Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Desna Allen, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Chippenham Area Board, and thanked the Town Council for facilitating the use of the Neeld Hall.

The Chairman announced that a late item had been added to the agenda under Item 9, which related to the Annual Waiting Restrictions Review. A report providing recommendations was circulated.

Apologies for absence were received from John Scragg of Chippenham Town Council.

      i.        To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 9 January 2012.

    ii.        Actions from previous minutes.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 9 January 2012 were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Actions from previous meetings

The Chairman announced that the outcomes of the Youth Issues session held at the previous Area Board, would be considered along with the outcomes of the recent ‘Forward Together’ event. These outcomes would be reported at the next Area Board meeting on Monday 30 April 2012.

Councillors are requested to declare any personal or prejudicial interests, or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Councillors Desna Allen, Mark Packard, Bill Douglas and Nina Phillips all declared prejudicial interests in Item 10 (a)(iv), being the grant application from the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, as they were all members of Chippenham Town Council. All four councillors declared that they would leave the room for this item.

To include the following:

      i.        Notice from the Chairman – conduct at Area Board meetings

    ii.        Naming of grit lorry at Seagry Primary School

   iii.        Chippenham Area Board Community Awards – a reminder

   iv.        Draft Wiltshire Core Strategy

    v.        The Localism Act 2011

   vi.        Help to Live at Home update

  vii.        Minerals Site Allocations.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

      i.        Conduct at Area Board meetings – following the previous Area Board meeting it had been reported that there was an incident of verbal abuse and intimidation directed at one of the attendees of the meeting. The Area Board wished to announce that it did not tolerate such behaviour, and that the Area Board meetings were a forum for all opinions to be expressed openly without fear of abuse or intimidation.

    ii.        Naming of grit lorry at Seagry Primary School – the Chairman had attended the official naming ceremony of the new grit lorry named ‘Icebreaker’ at Seagry Primary School.

   iii.        Street Pastors – the Chairman announced that she had attended the commissioning of the new Street Pastors and Prayer Pastors on 26 February. The scheme, which had been part-funded by the Area Board, had been very successful.

   iv.        Chippenham Area Board Community Awards – the Community Awards would be presented at the Area Board meeting on 30 April. Nominations were welcomed and further information was available from the Community Area Manager; Victoria Welsh.

    v.        Draft Wiltshire Core Strategy – the Wiltshire Core Strategy pre-submission document was published for consultation on 20 February 2012 for a statutory six-week consultation period.

In response to a question that was raised, concerning whether the Area Board would be registering concern over the number of homes in the Core Strategy, the Chairman announced that the time had passed for commenting on the proposed numbers, but everyone was encouraged to comment on the robustness of the document.

   vi.        The Localism Act 2011 – a briefing note on the key changes set out within the Localism Act was circulated.

  vii.        Help to Live at Home – an update on the progress of this strategy was circulated.

viii.        Minerals Site Allocations – a consultation on the joint Aggregate Minerals Site Allocations Development Plan Document between Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council was open for comment until 12 March 2012.

   ix.        Parishand Town Involvement Evening – the parishes and towns were invited to attend a Town & Parish Highways & Streetscene Involvement Evening on 28 March 2012, from 6pm - 8pm at Monkton Park, Chippenham. Relevant invitations had been sent.

Chippenham Area Board was awarded the sum of £12,028 by Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet, specifically for projects that would benefit young people in the Community Area.

At the meeting on 14 November 2011, Chippenham Area Board took the decision to make the £12,028 available using the ‘Participatory Budgeting’ model, in order to allow everybody present in the room to have a vote and decide which applications were successful.

At the meeting on 14 November 2011, two applications successfully received funding, which totalled £6,650, leaving a balance of £5,378.

Further applications have been received, as follows, and the community will be asked to vote in support of the projects they feel deserve to receive funding:

·         Chippenham Scout Group - £2,861.05 requested to purchase 5 Stormhaven Patrol tents

·         CLOGS - £2,910 requested for a variety of workshops designed for young people aged 5 to 18

·         Chippenham Girls Group - £1,383.22 requested for a health and wellbeing project.

Chippenham Area Board was awarded the sum of £12,028 by Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet specifically for projects that would benefit young people in the Community Area.

At the meeting on Monday 14 November 2011, the Area Board took the decision to make this sum of money available using the participatory budgeting model, allowing everybody present to have a vote. At that meeting, two applications were successful and were awarded a total of £6,650, leaving a remaining balance of £5,378 for allocation at tonight’s meeting.

Councillor Mark Packard introduced the three applications which were received, as follows:

·         Chippenham Scout Group - £2,861.05 requested to purchase 5 Stormhaven Patrol tents.

·         CLOGS - £2,910 requested for a variety of workshops designed for young people aged 5 to 18.

·         Chippenham Girls Group - £1,383.22 requested for a health and wellbeing project.

Presentations were made by each of the groups, and the handheld voting system was used to allow everyone present at the meeting to vote in favour of the applications they felt deserved to be awarded the funding. Each applicant was required to achieve 50% or more of the votes in order to be successful.

Voting Results

·         Chippenham Scout Group received 95% of the votes in favour, and 5% not in favour.

·         CLOGS received 93% of the votes in favour, and 7% not in favour.

·         Chippenham Girls Group received 75% of the votes in favour, and 25% not in favour.

Councillor Packard announced that all three of the applications had been successful, however the total amount requested exceeded the Area Board’s remaining funds by the sum of £1,776.

After some consideration was given to the best way to proceed, Councillor Packard proposed that each group was awarded their funding but with a proportionate deduction made.

Decision

      i.        Chippenham Scout Group was awarded the sum of £2,151

    ii.        CLOGS was awarded the sum of £2,151

   iii.        Chippenham Girls Group was awarded the sum of £1,076.

It was suggested that the three groups could submit applications for funding to Chippenham Rotary Club in an attempt to secure the additional funding required to complete their projects in full.

To note the written reports and receive updates from any partners who wish to contribute:

      i.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

    ii.        Parish and Town Councils

   iii.        Wiltshire Police

   iv.        NHS Wiltshire

    v.        Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership (ChAP)

   vi.        Chippenham Vision

  vii.        Shadow Community Operations Board – Campus Developments

viii.        Community Area Young People’s Issues Group (CAYPIG)

   ix.        Youth Strategy Update

    x.        Lyneham Steering Group

   xi.        Chippenham Partnership of Schools.

Updates from partners were received as follows:

      i.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Station Manager Scott Taylor provided an overview of the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service’s proposed changes that were required in order to deliver service efficiencies.

The following options were being proposed:

1.    To alter the way the Service employed fire-fighters on the Retained Duty System (on-call staff) to guarantee availability and to provide a sustainable system.

2.    To alter the way the Service crewed stations to relocate staff throughout the county to create communities of stations to manage increased risk presented by future developments.

3.    To alter the shift times of operational staff to occur outside of incident peak hours.

4.    To alter duty systems to provide enhanced cover (for example: Westlea would have an immediate response at night).

5.    To relocate specialist vehicles to provide suitable and sustainable arrangements.

A consultation on these proposals was being carried out for a 13-week period from Monday 5 March 2012. Comments and opinions were welcomed via the following methods:

Electronically: consultation@wiltsfire.gov.uk

Web: www.wiltsfire.gov.uk

Telephone:    01380731114

Post:   Scott Taylor (Public Consultation Lead) Manor House,   Potterne, Wiltshire SN10 5PP.

    ii.        Parish and Town Councils

The written reports from Chippenham Town Council, Christian Malford Parish Council, Kington Langley Parish Council and Kington St Michael Parish Council were noted. Further updates were received a follows:

Chippenham Town Council

Andrew Noblet of Chippenham Town Council reported that a Chippenham Town Centre Forum meeting had been held that morning to look at the opportunities around the Portas Review Pilot and to look at setting up a volunteer group. The meeting had been very successful, with approximately 80 people in attendance, and a group of volunteers had taken the decision to submit a bid to the Portas Pilot Project.

Sue Wilthew, Chippenham Town Council’s Chief Executive, thanked everyone who had got involved and reported that the group would continue, regardless of whether the bid was successful or not. More volunteers would be welcomed, and people should contact the Sue for more information.

Decision

The Area Board formally thanked Chippenham Town Council for its efforts to respond to the Portas Pilot Project, and committed its support to the project.

Action: the Chairman of the Area Board to write a letter of support for the project.

Kington Langley Parish Council

Maurice Dixson expressed concern at certain elements of the planning system which did not appear to be effective in terms of allowing local members to call-in applications when required.

The problem appeared to occur mainly when a decision was to be made under officer delegations, but if no indication was given to the parish or to the local member as to what the decision as likely to be, then it was difficult to determine whether call-in would be required.

Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet member for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control, suggested that good communication between the parish, the local member and the planning officer was the key to avoiding these issues.

Councillor Sturgis also reported that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Sally Canter (Head of Admin and Technical Support, Development Services), will provide an overview of the planning benefits system and provide an update on the last 7 years of Section 106 agreements in the Chippenham Community Area.

Sally Canter, Head of Admin and Technical Support, Development Services, presented an overview of the planning benefits system, and provided an update on the Section 106 agreements in the Chippenham Community Area.

An exercise had been carried out to capture all Section 106 agreements in Wiltshire. A Scrutiny Task Group was also set up to help monitor the progress made on this work so that the same information could be given to every Area Board. The report provided gave details of the information that had been captured in the Chippenham Community Area.

In total, £1,527,851 had been secured via a Section 106 legal agreement since 2004. Of this amount, £1,144,603 had already been received by the Council, leaving £383,248 outstanding.

Of the £383,248 outstanding, £352,848 was not yet due to be paid due to the development not having been completed or the appropriate trigger points being reached. The Council was actively investigating/chasing the remaining £30,400 of outstanding Section 106 obligations.

Councillor Greenman was awaiting some information connected to the parishes he represented, and Sally undertook to look into this.

Councillor Douglas was a member of the Section 106 Task group and was aware that this was a huge undertaking, and he thanked Sally for her hard work on this.

To consider recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group for the prioritisation of small-scale local transport and highways improvements.

Two separate reports containing recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group were circulated. The first report within the agenda pack contained recommendations for small-scale highways improvements.

Decision

The Area Board approved the Chippenham Community Area Transport Group’s recommendations for the prioritisation of the following schemes, subject to available funding:

1.    Malmesbury Road, Chippenham – allocate £8,000 to improve pedestrian safety at the zebra crossing near St Pauls Church Hall.

2.    Kington St Michael Road, Kington Langley – allocate £6,900 to upgrade the footpath.

3.    Accessibility improvements – allocate £5,000 to install dropped kerbs in the Community Area, following a prioritisation exercise to be carried out by the Community Area Transport Group with parish and town councils.

Annual Waiting Restrictions Review 2011/12 – Prioritisation of Schemes

The second report, which was tabled at the meeting, contained recommendations for the prioritisation of waiting restrictions.

In September 2011, Wiltshire Council had proposed that it would be more appropriate that requests for waiting restrictions should go directly to parish and town councils as they had more detailed knowledge of their local areas.

Chippenham Town Council had not felt able to take on this work; the assessment process was therefore passed to the Chippenham Community Area Transport Group to make recommendations to the Chippenham Area Board.

Councillor Caswill expressed concern at the process involved regarding the Annual Waiting Restrictions Review and requested that Sadlers Mead was considered as a high priority. Parvis Khansari, Service Director for Strategic Services, confirmed that further schemes could be added to the prioritised list of waiting restrictions, if required.

Decision

The Area Board approved the Chippenham Community Area Transport Group’s recommendations for the prioritisation of schemes in the Annual Waiting Restrictions Review, with one addition, as follows:

1.    Sheldon Road – opposite the junction for Stonelea Close

2.    Middlefield Road – opposite the entrance to Hathaway Medical Centre

3.    Sadlers Mead.

Proposals for Chippenham Community Area Transport Group

Councillor Caswill made three proposals regarding the future operations of the Community Area Transport Group.

Decision

The Area Board welcomed the delegation of highways decisions and the work done by the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) to prioritise local issues, and resolved that:

1.    The meetings of the Chippenham CATG should be open to the public and press, with dates and times advertised at preceding Area Board meetings and agendas posted on the Wiltshire Council Website.

2.    The agendas and papers for the CATG meetings are sent electronically in advance to Area Board councillors, to assist their attendance where issues in their divisions are to be discussed.

3.    To request that a review of the Chippenham CATG is carried out and reported back to the Area Board as soon as possible, to determine whether the above requests are feasible within resources.

a.    Community Area Grants Scheme 2011/12

To consider the following applications to the Community Area Grant Scheme:

i.              Chippenham Partnership of Schools - £2,625 requested for the Chippenham Games

ii.            10^th Chippenham Guides - £935 requested to purchase camping equipment

iii.           Chippenham Bowls Club - £2,568 requested for the installation of floodlights

iv.           Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre - £980 for the Primary School Archaeology Project

v.            Finding the Forgotten - £3,000 requested for increasing Great War education , knowledge and awareness

Grants application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically at

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboardscommunity grantsscheme.htm

b.    Area Board Projects

To consider the following Area Board Project application:

·         £2,500 requested to commission a pilot project with the Media Department at Wiltshire College Chippenham to increase engagement between the local community and Chippenham Area Board.

c.    Other Projects

To consider the following:

·         £600 requested towards the hire of a jousting tent to accommodate displays promoting Chippenham Community Area at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee event on 1 May 2012.

d.    Community Area Transport Group

To consider the following:

·         To vire the balance of unspent Area Board funding of £19,900 to the Chippenham Community Area Transport Group (CSTG), for:

                              i.        Malmesbury Road, Chippenham – allocate £8,000 to improve safety of pedestrians at the zebra crossing near St Paul’s Church Hall.

                            ii.        Kington St Michael Road, Kington Langley – allocate £6,900 to upgrade the footpath.

                           iii.        Accessibility Improvements – allocate £5,000 to install dropped kerbs in the Community Area, following a prioritisation exercise for dropped kerbs to be carried out by the CATG with town and parish councils.

a.    Community Area Grant Scheme 2011/12

The Area Board considered the following applications to the Community Area Grant Scheme 2011/12:

               i.        Chippenham Partnership of Schools

The sum of £2,625 was requested for the Chippenham Games.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £2,625 to Chippenham Partnership of Schools for Chippenham Games, conditional upon the balance of funding being in place.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Chippenham & Villages Community Plan.

              ii.        10^th Chippenham Guides

The sum of £935 was requested to purchase camping equipment.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £935 to 10^th Chippenham Guides for the purchase of camping equipment.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Chippenham & Villages Community Plan.

            iii.        Chippenham Bowls Club

The sum of £2,568 was requested for the installation of floodlights.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £2,568 to Chippenham Bowls Club for the installation of floodlighting, conditional upon the balance of funding being in place.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Chippenham & Villages Community Plan.

Councillors Allen, Phillips, Douglas and Packard all left the room due to declaring prejudicial interests in the next item.

Councillor Greenman was temporarily elected to the Chair.

            iv.        Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre

The sum of £980 was requested for the Primary School Archaeology Project.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £980 to Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre for the Primary School Archaeology Project.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Chippenham & Villages Community Plan.

Councillors Allen, Phillips, Douglas and Packard returned to the meeting.

Councillor Allen returned to the Chair.

              v.        Finding the Forgotten

The sum of £3,000 was requested for increasing Great War education, knowledge and awareness.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £3,000 to Finding the Forgotten for increasing Great War education knowledge and awareness for Chippenham and surrounding villages through filming of real life reconstructions, conditional upon the films not being sold for profit and the balance of funding being in place.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Chippenham & Villages Community Plan.

Some concern was raised that the Chippenham-based applicants were not getting in contact with their local members before submitting their applications. It was confirmed that all applicants were advised to do so when their applications were received.

b.    Area Board Projects

The Area Board considered the following Area Board Project application:

Engagement Project

The sum of £2,500 was requested to commission a pilot project with the Media Department at Wiltshire College Chippenham to increase engagement between the local community and Chippenham Area Board.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum £2,500 to the Area Board Engagement Project.

c.    Other Projects

The Area Board considered the following proposal:

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

The sum of £600  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive updates on the Area Board’s Priorities, as follows:

      i.        Health and Wellbeing – Lead Councillor: Peter Hutton

    ii.        Employment – Lead Partner: Chippenham Vision

   iii.        Skate Park – Lead Councillor: Paul Darby

   iv.        Road Safety – Lead Councillor: Bill Douglas

    v.        Night Time Economy – Lead Councillor: Peter Hutton.

Updates were received as follows:

      i.        Health and Wellbeing

There was nothing to update since the previous meeting.

    ii.        Employment

There was nothing to update since the previous meeting.

   iii.        Skate Park

Brett Conway, Project Leader, reported that nine different sites at Monkton Park had been considered on a short-list, and an on-site consultation on those sites had been carried out with three independent Skatepark Design Companies. Following the site visits, the nine sites were short-listed to three based on a series of outline criteria.

The Skate Park Committee would proceed with a noise assessment which would be completed by a professional company, and residents within the catchment area of the noise assessment would be contacted in writing.

Following the report back on the noise assessment, if the criteria was met then the Skate Park Committee would engage in a public consultation exercise.

   iv.        Road Safety

Councillor Bill Douglas reported that the consultation on the safety measures for the A350 Dual Carriageway north of Chippenham was in the final stages.

            The proposed safety measures included:

a.    That the closure of the Pretty Chimneys crossovers be progressed.

b.    That prohibition of U turns in both directions at The Moors, Courtfield Farm, Lower Swinley and the agricultural crossings be progressed.

c.    That the additional signing at the Days Lane junction and for the junction 17 truck stop be progressed.

The Area Board was in support of the proposals.

    v.        Night Time Economy

Councillor Peter Hutton referred to the improvements in local crime statistics, and reported that the local initiatives such as the street pastors and high visibility jackets for door staff appeared to be helping to improve these figures.

Councillor Toby Sturgis will talk about his responsibilities for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control, and respond to any questions.

Note – questions may be submitted in advance – please email penny.bell@wiltshire.gov.uk by 27 February 2012.

Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet member for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control, provided the following update on his portfolio responsibilities:

Waste

The new alternate-weekly collections had now started and it was hoped that the new service would drive-up recycling rates. The new collection of plastic only included plastic bottles, as it was not cost-effective to include all plastics at this stage due to the difference in values. Plastic bottles were worth £220 per tonne, whereas mixed plastics were only worth £20 per tonne.

Councillor Sturgis also referred to the Eric Pickles Challenge Fund which offered incentives to councils that returned to weekly collections of general household waste. Wiltshire Council intended to pursue its plans to deliver an alternate-weekly collection due to the encouragement it provided to recycle more, however the Council was looking at submitting a bid for a food waste collection service.

Property

The Council was continuing with the rationalisation of its buildings, and had recently taken the decision to further rationalise the main hubs from four to three. Along with the refurbishment of County Hall, this was helping to deliver savings and improve the Council’s carbon footprint.

Environment

An Eco Strategy had been adopted by the Council in an attempt to reduce its environmental impact. The home insulation scheme was one of the top priorities at present, as was improving the environmental impacts of the county’s schools.

Development Control

The Council was just embarking on a transformation programme for the Development Service. A peer challenge had also been carried out and the report from that would feed into the transformation programme.

Following Councillor Sturgis’ presentation, the following questions and comments arose:

·         It was suggested that the reasons behind the decision to collect plastic bottles only could be communicated to the public to increase understanding of this issue.

·         There was some concern that existing policy did not go far enough to protect the town centres. The Wiltshire Core Strategy contained stronger policy to protect town centres, however this policy could not be enforced until the Core Strategy was formally adopted.

·         The Council was not planning to monitor use of individual household bin use due to the implications on resources and collection schedules.

·         It was noted that some members’ experiences of the Northern Area Planning team had been very positive.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Sturgis for attending and contributing to the meeting.

The Chairman will invite any remaining questions from the floor and will welcome the submission of new Community Issues.

The next agenda planning meeting will take place on Wednesday 21 March 2012, 10am at Monkton Park. Any parish or town council representative interested in attending should contact the Community Area Manager or the Chairman.

The meeting is asked to note the future meeting dates below and the Forward Plan.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting. The next meeting of the Chippenham Area Board would take place on Monday 30 April 2012, 7pm at Abbeyfield School.

The next agenda planning meeting would take place on Wednesday 21 March 2012 at 10am at Monkton Park. Any parish or town council representative interested in attending should contact the Community Area Manager or the Chairman.