Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the top table. He gave a special welcome to those involved in the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service peer review team and to the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Angus Macpherson.

Apologies for absence had been received from the following:

·       Councillor Carole Soden – Wiltshire Council

·       John Beresford – Brinkworth Parish Council

·       John Cull – Lea and Cleverton Parish Council

·       Chloe Harris-Alba – Young people

·       Sid Jevons – Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership (MVCAP)

·       Roger Lee – St Paul Malmesbury Without Parish Council

·       George Lynham – Luckington and Alderton Parish Council

·       Terry Mockler – Hankerton Parish Council

·       John Tremayne – Easton Grey Parish Council

·       Andrew Woodcock – Malmesbury Town Council.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2012 were approved and signed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

a.     Wiltshire Online Connectivity and Provision

Information was provided, as in page 11 of the agenda pack. 

b.     Legacy for Wiltshire

In an amendment to page 13 of the agenda pack, new dates had been organised for a series of community evening events to keep the success of 2012 going. Events would all start at 6.30 pm, with refreshments from 6.00 pm, and be held on:

Thursday 31 January at County Hall, Trowbridge

Thursday 7 February at the Town Hall, Chippenham

Thursday 21 February at the Guild Hall, Salisbury

Wednesday 27 February at the Corn Exchange, Devizes.     

c.     Welfare Reform in Wiltshire

A short film was shown about the Welfare Reform in Wiltshire. This film is available to view on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd29tTwvwT8

The Chairman added that a lot of support and advice was available and all individuals affected by the changes would be contacted directly by Wiltshire Council.

d.     Police and Crime Plan Consultation

Angus Macpherson explained that from 18 February, he was seeking views on his first Police and Crime Plan, to set out the strategic policing and crime priorities for the next five years. Information about the Plan and the opportunity to comment was on the Police and Crime Commissioner website: www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk.

e.     Joint Strategic Assessment for Health and Wellbeing 2012-13

The annual and statutory Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) for Health and Wellbeing 2012-13 had recently been published and could be downloaded from the Wiltshire Intelligence Network website: http://www.intelligencenetwork.org.uk/health/jsa-health-and-wellbeing

A discussion was held amongst Councillors and attendees to review the recent flooding in the area. The aim of the discussion was to identify success stories and areas for improvement with regard to flood responses.

The Chairman introduced Miranda Gilmour to manage the discussion. Ms Gilmour then introduced the Emergency Planning Officer, Nicholas Bate.

Mr Bate detailed the role of public health with regard to flooding and also highlighted the success of the community in harnessing resources to support the emergency services. Nicholas then discussed the Government plan to enable local parishes to react to crisis situations in the period preceding the arrival of emergency services. It was suggested that town and parish councils should develop and implement local emergency plans. This would include identifying local skills and resources, whilst also determining vulnerable residents and those likely to be in need of support. Nicholas also addressed the cascading levels of telephone contact within the community, designed to alert the relevant individuals/authorities at a point of emergency.

The desktop emergency planning exercise to be held on 30 January had been established to manage these points, and to date, five local parishes and representatives from the town council had signed up to participate.

Dave Jacomb from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue then outlined the positive responses from the fire service, and stated that the department were well equipped to deal with flooding. Mr Jacomb stated that WF&RS attended 100 incidents relating to flooding during the period of 21-26^th November. These included; property inspections, advice, monitoring, evacuations and flood water removal. Statistical information from this period has been shared with other agencies in order to improve planning and preventative strategies. Finally Mr Jacomb stated that WF&RS was inviting residents and local parishes to engage with the fire service to allow parties to work towards preventative measures and provide advice.

Sergeant Martin Alvis from Wiltshire Police provided and overview of the forces opinion on positive actions witnessed. Sgt. Alvis stated that Wiltshire Police had worked with partners to distribute flood warnings across the region and that this had worked well. In addition the force was able to provide local updates and safety advice via its Facebook page, which received over 9000 independent visitors. A question was asked around providing more stop signs for flooded roads, to which Sgt. Alvis responded by stating that there were simply not enough resources to provide and distribute signs across the region and that people should use common sense when using the roads during this period.

Danny Everett, the council’s principal Drainage Engineer provided an overview of the successful experiences during the recent flooding with regard to drainage. He explained that the drainage team operated with wide remit with limited resources. This included drainage of high speed roads, property flooding, low speed roads, residential land and agricultural land. Danny invited parish/town councils to provide maps and data on historical flooding to help develop future action plans and preventative strategies.

Bill Parks, Head of Local Highways and Street  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Lucy Murray Brown, the council’s Head of Campus & Operational Models provided an update of the Asset Management Strategy. Lucy added that working groups had been established to continuously monitor and report progress to area management.

There were currently seven live projects. These were: Tidsbury, Salisbury, Calne, Cricklade, Pewsey, Melksham and Corsham. Funding for these projects had been collected from asset management across the county and that funding was not restricted to where it was raised.

The Chair stated that changes to the Council’s capital programme meant that assets were now treated as Council wide and as such would benefit priority investment across the region.

Decision

The Committee noted the report

The Chairman invited updates in addition to the written update reports set out at pages 15-20:

a)    Wiltshire Police

An update was provided with regard to the conviction of the armed robbery and burglary suspect in Malmesbury. The individual was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.  Otherwise the Police had experienced a relatively quiet Christmas period with only two pubwatch bans and one disorderly conduct penalty to report on.

Councillor Killane thanked the Police for the management of WOMAD, and raised the issue of the trouble experienced at Station Road car park with regard to noisy ‘boy racer’ gatherings. A discussion was then held with regard to management of the issue. It was stated that there were no recorded crimes in relation to the issue raised.

Following the discussion the Chair stated that Wiltshire Council would not provide a barrier to the car park due to the expense associated with installation and maintenance.

The Chair and Councillor Killane stated that CCTV could be installed at Station Road car park to allow monitoring and to act a deterrent. It was agreed that Councillor Killane would take leadership on this point.

Decision

Councillor Killane would set up a meeting with Malmesbury Mayor Ray Sanderson and Mark Rippon (Public Protection Officer) to progress CCTV at Station Road car park.

b)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue

An update was given against activity in the area and aside from the earlier flooding activity, reported only a slight increase in activity around November as a result of Bonfire Night activity.

c)     NHS Wiltshire

An update on the Appleton’s Army programme was made to the committee detailing the work undertaken to engage isolated elderly residents in the area. This included a drop-in centre for elders on Fridays in the Town Centre.

d)    Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership

No verbal update was made.

e)    Town and Parish Councils

No updates were made.

f)      Young people

No Updates were made

g)    Malmesbury and the District Chamber of Commerce

No updates were made

Miranda Gilmour (Community Area Manager) introduced the report on pages 21-26 of the agenda.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to close the following issues:

• Issue 1074 – Access to car parking at Glovers Court. 
• Issue 1808 - Visibility of speed bumps in Station Road car park. 
• Issue 2070 – Vehicular access to Malmesbury Primary Health Care Centre
• Issue 2397 – Creation of a passing place on The Green, Oaksey
• Issue 2429 – Traffic Regulation order Mill Lane, Malmesbury
• Issue 2453 – Cars blocking Pool Gastons and Burnham Road junction
• Issue 2466 – Road safety concerns Blicks Hill and Holloway, Malmesbury
• Issue 2503 – Vehicular problems in Dark lane, Malmesbury
• Issue 1896 – HGV damage by Vale of White Horse Bridge Inn, Minety

An update was made by CATG as to progress of the group. The Board reviewed the report and approved funding of £1,300 to signage for Dark Lane, Malmesbury and Mill Lane, Malmesbury.

Decision

Noted the progress of the Community Area Transport Group.

Noted the updates made by the Group.

Noted the current financial situation of the Group.

Approved the recommendations for funding made by the Group.

The Board were asked to consider the funding requests from the Community Area Funding Report:

Decision

All five applications for funding were approved by the Board. The area board agreed the following funding:

1.     Decision

APPROVE the Councillor led project to contribute £3,154 towards a young people’s media project, on the CONDITION that following completion of the project the equipment purchased would be allocated to the Malmesbury and Villages Community Area Partnership to allow use by any community groups.

Reason

The application met core 2012/13 grant criteria and would benefit young people and the wider community.

2.     Decision

APPROVE officer delegated expenditure for room hire.

Reason

The request was in accordance with delegated authority powers - approved 10 November 2010.

3.     Decision

APPROVE the area board proposal to ring fence up to £5,000 for Malmesbury and Villages Community Area Partnership to deliver a range of ‘legacy events’ in 2013/14.

Reason

The application met core 2012/13 grant criteria and would provide a platform for events in the next year.

4.     Decision

APPROVE awards not exceeding £500 for local organisations and individuals affected by recent flooding through officer delegation.

Reason

In accordance with delegated authority approved 10 November and beneficial to local community groups who had been affected by flooding.

5.     Decision

APPROVE the Award of £500 to the Safe Drive Stay Alive programme to support future presentations.

Reason

The Malmesbury community area had benefited from a presentation in November and it was hoped that the award would help deliver further sessions.

The Board also wished to formally recognise the work of Safe Drive Stay Alive and the amazing work that they continue to do.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home.

It was noted that the next meeting would take place on Wednesday 6 March 2013, 7pm at Crudwell Town Hall, Tetbury Lane, Crudwell, Malmesbury SN16 9HB.