application are not awarded within 6 months of this decision the Area Board have the right to withdraw the funding for use on other community projects. The decision will be reviewed at the Area Board meeting on 5 December 2013.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2013/14 and demonstrates a direct link to the Community Plan for 2010 – 2015 as detailed in the Officer’s report.

Decision

River Bourne Community Farm was awarded £3,870 towards their project to create a public seating area and barn refurbishments.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2013/14 and demonstrates a direct link to the Community Plan for 2010 – 2015 as detailed in the Officer’s report.

Decision

Firsdown Parish Council was awarded £1,734 towards the purchase of new play equipment for the children’s play area.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2013/14 and demonstrates a direct link to the Community Plan for 2010 – 2015 as detailed in the Officer’s report.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming, before closing the meeting.

The next meeting would take place on Thursday 1 August 2013, 7.00pm at Alderbury Village Hall.