Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Richard Britton welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board and introduced Nick Darbyshire - Policy Officer, standing in for Tracy Carter.

And to note the following briefing papers (attached):

·         Gypsy and Traveller Sites

·         Special Educational Needs (SEN)

·         Contaminated Land Strategy for Wiltshire

·         Air Quality Strategy for Wiltshire

The Chairman drew attention to the consultation papers which were attached to the agenda and urged anyone who had a particular interest in any of them to participate in the consultation exercises. The consultation papers were:

·         Gypsy and Traveller Consultation

Wiltshire Council was in the early stages of finding land for gypsy and traveller sites.  Information would be available from the end of April on the Council’s website (www.wiltshire.gov.uk) and in libraries and Council offices.  A number of drop in events were also planned – details were available on page 3 of the agenda.

·         Consultation on Services to Children with Special Educational Needs The Council was in the process of consulting on the provision of services to Children with Special Educational Needs.  Details were available on page 5 of the agenda and on the Council’s website.

·         Contaminated Land Strategy for Wiltshire

The Council was in the process of consulting on the above document. Details were available on page 7 of the agenda and on the Council’s website.

·         Air Quality Strategy for Wiltshire

The Council was in the process of consulting on the above strategy. Details were available on page 9 of the agenda and on the Council’s website.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·         Councillor Leo Randall, Board Member

·         Councillor Julian Johnson, Board Member

·         Tracy Carter, Service Director

·         Tony Reynolds, Landford Parish Council

·         Mike Franklin, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the last ordinary meeting held on 4 February 2010 and the extraordinary meeting held on 15 March 2010 (copies attached).

The minutes of the last ordinary meeting held on 4 February 2010 and the extraordinary meeting held on 15 March 2010, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

a)     Feedback from the Health Fair held on 11 March 2010, including an interactive quiz using new handheld voting technology and a discussion on the health statistics for the community area (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment attached).

b)     First Responder Schemes – Tony Barron, Chairman of NHS Wiltshire to discuss the importance of First Responder schemes and their future development in the area.

Feedback from the Health Fair:

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager gave feedback on the  Health Fair held on 11 March 2010. A Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) had been produced, detailing statistics broken down into Community Areas, so that each Area Board could pick out particular issues which were of concern in their local area.

The Chairman announced that the Southern Wiltshire Community Area had been ranked as highest (ie worst) in Wiltshire for alcohol consumption, which was probably also linked with anti-social behaviour, domestic violence and road traffic accidents.

Solutions to issues highlighted by the JSNA would be developed by the Area Board working closely with Parish Councils, Partners and other organisations.

An interactive quiz had been produced, based on the health statistics for Wiltshire as a whole. People participated in the quiz by using a hand held voting device.

Community First Responders:

Tony Barron, Chairman of NHS Wiltshire then spoke about the benefits of having a local First Responder scheme to be on hand within minutes of accidents and emergencies andprovide care until the ambulance arrived.

Community Responders were people who had been specifically trained by the ambulance service to attend an emergency and provide immediate care to a patient. Such care is vital in helping people survive until an ambulance attends the scene.

Two new schemes had recently been formed in Landford and Winterslow, and an existing scheme was operational in Whiteparish. After training, volunteers were issued with a green kit bag and worked on a rota basis. 

During discussion Tony Barron urged people to make sure that their house name or number was visible from the street, as this was often the cause for delay when ambulances were trying to find remote properties.

The Chairman asked the Parish Council representatives to take that message back with them and to spread the word via parish council publications, where possible.

Anyone interested in taking part in the First Responder Scheme should contact:

Leanne Lewis on 01380 738916 or email leanne.lewis@wiltshire.sja.org.uk

To receive a presentation on Reinvigorating Neighbourhood Watch Schemes in our community area.

Sergeant Richard Goodman of Wiltshire Police (Salisbury Neighbourhood Policing Team) gave an update on reinvigorating Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Schemes within the Southern Wiltshire Community Area. He introduced Alan Watling who as a volunteer was dedicating sixteen hours a week to the scheme in the Salisbury area.

Sergeant Goodman explained the structural arrangements for NHW schemes and also talked of the virtues of having a local scheme as it could be an effective way of preventing crime.

Local people in their own communities were crucial in detecting something which was out of character or suspicious, and could report it to the police for investigation. This would assist in cutting crime and opportunity for crime to take place.

The Chairman and Inspector David McMullin thanked both Sergeant Goodman and Alan Watling for their work.

Anyone interested in forming a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in their area should complete and return the form attached to these minutes (Appendix A).

To receive a verbal update from the Chairman on the County wide approach to street light switching off/dimming at night.

The Chairman explained that each Community Area had been allocated £5,000 to promote the County wide approach to street light switching off/dimming at night.

The project would involve establishing individual streets/areas that were most suitable for inclusion in the project.  The technology used to switch off the street light between 11.30pm and 5.30am would cost approximately £50 per street light.

Payback would be realised in four years if the light was switched off during the night, and if only dimmed, the payback would be nine years.

It was important that the police were fully engaged in this consultation since , as Inspector McMullin explained, statistics indicated an incease in crime where there was no street lighting and community safety concerns must be carefully considered.

The Chairman asked Parish Representatives to work in their Parishes to establish particular sites for consideration in the scheme, involving residents and Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager agreed to write to Parishes and relevant stakeholders to launch the consultation and invite proposals for potential sites.

The Board is aware that there are several problems facing the community area regarding Rural Transport; three key issues being:

·         Transport issues relating to access to activities in the evening and at the weekend for young people.

·         Transport issues relating to access to amenities and leisure, particularly in the daytime for the elderly and isolated.

·         Issues in relation to school traffic in specific locations.

Round table discussions seeking solutions to these problems will be held and feedback sought.

The Chairman explained that the Board was aware that there were several problems facing the Community Area regarding Rural Transport. Three examples were given in the agenda, these were:

·         Transport issues relating to access to activities in the evening and at the weekend for young people.

·         Transport issues relating to access to amenities and leisure, particularly in the daytime for the elderly and isolated.

·         Issues in relation to school traffic in specific locations.

People were then asked to take part in discussion around their tables to come up with solutions to the problems above. Each table was then asked to feed back one example. These solutions, along with others produced on the night are listed below:

·         Free small ‘community buses’ to town, for the elderly, isolated or those on benefits.

·         Small buses running more regularly, especially after 6pm and on the weekend.

·         To set up car share schemes.

·         Smaller buses for rural routes, to accommodate the smaller winding roads.

·         Combine buses on school routes in lieu of taxis.

·         Means testing of eligibility of bus passes.

·         Cross boarder funding for school transport.

·         A late night bus service once or twice a week.

·         More use of community mini buses/school buses, when not in use (eg. The ‘Tisbus’ scheme but for the Southern Wilts area).

·         Better use of existing facilities within the community eg. Church/school minibuses.

·         Link Schemes could be extended to young people and the elderly.

·         Protection of existing bus services.

·         Implementation of a yellow school bus scheme.

·         A reduction to the cost of public transport, as too expensive.

·         Make it easier to use the available minibuses, less vigorous CRB checks etc.

·         Improvement to the public transport timetables/more frequent.

·         Moped lease through Community First.

·         Better provision for cyclists, with an implementation of cycle ways for all areas.

·         A bus service that was scheduled to stop at the train station at useful times.

·         Sunday public transport service from villages that currently don’t have them.

·         Community buses scheduled to take groups of young people to youth clubs etc.

·         Community bus to take elderly residents to the doctor’s surgery (Winterslow).

·         Timetables that were more user friendly.

·         Carry out a usage survey to establish if changes needed to be made to the current service.

·         Local shared transport schemes.

·         Better co-ordinated usage schemes with collections from hospital etc.

·         Improve public footpaths to encourage walkers (ask landowners to give access across private land).

·         Reinstate railways/re-open stations.

·         Fare concessions for the elderly and young people.

·         Pick up Taxi service, for the community (commercial basis).

·         Find volunteers for driving duties, for the minibuses that Trafalgar School has put into the community scheme for use.

·         Schools to update their travel plans, to work to reduce the number of cars accessing them each day.

The Chairman explained that the ideas provided would be analysed to establish whether there was a common theme which could be explored and developed.

Liam Tatton-Bennett from Community Transport at Community First explained that there was already a link scheme and bus services  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive an update from the Community Plan Steering Group.

Mick Brown, Chairman of the Community Plan Steering Group gave an update to the Board, some of the points covered were:

·         The old community plan had been reviewed by the working party and issues still current would be incorporated into the new plan.

·         Existing parish plans would also be drawn upon for community issues for inclusion in the plan.

·         New emerging issues would be drawn up and this would element would need thorough consultation.

·         A draft list of issues would be brought to the next Area Board meeting in June which would act as the launch pad for a community wide consultation on the plan over the subsequent months.

·         The plan would then come back to the Area Board again in October for final consultation. The group was therefore on track to deliver the new plan by the end of 2010.

To receive an update from Tom Bray, Community Area Manager (report attached).

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager spoke briefly about the Community Asset Transfer policy, explaining that so far, two Parish Councils in the area were using the policy to take on pieces of land, to run themselves for the benefit of the local community.

Further to this he updated the Board on various tasking meetings on specific issues. He also reported that there had been a positive outcome on one of the issues in Morgan’s Vale where the Council would be installing a new junction to overcome road safety concerns.

Hilary Glyde, Community Librarian, informed the Board that a new stop for the mobile library had been included at Partridge Way. The stop would be advertised to local people in various locations around the area.

People were reminded to use the issues system, as it was a good way to get their issues recorded and investigated by the board. The issue sheet is available on line at :

https://forms.wiltshire.gov.uk/area_board/report_issue.php?area_board=Southern%20Wiltshire

The Board will consider grant applications received for funding from the Community Grants Scheme (report attached).

The Board considered three applications for funding from the Community Area Grants scheme, and one request for the funding of operational costs from the Community Plan Steering Group. Applicants that were present were invited to speak in support of their application. The Board Members asked questions, after discussion the Board voted on each application.

Decision

The application from Morning Star was deferred.

Reason

The Board would investigate:

1.    Whether the Salisbury Area Board would be willing to consider awarding 50% of the grant total, as although the location of the venue was in the Southern Wiltshire Community Area, the users of the scheme quite often came from Salisbury Community Area.

2.    Whether a wider source of funding from Wiltshire Council as a whole could be obtained.

Decision

Alderbury Preschool was awarded £990.25 to purchase storage for the equipment of a disabled pupil subject to other suitable sources of funding being investigated prior to payment

Reason

The grant met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2010/11 and would enable the school to provide facilities for disabled children now and in the future.

Decision

Downton Diamonds Netball Club was awarded £843 to purchase start up equipment.

Reason

The grant met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2010/11 and would provide a useful sporting opportunity for women in the Community, that wouldn’t otherwise be available.

The Chairman advised the Downton Diamonds Netball Club to contact their Parish Council to enquire if any R2 funding was available to fund larger pieces of equipment that may be needed in the future.

Decision

The Community Plan Steering Group was awarded £200 to fund the operational costs of their next five meetings.

Reason

To support the running costs of the Community Plan Steering Group.

To note the Forward Plan (copy attached).

The Chairman gave special thanks to Councillor John Brady for his work in facilitating a meeting regarding affordable housing in Coombe Bissett.

Councillor Brady congratulated the Southern Wiltshire Area Board on behalf of the Cabinet, for coming top in a survey on Area Board participant satisfaction.

Future Meeting dates:

Thursday 17 June 2010, 7.00pm at Coombe Bissett Village Hall

Thursday 19 August 2010, 7.00pm at Alderbury Village Hall

Thursday 14 October 2010, 7.00pm at Pitton Village Hall

Thursday 16 December 2010, 7.00pm at Trafalgar School, Downton

Thursday 3 February 2011, 7.00pm at Winterslow Village Hall