Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Broughton Gifford Village Hall.

The Chairman introduced Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, (Wiltshire Council cabinet member for Finance, Performance and Risk) who was in attendance for this meeting.

The Chairman then introduced all the Wiltshire Council members in attendance.

There were no apologies for absence.

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

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 December 2009.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 December 2009 were agreed as a correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

a.  Community Area Partnership Representative - Colin Goodhind

b.      Wiltshire Police - David Cullop

c.      Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service – Glyn Moody

d.      NHS Wiltshire

e.      Melksham Town Council

f.        Parish Council Nominated Representatives

Melksham Community Area Partnership: Mr Colin Goodhind gave the MCAP update.

Points made included:

• Over 100 people attended a MCAP consultation event held on Sat 23^rd January at Melksham Town Hall. The partnership will be providing the board with feedback from this consultation at the March area board.

• As part of the event MCAP had compiled over sixty pages of feedback from a survey carried out on the Core Strategy consultation, this had been submitted to Wiltshire Council.

• MCAP thanked Jim Sherry, (Wiltshire Council) for his help with the consultation process.

• A waterways theme group would be established during February 2010 to feed into the development work taking place on the proposed Wilts & Berks canal project.

• There were plans to establish a Health theme group.

• MCAP were keen to foster working links with the local villages.

Wiltshire Police:  Inspector David Cullop updated the meeting on current policing activities in the Melksham community area. The Inspector reminded the meeting of the Christmas “Lock it or lose it” campaign which had offered good practical advice on home security, Insp Cullop advised that this had been a successful campaign for Wiltshire Police.

The written update distributed with the agenda was noted.

Inspector Cullop then introduced Angus Macpherson - (Independent Member of the Wiltshire Police Authority) who gave a brief power point presentation that outlined what the Wiltshire Police Authority did, who they were and what could they do for the residents of Wiltshire.

Points made included:

• The Wiltshire Police Authority wanted the opinions of local people as to their priorities for the service of Policing they received in the future.

• How much would local people be prepared to pay next year for their police force.

• What changes would they like to see in local policing.

• Where your council tax money is spent on policing Wiltshire.

• Neighbourhoods expected good response times from it’s police service.

Mr Macpherson advised that the Wiltshire Police Authority would be sending out e-mails and letters to find out just what Wiltshire residents think their Policing priorities should be.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service:  Glyn Moody updated the meeting on current Wiltshire Fire and Rescue activities in the Melksham community, it was noted that a “Black Dog” event was planned to be held on the 8 February at the Spitfire retail park in Trowbridge, these events target young people who use the retail park in their cars.

The written update distributed with the agenda pack was noted.

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

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

Melksham Without: Cllr Paul Clark (representing Cllr Mike Mills who was unable to attend the meeting) 

Cllr Clark advised that minute 6 Partner Updates of the previous meeting in the NHS Wiltshire section said  ‘…… Melksham residents were unhappy…….’ and that Cllr Mills reported that it was Melksham general practitioners who were unhappy.  Cllr Clark had sight of a number of review papers available  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

a. Wilts & Berks Canal Project, Melksham Link – a  presentation from Ken Oliver, (Canal Officer, Wiltshire Council).

b. Flood Planning Update – Jonathon Seed, (Chairman of Operational Flood Working Group).

c. Feedback from Health and Well-being Fair and Workshop, held on 28 January – a brief update of the events from Abbi Gutierrez, (Melksham Community Area Manager).

Any Other Urgent Questions of Public Concern

a. Wilts & Berks Canal Project, Melksham Link

Ken Oliver - (Canal Officer, Wiltshire Council) gave a brief presentation on the proposed Melksham link of the Wilts & Berks canal project.

Points made included:

• An exciting opportunity for Melksham to have a new waterway.

• Large and small businesses are likely to prosper from the revenue generated by this new waterway.

• New habitats for wildlife.

• Good community facilities and opportunities for volunteering groups to become involved.

• Better disabled access to the river Avon when the new link is constructed.

• Work should start during 2010, with a completion date of 2014.

The Chairman thanked Ken Oliver for his informative presentation.

b. Flood Planning Update

Cllr Jonathon Seed - (Chairman of Operational Flood Working Group) gave update on Wiltshire flood planning.

Points made included:

• The creation of Wiltshire Council had meant that one council now pulls all partner agencies together for a more joined up approach to flood planning.

• Local people have local knowledge of where their area is likely to flood, and as such need to be engaged by Parish, Town and Wiltshire Council if effective flood planning measures are to be drawn up.

• Wiltshire Council is keen to see Parish Councils set up flood working groups that can feed into the process.

• Parishes and residents are encouraged to raise flood related concerns at their Area Board, when there is a problem Wiltshire Council want to find a solution.

c. Feedback from Health and Well-being Fair and Workshop, held on 28 January

 Abbi Gutierrez - (Melksham Community Area Manager) gave a brief update of the events from the health fair.

Points made included:

• Excellent feedback was received on the day about this event, a wide range of health and well being services and organisations were on hand to give practical advice.

• A workshop by NHS Wiltshire launched the new “NHS health priorities”, which look at how towns across Wiltshire compare in health related matters.

• The participants at the workshop prioritised the need for opportunities for children to be healthy to tackle levels of childhood obesity in the community area.

• NHS Wiltshire will give feedback from this event at 24 March, Melksham Area Board meeting.

Any Other Urgent Questions of Public Concern

There were no urgent questions raised.

The Chairman to provide an update on the Area Board budget.

Community Area Grants

Councillors will be asked to consider the Community Grant Reports (attached) and vote on the following applications:

a.   Shaw and Whitley Pre School - £4,000 towards the cost of creating an outside classroom/play area and wildlife conservation area.

b.   Melksham Without Parish Council - £1,190 for the purchase of a speed indication device.

c.    Melksham Town Council - £974 to improve the street scene of Melksham High Street by erecting window graphic in empty shops in the town centre.

d.   Melksham Town Council - £3,000 towards the costs of the Melksham Food and Drink Festival.

e.   Melksham Town Council - £1,000 towards the costs of a play day.

f.  Melksham Town Council - £980 for improvements to signage in the Melksham shopping centre and car parks.

g.   Seend Play Group - £5,000 towards the refurbishment of the Lye Field Playground which Seend Play Group uses.

h.    InfoZone the Homework Club - £2,889 towards salary costs.

Performance Reward Grants Scheme

The Chairman to provide an update of applications submitted so far.

Splash – School holiday activities for vulnerable young people.

To ask Councillors to consider eight applications seeking 2009/10 Community Area Grant Funding:

Mrs J Savage addressed the Area Board on behalf of the Seend Play Group.

1.      Shaw and Whitley Pre School - applied for a grant of £4000 towards the cost of creating an outside classroom/ play area and wildlife conservation area.  This application was deferred until planning permission was granted and land use was determined.

2.      Melksham Without Parish Council - applied for a grant of £1190 for the purchase of a speed indication device.  Funding was refused, as access to such equipment is available via the Community Speedwatch Scheme.

3.      Melksham Town Council - awarded £974 to improve the street scene of Melksham High Street by erecting window graphic in empty shops in the town centre.

4.      Melksham Town Council – awarded £1000 towards the costs of the Melksham Food and Drink Festival. 

5.      Melksham Town Council – awarded £800 towards the costs of a Play Day. 

6.      Melksham Town Council – awarded £980 for improvements to signage in Melksham shopping centre and car parks. 

7.      Seend Play Group - applied for a grant of £5000 towards the refurbishment of The Lye Field Playground which Seend Playgroup uses.

The application was deferred until the 24 March meeting, in order that Wiltshire Council Play officers can meet with the play group to discuss options for equipment.

8.      InfoZone the Homework Club – awarded £2889 towards salary costs. 

Performance Reward Grant Scheme

The Chairman advised that there were two applications seeking Performance Reward Grant Scheme funding, these would be discussed at a future meeting.

The two applications were:

·        Semington sports field and facilities.

·        Steeple Ashton sports pavilion.

Splash - Performance Reward Grant application

Jayne Moverley – of Splash, (School holiday activities for vulnerable young people) gave a brief presentation of why her organisation had requested Performance Reward Grant Scheme funding.

Points made included:

• Splash was an independent charity that received no core funding only support from Wiltshire Police.

• The charity made a real difference to the lives of vulnerable young people across Wiltshire.

Decision

That the Melksham Area Board endorses the Performance Reward Grant application from Splash of £29,700.

The Chairman thanked Jayne Moverley for her presentation.

The Chairman introduced Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, (Wiltshire Council cabinet member for Finance, Performance and Risk) for her comments on the meeting.

Points made included:

·        Good to see an Area Board in a rural location.

·        Some interesting topics on the agenda, particularly the proposed Wilts & Berks canal project.

·        The Wiltshire Council budget setting for the coming financial year was nearly finalised, but that next year’s budget would be a much harder one to set.

The Chairman thanked Cllr de Rhe-Philipe for attending the meeting.

Wednesday 24 March – Rachel Fowler Centre – Melksham.

Wednesday 26 May – Venue to be confirmed.

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

Wednesday 26 May 2010 at the Seend Village Hall.

Please complete the pink evaluation sheet in your packs.

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