Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Salisbury Area Board and invited the members of the Board to introduce themselves.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·         Cheryl Hill, Salisbury City Council

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following changes:

·         Minute 11 (The Maltings – Public Engagement), final bullet point, add: “…and that consultation would also include people from outside the city.”

·         Minute 17 (Community Area Transport Group), under decision, delete point 4.

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

None.

The Chairman will give an update on outcomes and actions arising from previous meetings of the Area Board.

In addition, to note that the Chairman is minded not to take any funding items to the 14 March 2013 meeting, in view of the proximity to the local elections in May.  As such, the Area Board will endeavour to deal with any outstanding budget and grant matters at the meeting on 10 January 2013.  The next meeting thereafter to consider funding items will be 27 June 2013.

The Chairman reported that the Marketplace scheme was now progressing to the design stage, and that the proposals for New Canal Street were available on the Area Board website.  The weighbridge had been lifted to see if the mechanism could be preserved, however it had already been removed.  The Disabled parking would be relocated before the Christmas market.  Designs were being produced for consultation on the layout of benches and lampposts, and this would come for a decision to the Area Board in January.

The Chairman sought the agreement of the Area Board to a proposal that no funding decisions should be taken at the March 2013 meeting, in view of the proximity to the elections on 2 May 2013.  While the Area Board members supported the principle of seeking to avoid any perception that the impending election would influence grant decisions, the point was also made that this would leave a 6 month gap between opportunities to apply for grants.  It was also considered that the Area Board had never taken grant decisions based on political views, but based on the relative merits of the application. 

Upon being put to the vote, the motion that the Area Board would take no grant decisions at the March 2013 meeting was a split vote at 4 in favour and 4 against.  The Chairman declined to use his casting vote, and so the motion was NOT CARRIED.

The Chairman also noted that he had agreed to a change to the order of the agenda, as some speakers needed to leave to attend another meeting.  As such, the items 12 (Salisbury Transport Strategy) and 14 (Traffic Wardens) would be taken immediately.

To receive an update on the Salisbury Transport Strategy, as discussed at the Extraordinary meeting of the Area Board in March 2012 and deferred from the September Area Board meeting.

Allan Creedy, Head of Sustainable Transport, presented the background to the Transport Strategy, referring to the Core Strategy, and the 9,910 additional dwellings and 10,900 additional jobs which were planned for the city by 2026.  The projected increase, and the allocated sites within the Core Strategy, helped inform transport planning, in terms of how to manage the anticipated increase in journeys.

It would cost an estimated £25 million over 14 years to mitigate the effect of the projected growth, which equated to roughly £3300 per dwelling.  This would be funded partly by the new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), and partly by other sources of funding such as Local Sustainable Transport Fund, Highways Agency “Pinch Point” funding, Better Buses, and funding available through the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

It was noted that information on the Transport Strategy which was available on the Council’s website was quite complicated and technical.  A new summary document was being prepared and would be shared shortly with the Councillors, prior to being published online.

Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, acknowledged that the Transport Strategy documents had not been produced as originally planned, and this was down to a reallocation of resources to priority areas within the department.  However, the document was currently being prepared which would set out the main junctions and funding arrangements.  Supplementary documents would then be produced which would address the detail of various aspects, for example Accessibility, Cycling, Rights of Way, and Parking.

Councillor Tonge also referred to a successful bid to the local sustainability fund which would see £1.4 million coming to Salisbury for improvements to the Station and charging points for electric cars.  The Better Buses partnership was also delivering real benefits for the City.

The Chairman invited questions and comments:

·         Responding to questions regarding the timeframe, Allan reported that the initial theme documents would be ready by the end of 2012.

·         It was also noted that the Transport Strategy was linked to the Air Quality Action Plan, and Allan undertook to find out what stage this plan had reached in terms of development.

·         Councillor Tonge commented that there was a balance of views whereby some people were more concerned about air quality, and other were more concerned with keeping car parking charges low, and so this simple solution to improving air quality was not universally popular, as had been proven by the petition over car parking charges when these had been increased in 2011.

·         It was noted that Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) would be restricted to localities, and that a certain percentage (yet to be determined by government) would be controlled by the local Parish Council.

The Chairman noted that information on the consultation regarding Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was set out in the agenda pack at pages 19-22.  The consultation was open until 12 November.  (Note: Subsequent to the meeting, the consultation was extended until 5 December).

To receive an update from the Community Area Partnership.

Debrah Biggs, Chairman of “Our Salisbury” the Salisbury City Community Area Partnership (SCCAP), gave an update on the work of the Partnership, reporting that the partnership had been involved in the Purple Flag bid, contributing through the Community Safety theme group. 

Debrah updated the meeting on other on-going work involving the Waste & Recycling, Education, and Transport theme groups.

SCAAP would be running a Participatory Budgeting event on Monday 3 December in the Arts Centre, to facilitate a public decision on how to allocate the youth funding which was available to the Area Board; this would then be ratified by the Area Board at its next meeting. (Note – Subsequent to the meeting, the date of the Participatory Budgeting event was change to 10 December).

To receive an update from the Shadow Community Operations Board (COB) and to appoint the following to the:

·         Solomon Rimer - Wider community (public)

·         Mike Claydon (Reserve: Anne Trevett) – User groups (SW Mencap)

Andrew Foster, Project Manager, gave an update on the work of the Shadow Community Operations Board (COB) in relation to the Salisbury Campus proposed for the Five Rivers Leisure Centre site.

A written copy of the update was circulated and a copy is attached to these minutes.

The Area Board was also asked to agree the appointment of 2 new members of the COB, as set out in the agenda:

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board agreed the following appointments to the Shadow Community Operations Board:

·         Solomon Rimer, community representative; and

·         Mike Claydon, user group representative.

Laurie Bell, Director of Communications at Wiltshire Council, gave a presentation looking back at the events of 2012, and referring to the huge number of people who had been involved in Wiltshire. 

Laurie referred to the pictures on the screen and the film which had been shown before the meeting, as a reminder of the Queen’s visit to Salisbury in May, and the Olympic Torch relay, the Olympic Torch evening event at Hudson’s Field along with other iconic moments of the year in Wiltshire.

Estimated figures from the Police showed that these events were attended by a total of 225,000 people; over half the population of the county.  This had generated an additional spend of £1 million on the days in question, with many traders reporting repeat business as a result of those days.  B&Bs and Hotels in the county had reported unprecedented business on those days, and the Visit Wiltshire website had received its biggest ever number of hits during 2012.

The publicity generated by the events had also been huge, with an independent media company valuing the coverage of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee event in Salisbury as £191K, and the Olympic torch relay and Hudson’s Field event at £890K.  In addition, the footage of athlete Michael Johnson carrying the Olympic Torch at Stonehenge had become one of the iconic images of the games, being used on the BBC coverage, and the Coca-Cola advert.  The value of this in terms of advertising for tourism in Wiltshire was estimated at £2.7 million.

The cultural and social benefits of the events were also huge, although much harder to quantify, but it was considered important that the legacy of the events should be built on and captured for future years.  A Steering Board had been set up to help generate and promote projects to focus on positive outcomes from the events of 2012.

The Chairman thanked Laurie for the presentation and invited comments and suggestions on what could be done in the city, to ensure a lasting benefit from 2012:

·         City Makers – it was suggested that volunteers could be recruited to welcome tourists to the city, and to offer help, advice and directions.

·         Salisbury through the ages – The City Council was already planning a 1 day event for the summer, to celebrate Salisbury’s history.

·         Salisbury Music Festival – this had been suggested following the success of the Hudson’s Field event

·         Further street parties.

·         Fine Art Trail – it was noted that there was already a heritage trail, and that an Art Trail was being considered for next year.

The view was also expressed that some traders had suffered a drop in business as a result of the events, and that the event on Hudson’s Field had damaged the grass so that it could no longer be used by the rugby club.

To note the recent changes to the Wiltshire Council mini-recycling site at Waitrose and any comments arising.  A briefing note from the Head of Waste Management is attached for information.

The Chairman explained that this item was on the agenda following comments regarding the changes to the recycling facility at the Waitrose car park.  The cardboard and plastics collection had been withdrawn, as part of the harmonisation of waste and recycling collection services, and following decreasing uses as a result of kerbside collection of cardboard and plastics.

The view was expressed that the decision to remove the plastic and cardboard recycling from the site was inconsistent with the Council’s duty to promote recycling, and the need to reduce residual waste to avoid rising landfill tax.  As such it was requested that the collection of plastic and cardboard be reintroduced to the site.

During discussion the following comments and questions were raised:

·         Although it was understood that most mini-recycling sites had been changed due to the harmonisation of kerbside waste and recycling services, it was less clear why the Waitrose site had been changed, as it was extremely well used.

·         Could the same be considered for the Southampton Road Tesco recycling site?

·         Could litter bins in the city be changed to include recycling?  The Chairman reported that this was being considered for a funding bid to the Area Board.

·         A number of local businesses took their recycling to the mini-sites, to avoid having to pay for landfill.  There was a risk that reducing the availability of the sites would result in higher costs for local businesses, and more waste sent to landfill.

·         It was hoped that the Area Board could be given the collection figures for the site in question, and for the City area, rather than the statistics in the agenda which appeared to refer to Wiltshire as a whole.

It was noted that the mini-recycling sites were invaluable for those residents who lived in the city, due to the lack of space for storing recycling boxes in terraced houses and flats.  As such, it was considered that there should be an easily accessible site within the city for people to take their surplus plastics and cardboard recycling.

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board agreed to recommend to the Cabinet Member for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control Services, that the collection of plastics and cardboard recycling be reintroduced to the mini-recycling site at Waitrose, Salisbury, unless it can be proven that those collections at that site were not viable or worthwhile.

To receive an update on how this scheme is being set up.

Simon King, Senior Trading Standards Officer, gave a presentation on the Lorrywatch scheme, which sought to identify lorries breaking weight restriction regulations.

The schemes were run on a similar system to the Community Speedwatch networks, whereby a group of volunteers and a local coordinator received training and gave an allocated amount of time each week when they could monitor the roads and bridges with weight restrictions, and then report the lorries to Trading Standards for action.  In some areas the Community Speedwatch and the Lorrywatch schemes had been combined.

A Lorrywatch scheme had been running in Laverstock for just over a year.  The results were encouraging with 105 lorries reported, of which 30 were found to have infringed the weight restrictions.  This gave an indication that around two thirds of lorries were using the roads legally, i.e. for making deliveries or collections.

Another scheme was in place at Lanford, and there was interest in Quidhampton.  The meeting was asked to consider a scheme at Bemerton Village, along to Fisherton, as there was a proven history of lorries getting stuck on this road.

It was suggested that a scheme could be considered for the whole city, to help establish a larger base of volunteers.  Another suggestion was for clearer and increased signage, to discourage HGV drivers from using unsuitable roads.  Councillor Chris Cochrane offered to coordinate the setting up of the scheme.

Responding to a question, Simon confirmed that anyone spotting a lorry using a road illegally could report it to the Police or to Trading Standards.

To consider applications for community grants, and funding for Area Board projects with the opportunity for questions from the public.

The Chairman referred to the report set out at page 43 onwards in the agenda.

In relation to the Area Board project bid for 30mph wheelie bin stickers, it was suggested that this could be expanded to include stickers for 20mph zones.

Decision

Salisbury Area Board agreed to award £420 towards the Area Board project to provide 30mph and 20mph stickers for wheelie bins.

Reason

The project meets Councillor-led project criteria as detailed in the Officer’s report attached to the agenda.

Decision

South Wilts Mencap was awarded £2,700 towards a series of themed fun days throughout 2013.

Reason – The application meets the Community Area Grants Criteria 2012/13 and demonstrates a link to the Community Plan, as detailed in the officer’s report attached to the agenda.