· Child Poverty At the last meeting of the Area Board, the Chairman reported the success of a Workshop on the attainment of disadvantaged children, which had been held at Matravers School on 13 October 2015. Following on from this an action plan was being drawn up and a progress report will be made at the meeting.
· Dilton Marsh – Weed Killing A the last meeting, Cllr JA Moody from Dilton Marsh Parish Council referred to the poor maintenance of roads particularly in the Dilton Marsh area and the amount of weeds ha needed clearing. The Area Board requested that details of a weed killing programme be made available at the next meeting.
Wiltshire Council is reviewing its services as it shapes the future of its highway programme from April 2016. Following feedback from town and parish councils, part of that programme will be reintroducing the Parish Steward Scheme. There will be 18 stewards appointed serving their own group of parish and town councils in the county. It will replace the community days scheme where a group of officers provided one day's work of activities within an extended time period.
Under the new scheme, parishes will have regular visits for minor works providing a much more frequent service. The parish stewards will report issues and undertake repairs and maintenance themselves, meaning they are a ‘one stop and done' service. The stewards will help prioritise the needs of their patch including roads, pathways, drainage and verge maintenance. Their remit could include painting railings, highways strimming and undertaking minor pothole repairs.
Over the next few months, parish and town councils will be advised of the new arrangements and attendance programmes.
People who want to report a highways issue can do so using the MyWiltshire App, by the council website or by calling 0300 456 0105.
Minutes:
· ChildPoverty At the last meeting of the Area Board, the Chairman reported the success ofa Workshop on the attainment of disadvantaged children, which had been held at Matravers School on 13 October 2015.Following on from this it had been hoped that an action plan would be drawn up but as the notes of that workshop were inadequate it was the Chairman’s hope that some of the agreed themes would be taken up by Community Groups/Champions. A number of the themes were read out which included the establishment of cooking clubs, information technology workshops together with other leisure and recreational activities. The Children’s Centre and the Community Area Partnership had agreed to take forward the Cookery Classes and other groups would be approached to explore the possibility of taking forward the other activities. Interested groups or individuals were asked to liaise with the Chairman and Community Engagement Manager to take forward.
· DiltonMarsh – Weed Killing A the last meeting,Cllr JA Moody from Dilton Marsh Parish Council referred tothe poor maintenance of roads particularly in the Dilton Marsh area and the amount ofweeds ha needed clearing. The AreaBoard requested that details ofa weed killing programme be made available atthe next meeting.
Wiltshire Council was reviewing its services as it shaped the future ofits highway programme from April 2016. Following feedback from town and parish councils, part ofthat programme woiuld be reintroducing the Parish StewardScheme. There would be 18 stewards appointed serving their own group ofparish and town councils in the county. Itwould replace the community day’s scheme where a group ofofficers provided one day's work of activities within an extended time period.
Under the new scheme, parishes would have regular visits for minor works providing a much more frequent service. The parish stewards would report issues and undertake repairs and maintenance themselves, meaning they would be a ‘one stop and done' service. The stewards would help prioritise the needs of their patch including roads, pathways, drainage and verge maintenance.Their remit could include painting railings, highways strimming and undertaking minor pothole repairs.
Over the next few months, parish and town councils would be advised ofthe new arrangements and attendance programmes.
People who wished to report a highways issue could do so using the MyWiltshire App, by the councilwebsite or by calling 0300 456 0105.
· NHS Health Checks At its meeting on 10 December 2015, the Westbury Area Board received the Chairman’s Announcement about NHS Health Checks.
However, during discussion some members noticed that it was stated that everyone between the ages of 40 and 74, who had not been diagnosed with certain conditions or was otherwise ineligible, was invited every five years to have a free NHS Health Check. They asked that an enquiry be made if those over the age of 75 years were likewise eligible and, if not, why?
The NHS health check was intended for people up to the age of 74, invitations being sent during the month/year of their 40, 45, 50 etc. birthday. Surgery’s already offered over 75’s regular health checks (in some cases annually), and that was why the 5 yr invitation process stopped at 74.