Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Westbury Area Board and introduced the following announcements:

The first ever Police and Crime Commissioner for the Wiltshire Police area will be elected by residents on Thursday 15 November 2012. The commissioner will be responsible for overseeing the Force on behalf of residents, replacing Wiltshire Police Authority (WPA).

Further information is included in the agenda pack.

The Chairman reminded people that the elections for the first ever Police and Crime Commissioner for the Wiltshire Police area would take place on Thursday 15 November 2012.  Further information can be found on www.wiltshire-pa.gov.uk/index.php/pcc.

The Council is seeking views on the proposals to save money and reduce its carbon footprint by reducing energy usage on street lighting.

The initial consultations is on the proposal to convert about half of the Council’s street lighting to operate for part of the night, dim suitable lights when the streets are less busy, and remove lighting no longer required.

All comments should be made by 31 August 2012.

The consultation had been extended until 30 September 2012 and further details on the proposal can be found on the Wiltshire Council Website.

The views of the police, local Town and Parish Councils, other public bodies and those affected by the proposals would be sought and the results of the consultations would be reported to Cabinet before a decision was made regarding the implementation of the changes.

Concerns were raised by Westbury Town Council regarding the negative impact this could have on future CCTV cameras to be installed.

ACTION: Sally Hendry to check that lights could be turned back on if there was a need to do so.

The State of the Environment report is the first of its kind for Wiltshire and Swindon, published in May 2012 and funded by NHS Wiltshire and Wiltshire Council. The report gives an overview of facts and figures relating to a wide range of issues, including land use, wildlife, climate change, waste, air quality, water resources and the historic environment. It provides a strategic assessment of Wiltshire’s environment and forms the basis of the JSA environment section.

Copies will be available at the meeting.

The Chairman explained that paper copies of the report would be made available at the Westbury Library and that further details were available on the Wiltshire Intelligence Network.

A verbal update will be provided at the meeting.

Some information is available in this agenda pack including contact details for the Northacre Liaison Committee and details of the website and blog to keep up to date with developments.

Councillor David Jenkins invited people to have a look at the site and the building if they were interested. He explained that there was not much to report until the site was operational. The next meeting of the liaison group would be on 27 September 2012.

A member of the public raised concerns over the increase in heavy vehicle traffic, the amount of waste to be sent to landfill and whether there was a local market for this type of fuel.

ACTION: Councillor David Jenkins offered to contact Hills and ask them to respond to these questions.

The Chairman offered to invite someone from Hills to attend a future meeting of the Area Board should people wish to have an opportunity to ask questions.

The Chairman was delighted to announce that some land had been identified in Westbury, although it was very overgrown and would need some work done before it could be used as allotments.

Following due process the allotment land was now subject to Town Council approval and a Community Asset Transfer (CAT), which could take some time.  The CAT process would hand over the land from the ownership of Wiltshire Council to that of Westbury Town Council.

The Chairman reminded all present that the Westbury Arts Festival would be starting on 21 September 2012, all information was on the festival’s website

www.wmafestival.co.uk.  Festival brochures were available to view on each table.

The Chairman congratulated Crosspoint as it had been shortlisted for a 2012 Voluntary and Community Sector Award in the section nominated by an area board.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Councillor Julie Swabey, Unitary Councillor for Ethandune

Ian Cunningham

Keith Harvey

Mike Parker

Councillors are requested to declare any non-pecuniary and pecuniary interest or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2012.

The Chairman explained that at the 14 June 2012 meeting of the Westbury Area Board an amendment should have been made to the minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2012 but that events at the meeting distracted from proposing the amendment.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2012 have since been approved and signed, therefore cannot be amended, however the Chairman wished for the following amendment to be noted: “Cllr Cuthbert-Murray supported the motion, emphasising that he did not support either the Eastern or Western route but that a discussion did need to happen” to read “Cllr Cuthbert-Murray supported the motion and strongly emphasised that he did not support an Eastern route though he agreed that a discussion did need to happen to find a suitable route, which is why he supported the motion”.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman with the following amendment:

8.7 This led to a member of the public to address the Area Board and question the comments made by Councillor Hawker in a letter to the White Horse News.

Section106 agreements allow planning authorities to enter into a legally-binding agreement or planning obligation with a landowner in association with the granting of planning permission. They are increasingly used to support the provision of services and infrastructure, such as highways, recreational facilities, education, health and affordable housing. This presentation provides an update on such agreements in the Westbury community area.

Presented by: Sally Canter, Head of Admin & Technical Support, Development Services

Sally Canter, Head of Admin & Technical Support, Development Services introduced the report included in the agenda and explained that 18 months ago work had started in gathering information on all Section 106 Agreements across Wiltshire Council.

She explained that Section 106 Agreements were legal agreements used in the planning process to help address issues that would result from new developments. She pointed out that these agreements detailed specifically how the money could be spent.

Sally invited everyone to take some time to look at the appendix to the report (which could be printed on A3 paper from the website) and let her know what may be missing or did not look right so that it could be addressed:

Post: Development Services Administration Team, Monkton Park, Chippenham, SN15 1ER

Telephone: 01249 706630

Email: sally.canter@wiltshire.gov.uk

To receive a presentation on the work being undertaken with partners to develop and support volunteering in Wiltshire. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.

Presented by:

Karen Scott, VCS Development Manager, Communities & Voluntary Sector Support

Rachel Brookes from Volunteer Centre Wiltshire

Karen Scott, Voluntary and Community Sector Development Manager, Communities & Voluntary Sector Support and Rachel Brookes from Volunteer Centre Wiltshire delivered a short presentation on Volunteering in Wiltshire and explained that they aimed to make volunteering available and accessible and a nice experience.

GROW (the Support Service for Voluntary & Community Groups in Wiltshire) can help organisations to develop services and opportunities for volunteers.

Call IT on 0845 521 6224 or browse www.volunteercentrewiltshire.org.uk

Wiltshire Council was one of only four local authorities having been selected and given funding for a pilot project on Time Credits. Working with SPICE the project was underway in Chippenham and launched this month in Bemerton Heath in Salisbury. The aim is to incentivise people to get involved with volunteering and works on a simple scheme: one hour of time a person volunteers earns them one time credit which in turn can be exchanged for one hour of an activity or class, or another person’s time. There is no monetary value to the credits.

More details can be found on:

www.facebook.com/chippenhamtimecredits

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshiretimecredits

In response to questions asked the following was clarified:

·         SPICE was working closely with schools in the pilot areas and would do so in future;

·         The time credit actually tended to become secondary in South Wales where the project started and volunteers cared more about the personal satisfaction they gained, however the project was monitored nationally;

·         The project should next be launched in Tidworth and Pewsey in collaboration with the Community Area Partnerships. The SPICE project only had one employee which meant that there was not enough resources to go out to all areas therefore the aim was to help and support the Community Area Partnerships;

·         There was no policy at Wiltshire Council to allow people to volunteer, however the outcome of the 2012 events pilot were being evaluated and would be presented to Cabinet in November 2012.

Councillor John Brady, Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Risk, presented his portfolio and explained that the main task was to monitor and set budgets with the Head of Finance. His portfolio also included Risk and Performance which were monitored closely and regularly reported to Cabinet and Council. There was a four year plan for Performance and its delivery was pretty good so far, especially considering that Wiltshire Council had chosen to set high targets.

 He gave some numbers to give an idea of the scale of the budget and its implications, for example:

·         256 Town and Parish Councils with their own precepts;

·         203,000 properties in Wiltshire for which Council Tax had to be collected (second equal biggest collection in the Country with Leeds, only Birmingham had more to collect);

·         Wiltshire Council only has reserves of £11.7M (which made it the 353rd  lowest reserves out of 355 Local Authorities);

·         A balanced budget was expected for 2011-12, at the time there was a predicted surplus of £126,000;

·         £36M efficiency saving had been realised in the last financial year and £32M efficiency savings were expected for the next financial year;

·         Wiltshire Council received only £228 per person for government grants, when the national average was £342.

During the ensuing conversation points and issues including the following were considered:

·         Wiltshire had one of the highest Council tax collection rate in the Country (98%), with 77% paid by direct debit;

·         Car parking charges was not in Councillor Brady’s portfolio, however it should be noted that reductions in collection rates was not unique to Wiltshire as the present financial situation meant that many people cut down on travelling by car. If parking was made free then the £6M shortfall would have to be found elsewhere in the budget;

·         There had been no confirmation from Central Government regarding grants money, including the one awarded to Local Authorities maintaining the Council Tax Freeze. Wiltshire Council was working on a “worst case scenario”.

To receive any updates from partners – Parish and Town Councils, Police, Fire and Rescue Service, NHS and Chamber of Commerce – and the BA13 Community Area Partnership.

Documents for the NHS, Police and Fire and Rescue updates were included in the agenda pack.

Additional verbal updates were received from:

Carole King, newly appointed chair of the BA13+ Community Area Partnership, was delighted to say that the Community Plan was in its final stage and would be presented to the Westbury Area Board on 18 October 2012.

The next meeting of the partnership would be on 6 September, venue to be confirmed.

Inspector Lindsey Winter informed those present of changes to the Neighbourhood Police Team as Matt Stewart would be leaving to join Wiltshire Police and PCSO Hannah Jameson would be coming from Warminster.

Inspector Winter urged everyone to be prudent during the holiday season and invited them to consider informing their Neighbourhood Watch Team if leaving their home unattended. In responding to questions asked she explained that work was still on-going with partners dealing with the group of youth mentioned at the last meeting.

The Chairman asked Inspector Winter to send best wishes to Matt Stewart and to let him know that young people in Westbury had thought well of him.

Mike Franklin explained that he was working on re-designing his update report for the area boards to ensure it was easily read and understood; a draft format would be sent to the Area Board for consultation.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was in phase 1 of its three year plan due in 2013. Individuals as well as organisations and Town and Parish Councils were invited to engage with the development of the plan by registering as a Stakeholder.

Mike Franklin invited all those interested to apply for a FREE Home Fire Safety Visit by completing the form available at the meeting.

Copies of both forms would also be made available at the library.

He finished by reminding everyone that voluntary organisations could use the small meeting room at the Westbury Fire Station free of charge.

In response to questions asked Mike Franklin clarified that the home visits did not include a Carbon Monoxide monitor but that the officers carrying out the home visit would have a portable detector and would signal any issues. The intention was to carry out an in-depth survey of Westbury to determine the level of the problem with carbon monoxide.

With regards to false alarm the situation was being monitored and “repeat problems” would be resolved when possible.

Tony Nye, replacing Sally Wilcox during her maternity leave, talked about on-going projects including open nights on Tuesdays, project night on Wednesdays, outreach in villages (Edington, Bratton and Leigh Park) on Thursdays and “girls only” night on Fridays.

Tony Nye explained that he was keen to work on “leisure credits” to be piloted around Westbury this summer (volunteering “earns” you “leisure credits”); he had also started talking to the Area Board to see if these could be rolled out to the community in future.

The issue of Youth Advisory Group (YAG) would be discussed at the CAYPIG meeting in September.

To receive updates on those issues highlighted at the previous Area Board meeting and action taken on issues raised at Westbury Forward.

Sally Hendry reminded the meeting of the Westbury Forward event held earlier this year when we had the opportunity to look at the findings of the joint strategic assessment on a range of health and other issues affecting our community, From that the community raised a number of issues that needed action and these were incorporated into the community plan which will be presented to the area board at our October meeting.

She said the area board has been working with other organisations like the Community Area Partnership, the town council, voluntary groups and local people to address the issues raised and pointed out that three of the grants considered at this area board meeting relate to issues raised at Westbury Forward:

·         job club

·         dental health awareness campaign

·         dog fouling prevention campaign 

Other issues we are working on include:

·         tourism - improvement of the viewing area on the edge of town – here we are working with a voluntary group to provide steps down to the bridlepath so linking up a walk. We are also exploring replacing and reviewing the information boards in the viewing area in order to encourage visitors to not only find out more about the horse but also about the history and interesting aspects of the surrounding area.

·         Improving the open space and lakes area off the Mead

·         Securing allotments for use by the community

·         Securing a new bus route to serve the primary care centre and helping fund new bus stops and signage for pedestrians and cyclists to the new facility.

ISSUES: Among issues raised since the last area board were speeding concerns on Trowbridge Road and Oldfield Road – metro counts have been raised in both sites to assess the speed - there were also concerns about dogs fouling on playing fields at Leighton, and flytipping on Brook Lane.

After considerable discussion, a revised route for the Westbury Weaver bus service was agreed on a trial basis.  Full details of the timetable and route would be made available as soon as possible.   Councillor Hawker asked Leigh Park should be marked on the map and that Main Way should be rewritten correctly as Mane Way.

There will also be a verbal update at the meeting on any progress since the June CATG.

The Community Area Manager introduced the report and explained that the CATG had made some recommendations for consideration by the Area Board.

Decision:

To agree:

·         £2,500 funding for signage on new and existing routes

·         £2,500 for additional bus stop on new primary centre bus route

·         £1000 to fund a pedestrian survey in Edward Street

The Community Area Manager introduced the report in the agenda and each application in turn.

Decision:

To approve the grant of for £535 to replace 12 scenery flats and purchase cables and a two way radio for productions.

Reason:

The Jubilee Players comprise a thriving village amateur dramatics group which was founded in 1997. It provides regular plays and performances ensuring affordable ticket prices to ensure maximum community participation. Members of the community are involved in the productions not only acting but also set design and construction, lighting, costumes, front of house and publicity.  The project demonstrates links to the Local Agreement for Wiltshire ambition "Building Resilient Communities”.

Decision:

To approve the grant of £1,000 towards funding for an awareness campaign in pre-school dental health

Reason:

·         Data in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for 2010 showed the Westbury community area was 19th out of 20 community areas in Wiltshire for the state of dental health in 5 year olds. The average numbers of children showing fillings, decayed or missing teeth at five was 2.9% compared with 1.6% in Wiltshire.

·         The JSA data for 2011 showed that four Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in Westbury Community Area are in the most deprived 20% in Wiltshire and that 16.8% of families can be classified as vulnerable.

Decision:

To award the grant of £2,000 towards funding for the set up and running of a job club

Reason:

·         Joint Strategic Assessment data: the March 2011 Claimant Count figures showed that the percentage of the working age population who were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Westbury Community Area was 2.6%, the fourth highest in the county. This compares to 2.1% across the whole of Wiltshire.

·         Current statistics demonstrate a higher than national average number of 18-24 year olds looking for work in the Westbury area.  In May 2012 in the Westbury Ham 3.3% were out of work compared to 2.7% in West Wiltshire. 42.2% of these were aged 18-24 compared with 31.4% in West Wiltshire and 28.5% nationally. In Ethandune 1.6% were claiming JSA but of these 41.7% were aged 18-24. (for these figures and up to date data please visit http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/)

Decision:

To approve the grant of £1,500 towards funding of an awareness campaign ref dog fouling

Reason:

In the Environment section of the Westbury Forward community planning event held earlier this year, concerns about dog fouling and the need for action and awareness was listed as a priority.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 18 October 2012 at Bratton Jubilee Hall, Melbourne Street, Bratton, BA13 4RW.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will be held on Thursday 18 October 2012 at Bratton Jubilee Hall, Melbourne Street, Bratton, BA13 4RW.