Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Westbury Area Board. He then explained that a Chairman and Vice-Chairman for Westbury Area Board had to be elected for the forthcoming year.

He expressed his thanks to the local communities, Officers and Councillors for their support during his year as Chairman.

To elect a Chairman for 2011/12 municipal year.

The Chairman sought nominations for the position of Chairman of the Westbury Area Board for the forthcoming year.

Decision

Councillor Julie Swabey was elected Chairman of the Westbury

Area Board for the forthcoming year.

To elect a Vice-chairman for the 2011/12 municipal year.

The Chairman sought nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Westbury Area Board for the forthcoming year.

Decision

Councillor Michael Cuthbert-Murray was elected Vice-Chairman of the Westbury Area Board for the forthcoming year.

To note appointments to outside bodies which were made by the Area Board in 2010/11 and to confirm that these appointments will continue for 2011/12.

In addition to the representatives agreed last year it was agreed,

To elect Councillor Michael Cuthbert-Murray as an Area Board representative on CAYPIG.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 7 April 2011 (copy attached).

Councillor Russell Hawker declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 15, an area board led project grant for restorative justice/practice led by the BA13+CAP and Matravers School.  Councillor Hawker is an Area Board representative to BA13+CAP and Governor at Matravers School and would leave the room during the discussions and the voting.

a) Community Services Contract

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation trust (GWH) currently provides hospital services to approximately 340,000 people in Swindon, parts of Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire and West Berkshire.  The services provided by GWH are commissioned primarily by NHS Swindon and NHS Wiltshire. As a Foundation Trust the Trust is a membership organisation accountable to local people who influence the direction of the organisation through a Council of Governors.

Last year the Government issued a White paper making changes to how the NHS is organised, including abolition of the PCTs by 2013 and the responsibility for commissioning health services with GP’s.  Another change was Transforming Community Services (TCS), this has led to PCTs looking differently at how community health services are commissioned.  As an existing provider GWH chose to bid on all the services currently provided by Wiltshire Community Health Services, following a competitive process in November 2010 the Trust was selected as the preferred bidder for:

·         Maternity, community and hospital services.

·         Children and Young Peoples services.

·         Adult services.

In general the contract is to manage these services for  three years.

b)  Invitation to comment on the final draft proposed new council-wide street trading

Wiltshire Council’s Licensing Committee considered the issues raised by the public consultation on the proposed scheme.  The main issues raised were:

·         The scope of the scheme

·         The level of bureaucracy and time to process applications

·         The level of the proposed street trading fees

In light of these the Committee altered and added some exemptions.  The scheme will now be revised in light of these decisions and a second two week consultation commencing in mid June with all interested parties and  Area Boards.

The consultation document will be available at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

8c) Royal United Hospital – Foundation Trust Application

The RUH is currently consulting with the public on its plan to become an NHS Foundation Trust.  These are individual organisations which are still an integral part of the NHS, but based on the concept of mutual organisation or cooperative societies.  They have members who are representative of local communities and staff.

Details on plans are available on the website, www.ruh.nhs.uk

8d) Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge

The  aim of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge is to protect 2,012 playing fields in communities all across Britain by 2012, securing recreational spaces for communities.  Each Area Board will be asked to submit two nominations in line with the project criteria.  Town and Parish Councils will be encouraged to take part in the programme by putting forward land that they own for protection direct to Fields in Trust.

8e)  Future Events

• 13 August 2011, 10am – 2pm, Westbury Area Board – Open day, Soisy Gardens. 
• 24 June 2011, 2pm – 8pm, Spatial Planning Exhibition, The Paragon Hall. 

To receive any updates from partners – Parish and Town Councils, Police, Fire and Rescue Service, NHS, BA13+CAP and Chamber of Commerce.

The Board received verbal updates from:

CAYPIG.  Sally Willox, Youth Development Officer explained the issues raised by the group which included; Westbury skate park improvements, pavement lighting in certain areas of Westbury, installation of youth shelters in specific locations, developing a Wiltshire youth football league, leisure credits system, smoothy bar project, development of a multi-media room at the youth centre, young person’s rural transport scheme, 13-19 Youth Strategy and perception of the young people in the community.

Currently there are 880 young people engaged with CAYPIG.

POLICE.  Inspector Lindsay Winter, Sector Inspector, updated the board on over arching issues effecting the County and the local community area. 

• Structure of Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) has changed.  55 NPTs have reduced to 20 to reflect the 20 Community Areas – there will be no change in uniformed staffing  levels.
• Overall Police performance is stable, however non–dwelling burglaries – unattended shed and barn buildings does not appear to be stopping.  Wiltshire Police are working with Dorset and Avon and Somerset to improve this.
• Locally there has been a spate of dwelling burglaries – there have been two significant arrests.
• Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) within the town is of note, currently officers are engaged in targeted work with a group of individuals and this should have an impact.

Cllr Cuthbert-Murray thanked Inspector Winter for the excellent work and noted the increased visibility of Police within the town.

ASB issues surrounding the toilets in the car park were raised,  Inspector Winter explained that there had been four arrests and the case was pending.

Cllr Hawker assured the Board that the CCTV cameras were all working and even if there was a period of time when the operations room in Warminster was not manned recording was still taking place.

Visit the new and improved website at: www.wiltshire.police.uk

BA13+Partnership.  The next meeting would be held on 29 June at Edington Parish Hall.  Grants of up to £500 are still available for projects that can demonstrate a link to a local need.  A small steering committee is being set up to facilitate Restorative Practice.

Westbury Chamber of Commerce.  Cllr David Jenkins, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce informed that group that the recent Wessex New Business Competition had been won by a company from Westbury.  He went on to address the town car parking issues, where he has been in consultation with motorists, businesses and local people.  The Chamber of Commerce would be submitting a report to Wiltshire Council – every effort would be made to try and improve the situation.  The Chamber is also working with Matravers School to set up a Junior Chamber of Commerce to engage young people to get involved with business development.

Parking issues were identified, by several members of the public surrounding Orchard Road and All Saints Crescent.  Cllr Cuthbert-Murray explained that this is an on-going issue and that it has been taken to the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) which is looking at a road marking order.

It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive a report and presentation from Julia Cramp, Service Director for Commissioning and Performance, Department for Children and Education on the draft commissioning strategy for young people aged 13 to 19.

Julia Cramp, Service Director for Commissioning and Performance, Department for Children and Education presented the Commissioning Strategy for Young People Aged 13–19 consultation that is taking place between May and August. 

The key aim is to improve outcomes for young people aged 13-19 in Wiltshire.  This will be done by looking at the needs and what the services are and identifying the strengths and weaknesses ensuring that there are a good range of quality services available. Providing an early response to the needs of young people when they are at risk or problems arise an improving the way we work together.

The strategy has a broad scope and includes health, education, housing, leisure, teenage pregnancy, youth crime and safeguarding.

So far there have been a number of meetings and events where consultation with staff, young people and partners have taken place that have informed the strategy. 

Key issues highlighted so far by young people are; transport, lack of facilities in villages, lack of jobs and support for finding jobs and the high cost of housing.  Young people were prepared to compromise on location and facilities to ensure that they had good staff.  Youth workers were the  most requested staff and kitchens and IT suites the most popular facilities.  It was felt that to have a fully accessible young people’s building which has a friendly, safe atmosphere and good youth workers for support was most important.

Members from the local CAYPIG present to the Area Board the responses of the most common findings to date from the consultation with 412 young people in the Westbury Area.

Vision – young people should be able to….

• Have more places to go
• Grow up being able to deal with issues in life
• Get a job and a good education
• Understand their rights and be respected

Priorities– top 5 from WC’s 11 identified ones

1)    help young people do better at school

2)    help young people move into employment and training

3)    improve services for young people involved in risky behaviour

4)    improve services for disabled young people

5)    ensure maximum participation and involvement of young peoples

Campus – Youth Space

1)   99% of young people agreed that there should be space on every campus

2)   65% of young people agreed to sharing space with other people

3)  95% stated that young people need to be involved in designing and planning any space that they are going to use

4)    58% of young people said it would be ok to move from the youth centre to a campus as long as the facilities are similar

5)   62% agreed that the space does not matter as long as there are good workers

All the responses will be sent to Wiltshire Council, when the consultation in Westbury is complete, there will be information from a wide range of the population of young people in Westbury.

The draft strategy is available at www.wiltshirepathways.org on the home page under ‘latest news’.

Julia Cramp acknowledged that there was a need  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Member for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control Services will give an overview of his Cabinet responsibilities and answer any questions at this time or throughout the meeting when relevant.

Cllr Toby Sturgis cabinet member for waste, property and development control gave a brief update on his role.

Points made were:

• As a cabinet member he is appointed by the leader of the Council.  He is responsible for waste management including collection, disposal, recycling, climate change and development of control services including planning enforcement and conservation.
• Within the planning arena there has been the installation of a new IT system which will capture all data electronically.
• With the adoption of delegated powers, Officers are able to make planning decisions with contentious planning issues coming to the 3 weekly sub-committees held in North, South, East and West of the County.

To receive an update and presentation from Geoff Winslow, Team Leader Minerals and Waste policy.

Geoff Winslow, Team Leader Minerals and Waste Policy gave a presentation on the Draft Proposals for Waste Disposal in Wiltshire.  He stated that waste is larger than just a local issue.  Waste should not be seen as a problem but as a resource.

The Waste Sites DPD is the final key document in the waste policy framework, which includes:

–     Waste Core Strategy (adopted July 2009)

–     Waste Development Control Policies DPD (adopted Sept 2009)

It will ensure future waste development proposals are for the right types of facilities in the right locations.  It allocates a range of sites for a variety of potential uses to ensure waste is driven up the waste hierarchy (reducing dependence on landfill with a greater focus on recycling and composting waste).

The sites adopted Waste Local Plan Preferred Areas and sites placed in ‘reserve’ were suggested through, waste management operators, area wide leafleting campaign and the Wiltshire and Swindon Waste Development Forum.

Sites were identified through the examination of existing waste facilities and minerals workings sites lists, local plans and key industrial and employment areas.  The purpose of this was to identify sites that warranted detailed appraisal, key land use planning issues and incorporate Sustainability Appraisal. Site appraisal work was undertaken during two periods June 2005 – October 2006, October 2006 – May 2009 (break in preparation) and May 2009 – present.

This work includes 43 sites with potential to accommodate:

–     10 household recycling centres

–     35 material recovery facilities/waste transfer stations

–     36 local recycling facilities

–     12 inert waste recycling/transfer facilities

–     7 outdoor composting facilities

–     15 waste treatment facilities

–     2 landfills

–     1 waste water treatment works

The 43 waste sites comprise of 14 strategic sites and 29 local sites.  Strategic sites are large and more specialist facilities in terms of scale, amount of waste handled, specialist nature of waste managed and/or wider catchment area served.  Local sites are similar operations undertaken at a smaller more localised scale.  Waste sourced from a limited geographical catchment.

The Strategic sites for Westbury are West Wilts Trading Estate, Northacre Trading Estate and Lafarge Cement Works.

 West Wilts strategic site potential uses are:

•          Household recycling centre

•          Materials recovery facility/waste transfer station

•          Local recycling

•          Waste treatment

Size of site: 68.1 ha

Current use: Trading estate

Planning context: Allocated employment land. (West Wiltshire District Local Plan)

Northacre Trading Estate strategic site potential uses are:

•          Materials recovery facility/waste transfer station

•          Local recycling

•          Waste treatment

Size of site: 43 ha

Current use: Trading estate

Planning context: Allocated employment land. (West Wiltshire District Local Plan

Lafarge strategic site potential uses are:

•         Materials recovery facility/waste transfer station

•         Local recycling

•         Waste treatment

Size of site: 43 ha

Current use: Trading estate

Planning context: Allocated employment land. (West Wiltshire District Local

Plan).

Questions from those present at the meetings included:

Why does Westbury have 3 Strategic sites and will all sites be used?

Geoff Winslow explained that the majority of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To receive an update and presentation on the Vision for Westbury, from Councillor Sue Ezra.

Sue Ezra, Westbury Town Council, Town Centre Viability Group Chairman updated the Area Board on the progress of ‘Vision for Westbury’.

The Project was launched November 2010, led by Westbury Town Council with support from Wiltshire Council and Mid Wiltshire Economic Partnership. The aims of the project were to assess key issues affecting the town and to provide an overview of recommendations for the future of the town and surrounding area.  The final report is expected within the next three months.

Local people were asked their views about issues, likes, dislikes, aspiration and vision for Westbury.  Areas of focus were:

·         Enhance the town centre – ideas including changing the traffic flow including the removal of the rotundas extending shops around towards the Garden House Hotel.  Encouraging more businesses and encouraging more interest regarding our historical past.

·         Development around the train station.

·         Improve links to employment areas.

To receive updates on those issues highlighted at the previous Area Board meetings and those received online.

Sally Hendry Community Area Manager (CAM) updated the Area Board on issues since the last meeting includingconcern about safety of double roundabout /crossing on Station Road, parking in Orchard Road and damage to country lane from traffic – Coach Road.

The Community Area Transport Group met on June 10 to update on three priorities agreed for 2010/11 and to consider highways requests via Clarence and area board.

The 18 Area Boards have been allocated a discretionary budget of £250,000 to involve them in the assessment and selection of small-scale transport schemes to be progressed in their community areas. Westbury Area Board has been allocated £10,320.

It should be noted that this allocation is for capital funding and can only be used to provide new and improved infrastructure. It is to be used for schemes that improve safety, increase accessibility and sustainability by promoting walking, cycling and public transport, and improve traffic management. It cannot be used to fund maintenance schemes, these are selected using technical surveys and inspections. In addition, it cannot be used to pay for revenue functions such as passenger transport.

Westbury library is to get a new self issue machine this month. The Registrar who is currently housed at the hospital will be moving to an office in the library.  The Area Manager will be based in library one day a week to help with issues and assist with Grant applications on-line.

The Wiltshire Council web-site has been revamped to be more user friendly.

Should you wish to raise an issue visit the Area Board issues page at: https://forms.wiltshire.gov.uk/area_board/report_issue.php?area_board=Westbury

To receive an update and presentation on the award of £25K to the Laverton Project.

To consider an Area Board led grant grant in respect of setting up of a Restorative Practice project.

A Westbury Area Board led project on Restorative Justice/Practices was introduced by Cllr Hawker.  The £2700 requested funding would allow specialist training enabling the set up the project in the Westbury Community Area. The training will take place both online and at Matravers School.  Training will be offered for up to 18 people and is expected to start in September 2011.

The project will be led by the BA13 + Community Area Partnership in conjunction with Matravers School.

Cllr Hawker left the room of for the discussion and the voting on this agenda item and returned when it had finished.

Decision

Westbury Area Board awarded the sum of £2700 to the Restorative Justice/Practices Project.

A request for a grant has been received for £650 for restoration of the stage within the Memorial Hall, Dilton Marsh.

An application has been received from the Dilton Marsh Memorial Hall – to fund the replacement of flooring to the stage due to wear and water damage and to paint the floor with black paint.

Decision

Westbury Area Board awarded the sum of £650 to Dilton Marsh Memorial Hall.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grants criteria 2010/11 and linked to Wiltshire Council’s priorities of engaging with local people and increasing numbers involved in volunteering and with the aims of the Westbury area community plan (Improving leisure/recreation P.27 ).

A Westbury Area Board led project on the widening of the narrow footway at the Station Road end of Oldfield Road was introduced.  This initially had been reported as an area board issue and was referred to CATG where it was identified as a project for this year.  A rough estimate of the work is £15000 and will involve a road closure for 3 weeks.  The grant application to the Area Board is for £5000, with further funding from the CATG and an approach to the town council.

Decision

Westbury Area Board awarded the sum of £5000 to help fund this project.

The next meeting of the Area Board will take place on Thursday 11 August, venue TBC.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will be held on 11 August for immediate business only, starting at the earlier time of 6pm at All Saints Parish Hall, Westbury.

Westbury Area Board open day will take place on 13 August at Soisy Gardens, Westbury.