Agenda and minutes

Chairman Councillor Allen opened the meeting and welcomed the new Chief Executive, Andrew Kerr, to Chippenham.  This was followed by introductions from the Wiltshire Council Area Board councillors.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Scott (Wiltshire Council) and Stockall (Christian Malford Parish Council).

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2010.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting on 25 January 2010 were approved and signed as a correct record, subject to the following additions:

Town, Parish and Partner Updates:

Grittleton Parish Council

·         The parish council requested that the Area Board support their application for repairs.

Decision

The Community Area Manager to investigate the issue.

Bath Road Car Park

·         The first working group meeting, to which the residents were invited, was held on 19 January 2010.

• Clarity was requested regarding resolutions that required approval from Cabinet Members.

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

Councillors Allen, Darby, Douglas, Packard and Phillips each declared a prejudicial interest with respect to item number fifteen – Community Asset Transfer – as they were Chippenham Town Council members.  They left the room for the duration of the discussion and did not vote.

a)    Consultation on the Review of Special Educational Needs Provision

The Chairman described how over recent months Wiltshire Council officers had worked with schools, parent representatives and other people to review Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in the county.

The review considered:

·      special school provision

·      specialist provision that was part of mainstream primary and secondary schools and

·      SEN support services for schools.

A document had been written that set out what the review had shown and what the Council would like to do in the future. This was now to be shared with a wide range of people who were invited to respond on what they thought about what the Council’s proposals.  As soon as the document was available it would be circulated to Parish Councils, through the Area Boards network, and it would be available on the Wiltshire Council website.

There was also an opportunity to meet with officers to discuss the proposals at Sheldon School, Chippenham on Wednesday 21st April at 7pm

The closing date for the consultation was 12 noon Monday 24 May 2010.  Additional information was included in the agenda pack on page 15.

b)    Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership Consultation

The Chairman described how Wiltshire Council was currently consulting on two very important draft strategies: Anti-Social Behaviour and Violence Reduction.  The strategies identified the main themes for future work and established a base from which to develop a detailed implementation plan. The consultation would run until the end of March 2010.

c)    Health Fair and Workshop

Unfortunately, due to staff shortages, NHS Wiltshire had postponed the event due to be held last Friday at the Town Hall.  The rescheduled date would be publicised as soon as it was received.

d)    Consultation on Gypsy and Traveller Sites

Wiltshire Council was preparing a strategy to identify possible land for gypsy and traveller sites including a policy for assessing the suitability of other sites the Council was asked to consider through the planning application process.

The council had a responsibility to plan for the housing needs of everyone in the Wiltshire community including planning for the accommodation needs of gypsies, travellers and travelling show people.

The number of gypsies and travellers in Wiltshire had increased in recent years and a consequence of not addressing this growing accommodation need could be increased tension between the settled and travelling community and discrimination towards the gypsy and traveller community.

An eight week consultation on the issues and general approach to identifying land for sites was to start on Tuesday 6 April until 5pm on Friday 4 June 2010. This was the first stage in the process of preparing a Gypsy & Traveller Site Allocations Development Plan Document.

The purpose of the consultation was to:

·         discuss the issues around providing new sites

·         develop a method for assessing what is a good location for new sites and

·         Invite land to be put forward to be considered as possible new sites.

All information relating to the consultation would be available from the end of March on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Judy Enticknap, Principal Conservation Officer, will give a presentation on the outcomes of the recent consultation.

Judy Enticknap, Principal Conservation Officer, gave a verbal presentation on the outcomes of the recent Conservation Management Plan consultation that updated the appraisal conducted in 2007.

The consultation comprised leafleting, a small exhibition, a meeting and copies of the plan had been made available for comment in the library and on-line.

16 written representations had been made that were yet to be analysed.  When complete, the amended Management Plan would be considered by the Chairman of the Northern Area planning committee who would decide whether it should be adopted as supplementary planning guidance or if the changes were so significant that it would need  to be referred back to the planning committee. The Area Board would be notified if the latter proved to be necessary.   When approved, the document would become a planning tool for the enhancement of the Chippenham conservation area.

The Principal Conservation Officer invited those interested to monitor the effectiveness of the plan through the Area Board via the creation of a working group.

The Area Board councillors welcomed the document which improved development control in the town centre and the riverside schemes.

Decision

A working group to be set up through the Area Board that would have a shared membership of local organisations and the Area Board.

Councillor Rooke declared a personal interest in the Rowden conservation area as a regular dog walker.  She asked if there were plans for a conservation management plan for that area.  The Principal Conservation Officer responded saying that the Wootton Bassett area, and other conservation areas which currently have no conservation area statement or management plan were higher priorities. When these were all completed,  there  would be a cyclical review of all areas.  The department was currently hoping to recruit an officer to cover the county-wide monitoring of areas and plans.

To receive an update from any partners who wish to contribute:

a.    Parishes

b.    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

c.    NHS Wiltshire

d.    Community Area Young People’s Issues Group

e.    Chippenham Area Partnership

f.      Chippenham Vision

g.    Wiltshire Police.

Updates were received from the following:

Christian Malford Parish Council – Councillor Nigel Fairley

While the parish council were pleased that Mouchel’s review of the B4069 suggested a weight limit restriction, they were disappointed that Wiltshire Council had not supported this outcome.  He requested support from the Area Board in overturning this decision.

Decision

The Community Area Board Manager to investigate the matter.

Grittleton Parish Council – Councillor Lesley Palmer

The parish council thanked the Area Board for the speedy delivery of grant money and said that the project was well underway.  The Area Board councillors were invited to visit when complete.

Biddestone Parish Council – Councillor Alison Butler

The councillor was pleased to report that the Government was being approached to ban Chinese Lanterns given their negative environmental impact.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service – Mike Franklin

The written report attached to the agenda was noted. Mr Franklin reported that the service’s preventative work was on-going: 380 homes had received fire safety checks.  The scheme had been widely publicised through household leafleting and partner events.  He invited anyone interested in fire safety advice to contact him (michael.franklin@wiltsfire.gov.uk / 07919 306037).

NHS Wiltshire

The written report attached to the agenda was noted.

Community Area Young People’s Issues Group – Richard Williams

Mr Williams reported that a funding exercise was recently completed regarding resource allocation.  He was pleased to report a small increase in funding.  The first meeting of the Youth Task and Finish group, led by Councillor Darby, was to be held on 8 March.  A donation of £1500 had been received in support of the BMX project.

Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership – Jane Clark

Mrs Clark was delighted to announce that the Action for Market Towns Conference was to be held in Chippenham on 13 and 14 October and it was anticipated that 250 delegates would attend.  She thanked the Chippenham Town Council for their efforts in helping to secure Chippenham as the event’s venue.

Chippenham Vision – John Clark

Mr Clark thanked the Area Board for endorsing the Vision’s Performance Related Grant Scheme bids at the last meeting.  He wished to remind the meeting that National Cycle Route 4 had not been closed and that further work was being done to improve it.  A full-time Vision Director, Tim Martinson, had been appointed.  Mr Clark took the opportunity to announce that this year’s River Festival would include Raft Racing.

Wiltshire Police – Inspector Kate Pain

Inspector Pain pointed out that negative comments regarding the night-time economy of Chippenham had been inaccurate.  Councillor Allen had accompanied her recently on her Saturday night duty of the town and there had been no major incidents.  Councillor Allen thanked her for this opportunity.

Four search warrants had been issued for the misuse of drugs, resulting in five arrests.  Very small amounts of drugs had been found and she commended the community for their help on this issue.

Detective Sergeant Jim Griffey, Wiltshire Police, will give a presentation on the work of its Protective Services Department, including vulnerable person teams, child protection, major and organised crime as well as Specialist Operations such as public order and critical incidents.

Detective Sergeant Jim Griffey gave a presentation on the work of the Protective Services Department.  This area was not well-known by the public and the police wished to raise their profile.  The department included a diverse range of services, partnership working, the major crime team, the operations department and the public protection department.

The following questions were asked:

Was the M4 motorway resource intensive?

Decision

Councillor Caswill agreed to forward the information to Councillor Mark Packard.

How were police able to follow up incidents involving vulnerable adults with learning difficulties?

Much work arrived via a referral process involving a third party.  The vulnerable persons units had various methods to facilitate this process including video interviewing. Partnership working aimed to increase the range of services across the community.

How much volunteer recruitment was there?

Volunteers played an active role as backroom assistants cataloguing and clerking, aiding the neighbourhood police teams distribute information and staffing police points for the delivery of information.

The Chairman thanked Detective Sergeant Griffey for his informative presentation.

Councillor Chris Caswill will give a presentation on the work of the Police Authority.  There will be an opportunity to discuss how members of the Authority can help improve communications between Wiltshire Police and local communities.

Councillor Caswill gave a presentation on the role of the Police Authority.  This was an independent body of local people accountable to the Home Secretary and was responsible for appointing the chief, deputy chief and assistant chief constables.

The authority approved the policing plan for the next three years and scrutinised the performance of the police.

Recently, the Home Secretary decoded that police forces would be measured by public confidence factors rather than performance indicators.

In future, this presentation was to be made annually prior to the setting of the police precept so that Area Boards could feed into the process.

Councillor Caswill might be contacted on chris.caswill@wiltshire.gov.uk or 01249 822088.

The following pointes were raised:

Was there a timetable for the police precept consultation?

This item would come before the Area Boards at the appropriate time.  There were regular surveys across the community.

It was important the rural areas were policed differently.  Slaughterford and Biddestone had Neighbourhood Watch schemes that involved texting rural crime information to co-ordinators.  Positive results were elicited due to the speed of communication.

Councillor Bishop of Castle Combe Parish Council pointed out that the 0845 telephone number was still slow and electronic communications improved this situation.

The Neighbourhood Policing Team for the excellent work that had been carried out in Wood Lane.

a.         Community Area Grant Scheme

To consider 1 application to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as follows:

          i.       Kandu Arts – for young people in the Young People’s Support Service (YPSS) to make a short film ‘The Domino Effect’.

Grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme areavailable from the Community Area Manager or electronically at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboardscommunitygrantsscheme.htm.

b.         Performance Reward Grant Scheme

To consider a bid to the scheme as follows:

          i.       Community Payback.

Community Area Grant Scheme

Wiltshire Council members were asked to consider one application seeking 2009/10 community area grant funding.

Decision

Kandu Arts was awarded £300 for young people in the Young People’s Support Service to make a short film ‘The Domino Effect’.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant criteria and the project related to Wiltshire Council priorities through encouraging participation in positive activities and the promotion of ideas about safe, cohesive and resilient communities.

Performance Reward Grant Scheme

Wiltshire Council members were asked to consider one bid seeking endorsement from the Area Board.

Decision

The Community Payback project was strongly supported by the councillors and the bid was put forward for consideration by the Performance Reward Grant panel.

The Cabinet Representative will talk about his responsibilities for leisure, sport and culture including heritage, museums and arts, and respond to any questions.

The Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture spoke of his work and main responsibilities.  Wiltshire Council was undertaking a major review to evaluate the various facilities and services it had inherited.  This would create a platform of evidence from which to move forward.

The Workplace Transformation Programme was working with a scrutiny task group was considering workplace changes and also an overview of leisure facilities and the Council’s use of assets.

Councillor Wheeler was working closely with the NHS to increase activities and also working on joint facilities with the Ministry of Defence and schools.  Work was ongoing with Councillor Grundy (Education) regarding unused school facilities during holidays.

The arts budget for 201-11 was £820,000 and an Arts Development Officer, Meril Morgan, had been appointed.  Tom Craig, Head of Heritage and Arts, was working with the History Centre.  Further information was available from Mr Craig (07885 288580).

On the subject of the Olympiad Leisure Centre, Councillor Wheeler stated that DC Leisure was doing good work running the facility.

If the proposed new housing allocation was to transpire, funding for leisure would take into account an increase in leisure demand.

Decision

Councillor Wheeler agreed to send written answers to the questions he had received from Jane Clark (Chippenham Area Partnership) and John Clark (Chippenham Vision).

The point was made regarding the role of arts in the general well-being of a community.

Councillor Noblet (Chippenham Town Council) stated that S106 monies were traditionally allocated to affordable / environmental housing leaving little for leisure facilities.  While the Town Council’s resources were stretched, they had felt compelled to appoint their own arts officer given the perceived lack of support from Wiltshire Council.

Councillor Lesley Palmer of Grittleton Parish Council asked how the Rural Arts Scheme was to be continued given its reduced funding.  The scheme would be considered across the county as part of the review.  The arts service would help local groups access alternative revenue sources outside the county to benefit the rural areas.

Decision

It was recommended that the Communications Team give greater publicity to this scheme.

Councillor Paul Darby will give an update on the work of the Task and Finish Group to date.

Councillor Darby gave the date for the next meeting of the Youth Task Group as 9.30am on 8 March 2010 at the Wiltshire Council offices in Chippenham.

Parvis Khansari, Service Director, will present a report from the Highways Department regarding the possible traffic management options available for Rowden Hill.  [Report to follow.]

Parvis Khansari, Service Director, and Councillor Judy Rooke both thanked Martin Rose, Principal Highway Engineer, for his report on possible traffic management options for Rowden Hill.  While Mr Khansari was disappointed that the proposal for a mini-roundabout was not recommended, he said that the solution would potentially lead to rat-running.

Councillor Rooke also expressed her disappointment that the mini-roundabout was not considered a feasible option but she was pleased that a pedestrian refuge had been recommended.

The Area Board members considered the recommendation that a refuge at the junction was considered to facilitate improved pedestrian crossing movement and that it was added to the reserve scheme list for 2010.11, subject to the availability of budget.

Decision

The Area Board members fully supported the recommendation.

The Operational Flood Working Group (North) would like to present an information document and receive any information on flooding in the Chippenham area.

Councillor Allen introduced the flood survey, a project to map all flooding across the county.  Survey packs were available from the Community Area Manager after the meeting, to be returned at the following meeting on 10 May 2010.  It was requested that all parish councils complete the forms, even those with no flooding, in order to create a ‘complete’ picture.

A Flood Fair was to be held at the Olympiad Leisure Centre on 14 April from 10.00am to 2.00pm.  Town and parish representatives were encouraged to attend.

Ray Lane, Head of Service Delivery (Chippenham Town Council), will present a joint application from Chippenham Town Council and Chippenham Garden and Allotment Society to request the transfer of land from Wiltshire Council under the Community Asset Transfer policy.

Councillor Howard Greenman was elected to the chair for the duration of this item.  Councillors Allen, Darby, Douglas, Packard and Phillips left the room for the discussion of this item.

Councillor Howard introduced the item, stating that the future use of the land should be considered carefully.  There was a shortage of allotments and the residents should be involved at the earliest opportunity.

Ray Lane, Head of Service Delivery (Chippenham Town Council), requested that the Area Board support the town council’s application for asset transfer in order to increase the number of allotments which would reduce the long waiting lists.

Concern was expressed at the possible other uses that this land may fall to without restricted covenants.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to defer the decision pending further details and consultation with the local residents.

Parvis Khansari, Service Director, will provide an update on issues received and actions taken since the previous Area Board meeting on 25 January 2009, and will include the following:

a)    the update report on the Bath Road car park

b)    Community Speed Watch.

Parvis Khansari, Service Director, introduced an update on Community Issues.  The update report on Bath Road Car Park was noted.  Further details were to be discussed at the working group’s meeting to be held on 10 March 2010 and the outcomes be brought back to the next Area Board meeting.

Applications to the Community Speed Watch scheme were invited.

The Chairman will invite any remaining questions from the floor.  The meeting is reminded that the arrangements for future meetings are set out in the attached Forward Plan.

The Chairman drew the meeting’s attention to the Area board Review to be held at the Corn Exchange in Devizes at 7.00pm (refreshments from 6.30pm).

She asked for two Area Board members and a parish councillor to volunteer to attend the next Area board Co-ordinating meeting to be held on 8 April at 10am at the Wiltshire Council offices in Monkton Park, Chippenham.  This (ABC) meeting was to consider the items that would be brought to the next Area Board meeting.

Decision

Councillor Nina Phillips, Peter Hutton, Maurice Dixson and Nigel Fairley agreed to attend the meeting.