Agenda and minutes

Chairman’s Announcements:

·         Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2026

·         Making a Difference – The Wiltshire Council Parish Steward Scheme

·         Wiltshire Intelligence Network

·         Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Partnership

The Chairman, Councillor Chris Williams, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Tidworth Area Board and thanked Castle Primary School for allowing the use of the hall. The Chairman invited all people in attendance to introduce themselves.

The Chairman made the following announcements, details of which were included in the agenda at pages 3 to 8:

Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011 - 2026

Consultation on the draft Local Transport Plan would run from 4 October to 26 November 2010 and a number of options for responding were available including online at http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal, in libraries and in all main council offices.

Making a Difference – The Wiltshire Council Parish Steward Scheme

A short film was available to view online that highlighted the features and benefits of the popular Parish Steward Scheme. The Chairman asked whether it was the wish of the meeting to view the film at the November meeting; to which it was felt that this would be a good idea and so would be added to the next agenda.

Wiltshire Intelligence Network

A new website had been launched to provide access to a wide variety of information and research for Wiltshire. The new site could be viewed at www.intelligencenetwork.org.uk.

Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership

Councillor Charles Howard informed the meeting that the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership had, with regret, ceased due to the termination of central government funding. The Police would carry out surveillance within resources but this would be limited, however the Community Speedwatch Schemes would continue as normal. Anybody with issues regarding speeding should report them via the Issues System.

The following additional announcements were made:

Wiltshire and Swindon Sports Awards 2010

Councillor Mark Connolly announced that the Tidworth Royals Football Club had won the ‘Club of the Year’ in last week’s Wiltshire and Swindon Sports Awards. The Football Club had a membership of 180, including 120 children, and helped young people from military families integrate into the local community. The Club was congratulated on this achievement.

Salisbury Plain Sustainable Communities Study

Following the presentation at a recent Area Board meeting, two workshops were planned as the next stage in this Study’s development. The workshops would take place on 22 September and 4 October 2010 in Tidworth and Bulford.

Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Awards

The Chairman announced that Castledown Radio had been shortlisted for the Most Inclusive Approach award and the forthcoming VCS Awards. The final decision would be announced in Devizes on Tuesday 19 October at the awards ceremony. Castledown Radio was congratulated on this achievement.

Free Swimming

The Chairman announced that, due to the termination of central government funding, the free swimming sessions currently on offer to children and those over 60 would cease at the end of September.

Highways Winter Maintenance - Provision of New Grit Bins

The Chairman announced that funding was available to provide four new grit bins across the Tidworth Community Area. The Parish and Town Councils were requested to consider their preferred  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

Apologies for absence were received from Humph Jones (Tidworth Town Council), Pat Caddick (Chute Forest Parish Council), Inspector Martyn Sweett (Wiltshire Police), Mike Franklin (Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service), Niki Lewis (Service Director for Communities, Libraries, Heritage and Arts) and Shirley Swain (BFBS Radio).

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 19 July 2010 and the address any matters arising.

The Chairman announced that, following the last meeting of the Area Board, the Community Area Grant application from Zouch School had been withdrawn. The reason for this was because the school had not achieved the lottery grant of £10,000 due to the school’s income being too high for that particular grant scheme. Val Powley was now working with the school to work on an alternative proposal which would be considered at an upcoming meeting of the Area Board.

Also at the last meeting of the Area Board was the announcement that Ludgershall Fire Cadets was at risk due to discontinued funding from the Fire Authority. The Cadets group had calculated that the sum of £984 was required for the Cadets to continue for the remainder of this financial year. The group could contribute half of this sum itself and would be looking for a grant to cover the second half. The Chairman advised that a formal proposal should be brought to the November meeting for the Area Board to consider.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 19 July 2010 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any updates from partners, including the Tidworth Community Area Partnership and the work of the thematic groups.

Updates from partners were received as follows:

Parish and Town Councils

The Chairman thanked Everleigh Parish Council for providing a written update for the agenda and encouraged other parish and town councils to do the same.

Everleigh and Collingbourne Ducis Parish Councils reported that a combined village show had been held recently which was a great success and a good example of joint working between the two parish councils.

Janet White, Clerk to Ludgershall Town Council, advised that a public exhibition of the plans for new homes in Ludgershall would be taking place on 29 and 30 September 2010, from 3.00 pm until 8.00 pm at The Memorial Hall.

Wiltshire Police

An update report from Wiltshire Police was circulated at the meeting and its contents noted.

NHS Wiltshire

Updates from the NHS for August and September were noted.

Tidworth Community Area Partnership

Colonel Paddy Tabor, Chairman of the Partnership, and Tony Pickernell, Partnership Coordinator, provided an update as follows:

·         The Partnership met on Friday 18 September and the meeting was reasonably well attended.

·         Four of the Partnership’s nine thematic groups reported to the meeting.

·         The next meeting of the Partnership was scheduled to take place on Friday 10 December.

·         A good level of engagement with parish and town councils had taken place over the past few months

·         Participants were welcomed for the Partnership’s Working Group, including members of the public.

·         Work on the Community Plan continued, with a series of meetings taking place over the next few weeks to obtain the views of the public and various local groups.

·         There were plans to visit various local shows with a stand in order to engage more with the public regarding the Community Plan.

·         The recent Blue Light Day had been very successful and thanks were paid to the emergency services that took part.

·         A proms band concert would be taking place in the Garrison Theatre on 27 October 2010 to raise funds for the Partnership and to bring the community together.

·         A free Christmas Show for the schools was also being organised to take place in the Garrison Theatre.

Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group (CAYPIG)

Wendy Higginson, Youth Development Coordinator, reported that both the Tidworth and Ludgershall youth centres had been extremely busy over the summer months with various youth activities taking place. There was also a good series of upcoming projects in the pipeline including a six-week music project, break dancing and sports projects.

Wendy also reported that there was funding for three new posts within the Tidworth Community Area youth service and these were currently being recruited to.

Children’s Centre

Betty Dobson, representing Rural Needs Initiative and the local Children’s Centre, reported that one classroom in Castle Primary School had now been converted into Ludgershall Community Room and was available for community use. A series of free baby massage sessions were also being held, similar to the scheme being promoted by the NHS. Betty also announced the launch of a new scheme called ‘Safe at Home’, which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To receive a presentation on The Great Stones Way from Ian Ritchie, Chairman of The Friends of the Ridgeway.

Ian Ritchie, Chairman of The Friends of the Ridgeway, gave a presentation on The Great Stones Way; a proposed 29-mile walking route connecting the World Heritage Sites of Avebury and Stonehenge. The route would pass through many parishes across Wiltshire, was considered to appeal to walkers from the UK and overseas and would potentially bring valuable recreational and employment opportunities to Wiltshire as well as tourism earnings for local communities.

Following the presentation there was a lot of support for the Great Stones Way and it was agreed that the Area Board would write a letter of support in order to assist with grant applications to other bodies.

Ian commented that he was happy to visit parishes and communities to talk in more detail about the proposals if required.

The Chairman thanked Ian for his informative presentation about this exciting local project.

To consult on the review of leisure services in Wiltshire with 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.

The 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.

Councillor Wheeler made the following comments pertinent to Tidworth Community Area:

•         Tidworth Leisure Centre was considered to be of strategic significance to Wiltshire Council.

•         The Council would continue the excellent working relationship with the Ministry of Defence and retain responsibility for the provision of the community aspect of the facility.

•         The Council hoped to work in partnership with the MOD in other areas within Wiltshire.

•         The Council aimed to provide a consistently high quality facility.

Following the presentation a few questions arose as follows:

·         Once the new facilities proposed by the Council were complete, would the Council retain these facilities ‘in house’? Councillor Wheeler stated that a paper was due before the Cabinet soon that would set out the specific details.

·         Would these proposals be affected by the financial cuts and the savings that had to be made? Councillor Wheeler was hopeful that the leisure proposals, which had the full backing of the Chief Executive, would not be affected by the current financial position of the Council.

·         Was it possible that Durrington Pool would close? Councillor Wheeler stated that there were no plans to close the pool, but that it was possible in the future that the Council would look for the school to take responsibility for the facility.

A live voting exercise was conducted using the handheld voting system. The results did not form part of the formal consultation but would provide an indicative snapshot of people’s views.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Wheeler for the presentation and encouraged people to respond to the leisure consultation.

To receive a presentation on the Review of the Library Service from Niki Lewis, Service Director for Communities, Libraries, Heritage and Arts.

John Salen, Project Manager (Business Change), gave a presentation regarding the review of library services that was taking place across the county.

There were currently 31 libraries across Wiltshire, plus 5 mobile libraries. The aim of the review was to achieve savings of £500,000 across the library service whilst retaining the same high levels of service that the libraries currently offered. The proposed savings of £500,000 represented 10% of the service’s budget over 2 years.

John outlined the services that were on offer at libraries at present, and also suggested some possible future services including longer and later opening hours, refreshment facilities, e-books, wi-fi access and meeting rooms amongst other things.

The Chairman thanked John for the presentation and encouraged people to complete the consultation cards with their top five priorities for the library service.

To seek approval from Tidworth Area Board for the disposal of approximately 852sqm of land at St Andrews Road, Tidworth to the Ministry of Defence for a nominal sum.

The Area Board was asked to consider a request for the disposal of approximately 852sqm of land at St. Andrew’s Road, Tidworth to the Ministry of Defence for a nominal sum.

Councillor Connolly commented that he supported the principal of the application and the Garrison’s need to replace the theatre, however he felt that there was also the potential to explore any opportunities for the exchange of land from the MOD to Tidworth Town Council for the provision of allotments.

In consideration of Councillor Connolly’s comments it was suggested that the asset transfer application could be deferred until the 15 November meeting to allow time for any potential options to be explored.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to defer the asset transfer application relating to the land at St. Andrew’s Road in Tidworth to the meeting on 15 November 2010.

To receive an update from the Community Area Manager on issues raised.

Val Powley, Community Area Manager, provided an update on issues raised and progress made since the last Area Board meeting.

A large proportion of the recent issues had been highways related and the following were all in progress:

·         A3026 crossing near Kennet Road in Tidworth

·         A338 crossing in Tidworth

·         Signage Issues

·         A345 resurfacing (this was now in progress)

·         Various speeding issues.

A number of other issues were also being looked into including young peoples’ needs and fly tipping.

Val encouraged anybody with an issue requiring attention to report it via the Issues System, or by contacting Val directly.

To determine any applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme.

Grant application packs are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically by clicking on this link.

The Area Board considered one application for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme as follows:

Everleigh Parish Council

The Parish Council was seeking a grant of £1,873 towards the cost of providing facilities for children aged 12 and over. A BMX track would be constructed around open-air mini gym exercise equipment to promote physical training and recreation.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to award the sum of £1,873 to Everleigh Parish Council towards a BMX track and mini gym facilities.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11 and the project would provide much needed recreational equipment for teenagers and would encourage young people to make healthy lifestyle choices.

The Chairman announced that the Area Board still had approximately £35,000 in the Community Grants pot for distribution to eligible local groups and projects. Anybody interested in applying for a grant was encouraged to contact Val for further information.

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

2.    To receive a report on grant approvals to date.

The Area Board considered the following applications for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme (the Area Board would consider whether to support the applications, with the final decisions being made by the Performance Reward Grant Panel):

                      i.        Wiltshire Voices

The application sought £3,000 for each Area Board to encourage participation of selected hard to reach groups in their Community Areas. A recent review of Area Boards revealed concern that some sections of the community were not fully engaged and this project would aim to address this issue.

Decision

The Area Board supported the application from Wiltshire Voices and recommended that it be approved by the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

                    ii.        Wiltshire is Saving Energy

The application sought £12,566 to provide energy monitors in all libraries across Wiltshire that could be hired for free by local households. The energy monitors provided the households with information on energy usage; helping to reduce carbon emissions and save on energy bills.

Decision

The Area Board supported the application from Wiltshire is Saving Energy and recommended that it be approved by the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

                   iii.        Wiltshire Alternative Sports Hub Development

The application sought £10,000 towards the development of T2A; an alternative sports project based at Tidworth Leisure Centre providing a range of activities for children aged 13 to 19. The project worked in close partnership with the Army Welfare Service and encouraged military integration with civilians.

Decision

The Area Board supported the application from Wiltshire Alternative Sports Hub Development and recommended that it be approved by the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

Val Powley provided an overview of Performance Reward Grant approvals to date, which included Ludgershall Scouts Hall, Collingbourne Ducis Church and Skilled for Health. All of these applicants had been successful in obtaining grant funding from this Scheme.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board will be on Monday 15 November 2010, 7.00 pm at Phoenix Hall in Netheravon.

An evaluation of the evening’s meeting was conducted using the electronic handheld voting system and the results would be used to improve future meetings where appropriate.

A comment was made regarding the new edition of ‘Your Wiltshire’ magazine and the reference to Tidworth Leisure Centre being due to be refurbished as part of the leisure review proposals. In Councillor Wheeler’s absence, the Chairman undertook to look into this and report back to the next meeting.

The Chairman announced that Penny Bell would be leaving the position as Democratic Services Officer for Tidworth Area Board to take up new responsibilities within the team, and her replacement would be Lisa Moore, who would be taking over from the November meeting. The Chairman thanked Penny for her good work with the Board to a round of applause.

Finally the Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting and announced that the next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board would be held on Monday 15 November 2010, 7.00 pm at the Phoenix Hall in Netheravon.