Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Stephen Oldrieve, Councillor John Knight, Councillor Keith Humphries (Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing), Michael Hudson (Interim Chief Finance Officer and Service Director to the Area Board), Mike Franklin (Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service) and Joy Hillyer (Wiltshire Police Authority).

Councillor Jeff Osborn asked that a list of councillor attendance at Area Board meetings over the past year be circulated to councillors.

      i.        To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 17 January 2011.

    ii.        Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 17 January 2011 were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

A query arose regarding the petition that was presented at the last Area Board meeting requesting traffic calming at Holbrook Lane in Trowbridge. Statistical data had been collected over a two-week period recently, but the resident’s data showed the problem to be much worse. Councillor Graham Payne suggested that the Area Board funded a set of ‘flashing lights’ to deter people speeding. Inspector Dave Cullop of Wiltshire Police stated that the local school should have a Transport Plan which should be looked at first, and then an appropriate, cost-effective solution could be sought.

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

Councillor Graham Payne declared a prejudicial interest in Item 14 i (c) and would leave the room for this item as no dispensation was in place.

Councillors Graham Payne and Jeff Osborn declared prejudicial interests in Item 14 ii (c) and would leave the room for this item.

Councillor Peter Fuller declared a prejudicial interest in Item 14 i (f) and would leave the room for this item.

To include the following:

      i.        Update on action against parked cars for sale in the highway

    ii.        Stallard Street Playbuilder Update

   iii.        Proposed Changes to Arrangements Governing the Code of Conduct.

The Chairman drew people’s attention to details of the Chairman’s announcements that were contained within the agenda packs.

With regards to the announcement concerning cars for sale on the highway, some concern was raised that the officers were very hard to get hold of. The Chairman advised that David Growcott, the Enforcement Manager, was contacted.

To consider that, in respect of urgent financial matters that may arise from time to time between meetings of an Area Board (excluding Community Area Grant funding), the Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Trowbridge Area Board, be granted delegated authority to make decisions provided any expenditure does not exceed £500 from the budget delegated to the area board.

Decision

The Area Board agreed that, in respect of urgent financial matters that may arise from time to time between meetings of the Area Board (excluding Community Area Grant funding), the Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Area Board, be granted delegated authority to make decisions provided any expenditure does not exceed £500 from the budget delegated to the Area Board.

To note the written reports and receive any updates from the following:

      i.        Wiltshire Police

    ii.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

   iii.        NHS Wiltshire

   iv.        Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

    v.        Community Area Young People’s Issues Group (CAYPIG)

   vi.        Trowbridge Town Council

  vii.        Parish Council Nominated Representatives.

a)    Partner Updates

A number of written updates from partners contained within the agenda pack were noted. Further updates were received as follows:

Wiltshire Police

Inspector Dave Cullop touched upon the Comprehensive Spending Review and the impact on policing in Wiltshire. He reassured people that there were no plans to reduce resources in any of the Community Areas; however the number of Neighbourhood Policing Teams would be reduced to make operations more efficient. Wiltshire Police would also be launching an improved website from 4 April 2011.

Councillor Jeff Osborn enquired about statistics for drug-related crimes, as these were not currently provided. Inspector Cullop stated that these could be provided if required.

Councillor Helen Osborn asked if there was an update on the Safer Schools Partnership. Inspector Cullop stated that the schools were reluctant to commit at the moment due to uncertainty in funding.

Councillor Peter Fuller commented on the increase in dwelling burglaries and thefts from vehicles. Inspector Cullop commented that this was consistent across West Wiltshire and that property was still being left unlocked. The most up-to-date figures showed that burglaries were now decreasing.

NHS Wiltshire

Jeff James, Chief Executive of NHS Wiltshire, provided an update on progress with plans for a new Primary Care Centre in Trowbridge.

The original intention to develop a single-building option was no longer a possibility as the relevant parties would not commit to this, however the first phase of a two-building development had been agreed and signed off and so this option was being pursued. Discussions were currently taking place with the four GPs and a three-month deadline to conclude these discussions had been set.

One of the main considerations at present was whether to develop an additional building or to refurbish existing facilities on the current hospital site.

Recent legislative changes had resulted in powers being taken away from PCTs as they ‘wound down’, particularly regarding the buying and selling of land. This meant that the PCT had to go through the Strategic Health Authority which may take a bit more time. It was difficult to provide a timescale for the development of the Primary Care Centre, as a lot would depend on the planning process. Jeff confirmed that all of the services planned for the single-building option would still be available in the two-building option.

Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group (CAYPIG)

The CAYPIG thanked the Area Board for its continued support of the group, and updated that a meeting had been held with Trowbridge Town Council regarding the need for lighting at the skate park. It was hoped that feedback could be provided in May. The CAYPIG was hoping to be able to use the Resource Centre on Manor Road for future meetings.

b)   Outside Body Updates

Transforming Trowbridge

Councillor Jeff Osborn announced that the official opening of the Knees electrical store on Fore Street had taken place. There was also some interest in the Bowyers site. A meeting was taking place next Tuesday regarding recreational land, and the main  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Brad Fleet, Director of the Development Service, will present a summary of Section 106 projects in the Trowbridge Community Area.

Brad Fleet, Director of the Development Service, presented a summary of Section 106 projects in the Trowbridge Community Area.

Section 106 agreements were legal agreements that accompanied planning applications, with developers having to make financial contributions to fund local improvements. The funding gained through Section 106 agreements could not be diverted for any other purpose.

When Wiltshire Council was established it became apparent that there was no easy way to check the content/requirements/provisions of agreements entered into by the five former authorities. This was addressed by employing an officer to build an accurate database containing the details of ‘historic’ and new Unitary Council agreements.

Details of all unitary agreements were being captured but priority has also been given to capturing significant pre-unitary agreements since 2005.  Once this work was complete the team would then capture details of all agreements going back to 2005.

The Government were introducing a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to secure future investment. The CIL would be a standard charge decided by authorities and levied on new development.

Details of how much and who decided where and what it could be spent on had yet to be published but Area Boards would seem to be a prime candidate for these types of local decision.

Following the presentation, a number of points arose as follows:

·         The proposed CIL would possibly be similar to the ‘R2’ system that was used by the former Salisbury District Council, where-by cash from developers went into a community ‘pot’.

·         It was unlikely that any funds had been lost; it was more a matter of locating where the funds had been placed.

·         It was proposed that the CIL system would need to be in place by 2014 in order for authorities to obtain the contributions.

The Chairman thanked Brad Fleet for his presentation.

Doug Ross and Kate Oatley of Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF) will run a participative session on the draft Trowbridge Community Area Plan.

Doug Ross and Kate Oatley of Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF) presented the draft Trowbridge Community Area Plan and ran a series of participative group sessions to get feedback on local priorities.

The information would be taken away and fed into the consultation. There was also an opportunity for people to take away feedback forms and return them to TCAF with any comments.

The Chairman thanked Doug and Kate for their presentation and encouraged people to complete the feedback forms.

Lynda Cox, Head of Performance Management and Information, will present the Draft Child Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Lynda Cox, Head of Performance Management and Information, presented the Draft Child Poverty Reduction Strategy. There was a duty upon local authorities to have a strategy in place by April 2011.

In 2008 it was estimated that 11,120 children lived in poverty in Wiltshire. This represented 11.0% of children (the national level was 21%).

The Trowbridge Community Area had two wards within the ‘Highest Child Poverty Areas’; which were Trowbridge Drynham - Lower Studley and Trowbridge Adcroft- Seymour.

The following questions and issues arose:

·         It was hoped that the statistics would be used in the right way and that the amount of funding available to deal with the issues would not be based on the percentage of children in poverty. It needed to be recognised that Trowbridge was one of the largest Community Areas in the county.

·         There were a number of existing groups already set-up to tackle these issues and these groups should be considered for receiving any funding available.

·         It would be helpful to use the current wards when providing data; not the old district council wards as this was confusing.

·         A lot of information was available from schools so it was important to work with them.

·         It was important that the strategic objectives were ‘SMART’, i.e. they should be measurable and should have timescales.

·         The data had been measured by the number of children receiving child tax credits, not free school meals which may require some consideration.

·         Consideration should be given to the issue of adult poverty, because this is usually where child poverty originated from.

The draft strategy and needs assessment could be found on the Wiltshire Council website at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm. The consultation would close on 4 April 2011.

The Chairman thanked Lynda for her presentation.

A discussion will take place regarding current highways’ issues in Trowbridge at Bythesea Road, the Shires and the Gateway.

A discussion took place regarding current highways’ issues at Bythesea Road, the Shires and the Gateway in Trowbridge, as the issue had recently been raised at a meeting of the Community Area Transport Group.

The main concern was in relation to the new crossing at the new Shires/Gateway development, and the unsynchronised pelican crossing. Pedestrians were attempting to cross the road anywhere; not sticking to the crossing, which caused safety problems, particularly at the filling station where there were blind spots.

Bill Parks commented that the design of the crossing had unfortunately not been developed in consultation with Highways. It was estimated that it would cost approximately £25,000 to carry out the appropriate works to rectify the situation.

The Chairman asked for a show of hands from everyone at the meeting, to gauge whether there was general support in principle to consider using money from the Area Board’s budget to fund the improvements. A large majority of those at the meeting raised their hand.

The Chairman announced that the issue would be passed back to officers for further consideration.

A discussion will take place regarding the current car parking issues in Trowbridge and proposed ways forward.

A discussion took place regarding the current car parking issues in Trowbridge and proposed ways forward. The main concern was that car parking charges were due to rise from 40p for the first hour, to £1.10.

There was also concern that the multi-storey car park was not safe since the presence of a security guard had been stopped.

There was also a comment regarding the current car park machines not being able to give change, which may put off shoppers who don’t carry exactly the right change on them.

The Chairman announced that these issues would be looked into at the next meeting of the Community Area Transport Group.

The Chairman will take any other items of urgent business.

The meeting is asked to note the future meeting dates below and is reminded to complete the evaluation forms in the packs.

The Forward Plan is attached for information.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting and reminded people that the Forward Plan was available indicating provisional future agenda items.

The Chairman drew attention to a new venue for the next Area Board meeting. The next meeting of Trowbridge Area Board would take place on Thursday 5 May 2011, 7.00 pm in the Bradley Road Council Chamber. Following this meeting, the venue for future meetings would revert to the Atrium as usual.

      i.        Community Area Grants

To consider the following applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme 2010/11:

a.    Wiltshire British Armed Forces and Veterans Celebrations - £819 requested for re-enactors march/parade.

b.    Gloucester Road Allotment Association - £5,000 requested to create accessible allotments for disabled people.

c.    Trowbridge Town Council - £2,964 requested to provide a free National Play Day in Trowbridge Park.

d.    Trowbridge Neighbourhoods Partnership - £771 requested to purchase printing equipment for regular newsletters.

e.    Trowbridge Westbourne Sports Club, Tennis Section - £793 requested to provide tennis coaching and summer camps for school children.

f.     The Trowbridge County Town Initiative - £939 requested to promote an initiative to attract new members.

g.    North Bradley Youth Club - £449 requested to purchase equipment for a local youth club.

h.    Trowbridge Wanderers Youth Football Club - £5,000 requested to refurbish shower facilities.

    ii.        Area Board Projects

To consider the following applications for funding under the Area Boards Projects scheme:

a.    Paxcroft Mead Action Park - £5,000 requested.

b.    College Estate Community Garden - £750 requested.

c.    Street Survival Packs - £750 requested.

   iii.        Performance Reward Grants

To consider the following application for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme 2010/11:

a.    Roundwood Scout Campsite and Activity Centre - up to £40,000 requested to purchase 10 acres of mixed woodland at Brokerswood near Westbury and develop for use as a Scout Campsite and open air activity centre for use by the 900 young people and volunteer leaders that make up the 12 scout groups in Wiltshire West District Scout Association. The site will also be made available to all organised youth organisations (including Guides and youth clubs) school parties and pre-school children.