Agenda item

The Board will be asked to:

·         Consider the outcomes from the ‘What Matters to You’ event on 18 February; and

·         Select priorities for 2014/15

The Community Area Manager for Chippenham, Vicky Welsh, introduced the report on pages 47 to 62 of the agenda.  This provided details of the event held at the Neeld Hall on Tuesday 18 February where attendees were asked to use the data set out in the Community Area Joint Strategic Assessment 2014-16 (JSA) to help identify local priorities.

Appendix 1 of the report detailed the top priorities identified within each theme (of which there were 10) with project ideas to support the themes detailed in Appendix 2.

The top 10 priorities identified at the event where shown on screen and members of the public were asked to consider and vote on what they felt to be the top 3 community priorities.

These were identified as follows:

·         Making greater use of outdoor spaces including Butter Cross area and the river for events/festivals (15% of votes)

·         Maintenance of roads not keeping up with the level of road use, HGVs and weather damage and associated safety issues (17% of votes)

·         Improved engagement with the wider community when making important decisions, particularly the under-represented/deprived/hard to reach (13% of votes)

The Chairman thanked all for their suggestions and, noting the priorities identified, asked that a further vote should be undertaken with thought given to what could be achieved locally within the community itself to develop priorities. 

The results of this vote highlighted the following as the top 3 priorities:

·         Making greater use of outdoor spaces including Butter Cross area and the river for events/festivals (13% of votes)

·         Better use, management and access to green spaces including the river (13% of votes)

·         Maintenance of roads not keeping up with the level of road use, HGVs and weather damage and associated safety issues (13% of votes)

In opening up discussion the following concerns were raised:

·         Chippenham common slip (to the river) was often blocked by vehicles and therefore did not allow boats to use the slip to access the river.

·         The apparent lack of quality control on utilities companies undertaking repair work on public access routes.

·         The road condition within the Chippenham community was considered to have deteriorated over the last few months.

The Chairman then welcomed comments from the Board members which included the following:

·         The agreed priorities should reflect those that can be achieved by the Board.

·         Although not clearly outlined within the identified issues at the event, the deprivation of children within the community should be considered as a priority of the Board.  Cllr Caswill was working with a number of organisations with the possibility of establishing a child poverty forum. 

·         Community safety should also remain a priority, noting the positive work undertaken to date. 

·         Two of the issues should be combined into one priority, namely:

·         Making greater use of outdoor spaces including Butter Cross area and the river for events/festivals

·         Better use, management and access to green spaces including the river

The Board, upon vote, agreed to the following 3 priorities for 2014/15:

·         Outdoor spaces (making better use of outdoor spaces, including management and access to green spaces, the Butter Cross area and the river for events/festivals)

·         Child poverty

·         Crime and Community Safety

The Board agreed that future grant criteria should be extended to incorporate the priorities identified.

To take the priorities forward the Board agreed that a lead member should be appointed to each as a champion.  An e-mail would be circulated to the members seeking volunteers. 

During discussion, Cllr Caswill volunteered to be the appointed lead member for Child Poverty and Cllr Hutton proposed that Cllr Allen, should she wish to do so, continue as the lead on community safety.  Details of this would be included in the e-mail to be circulated.

The Board would be asked to confirm the lead members at its next meeting in April.

Decision:

The Chippenham Area Board would adopt the following priorities for 2014/15:

·         Outdoor spaces (making better use of outdoor spaces, including management and access to green spaces, the Butter Cross area and the river for events/festivals)

·         Child poverty

·         Crime and Community Safety

A lead member would be appointed to each priority to be confirmed at the next meeting of the Board in April 2014.