Agenda item

To receive updates from the following partners:

a)    Wiltshire Police

b)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

c)    NHS Wiltshire

d)    Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership

e)    Town and Parish Councils.

The Chairman noted the written updates from partners included with the agenda pack and invited partners to add any further information if appropriate.

a)    The written update from Wiltshire Police was noted. It was underlined that the closure of the Wiltshire Camera Road Safety Unit would not change any of the processes around Community Speed Watch and the Community Area would still have the enforcement options of the Wiltshire Roads Policing Unit and Wiltshire Police Area Officers. There had been an outstanding Community Speed Watch scheme in Dauntsey. Over recent weeks five drivers were monitored on three separate occasions exceeding the speed limit. The vehicle details were passed to the Wiltshire Police Roads Policing Unit who targeted these drivers. This resulted in three individuals being caught speeding and issued with fines and penalty points on their driving licenses. .

b)    The written update from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was noted.

c)    The written update from NHS Wiltshire was noted.

d)    Sid Jevons went through the written update from Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership. The Partnership had formed a team to lead a consultation on reduced street lighting. The first phase of consultation, identifying the parishes that would like to be involved, was nearly complete and the next phase would be to look into which street lights to affect. A speed bump survey for Malmesbury was being undertaken jointly by Malmesbury Town Council and the Partnership. Questionnaires were being distributed within the local area to be returned by 1 October. The Chairman expressed concern that the survey had not been received by a proportion of the meeting. Ray Sanderson commented that only those living in Malmesbury town had been targeted by the survey, however there were locations where people were able to collect a survey, including the health centre and the BP garage. In an amendment to the agenda papers, the next Community Safety Forum meeting would be held on 30 September at Sherston Village Hall at 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm start.

Chairman’s Statement

The partner updates at the meeting were followed by a Chairman’s statement regarding proposed development in Malmesbury. There had been a Malmesbury Town Council public meeting on 14 September. The Wiltshire 2026 consultation at the end of last year had identified a preferred housing option for Malmesbury of 200 dwellings located to the north of Malmesbury. Gleeson Strategic Land were promoting this site and intending to hold a public exhibition at the Town Hall in November. The public response from the Malmesbury Community Area to the Wiltshire 2026 consultation showed a mixed response to the level of growth for the town, although the majority did oppose growth. A key aspect of the opposition was that infrastructure in the town was currently at capacity. The abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategy and the advance of the Localism Bill potentially offered greater flexibility in plan making and the opportunity for Malmesbury Community Area to have more influence on future housing development in the town. Wiltshire Council would be seeking to bring forward housing as part of a plan led process in consultation with the local community, including the Town Council and Community Area Board. Whilst the site itself was well located to accommodate growth for Malmesbury, it was vital that the appropriate infrastructure and high quality design underpinned any development that came forward. A pragmatic approach would be to carefully phase development in Malmesbury and call for the development to be delayed until later in the planning period for Wiltshire. This would enable a thorough assessment of infrastructure requirements to be made and for the outcomes of this infrastructure assessment to be addressed in consultation with the local community.