Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone present to Brinkworth Village Hall. The councillors and officers introduced themselves to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Paul Baker (Chamber of Commerce), Su Bishop, Bill Blake (Malmesbury Town Council), Gareth Brown (Youth Development Co-Ordinator), Andy Donald (The Activity Zone), Barbara Gray (Events and Sponsorship Manager), Chloe Harris-Alba (Wiltshire Assembly Youth/UK Youth Parliament), George Lynham (Luckington and Alderton Parish Council), John Marsh (Ashton Keynes Parish Council), Terry Mockler (Hankerton Parish Council), Tony Pooley (Little Somerford Parish Council), Ray Sanderson (Malmesbury Town Council), Bob Tallon (Brokenborough Parish Council), John Tremayne (Easton Grey Parish Council), Sarah Weld (NHS Wiltshire), Mark Wilkins (Charlton Parish Council) and Ian Woods (Ashton Keynes Parish Council).

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2012.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will provide information about:

a.     Review of mini recycling sites and household recycling centre summer opening hours

b.     Polling station review

c.     Rural facilities survey

d.     Paths improvement grant scheme.

The Chairman first explained that due to insufficient information available prior to the meeting, item 7 ‘Informal Adult Education in Wiltshire’ would be postponed and brought back to a future area board meeting. In the meantime, information was available on the Wiltshire Council website.

The Chairman provided information about the review of mini recycling sites and household recycling centre opening hours, given the new improved waste and recycling collection services in Wiltshire, as in the agenda pack.

He urged parishes to respond to the polling station review if they wanted to keep and comment on their existing polling stations or to put forward alternative venues. Please go to the Wiltshire Council website for further information.

He also asked parishes to respond to the rural facilities survey, which helped to create a picture of how the services and amenities available to rural communities changed over time. The results would be analysed for all twenty of Wiltshire’s community areas and an overview report published in autumn. The results would also feed into the Joint Strategic Assessment for Wiltshire.

The Paths Improvement Grants Scheme was a hugely exciting opportunity to help improve access to the countryside or to create new links between settlements in the local area. In 2012 around £60,000 would be made available for community led projects. Please contact our Rights of Way and Countryside Team if you had an idea for a scheme; michael.crook @wiltshire.gov.uk or 01225 713349. 

Councillor Sturgis opened this item by providing a short update about the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Salisbury and the Malmesbury jousting tent. The Queen visited the county on 1 May and the visit had been a great success. Councillor Sturgis thanked Catherine Doody and the Malmesbury town councillors for all their hard work in organising the tent, which had been visited by both the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who had shown particular interest in some arrowheads, Tracklements preserves and local lace making. 15,000 people in total had welcomed the Queen to Salisbury Cathedral Close.

The Chairman then introduced Martin Fortune from the Wiltshire Involvement Network (WIN). Martin explained that WIN aimed to make sure the voices of health and social care users were heard. An event was being held on Saturday 26 May from 10.30 am - 3.30 pm at Devizes Corn Exchange when carers and help to live at home would be discussed. More information was available on the website: http://www.wiltshireinvolvementnetwork.org.uk/.

The Chairman then noted the written updates from partners included in the agenda pack.

a.     The written update from Wiltshire Police was noted. Sergeant Martin Alvis added the team were to have a new member of staff in PC Graham Mclaughlin. A question was asked about whether mobility aid users were required to undertake training. Sergeant Alvis confirmed training was not required by law at present. The Independent Living Centre in Semington had a range of mobility aids that could be trialled by potential users and they were working towards having a training programme. A second question was asked about the Guildhall Bar in Malmesbury. An appeal regarding this premises had been lodged and a hearing was pending.

b.     A more recent update from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was circulated at the meeting, please find attached to the minutes. The importance of having and checking a carbon monoxide alarm and being aware of carbon monoxide on holiday too was underlined in light of the recent death of a young person on a camping holiday in Shropshire after taking a disposable barbeque into a tent to keep warm overnight.  

c.     The written update from NHS Wiltshire was noted. The Chairman explained that you would receive information through the post about an opt-out Summary Care Record. This was a record of basic medical information which could be accessed by health staff, for example if you were in an accident in an area in which you did not live. The Chairman also drew attention to the deadlines in the agenda pack regarding new cases which required assessment of eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare funding.

d.     The written update from Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership was noted. The walks group had received over £3,000 from the charity fund of the outgoing Mayor, Steve Cox, for which they were very grateful. With regards to a community hub in Malmesbury, MVCAP were working with the YMCA to create a hub and a youth café.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consult the area boards regarding the future provision of informal adult education in Wiltshire.

As explained in the Chairman’s announcements item, this item was postponed until further information was available.

The Community Area Manager will provide a summary of current community issues and the Area Board will agree those to be closed.

There will be a short update regarding Glovers Court/Katifer Lane, Malmesbury.

The Community Area Manager reminded the meeting of the community issues process. Please log a community issue if a problem issue was ‘sticky’ and not solved by the usual Wiltshire Council service or your parish council. The Community Area Manager explained that issues on the report were grouped by subject rather than by the date they were received. She added that she would collate related issues for the report in future for easier reference.

Councillor Killane explained that Westlea had prepared a planning application regarding Newnton Grove. Inappropriate parking had been causing access problems for vulnerable residents at Glovers Court. Malmesbury Area Board and the Town Council were supportive of proposed changes to improve the situation and these were being put forward to Dick Tonge, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to make a decision.      

Members of the area board were invited to close two issues and refer three to the Malmesbury Community Area Transport Group (CATG).

Decision

The area board would close the following issues:

Issue 2066 – lighting failures on Filands estate, Malmesbury - this issue had been resolved by Persimmon Homes who remained responsible for the development.

Issue 1226 - enable car parking on grass on corner of Burnham/Hudson Road – conversion was likely to be problematic as the land used to be a former church yard. Costs would fall to the Town Council should they wish to pursue this issue. 

Decision

The area board would refer three issues to the Malmesbury Community Area Transport Group scheme, as per the report included in the agenda pack (Issues 2268, 2236 and 2232 – regarding speeding and HGVs in Leigh).

Together we will agree which actions from the Malmesbury Area Board and Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership special ‘Moving Forward’ event to take forward. We will identify by whom and how best the issues should be tackled.  

The Community Area Manager informed the area board that the Community Area Transport Group had agreed the first phase of Speed Indicator Device sites based on criteria from the road safety team (though some sites may need to be retested). Sites had been put forward to the road safety team for implementation (under delegated authority) and were as below:

1.     The Street, Startley

2.     Tetbury Road, Sherston

3.     Somerford Keynes Road, Oaksey

4.     50m uphill from the junction of B4040 and Vicarage Lane, Charlton

5.     The Green, Dauntsey junction with Middle Green

6.     One site in Brinkworth

7.     One site in Minety

8.     B4040 Malmesbury Road, Leigh

9.     Tetbury Hill, Malmesbury.  

Information was provided about the £40,593 budget available to be allocated by the area board in 2012/2013, with separate funding available for young people. The main grants scheme was similar to previous years. There was also a new scheme of funding for small grants up to £350 where the total cost of the project did not exceed £350. This grant was aimed at groups with innovative ideas which wanted funding to improve their local community and did not require the group to be formally constituted. The Community Area Manager underlined the importance of groups completing their evaluation forms once a grant had been received. Councillor Sturgis clarified that the cost of the jousting tent for the Jubilee event would be less than reported and funding would be returned to the area board budget.