Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Corsham Area Board meeting and stated that the board was very pleased to be visiting Lacock.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Cllr Jennie Hartless – Box Parish Council

Cllr Peter Anstey – Corsham Town Council

David Martin – Clerk to Corsham Town Council

Mike Franklin – Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Richard Poynton – Member of the public

Sian Walker – Service Director

Graeme Morrison – Marketing Officer

Christine Reid - CCAN

Kevin Gaskin – CCAN

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2012.

Decision

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2012 as a correct record.

Referring to minute no. 14 the Chairman confirmed that written responses had been sent to the people who had submitted questions at the previous meeting.  Arising from one question regarding waste collection a change had been made to the service and a successful outcome had been achieved.

To declare any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

To receive any chairman’s announcements including:

·         Localism Act Briefing

·         Paths for Communities – Grants for Parishes

·         Youth Funding Scheme

(a)  Paths for Communities – Grant Opportunities for Parishes

The Chairman reported that Natural England had launched a new Paths for Communities Grant scheme enabling community groups and partnerships to improve their public rights of way network.  Applications should be made by the end of December 2013.

(b)  Youth Funding Scheme

The Chairman explained that the Area Board would be repeating the successful “Dragons’ Den” Youth Funding event.  The Board has £4,700 this year to award to projects that involve young people.

Applications

·     can be for bids of any amount up to a maximum value of £1,500.

·     must be for groups/young people from Corsham Community Area.

·     can be from an individual young person supported by a group of young people,

·     must not be made for anything that is illegal or immoral or that promotes religious or political beliefs.

·     must NOT be for items that are statutory requirements e.g. school books.

·     must be completed within 12 months of receiving the funding.

A panel will review the grant applications and invite a shortlist of applicants to present their ideas to the area board on 22 November 2012.  The deadline for applications is Friday 5 October 2012.  Applicants will have about two minutes at the meeting to present to the board why their project should receive funding.

The grant criteria and application form were circulated with the agenda papers.  If you have any questions, need an application pack or need help to develop your idea into an application please contact Dave Roberts, Community Area Manager, on dave.roberts@wiltshire.gov.uk  or 01249 706380 – Work or 07979 318504 - Mobile.

(c)  Briefing Document on Localism Act

The Localism Act received royal assent on 15 November 2011.  The Council has produced a detailed briefing document on the Localism Act.  The briefing document is available on line using the following link http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/localismact.htm

(d)  Questions

Mr Tony Peacock asked the following questions and the Chairman responded as set out below:

Question 1

In line with the Localism Bill there is growing interest amongst local people to develop a Neighbourhood Plan for South West Chippenham within the context of the emerging Wiltshire Core Strategy. Given that the development spans the parishes of Lacock, Corsham and Chippenham who would take the lead on developing such a plan?

Response

In Wiltshire, parish and town councils initiate and lead the process of developing a neighbourhood plan. Wiltshire Council advocates a steering group approach led by the town or parish council. The steering group should be governed by a lead ‘qualifying body’ i.e. either a parish or town council or councils working in partnership with one another. Members of a group should also include other local stakeholders as well as members of the community. The steering group will then be jointly responsible for managing the various stages of the process including scoping and delivery.

In the case of South West Chippenham, it might be appropriate for Lacock Parish and Corsham and Chippenham Town Councils to work collaboratively together instead of one  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

(a)  Wiltshire Police

Inspector Martin Schorah reported on the following issues:

·         The Community Speedwatch project was progressing well.

·         A male from Swindon had been charged with three knife-point robberies in Corsham and Chippenham.    He had been remanded in custody.

·         New powers had been introduced in respect of young people drinking and possessing alcohol.

·         Crime figures were positive with vehicle crime down by 43% and anti-social behaviour down by a third.

·         The “Jackfest” festival that had been held at Castle Combe had caused large traffic jams and work was now taking place to ensure that this did not happen in the future.  A working group including the Police had been set up.

·         Double yellow lines in Lacock were being strongly enforced this year and a meeting regarding the effectiveness of the enforcement would take place in October.

(b)  Fire and Rescue Service

The Area Board noted the report submitted by the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service which was circulated with the agenda papers.

(c)  NHS Wiltshire

The Area Board noted the report submitted by the NHS Wiltshire which was circulated with the agenda papers.  Concern was expressed about the new contract which had been awarded to deal with NHS 111 call handling.  This would now be dealt with at Almondsbury in Bristol and there were some questions about the effectiveness of this arrangement.

ACTION:  Marie Todd to inform Maggie Rae, Corporate Joint Director of Public Health and Wellbeing, of the concerns raised.

(d)  Box Parish Council

The Box Rock Circus which was supported by a grant from the Area Board is now being built and should be completed in a couple of weeks.  There is an “informal” opening at 11am on Thursday 9 August.

The following link gives more information  http://geologywestcountry.blogspot.co.uk/

(e)  Colerne Parish Council

The Jubilee Fete had been a great success, particularly the junior gymkhana.  The skateboard park project was now gathering momentum and consultation would begin shortly.  Two possible locations had now been identified.

(f)   Lacock Parish Council

A website was currently being developed and was likely to go live within the next week.

(g)  CCAN

Paul Kefford reported on the following issues:

·         It was important to avoid Corsham Area Board meetings clashing with Parish Council meeting dates as had happened on a couple of occasions recently.

·         Following the consultation event held in February work would soon begin on the priorities for the Community Plan.

·         The CCAN AGM will take place on 11 October 2012.

·         There was some disappointment regarding the Showell Farm proposals identified in the Core Strategy document.  An outline of the plans for the site would be on display at Corsham Library until Saturday 28 July.  Comments could also be sent on sarah@sfplanninglink.co.uk

·         Corsham had been identified as one of 40 towns likely to benefit from improved technology.  It was very important to encourage superfast broadband for the area.

(h)  Shadow Community Operations Board SCOB)

The Area Board noted the report from the SCOB.  The campus project was well underway and over the next 18  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Wiltshire Councillors will consider the following application to the Community Area Grants Scheme:

Green Square Group - £1,000 to run an Olympic style fun day at Corsham Regis.

The Area Board considered an application for 2012/13 Community Area Grant Funding.  In response to a question it was confirmed that Green Square was a not for profit organisation and that the project would be run by young advisors in a voluntary capacity.

Decision

To award the Green Square Group – Young Advisors £1,000 to organise and run an Olympic style fun day in the heart of the community.

Reason

The project will provide activities for young people.

ACTION: Dave Roberts, Community Area Manager

To receive a presentation from Karen Scott, Community Manager (Volunteering Development) regarding volunteering in Wiltshire.

Karen Scott, Community Manager and Ruth Ross from Volunteer Centre Wiltshire, gave a presentation regarding volunteering in Wiltshire.

·         The Council is working with a wide range of partners to develop volunteering and to encourage people to volunteer in Wiltshire in the following ways:

Working together across all sectors

Making volunteering available and accessible to all

Ensuring volunteering is well managed, supported and recognised

Trying out new approaches to volunteering, such as ‘time credits’

·         People volunteer for a variety of different reasons such as gaining new experience and making new friends.

·         1,650 volunteering opportunities have been promoted through the Volunteer Centre in the last year.

·         The number of volunteering enquiries has doubled in last year to 2,265

·         The number of unemployed volunteers increased by 36% and half of all enquirers were aged under 30.

·         Time credits are a new way of getting people involved. and often engage people who would not normally give their time.  People gained credits for each hour they volunteered and could then spend their credits in different ways such as swimming, venue hire and with commercial partners including Bowood and Laserquest.   Over 1,000 time credits had been issued since April.

·         The following links to the time credit information on Facebook and the Wiltshire Council website give more information regarding the scheme:

www.facebook.com/chippenhamtimecredits

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshiretimecredits

·         If people are interested in volunteering they can call 0845 521 6224 to find out more.

Terry Bracher, Local Studies and Archives Manager gave a presentation regarding the Lacock archives project.

·         At a previous meeting of the Corsham Area Board it was agreed that the Council should try to purchase the Lacock archive.

·         Some slides showing examples from the archive were presented.

·         The archive currently occupies over 100 storage boxes in the History Centre in Chippenham.  The conditions are excellent for storing such archives and it would be a shame to split the archive and possibly lose it from Wiltshire.

·         The planned timetable for the purchase of the archive is:

o   31 August 2011 – Round 1 application to Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) submitted

o   November 2011 – HLF decision on Round 1 application

o   January 2012 –August 2012 – project development phase

o   31 August 2012 – Round 2 application to HLF submitted

o   November 2012 – Final decision from HLF

·         The cost of the development work is:

o   HLF grant £4,700

o   Wiltshire Council cash contribution £1000

o   In-kind contribution (National Trust) £700

o   Volunteer time valued at £5,750

·         The full cost of the project would be as follows:

Cost

o   Purchase of Lacock archive - £420,000

o   Access, participation and learning activities - £174,150

Wiltshire’s contribution (5% mandatory)

o   Cash - £10,000

o   In kind contributions - £2,750

o   Volunteer time valued at £88,500

Funding requested from the Heritage Lottery fund

o   Heritage grant - £492,900

o   Development grant - £4,700 (approved)

·         Key activities were outlined including details of planned events such as a mobile exhibition, a Lacock local history festival, family learning activities, website and mobile phone app.  Work would be carried out with Lacock, Sheldon, Abbeyfield and Devizes Schools.

·         The community could get involved in the following ways:

o   Lacock Archive forum

o   Cataloguing and indexing

o   Conservation – packaging / labelling

o   Planning promotional activities

o   Helping to organise and participate in family learning and other activities

o   Community archive website content

o   Fundraising

·         Anyone with ideas about other activities that could take place should contact

terry.bracher@wiltshire.gov.uk    or

Claire.skinner@wiltshire.gov.uk  Tel. 01249 705500

To receive an update from Fiona Turnbull from the Lacock Positive Camera Club regarding a project funded by the Area Board.

Fiona Turnbull from the Lacock Positive Camera Club gave a presentation about the club which had received funding from the Area Board to purchase a laptop and editing software.

·         The goals of the club were to:

• • Create an inclusive, enjoyable atmosphere within the photography group, which is welcoming to photographers of all standards
  • Improve individual photography skills
  • Participate in external photography competitions - holding photography exhibitions is a future goal
• The group has grown from 9 to 32 members
• Over the last 2 years the group has held 2 photography exhibitions in the village hall
• Skills had improved, several members had achieved Royal Photographic Society distinctions and members regularly compete in regional competitions
• The laptop purchased with the grant funding had made a great difference to the club and was used on a regular basis.
• The Area Board congratulated the club on its achievements to date.

·         Councillor Stuart Wheeler attended the Area Board meeting as the visiting Cabinet member.  His portfolio included responsibility for the new campus facilities across Wiltshire, the transformation project, libraries and culture along with leisure and sport.

·         The campus projects were very exciting and Corsham was likely to be the first in use.  Each campus would reflect their particular area and would include both Council services and those of other local organisations.  Eventually there would be 18 campuses across the whole county.

·         Encouraging people to take part in sport was also a very important part of Cllr Wheeler’s portfolio.

The Area Board received a report setting out recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG).  It was confirmed that Corsham Town Council had agreed to fund part of the Pickwick Road scheme.

Decision

(1)  To install double yellow lines along both sides of the entrance to St Patrick’s School and along the side of the road opposite the almshouses both to a distance as advised by the highways engineers.  The Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to be incorporated with zebra crossing at Pickwick Road, weights restriction sign movement at Neston and the waiting restrictions at Pound Pill TROs to reduce costs.

(2)  To support a bid of around £26,000 to the Wiltshire Council substantive highways funds for 50% of the cost of providing a zebra crossing on Pickwick Road and to ask Corsham Town Council to fund 25% with CATG funding the remaining 25%.

(3)  To note that David Martin, Clerk to Corsham Town Council and Councillor Peter Davis will negotiate further with Corsham Estate regarding the  new proposals for South Place Corsham as outlined in the report.

Reason for Decision

The proposals have the support of CATG and Corsham Town Council.

A question was raised regarding the proposed development at Showell Farm.  In the Core Strategy document 18 hectares of land at Showell Farm had been earmarked as strategic employment land.  The Chairman confirmed that this had not been discussed at an Area Board meeting because it was a planning issue. 

There was some concern that local residents had not had an opportunity to comment on any proposed development.  It was confirmed that when a planning application came forward for this land then local people would have an opportunity to make representations at this stage.

If anyone wanted further information on this issue they could contact Alistair Cunningham, Service Director for Economy and Enterprise at Wiltshire Council.  Email Alistair.cunningham@wiltshire.gov.uk or tel: 01225 713203.