Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Joy Hillier – Wiltshire Police Authority.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2011 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising from the previous meeting:

a)    Seymour TARA Performance Reward Grant, Seymour HUB – Still some work to do, but expected to be open on 7 January 2012.

b)    Trowbridge Pubwatch Radios Grant Application – the money that was funded for this grant has now been returned to the Area Board.

c)    Transport Strategy Update – Area Board members have all viewed the report.

Councillors are requested to declare any personal or prejudicial interests, or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Councillors Jeff Osborn, John Knight, Peter Fuller, Tom James and Helen Osborn all declared general personal interests in Trowbridge Town Council issues due to being members of the Town Council. All councillors had dispensations allowing them to speak and vote on such matters.

Councillor Graham Payne declared a general personal interest in Trowbridge Town Council issues due to being a member of the Town Council. No dispensation was in place.

Agenda item 15a, equipment for Seymour TARA hub - Councillor Tom James declared a personal interest due to being a member of the Seymour TARA.

Agenda item 14, appendix 1, requests 6 & 7. Allocation of dropped kerbs - Councillor Ernie Clark declared a personal interest due to being a member of Hilperton parish council.

The following Chairman’s Announcements were  included in the agenda pack.

11-19 Commissioning Strategy Outcomes - the Chairman made the point that the official statement from the Cabinet had glossed over the fact that £600,000 was being taken out of the Youth Service budget over two years and also reported that Cabinet member Lionel Grundy had advised that the Trowbridge Youth Centre at Court Mills would stay open until the Trowbridge Campus was built and ready for occupation.

Household Survey “What matters to you” – the Chairman advised that feedback was important as the survey outcomes would be used by Wiltshire Council, NHS Wiltshire, Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service.

The Chairman also announced that:

Shadow Community Operations Board – that a representative from a sporting background or club was required to sit on the SCOB, the deadline for applications had now been extended until 26 November 2011.

An update would be given at the next meeting.

Youth Funding – the Area Board were seeking bids from young people by the 25 November who were willing to partake in the participatory budgeting event at the area board meeting in January 2012.

Trowbridge Area Recreational Land – Cllr Jeff Osborn had met with the Cllr Jane Scott, (Leader of Wiltshire Council) to try and move this project forward, Cllr Jeff Osborn was encouraged that Mark Stone, (Campus and Operational Delivery Programme Director, Wiltshire Council) was now on board and looking at the project.

Updates from partners were received as follows:

      i.        Wiltshire Police      

The written update was noted.

Inspector Dave Cullop encouraged the public to complete the “What matters to you” household survey as all the major partners would be sharing the data that was received.

    ii.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The written update was noted.

Mike Franklin advised that:

·         Future reports were to be set out in a more user friendly style.

·         After a recent fire at a disused building in Mortimer Street, the Fire and Rescue Service were working with the owner to secure the property to ensure that homeless people could not gain access to it in the future, several homeless people had been rescued from the fire.

   iii.        NHS Wiltshire

The written updates were noted. There were no further updates.

   iv.        Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

The written update was noted.

    v.        Town and Parish Councils

The written update from Trowbridge town council was noted.

Lance Allan also advised that:

·         The town council had been working with the Driving Agency, and were pleased that residents could again take their driving tests in Trowbridge.

·         The Civic Centre would be opening to the public on Saturday 10 December. Cllr Jeff Osborn advised the Area Board would be holding some Area Board meetings at the Civic Hall.

   vi.        Parish Councils Liaison Group

Gaynor Polglase advised that the group had concerns over the impact of the closure of the Cleveland Bridge, Bath and its impact on local villages, the group had written to Cllr Dick Tonge, (cabinet member for Transport and Highways, Wiltshire Council).

 vii.        Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group (CAYPIG)

Sam Shore was introduced as the new youth co-ordinator.

           The CAYPIG members advised that:

·         The CAYPIG had concerns with the lack of pedestrian lighting in the Trowbridge park. Cllr Jeff Osborn advised that the Community Area Manager would discuss this matter with them.

·         That flyers promoting the reduced public transport rates for young people had been distributed to around the town by the CAYPIG members, further information on the scheme was available from the information centre. It was hoped that the Wiltshire Times newspaper would be able to advertise the scheme.

The Chairman thanked everybody for their updates.

i.Extended Services – Cllr Helen Osborn advised that Extended Services meets regularly in the Hub at John of Gaunt School.  Extended Services is in the process of changing its structure to that of a social enterprise.  This is currently out for consultation.

ii. Transforming Trowbridge – Cllr Jeff Osborn advised that two separate developers were intrested in building a cinema in Trowbridge.

Cllr Toby Sturgis, (Wiltshire Council cabinet member for Waste, Property and Environment) gave the meeting an update of current developments within his

portfolio.

Waste.

Points made included:

·         Around 85 tonnes of plastic and cardboard was collected in the first week of the new blue bin collections.

·         With land fill taxes continuing to rise, it was essential that Wiltshire

           recycled as much of its waste as possible.

·         Wiltshire Council has a commitment to reduce all waste going into land

           fill.

·         In 2013 the bio treatment plant at Westbury will come on stream, this will help to lower the amount of rubbish that will go into land fill.

Questions and comments  raised from the floor included:

·         Why can’t all plastics be taken in the blue bin?

a.Wiltshire Council can currently only take plastics that are viable to recycle, it is hoped in the future that a wider selection plastics will be able to be blue binned.

·         Some residents didn’t receive their blue bin in time for the first round of collections.

a.Some bins were delivered late, this was due to production issues, Wiltshire Council are committed to rollout the all bins as soon as possible.

·         Well done Wiltshire Council for its recycling programme, building on the work carried out by the old West Wilts District Council.

·         Are blue bins available in a smaller size?

           a.No, just the one size, however weighted sacks are available for  residents who don’t want a large bin.

Property

Points made included:

·         Wiltshire Council is keen to utilise all of its housing stock, why is it that that the large former caretakers house on the Bradley Road site has been empty since April 2011?

a.This will be looked into.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Sturgis for his update.

The Area Board considered the following application to the Community Area Grant Scheme 2011/12:

The Amber Foundation

The sum of £4,400 was requested to run a conservation training project for unemployed homeless young people.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £4,400 to the Amber Foundation if match funding could be found by the applicant.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Trowbridge Community Area

Plan.

Bev Flanagan, Vice Principal and Stephanie Stephenson, Director of Customer Services, Wiltshire College gave an outline on the proposed changes to the Arc Theatre in Trowbridge.

Points made included:

·         Wiltshire College had to make funding cuts across the board, the college had to look at all its facilities including the Arc theatre.

·         Productions at the Arc don’t make any money.

·         The College had set up an Advisory Board that would look at and evaluate four options, with a decision expected on the 12 December 2011.

·         Wiltshire College was keen that the community were part of the Arc Theatre, and want a solution to be found that gave it a secure future.

Comments  and questions raised from the floor included:

·         The Arc is an asset to the community, and should continue to host professional performances.

·         CAYPIG representatives hoped that the Arc would continue to be a place that young people could use and enjoy.

·         The Arc has made a positive contribution to Trowbridge, it’s up to the community to use it or lose it.

·         Just because the Arc needs public funding doesn’t mean that it is failing as an arts venue.

·         Amateur dramatics has always been a feature of the Arc since it opened, with a wonderful relationship with the Arc staff, long may it continue as a venue.

·         People need to decide whether the Arc is a venue or an educational facility.

·         Where will the funds come to support the Arc for the 18 month period?

a.Arts Council funding would be sought along with donations from other charitable trusts.

The BA14 Culture Group tabled a resolution that is outlined below, this motion was put to the vote, where both Area Board members and all attendees of the meeting were given the opportunity to vote on it.

Decision

1.    The meeting thanks Wiltshire College and all other stakeholders including members of the public and volunteers, for the support given to date to provide Trowbridge and the community area with a professional theatre venue.

2.    The meeting believes it is very important the Arc is retained as a community facility characterised by: receiving professional performance; providing opportunities for high quality participation and learning and professional support and accessibility to schools and community groups.

3.    The meeting is confident that a sum in the region of £35,000 can be secured in order to support the Arc for a period of 18 months during which an organisational review can be carried out in order that a sustainable fit for purpose future can be secured. £10,000 has already been secured to this end from Trowbridge Town Council, (all funding would be dependent on a service level agreement).

4.    The meeting believes that the current staffing levels, (3FTE) is the minimum of staffing that will need to be retained during this period of review, with specialist support sought if necessary.

Note:

Cllr Graham Payne abstained from the vote.

Cllr Jeff Osborn requested that representatives of Wiltshire College meet with Cllr Stuart Wheeler, (Cabinet Member for Campus  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Sally Canter, Head of Admin and Technical Support, Development Services, Wiltshire Council outlined a report regarding information on Section 106 obligations in the Trowbridge Community Area.

It was agreed that the report had been well received, but now Wiltshire Council needed to chase developers to pursue S106 monies that were due.

Sally Canter and Cllr Toby Sturgis advised that Wiltshire Council were now on top of this issue and would continue to pursue developers.

The Chairman thanked Sally Canter for her report.

Martin Rose, Principal Highways Engineer, Wiltshire Council, outlined the results and  recommendations of the pedestrian count at The Shires/Gateway after concerns were raised from members of  the Community Area Transport Group.

Decision

·         The Area Board approves the Community Area Transport Group funding of £1259.00 for the topographical survey.

The Chairman thanked Martin Rose for his report.

The Chairman advised that Wiltshire Council had now discussed this matter, parking charges would now stay fixed until 2014.

Points made:

·         Drivers were parking on the Seymour estate rather than use town centre car parks.

·         The Chamber of Commerce continued to oppose Wiltshire Council’s car parking policies.

·         The only empty car parks in Trowbridge were Wiltshire Council car parks.

The Area Board members considered the recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group for the allocation of funding for dropped kerbs, the report which contained the requests was noted.

Decision

·         The Area Board agreed the requests as per Appendix 1, page 79 of the agenda pack.

The Area Board considered the following applications for Area Board Project funding

i.Application from Councillor Tom James - £5,640.50 awarded for equipment for Seymour TARA Hub.

Note

Cllrs Ernie Clark and Jeff Osborn abstained from the vote.

ii. Application from Councillor John Knight - £8,000 awarded for Trowbridge Town Hall feasibility study.

b) Trowbridge Community Area Future

Area Board members considered a report from Andrew Jack, Community Partnership Development Officer, Wiltshire Council, regarding the six-monthly monitoring, and then awarded the second tranche of funding of £7,778.

Area Board members also agreed to release a one off additional £3,442 to make up the amount originally requested by TCAF. It was noted that this took their funding level above the 20% recommended to be allocated to CAP’s by Area Boards.

The Trowbridge Area Board Forward Plan was attached for information, providing details of provisional future agenda items.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting.

The next meeting would take place on Thursday 19 January at 6.30pm at the Civic Centre, Trowbridge.