Agenda item

Localism Act

The Chairman advised that the Localism Bill, about which there had been a seminar in May, 2011 at Dinton Village Hall, had now been enacted. Details of any changes to the Bill were not yet known, but would be reported to the Area Board in due course.

What Matters to You

A survey was being rolled out across Wiltshire. The views of the community about your areas really do count, and Wiltshire Council would like to invite you to comment on a range of topics that affect life where you live, including:

• how and what we spend money on in your area
• what we can do to improve life where you live
• how we can improve safety in your area
• your views on other public services
• the natural environment where you live

It’s easy to take part. You can fill in the survey online which saves time, and us money, or complete a paper survey and return it using the prepaid envelope.

Packs are available in most Wiltshire libraries and leisure centres or from the Area Board meeting tonight.

Once all the responses have been analysed a full report would be produced. This would be used by the council and our official partners, including NHS Wiltshire, Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service and Wilshire Police, to develop policies that meet the needs of local communities.

11 – 19 Strategy Outcome of Consultation

Information was attached to the agenda highlighting seven priorities following the approval of the Commissioning Strategy for 11 – 19 year olds, by Cabinet on 13 September 2011.

Parking

The cost of season tickets for car parks in Wiltshire is being discounted by around 20%.  Prices have been reviewed and the discount is a temporary measure until permanent reductions are made in the New Year.

The new prices are on the Wiltshire Council website already and took effect from Tuesday 6 December.

Adoption

National press had recently reported that there was a low adoption rate across the country. Until recently the Chairman had been on the Adoption Board and assured the everyone that Wiltshire were in fact working well on the adoption process and that many hold ups were a result of the courts, not by Wiltshire Council.

Empty Homes Officer

An Empty Homes Officer had recently been appointed. If Parish councils had identified any private or council empty homes they could contact Claire Pullan by email claire.pullan@wiltshire.gov.uk

Olympic Route

Matthew Woolford, Communications Account Manager showed a short DVD which outlined a brief overview of the 2012 celebrations around Wiltshire for the Olympics and the Queens Golden Jubilee.

Tool kits were available from Matthew and people were able to log their contact details with him for further updates as they become available.

Youth Area Board

The next meeting of the Area Board would be on 29 February 2012. Starting earlier than usual, at 6.00pm the theme for the first hour of this meeting would be centred on young people. Information would be available on youth grants which would be considered by the Board at a special grants area board to be held in March 2012. The Board has £12,000 of youth project funds available for this project.

South Wiltshire Core Strategy

Councillor Green had attended a meeting the previous evening where the Inspector had found the draft document to be sound. The reduction in new homes for the area had been reduced from 12,400 to 9,400. This document would go to Cabinet on 17 January 2012 and then to Full Council on 7 February 2012.

The South Wiltshire Core Strategy needed to be consistent with the rest of Wiltshire and so would feed into the overall Strategy for Wiltshire by the end of 2012. Until the new strategy is formally adopted the present strategy will continue to be followed.

Village Design Statement (VDS)

Councillor Green explained that three VDS were still waiting to be ratified. The Head of Spatial Planning was optimistic that the VDS would be brought to Area Planning committees in the future for adoption and could then be used as evidence when making future decisions.

The Chairman allowed Mr Weaver to read a statement out regarding his dissatisfaction with the consultation for the South Wiltshire Core Strategy.

The Chairman added that further information would become available on housing boundary issues which would be brought back to a future Area Board meeting.