Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Sonja Harris, Dilton Marsh Parish Council.

The Community Engagement Manager will provide an introduction to the work of the Westbury Area Board, together with details of priorities and budgets.  

The Community Engagement Manager provided an introduction to the work of the Westbury Area Board, together with details of priorities and budgets. A copy of the slides used in the presentation are appended to these minutes.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 13 April and 16 May 2017.

Resolved:

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meetings held on 13 April and 16 May 2017.

Arising therefrom

Minute No 6(a) – Partner and Community Updates – Wiltshire Police  The Senior Democratic Services Officer reported that as requested at the April meeting, he had requested information from the Chief Constable about the cost of carrying out the investigation regarding the late Sir Edward Heath. 

He had received a response which stated that, whilst there had been some reports within the national media that may have suggested that the investigation had concluded, various lines of enquiry to the investigation were still being explored. The current cost of the investigation was £1,142,148 as at the end of March 2017.  It was intended that a closing report would be produced towards the end of June 2017 and that it be published a short time later.  

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

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To note the following items of information:-

·         The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust

The Chairman drew attention to the following Chairman’s Announcement, details of which were included in the agenda papers:-

·         The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust – This Trust was a scheme which had been operating in Swindon and Wiltshire for nearly 20 years and it provided a free home security service for older, vulnerable and disabled people.  The Trust had now launched its Online Safety Initiative and would be the first scheme of its kind in the UK.

This initiative was warmly welcomed and the Community Engagement Manager was asked to ensure that the scheme was publicised in The White Horse News.

An update will be given at the meeting.

It was reported that following the visit by Cllr John Thomson, Cabinet lead for campuses and hubs and Laurie Bell, Associate Director, Communities & Communications to the Area Board on 8 December 2016, and the subsequent meeting with area board members on 19 January this year, a feasibility study that looked at improvements to the existing library building and its future usage – taking into account all the floors and the space available had been undertaken.

Architects had carried out an initial scoping exercise looking at potential schemes to deliver community space within the building, to create a community hub model.  Further work was now being undertaken on the financial viability of these schemes including budget and possible funding streams and use of the building to generate income.

Any investment would be subject to business case, which would be drafted following completion of the feasibility study and would be considered by the council’s Cabinet.

The feasibility study took into account input from area board members as representatives of the local community area.  

On completion of the feasibility and once the financial position was clear it was proposed to update the area board members and to discuss the next steps.

The four Members looked forward to attending a meeting in the near future and to the opportunity to deliver a hub model in Westbury Town Centre.  

To appoint to outside bodies and working groups for 2017/18.  A report is attached.

Resolved:

1)            To appoint Councillor representatives to outside bodies for the

Municipal Year 2017/18 as follows:-

·    Leigh Park Community Centre (Westbury) – Cllr Russell

Hawker

    Warminster & Westbury CCTV Partnership – Cllr Russell

Hawker

    Westbury Community Area Partnership – Cllr Gordon King

·  Westbury Ham Community Project – Cllr Gordon King

 2)       To reconstitute and appoint Councillor representatives to the following working groups for the Municipal Year 2017/18 as follows:-

·    Westbury Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

Cllr Russell Hawker

Cllr David Jenkins

Cllr Gordon King

Cllr Jerry Wickham

  Westbury LYN Management Group – Cllr David Jenkins

  Westbury Health & Wellbeing Group – Cllr Gordon King & Cllr Jerry Wickham

3)        To note the terms of reference for the working groups as set out in appendix C to the report presented.

4)        To defer the appointment of an Older People’s &  Carers’ Champion until the next meeting.                   

To receive any updates from partners.  Some reports have been received and are included in the pack.

·        Wiltshire Police

·        Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

·        BA13+ Community Area Partnership

·        Bath Clinical Commissioning Group

·        Healthwatch Wiltshire

·        Westbury Town Council

The Area Board received and noted the following updates from key partners:-

(a)          Wiltshire Police  Sgt Gill Hughes presented a report from which it was noted that following on from the traumatic events in London and Manchester, Armed Police Officers had been placed in some of the more prominent locations in Wiltshire, such as Salisbury, in order to reassure the public that the Police were continuing to do all they could to keep the public safe.

It was reported that June would mark the start of the Summer Drink Drive campaign, the aim being to reduce the number of people who considered driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Crime statistics for April and May were received for Westbury town and also the surrounding villages.  It was reported that whilst noting that the number of police officers had been slowly decreasing, it was pleasing to note that crime figures across these two areas was remaining fairly consistent.

Dr Peter Biggs referred to violent crimes against a person and requested that this figure be broken down to separate domestic violence and public place assaults. 

(b)               Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service  Jason Moncrieff, District Commander for South West Wiltshire presented a report on behalf of District Commander Andy Green from which I was noted that a number of schemes were being developed to work with colleagues in the Ambulance Service in order to meet the needs of the community. 

The Service was in the process of developing a new Community Safety Plan 2017-2021, which would set the direction and aspiration for service delivery across the whole of Dorset and Wiltshire.

Work was being undertaken in primary schools where education advisors visited classes with structured lesson plans that focussed on issues such as the Fire & Rescue Service, the dangers of playing with matches, the importance of smoke alarms, having a fire plan and dialling 999 in an emergency. Older children were also taught why they should not make hoax calls. It was noted that key safety tips for staying safe near water were being promoted with the onset of Summer.

It was reported that between 21 January and 3 April 2017 there were 46 incidents in the Westbury area of which there was one significant incident where crews rescued a female from a three car collision using hydraulic rescue equipment.

Jason Moncrieff drew attention to the need to recruit more firefighters, who provided a part-time service around other commitments.  It was agreed to publicise this need in Our Community Matters. 

(c)       BA13+ Community Area Partnership  The written report was received and noted.

Carole King drew attention to the next Partnership meeting which was scheduled to take place on 17 August 2017 which would also be the Annual General Meeting. The theme of this meeting would be Culture and Arts.

It was noted that the Partnership was working closely with Alzheimers Support in order to help the Dementia Action Alliance. The formation meeting took place on 7 June at Crosspoint  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Consideration was given to a report by the Community Engagement Manager in which councillors were asked to consider funding from the 2017/18 Area Grants Budget, all of which met the grants criteria. After receiving brief statements from the applicants giving reasons for the requests,

Resolved:

(1)      Application 2379 – Welfare of the Elderly

To approve a grant of £900.00 towards the cost of upgrading Grassacres Hall.

(2)      Application 2239 – Avon Valley Runners

To approve a grant of £2,000.00 towards the cost of building a suitable all year running AVR facility around the main rugby pitch at Trowbridge Rugby Club.

To consider applications for funding from the Youth Grants Scheme.

Consideration was given to a report by Jan Bowra, Locality Youth Facilitator, in which councillors were asked to consider funding for two applications.  After hearing from the applicants giving reasons for the requests,

Resolved:

(1)      Application 412 – Westbury Youth Football Club

To approve a grant of £3,000.00 towards the Continuous Improvement Project which sends coaches on higher level FA courses to improve the standard of coaching and improve safety for all members of the club.

(2)      Application 389 – Matravers School Combined Cadet Force

To approve a grant of £3,299.50 towards the cost of providing target shooting for the Combined Cadet Force.  

The Community Engagement Manager will to introduce the 'Big Pledge' for 2017.

The Community Engagement Manager introduced and explained the ‘Big Pledge’ for 2017.  He reported that Team Westbury had been established to encourage individuals to sign up with the aim of clocking more miles on foot than the previous year when the Westbury Team came second to Melksham.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will take place on:

Thursday 10 August 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury, BA13 3EN

Future Meeting Dates

Thursday 12 October 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury, BA13 3EN

Thursday 7 December 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury, BA13 3EN

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will be held on Thursday 10 August 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury.