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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Online Meeting

Contact: Tara Shannon  Senior Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
Note No. Item

6.30pm

71.

Welcome

To welcome those present to the meeting.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting, ran through the procedures for remote meetings and invited Members to introduce themselves.

 

72.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from:

 

·       Ida McConnell – Devizes Indies

·       Cllr Judy Rose – Devizes Town Council

·       Cllr Nigel Carter – Devizes Town Council

·       David Geddes – Station Manager, Devizes, DWFRS

 

73.

Minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2020.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the last meeting were considered. It was;

 

Resolved:

 

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2020.

 

74.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

6.35pm

75.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive the following announcements through the Chairman:

 

·       Healthy Us Weight Management Programme

Healthy Us is a free 12 week course open to anyone living in Wiltshire, aged 18 or over, with a BMI of 28 or above. Referrals for the virtual courses starting in January 2021 are now being taken. Please see https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-weight-adults for more information or email health.coaches@wiltshire.gov.uk.

 

·       COVID-19 Community Packs

Wiltshire Council has created an updated community pack of information to help support communities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it contains information and advice on issues such as restrictions, testing and support. Find the pack online here: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-coronavirus#community-pack

 

·       Census 2021

Census day will be on March 21, but households across the country will receive letters with online codes allowing them to take part from early March. The census is a once-in-a-decade survey that gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. We encourage everyone to take part. See  https://census.gov.uk/ for more information.

 

·       Local Plan Review Consultation

As part of the Local Plan Review consultation, taking place from Wednesday 13 January to Tuesday 9 March 2021, Wiltshire Council are planning to host a series of live online consultation events for communities and other stakeholders. The Devizes event will be held online at 7.00pm, Wednesday 27 January. For more information or to book your place please go to https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planning-policy-local-plan-review.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman made the following announcements:

 

·       Healthy Us Weight Management Programme

The Chairman gave details regarding the ‘Healthy Us’ free 12 week course. Which was open to anyone living in Wiltshire, aged 18 or over, with a BMI of 28 or above. Referrals for the virtual courses starting in January 2021 were now being taken. Please see https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-weight-adults  for more information or email health.coaches@wiltshire.gov.uk.

 

·       COVID-19 Community Packs

The Chairman gave details on the latest COVID-19 rates and reiterated the governments ‘Stay at Home’ message and that everyone should act as if they had the virus. It was also announced that Wiltshire Council had created an updated community pack of information to help support communities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which contained information and advice on issues such as restrictions, testing and support. The pack could be found online here:www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-coronavirus#community-pack  or see page 13 of agenda for more details.

 

·       Census 2021

Census day would be on March 21, but households across the country would receive letters with online codes allowing them to take part from early March. The census was a once-in-a-decade survey that gave the government the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. Everyone was encouraged to take part. See  https://census.gov.uk/ for more information.

 

·       Local Plan Review Consultation

As part of the Local Plan Review consultation, taking place from Wednesday 13 January to Tuesday 9 March 2021, Wiltshire Council were planning to host a series of live online consultation events for communities and other stakeholders. The Devizes event would be held online at 7.00pm, Wednesday 27 January. For more information or to book your place please go to https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planning-policy-local-plan-review. Supplement 1 also gave more details.

 

·       North Wessex Downs VIP project

The North Wessex Downs VIP project was looking to replace a 4km section of the National Grid’s overhead electricity transmission line to the North of Devizes with an underground connection. 11 pylons would be permanently removed from the landscape significantly enhancing views north of Devizes in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Further details could be found at http://northwessexdowns.nationalgrid.co.uk/project. It was hoped that the team could update at a future area board.

 

·       Wiltshire Council Investing in Devizes

·       The Chairman invited Cllr Philip Whitehead to update the meeting. Cllr Whitehead explained that Wiltshire Council invested in all Wiltshire towns and wanted to highlight investments Wiltshire Council had made in Devizes in the last few years. For example:

o   The Market Place and Shambles had been transferred to Devizes Town Council at no cost;

o   The canal towpath near Devizes was widened to 1.2m and resurfaced along its length;

o   Over £350,000 worth of works to improve London Road/Windsor Drive;

o   Many other roadworks, such as Bath Road and Nursteed Road;

o   Over £250,000 to refurbish Devizes Library to create the Hub;

o   Working with businesses to enable them to stay in Devizes, for example purchasing land for them to use long term; and

o   The Devizes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

6.40pm

76.

Community Status Report

To receive an update from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager on the Community Status Report. The report aims to identify issues and priorities for the community for 2021.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager, gave a presentation on the Community Status Report which could be found at page 17 of the agenda. The officer explained that usually every 3 or 4 years a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) event was held to identify priorities for the area. However, the last JSNA had been cancelled due to COVID-19. The Community Status Report aimed to cover that process. It could also assess how the Devizes area was dealing with COVID-19 and the possible future needs that it might create.

 

Factual data gathered for the JSNA and the results of a community survey were combined with data from partners such as the Police, the health sector, schools, parish councils and the voluntary and community sector in order to create the report.

 

It was hoped that the report could use the intelligence gathered to highlight a few key priorities for the area board to focus on.

 

After launching the report at this meeting, the CEM stated he would be contacting groups with questions relating to the current situation and how things were going. The report would be updated and brought back to the March meeting to be finalised and fed back to the community. The board could then work with partners on taking the priorities identified forwards.

 

The Chairman thanked Andrew Jack for his presentation.

 

Cllr Cuthbert joined the meeting.

 

6.45pm

77.

Partner Updates

To receive updates from the following partners:

 

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       Schools updates

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       CCG Wiltshire

·       Town and Parish Councils

·       Devizes indies

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Updates were received from the following partners:

 

·       Wiltshire Police

Sgt Gareth Edwards gave an update to the meeting. Sgt Edwards introduced Tina Osborn as the new inspector for the Devizes, Pewsey and Marlborough Area. Sgt Edwards stated that in December in Devizes 105 crimes had been reported and 113 incidents. These figures were lower than the previous December’s, which was thought to be as a result of restrictions and the lockdown, as less people were out and about. In response to a question from the Chair it was stated that there had been a lot of social media reports of dog thefts around Wiltshire. Dog thefts had increased nationally, however in Wiltshire eight dog thefts had been reported, which whilst very distressing for those involved was lower than one would think given the concerns raised. So the figures did not support the social media commentary. People were advised to ensure working dogs were kept securely and to be extremely careful if selling a dog, for example not selling from your house or giving people your location.  

 

·       Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

Angus Macpherson, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) gave his update at the end of agenda item 5, Chairman’s Announcements, as he had to leave the meeting early in order to attend another meeting. The PCC explained that the maximum increase that was allowed to the police precept was £15 a year for a band D property, which was what the OPCC was asking for. This equated to a band D property seeing an increase of £1.25 a month. It was highlighted that Wiltshire Police were the third lowest nationally funded force in the country. The PCC detailed what had been delivered in the past year. Such as establishing a new rural crime team; recruiting many more officers and investing in a cyber-crime digital investigations unit. The extra £15 a year would help to fund an increase in officers and bolster community policing teams. Even with the uplift in precept, the force would still need to make savings of over £1 million. The OPCC was consulting on the proposals. More information could be found at www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk and the survey was located at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PNHBKSG and was open until 2 February 2021.

 

In response to questions it was stated that the £15 was approximately a 7% increase. The percentage increase paid would be approximately 7% across all bands, however for properties in lower bands, the figure would be slightly less than £15 and properties in higher bands would pay slightly more than £15. However, band D was the measure used.

 

It was also stated that Wiltshire Police were working hard to make sure that people complied with COVID-19 regulations, 294 fixed penalty notices had been issued in relation to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Since the latest lockdown restrictions were announced the force was moving away from education and towards enforcement. The deputy PCC sat on a scrutiny committee which analysed all tickets issued to ensure they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

7.15pm

78.

Air Quality

·       To receive an update from the Devizes Air Quality and Sustainable Transport Steering Group.

·       To approve the revised Terms of Reference for the group.

·       To receive an update from Jason Salter, Head of Service Passenger Transport.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Richard Gamble, Chairman of the Air Quality & Sustainable Transport Group gave an update to the meeting. A positive meeting had been held on 15 December 2020 and thanks was passed on to all attendees.

 

Cllr Gamble reported that air quality data continued to be favourable in almost all locations. The Air Quality Action Plan was being updated across the county using Aecom consultants and the group would be feeding into that process.

 

The group looked at the amount of Section 106 funds held for the area for public transport and for other sustainable transport purposes and noted that the Town Council had some material funds from the Community Infrastructure Levy.

 

Cllr Gamble proposed 3 motions: that the minutes of the AQST be noted; that the revised Terms of Reference (on page 37 of the agenda) be approved and that the board confirm an additional £10,000 of the s106 money be allocated towards the Outline Strategic Business Case for Devizes Gateway Station as a contingency. All motions were seconded by Cllr Peter Evans, and voted on separately, it was:

 

Resolved:

 

·       To note the minutes of the AQST meeting held on 15 December 2020.

·       To approve the revised Terms of Reference of the Devizes Air Quality and Sustainable Transport Steering Group.

·       To approve that an additional £10,000 of s106 funds be allocated towards the Outline Strategic Business Case for Devizes Gateway Station as a contingency.

 

Cllr Gamble announced that the next meeting of the AQST group would be held on 16 February 2021 via MS Teams.

 

The Chairman invited Jason Salter, Head of Service Passenger Transport to give an update to the meeting.

 

Jason Salter explained that bus services were running at about 30% of normal patronage and the bus industry as a whole was being largely subsidised by government grants.

 

It was confirmed that the Devizes Town Service was not ceasing. The contract with the previous operator had come to an end and therefore was put out to tender. A new operator, Faresaver, would start running the service on 1 March 2021 with a schedule identical to the current timetable. The contract had been awarded for 2 years which was shorter than usual. The Passenger Transport Unit were also looking at how buses could be used in the future to support transporting people to and from the Devizes Gateway Station.

 

The officer stated that there was over £500,000 of s106 money available, but the pandemic situation made it difficult to plan long term. A consultation on how to best spend these funds would be undertaken later in the year. The urgent care medical centre in Marshall Road should be opening in 2022 and it was confirmed that appropriate public transport would serve the site.

 

Better Deal for Buses had awarded Wiltshire Council £671,000 in March 2020 towards enhancing services or restoring lost bus services. A consultation had been undertaken last Spring, but another consultation would be undertaken to ensure that requirements had not changed. A direct bus service from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

7.25pm

79.

Environmental Sustainability

To receive an update from Sustainable Devizes.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Graham Martin of Sustainable Devizes to give a presentation to the meeting.

 

Mr Martin started by detailing hypothetically how Spring may look in around 2030 – 2040. This scenario detailed how COVID was an ongoing annual problem; temperatures were higher; technology had improved and was more prevalent; traffic was reduced; people worked less; and social credits were in place. Compared to today’s standards people would be poorer in terms of wealth, however they would be living in a sustainable society which valued health and community.

 

The 1987 UN definition of sustainability was given as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

 

Mr Martin explained the 3 pillar model of sustainability where the 3 pillars feeding into sustainability were economics, society and environment. This could create complex solutions.

 

It was stated that a good way to look at sustainability was as a venn diagram, where the three spheres of economics and business; social and culture and the environment overlapped to produce sustainability. It was explained that the key to looking at sustainability was to work across climate/environmental science and social sciences (economics, psychology and sociology) and adaptation planning was key.

 

Mr Martin hoped that the Devizes Area Board could engage in sustainability by:

 

·       Forming part of a ‘Sustainability Alliance’.

·       Having a standing agenda item at the Devizes Area Board on sustainability.

·       Planning for the future by undertaking a ‘future thinking’ exercise. 

 

Mr Martin felt that it was important to do this as the Devizes Area would be able to help shape its future. With a unified view of the future, coherent transition plans could then be developed, rather than have to make sudden adaptation plans in response to events. With coherent plans in place the Devizes area would be in a better position to leverage resources from the government, the local authority, business and voluntary organisations.

 

As stated previously Mr Martin felt that Transition Planning was key. This should include ‘Future Thinking’ as a method, where past and present trends could be used to develop scenarios. Whilst unlikely that any one scenario of the future would play out fully, one could pick the bits of the scenarios you really wanted to happen and the ones to be absolutely avoided and make plans.

 

Mr Martin explained that we should plan for:

 

·       Changing work patterns

·       Robotics & automation

·       COVID-19 Debt

·       Aging population

·       Social Care

·       Inequality of wealth

·       Soil degradation

·       Loss of biodiversity

·       Food insecurity

·       Air quality

 

Mr Martin requested that Devizes Area Board would engage as detailed above. The Chairman thanked Mr Martin and opened the topic up for discussion.

 

A debate followed where Members stated that as a democratically elected body it was a difficult topic. For example, regarding the implementation of cycle lanes, there were lobby groups on both sides as people often had opposing views. So, when the Council consulted, there was often not a clear mandate or any clarity on how to proceed.

 

Mr Martin stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

7.35pm

80.

Open Floor

Residents are invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

Minutes:

There were no questions from the floor.

 

7.45pm

81.

Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

To consider any updates and any recommendations arising from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG).

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Cllr Richard Gamble as Chairman of the CATG to update the meeting.

 

Cllr Gamble stated that there had been a successful meeting of the CATG held on 15 December 2020 and thanked those who had attended. There had been over 30 issues on the list for the CATG to consider and a remaining budget for the current financial year of only £3,000, so one of the most important tasks was to reduce the list to manageable levels and to ensure that parishes contributed as much as they could if they wanted projects to be delivered.

 

Cllr Gamble highlighted some of the topics discussed by the group. The full notes of the CATG meeting were available at pages 39 to 56 of the agenda and the next meeting of the CATG would be held on 16 February 2021. At the end of the discussion it was;

 

Resolved:

 

To note the minutes of the CATG meeting on 15 December 2020 and approve an additional £400 towards SID deployment work at Potterne.

 

7.50pm

82.

Local Youth Network

To receive any updates on youth work in the Devizes area.

 

To consider the following application for Youth Grant Funding:

 

·       Bromham Youth Club, £747.00, towards new technology for online meetings.

 

Please see grant report at item 14 of the agenda for further details.

 

Minutes:

Keith Brindle, Chair of Wiltshire YFC and vicar at St James’s, gave an update to the meeting. It was explained that youth work had been very difficult since the implementation of restrictions and lock down. Some funding had been obtained towards the end of the last lock down in order for detached youth work to be undertaken. Over 300 teenagers had been surveyed regarding their health and wellbeing and a report on the findings was currently being written. This was well timed and would help ascertain what support could be offered. However, the situation was difficult due to a lack of youth workers. Keith Brindle also stated that he had been working with the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living and their approach was very inspiring and could possibly be adapted to youth work.

 

Cllr Cuthbert commented that the mental health of young people during lock down was a troubling issue and felt that enabling young people to meet online safely was a good idea, so was encouraged by the youth grant application. The Chairman stated that Wiltshire Council was also looking at youth provision and mental health provision.

 

A representative of Bromham Youth Club spoke in support of their grant application to purchase technology to enable young people to attend their online youth club. The application was considered and it was;

 

Resolved:

 

To grant Bromham Youth Club, £747.00, towards new technology for online meetings.

  

7.55pm

83.

Community Engagement Manager Update

To receive any updates from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager.

 

Minutes:

Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager gave an update to the meeting regarding area board funding. It was explained that in 2019/20 Wiltshire Council, over all area boards, had invested over £1,312.718 into 689 community led projects. The total value of the projects supported by the 18 area boards was £6,112,577. Which meant that for every £1 invested, an additional £4.65 worth of community value was added, this had increased from £3.49 in 2018/19.

 

There had been over 4,461 volunteers who helped to support the projects and the number of people who participated in the projects was 40,227. A breakdown of the types of projects that were supported by each funding stream was also given. It was felt that area board funding was very worthwhile and represented a good outcome on the funds invested.

  

8.00pm

84.

Area Board Funding

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

 

·       Potterne Cricket Club, £4,079.00 towards a new outfield mower.

·       The Bridge Project, £700.00 towards a Thrive Hub worker providing learning support for children.

 

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Representatives of the organisations applying for Community Area Grant Funding spoke in support of their applications. The board considered the applications and it was;

 

Resolved:

 

·       To grant Potterne Cricket Club, £4,079.00 towards a new mower.

·       To grant The Bridge Project, £700.00 towards a laptop for a Thrive Hub worker providing learning support for children.

 

85.

Urgent items

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

 

8.10pm

86.

Close

The next ordinary meeting of the Area Board will be held on 15 March 2021 at 6.30pm.

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and announced that the next area board meeting would be held on 15 March 2021 at 6.30pm.