Agenda and minutes

Chairman’s announcements:

a)    Review of Local Transport Plan - Car Parking Strategy Consultation

b)    Community Payback - Call for ‘Grot Spots’

c)    Reducing Unnecessary Street Lighting

d)    Primary Care Centre Update

e)    Local Transport Plan Scheme – Funding Allocation

The Chairman, Councillor David Jenkins, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Westbury Area Board and announced that it was good to be holding the meeting in Heywood Village Hall again. The venues for the Area Board meetings were alternated between town and village venues to increase accessibility for all residents within the Community Area.

The Chairman introduced the councillors and officers present, including Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet member for Leisure, Sport and Culture, and Inspector Dave Minty, Wiltshire Police Divisional Commander.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

a)    Review of Local Transport Plan – Car Parking Strategy Consultation

Details of the Car Parking Strategy consultation were in the agenda at page 3 and people were encouraged to submit a response. The results of the consultation would be reported back to the Area Board at its meeting on 7 October 2010.

b)   Community Payback – Call for ‘Grot Spots’

The Community Payback Scheme had recently been launched as a result of a successful bid to provide funding for the scheme to be expanded and improved. Details of the Scheme were in the agenda at page 5. A map of the Westbury Community Area was available at the back of the hall for people to make a note of any ‘grot spots’ that they felt could benefit from the Scheme.

c)    Reducing Unnecessary Street Lighting

People were reminded that an initiative was underway that sought to reduce unnecessary street lighting, in order to reduce light pollution in the night sky and save on energy costs. Ideas for areas that may benefit should be reported to Sally Hendry, Community Area Manager.

d)   Primary Care Centre Update

A press release had been issued by NHS Wiltshire regarding the planning application for the Westbury Primary Care Centre development and details were in the agenda at page 9. The planning reference was W/10/02170/FUL and people were encouraged to submit their views.

e)    Local Transport Plan Scheme – Funding Allocation

Further to the announcement made at the last meeting, people were reminded that a Community Area Transport Group (CATG) was being set up to consider small scale transport improvement schemes and make recommendations to the Area Board. Nominations were being sought for members of the CATG and anybody interested should contact Sally Hendry for further information.

Apologies for absence were received from Sally Willox (Youth Development Coordinator), Sabina Edwards (Westbury Librarian), Clive Michael and Dr Peter Biggs.

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

Councillors David Jenkins, Russell Hawker and Michael Cuthbert-Murray all declared prejudicial interests in Item 9 (Community Area Grant application from Westbury Town Council) as they were all dual-hatted members of Westbury Town Council and Wiltshire Council. However, they had all been granted dispensations by the Standards Committee which enabled them to speak and vote on the matter.

Councillor Hawker declared a prejudicial interest in Item 9 (Community Area Grant application from Leigh Park Community Association, Westbury) as he was a member of the Association. Councillor Hawker would leave the room for consideration of this item.

Councillor Cuthbert-Murray declared a personal interest in Item 7 (The Future of Westbury Pool and Leighton Sports Centre) as he was a member of the Save Westbury Pool campaign group.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 17 June 2010.

Councillor Hawker highlighted a spelling mistake in the name of Francis Morland on page 1 of the minutes. It was agreed that this would be amended.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive updates from partners – Parish and Town Councils, Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, NHS Wiltshire, BA13+ Community Area Partnership, Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group and Chamber of Commerce.

NHS Wiltshire

Updates from NHS Wiltshire for July and August were included in the agenda at pages 25 to 29.

BA13+ Community Area Partnership

Jonathan Burke of the BA13+ Community Area Partnership reported that a meeting of the Partnership had taken place on 2 June and the major topics of discussion had been community transport and restorative justice. The Partnership had also awarded two grants; one relating to summer youth activities and one relating to a photographic competition. The next meeting of the Partnership would be on 1 September and people were very welcome to attend.

Westbury Town Council

The recent Summer Street Fair held in Westbury had been very successful and was well attended and enjoyable. An Italian Food Market would be taking place in Westbury Market Place on Saturday 4 September.

Chamber of Commerce

The Chairman reported, on behalf of the Westbury Chamber of Commerce, that an objection was currently being devised to the Car Parking Strategy proposals.

To receive an update from Inspector Dave Minty, Divisional Commander, Wiltshire Police and Tom Ward, Wiltshire Council Community Safety Manager.

Tom Ward, Community Safety Manager for the West and South of the county, provided an overview of anti-social behaviour in Wiltshire and what was being done to respond to the issues.

Anti-social behaviour included things such as noise, neighbour nuisance, vagrancy/begging, drugs, prostitution, street drinking and rowdy behaviour amongst other things.

Wiltshire Council had recently devised an Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction Strategy which sought to prevent, intervene, enforce and reassure, and it was reported that, since April 2010, rowdy/nuisance behaviour had decreased by 12% (249 incidents).

Any complaints regarding anti-social behaviour should be sent to Rowena Green at rowena.green@wiltshire.gov.uk or by telephone on 0300 456 0100. Rowena was responsible for distributing log sheets, liaising with appropriate agencies and agreeing/delivering responses.

Inspector Dave Minty, Wiltshire Police Area Commander, provided reassurance that anti-social behaviour was not considered to be a big problem in Westbury Community Area, however it was a very big problem for people that suffered from it. Wiltshire Police recognised this and was committed to working in partnership with the appropriate agencies to resolve the problems.

Inspector Minty drew attention to the report at page 31 of the agenda and highlighted that the most persistent form of anti-social behaviour was rowdy/inconsiderate behaviour with an average of 62.3 calls per month to the police. Westbury Community Area suffered from an average of 2.2 incidents per 1000 population which was considered good; however there was room for improvement.

Councillor Swabey announced that she was often approached by people who had suffered due to anti-social behaviour but were reluctant to report it due to fear of reprisal. In response to this, Inspector Minty stated that he understood people’s fear, but that it was important that they reported it so that the issues could be dealt with. He suggested that local councillors could work closely with the victim and the Police to provide support and reassurance. Tom Ward also added that Wiltshire Council has produced leaflets regarding the Victims and Witness Charter which may be of help.

In response to a question regarding the responsibility and timescales of dealing with abandoned vehicles, Tom commented that Wiltshire Council was responsible; however it was not part of the remit of the anti-social behaviour team. Tom agreed to find out more details and report back to the Area Board at the next meeting.

The Chairman thanked Inspector Minty and Tom Ward for their contributions to the meeting.

To receive the findings of the Leisure Facilities Review from Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture.

Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture, gave a presentation on the Council’s proposals for leisure provision in the county over the next 25 years.

Cabinet had considered a paper in November setting out the context of the review, with a vision to getting more people more active, more often, in order to support Wiltshire’s aim to be healthiest county by 2014.

Wiltshire Council had inherited some form of financial responsibility for 23 leisure facilities on 1 April 2009 and it was considered that the present indoor leisure facility stock was broadly outdated, inefficient and unsustainable. £93 million would be required over the next 25 years to sustain the existing buildings, and this did not include any service or building enhancements, which were much required in some of the centres.

For Westbury Community Area, the following was proposed:

•         Westbury Swimming Pool – refurbishments to be undertaken leading to the devolvement of the facility to the Community to run.

•         Leighton Recreation Centre – Refurbishment and improvements leading to the devolvement of the facility to the community to run. Improvements to include:

–        6 rink indoor bowls facility

–        Café and catering facilities.

Devolvement of services could be to a community group or the Town Council. Wiltshire Council had commissioned a report on the community trust options to help assist with the proposals and community groups would be given support and advice to set up the organisation. Community groups in Calne and Cricklade were already successfully running leisure provision and had volunteered to give advice and support where requested.

The Chairman invited comments and questions on the proposals, and the following concerns were expressed by members of the public:

·         It appeared that Wiltshire Council was retaining profitable leisure facilities and disposing the unprofitable ones to community groups.

·         Full surveys needed to be carried out so that the Council was not passing over inadequate facilities to the community.

·         The Council should not dismiss the possibility of Leighton Sports centre being combined with Westbury Pool, with one management body running both. All voices needed to be heard.

·         It appeared that Wiltshire Council was abandoning Westbury facilities, but residents would still paying their council tax which would instead be supporting new facilities in other towns.

·         The proposal for an indoor bowls facility had not come about from community consultation and it would have been better to ask local people what type of facility they would like to see.

·         The footprint of Leighton Sports Centre was limited which could hinder development proposals there.

·         It was not known how a community trust would work and it would be important that some sort of ‘safety net’ should be put in place to safeguard any facilities devolved to communities.

·         Figures in Appendix C of the recent paper to Cabinet needed explaining as they were unclear; specifically the published ongoing expenditure to 2035 being £2,086,100. Councillor Wheeler stated that officers would check on this and report back.

·         Councillor Hawker enquired as to the level of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive an update on local issues raised through the community issues system.

Sally Hendry, Community Area Manager, provided an update of community issues that had been received, a summary of which was included in the agenda at pages 33 to 38.

Sally announced that, in response to an issue that had been raised, a new pedestrian crossing had been installed on the A350 near the Cedar Hotel to improve pedestrian safety. There had also been a number of dog fouling warning stickers placed around the Community Area to discourage illegal dog fouling. Sally also had some dog fouling stickers that could be handed out for people to use if they had particular problems in their areas.

Another issue that had recently been resolved was rubbish dumping at Bitham Brook which had become very unsightly. Sally announced that, after some investigation, Wiltshire Council was found to be the owner of the land and Street Scene officers had arranged for the site to be cleaned up next week.

Anybody with a local issue that required attention could submit a form either by post, online, or by contacting Sally for further details.

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

Councillors considered two applications for Community Area Grants, as follows:

1.    Leigh Park Community Association (Westbury)

Councillor Hawker left the room for consideration of this item.

An application had been received from Leigh Park Community Association (Westbury) for £885 to help to pay for publicity to raise the profile of the organisation.

Decision

Westbury Area Board awarded the sum of £885 to Leigh Park Community Association (Westbury).

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11 and linked to Wiltshire Council’s priority of engaging with local people.

Councillor Hawker returned to the room.

2.    Westbury Town Council

An application had been received from Westbury Town Council for £229 to help with the purchase of a mobile PA system that could be used by the community for events.

Decision

Westbury Area Board awarded the sum of £229 to Westbury Town Council on the condition that the Royal British Legion should have use of the equipment for its Remembrance Parade.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11 and would encourage tourism in the local area.

To consider support for any applications for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme.

Councillors considered an application for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme of £12,566 to fund the purchase of energy monitors for all Wiltshire libraries.

The Area Board was not making a decision to award the funding, but was deciding whether to lend its support to the application. The final decision would be made by the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

Decision

Westbury Area Board supported the application for energy monitors in all Wiltshire Libraries.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will take place on Thursday 7 October 2010, 7.00 pm at Matravers School, Westbury. The Forward Plan indicates provisional future agenda items.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 7 October 2010, 7.00 pm at Matravers School in Westbury.

A Forward Plan indicating future agenda items was included in the agenda at pages 49 to 50.

An evaluation of the evening’s meeting was conducted using the handheld voting system. The results are attached at Appendix B.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and contributing to the meeting and stated that he hoped to see everyone at the next Area Board meeting in October.