Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Warminster Area Board.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Sandra Samuel

·       Len Turner

·       Sarah Jefferies

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November & the Special Meeting held on the 26 November 2014 (copy attached).

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting 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 no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will introduce the Announcements included in the agenda and invite any questions.

·         Safe Places and Before I forget Campaign

·         Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Site Management Plan

The Chairman made the following announcements, which were included within the agenda pack:

Safe Places and Before I Forget Campaign

A national scheme to help the vulnerable in the community when out and about, businesses display an orange sticker in their window, which indicates they are a safe place. The scheme will work alongside the dementia friendly towns. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 27 January, 4pm at the Warminster Fire Station.

Stonehenge & Avebury World heritage Site management Plan

Attention was drawn to the consultation details contained within the agenda pack.

i.              Updates

ii.            Grant Applications

Update

Jacqui Abbott, Community Area Manager, gave an update on the activities of the LYN since the last Area Board. It was noted that consultations had taken place at Kingdown School and a ‘show case’ event was held to show which activities were available to young people. Rachel Povey was introduced as the new Chairman of the LYN and welcomed by the Area Board.

The next meeting of the Lyn would take place on 10 February 5-7pm at the former youth development centre.

Grants

Lighthouse Youth Activities

Decision

To approve a grant of £995 towards the activities project.

Reason

This application met the grants criteria for 2014/15. It was noted that future applications would need a clear breakdown of the costs and that the LYN would need to start thinking of new ideas as the project was not a viable long term project and to provide funding up to the end of March, subject to a report back to the Area Board on the results of the project.

Relate Talkzone

The application was deferred.

Emergency Planning and many partner agencies have been rolling out training for Parish and Town Councils. A team of experts discuss all the risks that can face a community, such as flood, snow, communicable disease, power outages, etc. The Team will introduce the key considerations at the Area Board, and offer to run a tailored workshop for the Warminster Area.

A presentation was given by Surriya Subramaniam, Head of Public Protection (Emergency Planning), Daniel Everett, Highway Project Manager and Bill Parks, Head of Local Highways & Street Scene North, on emergency planning within Wiltshire and training available for Parish and Town Councils.

A new way of working to tackle emergency situations such as snow, flooding and pandemic flu would involve a multi agency approach to build more resilient communities. It was noted that if residence homes had been flooded they would be able to apply for a Defra grant up to £5000 to help make their home resilient. The emergency planning team were also able to supply equipment to help during emergencies, although they needed flood wardens within communities to be the central point of contact, noting that Wiltshire Council would only be able to secure grants if the community engages.

It was agreed to circulate an email to all Parish and Town Councils to offer a full emergency planning workshop.

The Chairman thanked the Mr Subramaniam, Mr Everett and Mr Parks for the presentation.

Jon Yates, Development Director at Wiltshire Community Foundation, will talk about the grants they have on offer for community groups and their Surviving Winter Campaign which supports older and vulnerable people in fuel poverty.

Jon Yates from the Wiltshire & Swindon Community Foundation gave a verbal presentation informing the board of the work that the foundation carries out.

It was noted that the foundation was able to offer grants to community groups using a different qualifying criteria to the Area board to fund areas such as running costs.

Mr Yates also drew attention to the Wiltshire Uncovered report which identified the need for strategic grants and was available at: www.wiltshirecf.org.uk or 01380 729284.

Information was given on the ‘Surviving Winter Appeal’ which was an appeal aimed at raising funds to support those in Wiltshire who need help over the winter months.

The Chairman thanked Mr Yates for the presentation.

An update from the Community Area Manager and leaders of the groups working on existing issues.

If you would like to raise an issue please contact the Warminster Community Area Manager, Jacqui Abbott on 07771 844 530 or jacqui.abbott@wiltshire.gov.uk or report the issue on the Wiltshire Council Website by using this link.

The Chairman will invite those attending to raise any urgent items of public concerns and will also invite any questions from the floor.

The Community Area Manager drew attention to the issues report in the agenda pack noting that work to tackle the issues was progressing.

An issue was raised about the community asset transfer of the youth centre building. The Area Board members were in agreement that the building should be transferred over to the Athenaeum Trust. It was suggested that the Trust re-do the forms and to copy all of the Area Board Members into the correspondence.

Mill lane in Heytesbury had a flooding problem in which WC was aware of and and the CATG had requested a topographical survey. Daniel Everett and his team were thanked for their hard work.

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

Ø  Wiltshire Police

Ø  Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Ø  Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

Ø  Town and Parish Councils

Some written updates have been received and are included in this agenda.

Some written updates had been received before the meeting and were included in the agenda.

Police

Inspector Alan Webb referred to the update located on the tables. It was noted that there had been increased levels of theft, criminal damage and violent crime. More night patrols had been planned although the crime seemed to be sporadic making it hard to target. There had also been an increase in shoplifting and aggravated burglary.

A question was raised about dog stealing and it was noted that the police had identified someone.

An issue was raised about the bus shelters along the A350 in that they continue to be vandalised. It was noted that although the police were aware and actions were being developed to mitigate offences, no one had reported the incident. It was decided that the Community Area Manager would circulate and email to the Parish Council asking them to continue to report the damage.

Another issue on irresponsible parking was raised and the AB was informed that the police could only issue a wilful obstruction fine of £50, if the vehicle blocked emergency vehicle access.

Fire & Rescue Service

It was noted that in December it was decided to merge Dorset and Wiltshire fire services with an equal number of members of the fire authority from Wiltshire and Dorset and would be named Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue.

The Chief Finance Officer will give a presentation on the precept.

Clive Barker from the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner gave a presentation on the proposed precept increase. It was noted that crime was down and in a recent inspection the PCC received the overall rating of ‘Good’. It was proposed for an increase of £3.06 per household (band D property) for the year.

The Chairman thanked Mr Barker for the presentation.

To agree proposed projects and funding.

The Warminster Area Board was asked to agree the budget allocation proposals from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) for the Warminster Community Area.

Decision

That the Warminster Area Board approves the project listed in the report for CATG expenditure.

To receive an update on the Shadow Community operations Board.

Cllr Humphries introduced the item referring to the report in the agenda. It was noted that the Campus is developing into a town centre regeneration project involving significant health elements and for that reason Cllr Humphries had stepped down as Chairman.

To consider the attached applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme.

The area board considered the following applications seeking 2014/15 Grant funding:

Decision

Warminster Athenaeum Trust was awarded £5000 towards new staging.

Reason

This application meets grant criteria 2014/15 and has match funding.

The next meetings of the Warminster Area Board will be on:

3 March 2015, 7pm at the Warminster Civic Centre

The Chairman drew attention to the date of the 7^th May 2015 meeting noting that that clashed with the general election and suggested to change the date of the meeting.

It was agreed to change the date of the 7^th May meeting to the 30 April 2015.

It was noted that the date of the next AB meeting would be the 3^rd March 2015, 7pm at the Warminster Civic Centre.

The chairman thanked all those present for attending.