Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome Councillor Jemima Milton, Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Housing (North).

The Chairman welcomed everyone to Calne Area Board and introduced the councillors and officers present. The Chairman welcomed Councillor Jemima Milton, Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Housing in the North and explained that Councillor Milton would begin the community conversation.

The meeting started with a presentation from Jeremy Griffiths from Victim Support, who had put up a display stand before the meeting. The presentation emphasised that Victim Support is an independent national charity for all victims and witnesses across England and Wales. The service gave free and confidential support and information to help sort out the problems caused by crime. Find out more from their website at: www.victimsupport.org.uk/getinvolved.     

Apologies were received from Councillor Chuck Berry and Geoff Dickerson (Heddington Parish Council).

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 August 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 August 2012 were approved and signed as a correct record.

Councillors are requested to declare any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will provide information about:

a.     Wiltshire online: digital literacy in Wiltshire (attached)

b.     Wiltshire and Swindon Local Nature Partnership (attached)

c.     Barrier busting proposals (attached)

d.     Minerals sites in Wiltshire and Swindon (attached)

e.     Informal adult education – update (attached)

f.      Community infrastructure levy (attached)

g.     From drought to flood event (attached)

h.     Change to wards (attached). 

The Chairman drew attention to the written announcements included in the agenda pack.

Councillor Crisp added there were information packs to find out more about becoming a local councillor available at the meeting, ‘Do you have the x factor’. Please contact your Democratic Services Officer if you would like to receive a pack.  

To receive an update from the partners listed below:

a.     Wiltshire Police (attached)

b.     Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (attached)

c.     NHS Wiltshire (attached)

d.     Calne Community Area Partnership

e.     Calne CAYPIG (Community Area Young People’s Issues Group) – to include Youth Advisory Group appointments (attached)

f.      Town and Parish Councils

g.     Wiltshire Involvement Network Update report (attached).

a.     The written update from Wiltshire Police was noted. Inspector Martin Schorah explained this would be his last Calne Area Board meeting as he had been posted to The Control Room. His successor would be Inspector Phil Staynings from Swindon. He introduced Sergeant Simon Wright to the meeting. Inspector Schorah then went through his written update. The monthly young people’s disco Blues and Zuz had their highest ever turnout. There had been a significant decrease in anti social behaviour, in large part due to partnership working at The Pippin in Calne.  Unfortunately, houses and outbuildings were being burgled in the local area. Inspector Schorah urged people to vote in the Police and Crime Commisioner Election on 15 November. The Chairman thanked Inspector Schorah for all his hard work over the past thirteen months with Calne Area Board.

b.     The written update from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was noted. Mike Franklin encouraged people to sweep their chimney flues to reduce the risk of fire in the run up to winter.

c.     The written update from NHS Wiltshire was noted. The Chairman hoped the shift to Clinical Commissioning Groups would promote greater engagement from the health services with the area boards.

d.     Malcolm Gull gave an update about the Community Area Partnership. The community hub had been shortlisted by Wiltshire Council for a prestigious volunteering award. The community hub had received a cheque for £250 after coming in as a runner up in the top four of over three hundred initiatives. The Partnership was undertaking a major review and would now meet periodically to address specific issues. There would be an open day on December 7 to celebrate this success.

e.     Will Kay, Youth Development Co-ordinator, gave an update about the Community Area Young People’s Issues Group. Wiltshire Council for the last year had been piloting ‘Youth Advisory Groups’ (YAGs) joined to or associated with the local area board. A YAG was a group of young people that advised and worked alongside adults on issues of importance to them or that organisations asked their opinion on. The chair of YAG was a young person under the age of 25. This would be the new way of working in Calne.

f.      Calne Without Parish Council reported the white gates at Derry Hill had been started. Councillor Trotman added that the markings at Studley Crossroads were working well. Several councillors from Calne Town Council had been to a Jubilee planting and a fireworks display and Christmas festival were in the pipeline. The next main meeting of Calne Town Council would take place on 26 November.

g.     The written Wiltshire Involvement Network update report was noted.             

The subject this time will be housing. Councillor Jemima Milton will begin the conversation.

Councillor Jemima Milton introduced the community conversation on the subject of ‘houses that fit local families’. Councillor Milton introduced James Cawley, Service Director for Strategy and Commissioning.

James Cawley then gave a presentation about the housing situation in Calne. This covered the following main points:

·       Basic stock profile of Calne – 65.7% owner occupied and 17.9% social housing 

·       Housing register breakdown – 17,088 houses were on the housing register across Wiltshire and 620 households expressed a first preference for Calne

·       Social housing lettings in Calne – there were 611 total lettings across Wiltshire since April 2012 and 64 lettings in Calne with 56 households with a local connection

·       Under occupation – 151 households in Calne were affected by under occupation – classed as such if you were under 65 years old and on benefits

·       Review of allocations – The Localism Act 2011 introduced amendments to Part 6 of the Housing Act and provided new freedoms to set the rules determining which categories of applicants qualified for social housing.

This was followed by a question and answer session, supported also by Ann Cornelius, Managing Director at Green Square, and Helen Madle, Private Sector Housing Manager, Wiltshire Council.

The session incorporated the issues below:

·       A case was raised regarding the length of time taken to move a family of six people from a two bedroom property in Woodroffe Square – James Cawley would meet with the family concerned and discuss confidentially. The issue was insufficient suitable property in Calne and how to encourage people to downsize.

·       The condition of properties in Woodroffe Square - properties were getting older and more difficult to heat. Green Square had a systematic programme of going through properties to assess if they were fit for purpose. This was a large and costly task and would not happen overnight.

·       How to start the process of receiving help from Homes 4 Wiltshire as a young single individual – the process can be started online or in person. The change to the Housing Act made it difficult for those aged under 25 to secure housing and a related issue was the lack of employment for young people.

·       The statistics provided about affordable homes were questioned as new developments were providing 30% affordable housing. Even with this, there was not enough suitable accommodation to meet the needs in Calne.

·       Households were asked why they chose Calne as their first preference. The three main reasons given were; because of family, employment or they had lived in Calne before.   

·       A planning application submitted with a 60 bed extra care home – some residents of Calne had received a leaflet from the developer Gleeson Homes asking for their comments. There was a large shortfall of housing for elderly people across the whole of Wiltshire. Wiltshire Council asked developers to invite the views of the community before they submitted an application. Once an application was received, Wiltshire Council would conduct its own consultation with town and parish councils and the .     

·       Statistics  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

A presentation regarding plans for a community garden.

Sue Wallace presented information about the Calne Environmental Network (CEN). The group was started a year ago with the idea of sustainability at its heart. Sue spoke about the work that CEN do; this included an informative website, a monthly newsletter, meetings and talks, an annual green Calne day, road shows, litter picks and stream cleans. CEN had set up an art of recycling event; using things that people had thrown away to create pieces of art that were displayed in the library. CEN had initiated the planting of wild flower seeds and planted beds in the town.

Sue presented the idea of having a community garden in Calne. This was a vision inspired by a visit to Therapeutic Work In Gardening in Swindon (TWIGS). Working with the land could be both beneficial and therapeutic and the TWIGS project used gardening to help people with mental issues.

Sue explained that she was looking for 1-2 acres of land available in Calne within easy access for as many people as possible. The Chairman took a show of hands to indicate levels of support for the project and the vast majority of the room were in favour. Please get in touch with Sue Wallace or Peter Knight on 01249 823287 or stoneseeker@waitrose.com if you were able to help.    

Councillors will provide an update on community issues and progress on area board working groups. This will include:

a.     Skate board park working group – Councillor Marshall

b.     Highways working group (CATG) – Councillor Crisp

c.     Calne campus working group – Councillor Hill

d.     Sandpit Road (Section 106) working group – Councillor Trotman

e.     Air quality working group – Councillor Hill.

Councillors provided an update on community issues and progress on Calne Area Board working groups. 

a.     Tom Harris spoke about the skate board park working group as a young person involved. The group were focusing on the image of the project and fundraising. To raise money for the skate park, the group had arranged bag packing in the town, a dress down day at John Bentley School and had applied to the Viridor grant scheme.

b.     Councillor Crisp provided an update on the highways working group, please see written report attached to the minutes. Martin Cook, Area Highway Engineer, was thanked for his persistence improving an overgrown footpath. Councillor Crisp made clear the temporary permission for Murco delivery vehicles to travel through the Curzon Street weight restriction (early morning only, with a maximum of one per day) was coming to an end. This had been put in place as it was considered a safer option than the vehicle making a u-turn at The Pippin.

Decision

The County of Wiltshire (Various Roads, Calne) (Weight Restriction) Experimental Order 2011 would be made permanent. This related specifically to the delivery of fuel to the service station at 154 Oxford Road.      

c.     Councillor Hill stated the Calne campus working group had produced a report which would be presented to Cabinet on 23 October. Councillor Hill was hopeful the project would receive the necessary funding and, if so, the intention would be to submit a planning application regarding the leisure centre in April 2013. Councillor Crisp added she would be writing to every member of the campus working group to thank them for their help with this intensive group.

d.     Councillor Trotman had met with the Sandpit Road (Section 106) working group to discuss safe pedestrian and cycle routes to schools. Plans had been completed and would be available to view at the community hub. Councillor Trotman confirmed unfortunately Abberd Lane was not within the remit of the working group. Residents had received a letter from an anonymous lobby group about the traffic implications of an extension to the local minerals extraction. Consultation had been extended until November when a strategic planning decision would be made. A report would be provided for the next area board meeting.

e.     Councillor Hill spoke about the air quality working group. Defra were due to create an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) to address two hotspots in the community area. Consultation on the two options for the AQMA, with a smaller and larger option, was started at the meeting with a display stand and ballot box which was now in the community hub. The consultation would be sent out in a link on the newsletter and would be available on the area board webpage.             

To note the situation with regards to the Community Area Grants Scheme.

The Chairman explained that two applications had been received for the Community Area Grant Scheme, but these had been deferred to the December meeting, waiting for further information.    

The Chairman explained the next area board meeting would be held at 6.30 pm on 11 December at Hilmarton Community Centre, with refreshments available from 6.30 pm.