Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2014/15.

Councillor Richard Britton called for nominations for Chairman for 2014/15.

Decision

Cllr Richard Britton was elected as Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2014/15.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2014/15.

The Chairman Councillor Richard Britton called for nominations for Vice Chairman for 2014/15.

Decision

Cllr Chris Devine was elected as Vice Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2014/15.

There were none.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 27 March 2014.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 27 March 2014, 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.

To note the report attached to the agenda, and to consider the nominations for representatives to Outside Bodies, CATG and COB as detailed in the attached appendices.

The Board noted the report attached to the agenda, and considered the nominations for representatives to Outside Bodies, CATG and COB,

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board agreed to nominate representatives for 2014/15 to the Outside Bodies, CATG and COB as detailed in the attached appendices.

The Board noted the information on the current consultations online, which was available by following the links in the agenda.

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

Broadband Update

Following the presentation from BT at the last Board meeting, the Chairman undertook to obtain further information regarding dates of implementation, in doing so had discovered that there were legal and contractual restraints on BT providing any further information at present. It was likely that most of the parishes within Southern Wiltshire would have superfast broadband by late autumn.

Cllr Devine noted that there had been some issues in West Dean due to their exchange being in Hampshire. He would contact the Project Manager to discuss the matter.

Item 13 Cancelled

Brian Warwick was unable to attend therefore his item was deferred.

30mph Stickers

The Community Area Manager had a small supply of 30mph A4 wheelie bin stickers for distribution. Those interested could approach him after the meeting.

Written Updates attached are:

a)    Police

b)    Fire & Rescue Service – verbal update

c)     Wiltshire Council Updates – Public Health & Wellbeing Grant, Housing Allocations

d)    Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

e)    Southern Wiltshire Issues System

f)      Any other comments or reports

Police - Inspector Noble

Recent structural changes would reduce the tiers of management; there would be no new Chief Inspectors or Chief Superintendants. The new Superintendant for Salisbury, Warminster and Amesbury was Charlie Armstrong, with Inspector Noble moving to a new post, working under her. He is being replaced as Sector Inspector by Inspector David Minty.

A new scheme which was being trialled by Beat Managers would provide more of an insight into possible causes of local trends.

A recent public meeting on the decommissioning of the Wilton Road site held on 19 May 2014 had been poorly attended. Representatives from the PCC, Technical College and Police had been in attendance to present an update. A series of future meetings would be scheduled, these would be publicised in due course. 

Police teams would be moving into Bourne Hill in Salisbury on 18 June 2014. A site for the new Custody Suite had now been confirmed subject to contract.

Questions and Comments were then received, these included:

·       When prisoners are taken to Melksham, and later released in Melksham, how do they get back to the Southern Wiltshire area? Answer: When individuals are arrested their civil liberties are taken away when they are taken into custody. Before release, they are assessed, if an individual has specific needs or is deemed vulnerable then they would be assisted and transport would be arranged.

·       The Bourne Hill council building was designed to be a non public office, it is not laid out to receive public. Answer: There will be some alterations at Bourne Hill to allow for that use. We can divide our work into clean and dirty business, we would not deal with any of the dirty business at the customer counter at Bourne Hill.

Fire – Mike Franklin & Station Manager Dan Cooke

The standard written update was currently not available due to an issue with IT software, it was hoped that the problem would be resolved and a report would be available in time for the next meeting.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue (WFRS) had been in discussions with the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, to look at possibilities for a joint working relationship. WFRS had a shortfall in budget of between £3.1 million to £3.9 million which had to be resolved by 2018. They had appraised their options and put forward a business case to combine the Wiltshire and Dorset authorities, on which a decision would be made in September 2014. A consultation would take place between 16 June 2014 and 24 August 2014 which would include the public, police and council. This would be promoted through their website, social media and press and a helpline would be set up.

Councillor Devine, who sits on the Wiltshire Fire Authority, added that it was not a done deal; the Authority was looking strongly at the proposal of a merger.

Wiltshire Council Updates

The Board noted the information items attached to the agenda:

·       Public Health and Wellbeing Grant

·       Housing Allocations

Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Board will consider the list of proposed highway maintenance schemes in Southern Wiltshire for 2014/15, as detailed in the attached report. We will also hear about the organisation of the Local Highways team.

Officers: Parvis Khansari, Associate Director for Highways and Transport & Adrian Hampton, Head of Local Highways and Streetscene South.

Local Highways Investment Fund - 2014 - 2020

Parvis Khansari, Associate Director for Highways and Transport gave an update to the Board.

Wiltshire Council had recently approved a major programme of investment in highway maintenance over the next six years. This would see a significant improvement in the condition of the county’s highway network.

The investment would be targeted at those roads in worst condition, and would include minor roads as well as the main roads. An initial assessment based on road safety information and road condition data had been used to prepare a list of priority sites for treatment in 2014/15 in each community area. This information was provided in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report attached to the agenda.

A provisional list of sites for potential treatment until 2020 had also been prepared and attached to the agenda as appendices 3 and 4.

Comments and questions were taken, these included:

·       There is a new Petersfinger Road past the Park & Ride path, up to the bridge. We need to have a pathway from there to the medieval bridge. Answer: Cllr McLennan pointed out that work is already in hand to pursue this by building a footpath inside the field between the medieval bridge and the nursing home.

·       With regards to budgets, and the B3080 at Downton, how do you look at adjacent footpaths when resurfacing the roads? Answer: We look at the road in totality, including drainage, street lighting, and paths and include in the costings if required.

·       Is there a problem with implementing new red coloured surfacing? Answer: The red linings are really only used now at the entrances to pedestrian crossings to improve safety.

·       Will the budget cover white lines? Answer: We have a bigger programme of white lining than ever before. We are trying to catch up.

Highways Maintenance Service Update

Adrian Hampton, Head of Local Highways, parking enforcement and grass cutting, gave an update to the Board.

Adrian introduced Tracy Myers, Local Highways, Community Coordinator for Southern Wiltshire. Tracy was based in the Wilton office where he coordinates all of the services for the Area Board and Town and Parish Councils.

Residents could contact the Local Highways team by using the ‘My Wiltshire’ online form, or by downloading the app to a mobile phone. These services would replace the Clarence phone number. Link: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/roadshighwaysstreetcare/mywiltshireregister.htm

Comments and questions were then received, these included:

·       Would the green lid bins be emptied if they were overfilled? Answer: This was a waste related question to which Tracy Carter, Associate Director for Waste and Environment, provided an answer. In order to lift the bins safely with the vehicles, the lids must be closed. If they are open because they are overfilled, then they may not be emptied.

·       There had been a number of local complaints to parishes that the grass cutting had been carried out too late, resulting in the wild flowers growing at the time being cut. Answer: In urban areas, there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

As a result of the ‘What Matters to You?’ event on 27 February we have put together some proposed themes to take forward in 2014/15 (attached).

As a result of the ‘What Matters to You?’ workshop event held on 27 February, the Board had looked at feedback and put together some proposed themes to take forward in 2014/15, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

The Board would continue work to progress the Youth theme and would also build on the success of the Footpath Project, with a possible link to a safe cycle route project. A new theme would be developed around working with and supporting vulnerable people.

There would also be some new enabling projects around the development of inter-parish relationships and collaboration. The Board would work to get more people involved in reporting things going on in the community, with a Community Reporter’ training project, and would look into linking schools with local employment.

The Chairman explained that these were all extensive and quite demanding projects to take forward, and that the success would be dependent on volunteers coming forward to help progress the various projects.

To kick off this theme we invited Brian Warwick of South West Seniors’ Networkwho will talk about his work with Older People.

This item was cancelled as the speaker was unable to attend. The Board would reschedule this item for a future meeting.

We will receive an update on the outcomes of the youth service review.

Tony Nye, Youth Services Coordinator, gave an update on future changes to the provision of youth services following the recent Cabinet decision.

Following a Youth Services review, Cabinet had met and decided on a community-led approach for its youth provision. This suited the Southern Wiltshire Community Area since this was how we have been working for some time.

There would be one ‘Community Youth Officer’ post for Southern Wiltshire. Each Area Board would be allocated a budget to be used in collaboration with young people to facilitate youth work in the community area.

An update will be given on the progress of the project. A volunteer Coordinator has been appointed and her brief will include:

1.    Coordinate monthly activity days working with volunteers on our footpath network.

2.    Develop and complete the walks guide.

3.    Work with the community on special events such as the 850th anniversary of the Constitution of Clarendon.

4.    Work with communities to create circular walks in each parish. Alderbury is already underway.

5.    Coordinate waymarking sessions with a view to create volunteer waymarking groups. Starting with Clarendon Way.

6.    Develop toolkits for volunteers to set up their own parish footpath groups.
- How to guides for installing gates etc.
- A toolkit for setting up footpath groups in parishes.

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager introduced Abby Sullivan, who had recently been appointed as the new volunteer coordinator for Footpaths. Abby had been taken on for 18 months and would work two days a week.

As detailed in the update attached to the agenda, Monday sessions would continue to go ahead as they had proved popular.

Work would continue on developing the walks guide and some special events would be scheduled for the future, following liaison with the community to organise a guided walk for young people.

As part of the project the group would be carrying out less heavy duties such as replacing way markings, with a view of making the footpaths more accessible. It was hoped that this lighter work would enable more volunteers to be involved.

The Chairman added that it was disappointing for volunteers to turn up in a parish to carry out work to find no one from the parish there to support them.

Question

When spray paint was used for the way markers it made a terrible mess. Could the Board look at getting some disks with arrows on instead? Answer: The CAM would look into this and feedback.

Parish Council collaboration is something that the Area Board has encouraged since it started in 2009. At the ‘What Matters to You?’ event held on 27 February it was raised in discussion and the Board would like to propose a Parish Clerk/Chairman workshop to bring parishes together to develop relationships. Collaboration is already underway on various projects however there is always more we can do. We therefore propose to hold a workshop in June/July to get this underway.

The Chairman explained that he felt the whole area of collaboration and communication between parish council’s offered very real benefits.

The Board proposed to hold another workshop session in June/July for parish Chairmen and clerks, to explore this theme in more detail.

We are proposing a new approach to celebrating the amazing work that goes on in our community. The attached paper sets this out.

In 2012/13, as part of the theme of Volunteering, the Area Board awarded 4 nominated community groups £50 each and presented them with a certificate.

It was felt that celebrating the fantastic contribution made to community life by individual volunteers and groups was really important, so the Board would like to make Community Awards a fixed annual feature of the Area Board’s programme.

Nominations would be accepted for projects or groups that:

·       Can demonstrate real, tangible community benefits

·       Bring people together to give up their time for the local community

·       Have achieved particular success in the last few years or have been working towards a new project in the near future

·       Have a constitution and bank account

·       Are able to give a presentation at an event hosted by the Area Board

The winner would receive £500 for their community group. There would be a smaller prize for runners up. A more detailed allocation would be decided nearer the time.

The Area Board considered the recommendation to set aside £1500 revenue funding for 2014/15: £500 for event costs such as hall booking and refreshments; £1000 to be available to the successful community groups. And to consider holding a special event in January 2015.

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board agreed to set aside £1,500 of funding for the Community Area Awards project for 2014/15, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

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

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

The Board considered four applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme for 2014/15, as detailed in the grant papers attached to the agenda. The Chairman invited applicants present to speak in support of their projects. Following discussion, the Board voted on each application in turn.

Decision

Nomansland Sports Association was awarded £5,000 towards their skate park and sports facilities project. This was subject to them receiving all other funding applied for within 6 months. If this was not achieved the Area Board could withdraw the funding.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2014/15.

Decision

Landford Parish Council was awarded £2,774.50 towards the refurbishment of the sports pavilion.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2014/15.

Decision

Alderbury and Grimstead Parish Council was awarded £2,250 towards the purchase of two defibrillators.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2014/15.

Decision

Alderbury Bowls Club was awarded £5,000 towards the clubhouse upgrade. This was subject to them receiving all other funding applied for within 6 months. If this was not achieved the Area Board could withdraw the funding.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2014/15.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.