Minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the George Ward School.

The Chairman introduced Lynn Gaskin, (Wiltshire Council service director for the Melksham area board) and John Brady, (Wiltshire Council cabinet member for economic development, planning and housing) who was in attendance for this meeting.

The Chairman then requested that all the Wiltshire Council members in attendance introduced themselves to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllr Mark Griffiths and John Crook, (Melksham town council).

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 September 2009 were agreed as a correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman, with the following amendment:

Noted - that agenda item no.8, Melksham town council partner update, that Councillor Richard Wiltshire had made the point that Melksham town council were still unhappy at the apparent lack of progress on the proposed A350 Bowerhill link road.

Lynn Gaskin (Service Director for the Melksham Area Board), gave a brief video presentation which outlined how Wiltshire Council currently spent it’s budget and the budget setting process for 2010 – 2011.

Attendees were requested to partake in an interactive ballet box session which gave them an opportunity to say in which areas they would like to see the Council’s budget spent, the results of the questionnaires that attendees had completed would be announced at the end of the meeting.

Wiltshire Police:  Inspector David Cullop updated the meeting on current policing activities in the Melksham community area. The Inspector reminded the meeting of possible house burglaries over the Christmas period and of the “Lock it or lose it” campaign which offered good practical advice on home security.

The written update distributed with the agenda pack was noted.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service:  The written update distributed with the agenda pack was noted.

NHS Wiltshire: The written update distributed with the agenda pack was noted.

It was noted by Georgie Agass, (NHS Wiltshire) that, Melksham residents were unhappy at the current 24 hour nursing team cover provided by NHS Wiltshire within the Melksham area, that the service was only operated from 8am – 7pm.

A request was therefore made that the Melksham Area Board engage NHS Wiltshire requesting that Melksham has a proper 24 hour service reinstated.

Decision

It was agreed that the Melksham Area Board would monitor consultation between local GP’s and NHS Wiltshire and that Cllr Mike Mills, (Melksham Without PC) would update the Board at the next meeting.

The Town Council, Parish Councils and partners were given the opportunity to give any updates,

The Chairman invited Richard Wiltshire, (Melksham town council) to give the town council update.

Points made included:

• That the town council were awaiting the deliberations of Wiltshire Council on the town centre CCTV project in order to proceed with it.

The Chairman thanked all partners for their respective updates.

a. Melksham Community Area Partnership – request for funding

MCAP had requested a sum of £5,500 in order to fund future activity for the 2009/10 financial year.    A debate ensued as to the amount of core funding that the Melksham Area Board would allocate to the Melksham Community Area Partnership,   It was also pointed out that Wiltshire Council had offered to make up the difference between the £3333 pro rata funding allocation suggested and the £5500 requested by the CAP.

Decision

That the Melksham Area Board would allocate £3,333 to the Melksham Community Area Partnership in request for funding this sum of money was a pro rata amount for the remaining period of the 2009/10 financial year and that it was noted that Wiltshire Council would allocate a further £2167 to make up the £5500 requested by the CAP.

It was noted, the importance of the Melksham Community Area Partnership moving forward with the support and funding from the Melksham Area Board.

b. Community Area Grant Scheme

Board members were asked to consider ten applications seeking 2009/10 community area grant funding.

Cllr Richard Wiltshire addressed the Area Board on behalf of Melksham and District French Twinning Association.

Peter Bates addressed the Area Board on behalf of the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics.

Mrs J.Savage addressed the Area Board on behalf of Seend Trust and Community Centre.

Mrs King addressed the Area Board on behalf of Atworth village hall and recreation ground.

Cllr Jerry Wickham addressed the Area Board on behalf of Keevil Parish Council.

Decision

1.      Melksham and District French Twinning Association - Had applied for a grant of £970 towards the cost of promotional material to advertise events to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the twinning of the association.  This application was deferred until the 24 March 2010, Melksham Area Board meeting.

2.      Seend Parish Council - Had applied for a grant of £1250 towards the cost of a speed indication device (SID) to reduce speeding through their village.  The Board members voted to defer the decision until the parish council can ensure the board that all options have been considered, and that a permanent VAS would offer the best solution.

3.      Melksham Trust - Had applied for a grant of £1000 to plant 9 large specimen trees in town centre sites.  This application was favourably deferred until the 24 March 2010, Melksham Area Board meeting to enable Melksham Trust to provide the board with further information.

4.      Melksham Forrest Activity Centre Group - Award £5000 for the widening of a road leading to a football field in Melksham Forrest.

5.      Wiltshire School of Gymnastics - Award £4800 for the training and qualification of gymnastics staff as coaches and judges. 

6.      Seend Trust and Community Centre - Award£1,200 for the refurbishment of the stage area and replacement of fire escape doors. 

7.      Semington Parish Council – Award £249 for the purchase and installation of a litter bin in Littlemarsh.  Noted that Cllr Roy While abstained from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Chairman advised the meeting of the process of how local issues would be addressed, that the board were keen to try and address area issues that do not belong just to the town and parishes.

a. Economy  & Employment in Melksham

Paul Johnson – (Knorr-Bremse) gave a verbal presentation as to why his company relocated to Melksham and how the town and region needed to evolve to encourage further business growth.

Points made included:

• Access via the proposed A350 Bowerhill link Road is much needed by companies based on the Bowerhill industrial estate.
• Better rail links are an essential if commerce and industry is to grow in and around Melksham.

• A better route strategy needs to be developed, if Melksham wants to grow as a centre for commerce and industry.

Decision

That Cllr John Brady will convey to the Cabinet of Wiltshire Council, that Melksham needs the proposed A350 Bowerhill link Road to be constructed.

b. King Street Lorry Park

Cllr verbal update for Cllr Jon Hubbard.

Points made included:

• A review is taking place which will look at alternative sites for HGV’s, this survey should take around four months to carry out, with the report available in May 2010.
• Things are progressing to find a permanent, long term solution to this issue.

c. Wiltshire 2026 Consultation

Cllr verbal update for Cllr Rod Eaton.

Points made included:

• Over 200 responses have already been received, and the consultation has now been extended until January 2010.

• Residents can still have their say in how Melksham is developed in the future.

• Cllr Eaton has put together his own response which will be forwarded to Jim Sherry, (Wiltshire Council).

The Chairman thanked everyone for their updates.

Any other urgent questions of public concern

First Aid Stations – local GP’s are interested in running this service that would be located at surgeries across the town.

Decision

That a letter would be sent to NHS Wiltshire requesting more information on this proposed service, this topic could then be discussed at a future meeting of the Board.

Town Centre Improvements – that the temporary free one hour parking scheme is transferred from Church Street to the Bank Street, Lowbourne and Union Street car parks whilst the temporary one way system is in operation.

Decision

That Cllr John Brady would follow this proposal up.

Speed Limit Review – a review of speed limits on A and B class roads was now complete and the strategy for dissemination and implementation has been signed off by the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Councillor Dick Tonge.

Detailed results and background information would be sent on a CD to all Parish and Town Councils by late December / early January and this would be followed by an eight week period for comments to be returned.

Attendees were requested to partake in the interactive ballot box session that would form part of the “Wiltshire Council’s Spending Priorities” presentation.

Lynn Gaskin gave the results of the meeting’s earlier vote on how the attendees viewed the Council’s spending priorities.

Top 3

1. Maintenance of existing roads.

2. Adult social care / Traffic management

3. Youth services

Bottom 3

1. New road management and building.

2. Museums

3. Planning

The Chairman thanked everyone for taking part.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and requested that evaluation forms were completed.

Wednesday 3 February 2010 at Broughton Gifford village hall.

Wednesday 24 March 2010 at the Rachel Fowler Centre, Melksham.