Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Cllr Richard Britton welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board and introduced;

Cllr Dick Tonge - the Cabinet member for Highways and Transport;

Graeme Hay – Head of Service, Local Highways and Streetscene;

James Hazlewood – Senior Democratic Services Officer, standing in for Lisa Moore.

To receive announcements from the Chairman, including:

·         Appointment of Chairman and Vice Chairman for 2010/11

Area Boards and Localism

The Chairman drew attention to the new national Coalition government’s Localism Agenda, in particular the ‘Big Society’, where community groups would assume more and more of the functions and services currently delivered by government. This had mixed implications for local councils in general, but seemed to mean that Area Boards would retain and increase their importance.

Guest

The Chairman also introduced Wendy Lansdown of Cambridgeshire County Council – Neighbourhood Liaison team, who would be observing the meeting.

Re-election of Area Board Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen

A change in the Council’s Constitution was to be made so that the election of a Chairman and Vice-Chairmen would take place in the Community, at the applicable meeting of the Area Board rather than Full Council.

Apologies for absence were received from:

• Ian Rennie, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue
• Tracy Carter, Service Director – Waste Managerment Services
• Nick Evans - New Forest National Park Authority

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 15 April and 18 May 2010 (copies attached).

The Chairman explained that re-election of Area Board Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen had been determined at the Council meeting of 18 May 2010.

• Councillor Richard Britton had been re-elected Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for the municipal year 2010/2011.
• Councillor Leo Randall had been re-elected as Vice-Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for the municipal year 2010/11.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meetings on 15 April and 18 May 2010 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive updates from Partners, including Town and Parish Councils.

A document detailing the proposals for additional funding for youth services has been attached for information.

Officers: Tony Nye, Youth Development Co-ordinator and Emma Procter, Extended Schools Network Co-ordinator

The Chairman asked the floor and panel for any updates from partners:

Winterslow Parish Plan

Mick Brown – Member of Parish Plan Steering Group, explained that a parish  plan digest had been produced and progress was now well advanced with regard to the completion of the Parish Plan. The Steering Group wished to seek input from the Area Board at this stage.

Traffic Lights along the A30 at Junction with Pheasant Road

A member of the public raised the issue of three traffic light sets on a stretch of road, which were in his opinion very confusing as the three were within sight of each other. He thought the situation was highly dangerous and responsible for causing confusion at the junction.

Cllr Chris Devine, the local member for that area, assured the Board that he would take up the issue formally with Cllr Dick Tonge, the Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, by midday the following day, and push for urgent action.

Coombe Bissett Short Mat Bowling Club

Following the award of Area Board funding to Coombe Bissett Short Mat Bowling Club, David Germain from the club reported that the funding had been used and passed on the club’s thanks to the Area Board for their support.

Additional funding for Children and Young people in the Community area

The Area Board considered a report on additional funding for Children and Young people in the Community Area which showed proposals for the use of additional funding (£4,109) allocated to the Area Board to spend on projects for children and young people. The proposals were:

1)    Two activity days to be organised in August/September 2010, in different parts of the Community Areas for children aged between 10 and 16.

2)    Places for local primary aged children to access holiday clubs for at least a part of the summer holidays

3)    Funding / investigating minibus provision to enable children of various ages to take advantage of the free provision of activities being offered at Downton Leisure Centre and Five Rivers Leisure Centre over the summer holidays.

4)     Explore the issues relating to access to the Bluz ‘n’ Zuz events and if all other avenues of support had been exhausted, set up transport which ensured an equality of access to the event.

Tony Nye, Youth Development Co-ordinator introduced those present to proposals 1 and 4 in the report and Emma Proctor, Extended Schools Network Co-ordinator outlined proposals 2 and 3.

A discussion ensued and the key points were as follows:

• A representative of the Community Area Young Persons Issue Group (CAYPIG), argued that the funding should be spent on a wider range of ages, including 16-18 year olds.
• Emma Proctor clarified that with regards to proposal 2, the report concerned only the granting of £1500 which would provide places for five children at the camp for 15 days.  Transport costs would also apply, but these would be met from another funding source.
• Councillor Chris Devine felt that given the limited sums of money the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider the Draft Community Area Plan. This launches the community wide consultation on the Plan which closes on 10 September 2010 and to take part in an interactive session.

Tony Reynolds, Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Community Plan Steering Group (SWCPSG), introduced the draft issues document which had been produced by the Group. He began by thanking the Councillors and core working group members who had worked very hard to produce the document to be considered by the area board.

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager, then ran through the background to the plan, and explained that the issues for the community identified by the core working group had been split into five key areas: Transport, Crime and Community Protection, Rural life and Environmental issues, Economy and Community. The community’s goal in each area was encapsulated in a key principle, which helped identify the relevant issues to be addressed and actions necessary to do this. Separate tasking groups for these areas would be established.

The development of the plan was ongoing and as part of this there would be consultation over the next 12 weeks before the plan was finalised. Using hand-held voting devices the audience were asked for feedback on the draft issues document, and broadly agreed that the issues identified by the working group were correct.

The Chairman, Richard Britton then thanked every member of the working group. He explained that the final proposals would come back for approval at the October meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board. Councillors were invited to add their comments on the plan.

Councillor Chris Devine stated that he was interested particularly in addressing housing issues – a major challenge for the area was to provide housing and facilities suitable for families, to ensure that the area’s villages did not become retirement communities.

To receive an introduction from Graeme Hay, and update on the annual programme of highway maintenance and transport improvement schemes.

Officer: Graeme Hay, Head of Service - Local Highways and Streetscene (South).

Graeme Hay, Head of Service – Local Highways and Streetscene (South), introduced himself, and explained the rationalisation of former County Council and Salisbury District Council functions.

He then ran through the main maintenance projects which had either been completed or were ongoing in the Southern Wiltshire area. In Winterslow in particular good work had been done on a number of sites. The projects mentioned were the programmed works, whilst many more other works were ongoing.

The Chairman asked for any questions or queries from those present. Questions included:

• The Role of the Parish Steward

The key objective of Parish Stewards was to contribute to the safe condition of local roads. Councillors had met with Greame Hay to discuss the Parish Steward scheme which would feature on the agenda in October.

• The Drainage Siphon in Pitton

The issue of a drainage siphon in Pitton which needed cleaning was raised and it was explained that the failure to clean it out was causing some concern and frustration as Pitton and the surrounding area was severely flooded around seven years ago. Graeme explained that he was familiar with this particular area and problem and explained that standard equipment used by Wiltshire Council and its contractors could not deal with the problem. Specialised equipment was being brought in, and it was hoped that the problem would be dealt with in the next six weeks.

• Recurrent potholes/breaking seals around filled potholes

Graeme explained that since being in post he had instigated a switch to a new pothole-filling material. The best way to deal with the problem of potholes was prevention, and the new surface dressing machines would help do this. Where it appeared a pothole had failed repeatedly, quite often it was not the filled pothole, but multiple failures in a similar area which gave the impression of recurrent potholes; again, he hoped new procedures and techniques will help deal with this in the future.

To receive information on the process for indentifying and funding transport schemes in the Community Area.

Cllr Dick Tonge

Councillor Dick Tonge, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport began by adding his comments on a number of issues raised by members of the audience.

Firstly he returned to the issue raised by a member of the public concerning dangerous traffic lights on the A30. He stated he would have further discussions with colleagues and local members to look at this, as a matter of urgency.

Secondly with regards to flooding issues in general, the unitary council had set up two Flood working groups, for the North and South to address flooding issues in these areas. In the north flooding generally took the form of flash flooding, as a result of the predominantly clay soil, whilst in the South, flooding was often as a result of high water boards in the chalk soil.

Thirdly he added that the Parish Steward scheme in general had eliminated some unnecessary bureaucracy – as the principle of the scheme was for the Parish Stewards to spot areas where roads where unsafe, and undertake repairs/take action immediately.

Local Transport Plan Funding Allocation

Councillor Dick Tonge announced £250,000 of funds to be spent on small local road repairs, and allocated via the 18 Area Boards. These funds had previously been spent on a case-by-case basis by officers in Trowbridge. He suggested that the Area Board form a Local Transport Plan working group to identify schemes they wished to progress using the discretionary highway budget that had been allocated to them.

Further information was circulated at a later date to the Area Boards, which included the following details:

The allocation of £13,676 to the Southern Wiltshire Area Board would be for capital funding and could only be used to provide new and improved infrastructure.  It could be used for schemes that would improve safety, increase accessibility and sustainability by promoting walking, cycling and public transport, and improve traffic management.  It could not be used to fund maintenance schemes or to pay for revenue functions such as passenger transport.

Due to the complexity of assessing and selecting a scheme from the many requests, and the potential time that such an agenda item would take, it had been proposed that recommendations were made to the Area Board by a Community Area Transport Group (CATG).

Members of the CATG would be identified by the Community Area Manager in conjunction with the Chairman, and agreed at the Area Board.  The number on each Group should not exceed ten and that the meetings take place during the day. Meetings would be attended by relevant officers from Wiltshire Council and would be chaired by the Area Board Chairman.

It was envisaged that the first meeting of the CATG would include a half day workshop covering the following matters:-

·         Background to the Council’s transport policies and transport funding.

·         Review of requests received in the community area.

·         Assessment of schemes.

·         Discussion on the need for a feasibility study

·         Discussion on future funding

·         Selection of scheme(s)

·         Recommendation to Area Board.

Councillor Chris Devine added that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

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

The Board noted the report by Tom Bray, Community Area Manager on the current status of issues logged through the online system. He also gave verbal updates on the following items:

Rural Transport

The availability of transport for young people in the area continued to be an issue. The WAVeSS (Wiltshire All Vehicle Sharing Scheme) pooled community transport scheme was an interesting initiative which could offer solutions, although it was reliant on volunteers. Similar pooled transport schemes for the elderly could work well and gave much needed independence; some overlap between services could be achieved.

Laverstock Schools Congestion

Councillor Ian McLennan gave an update on the plans to relieve congestion in the areas.

The aim was to create a safe zone for pupils and other pedestrians, with an implementation date of September 2011. A budget request would be pursued through the Schools’ travel plans, which would be signed off this September in time for the following September (2011).

He wished Councillor Dick Tonge to give approval and a clear signal for officers to get the work done by April/May 2011, to allow the scheme and new layout to settle in and become used and adjusted in time for the new school intake the following September.  Councillor Tonge indicated that he would reply in due course.

Old Sarum Community Acquisition

Councillor McLennan gave an update on the Old Sarum Community Room which the Board funded last year. This had been a big success, and was proof that the Area Board concept works.

Finally 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 will also consider endorsing a bid for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme.

The Board considered six applications for funding through the Community Area Grants scheme and one application to endorse an initiative for the Performance Reward Scheme. Applicants were invited to speak in support of their application. The board members asked questions, and after discussion the Board voted on each application.

Performance Reward Scheme

Play Ranger Initiative, Action for Children, to provide structured outdoor play schemes - £15,000.

Martie Sandwell of Action for Children outlined the application.

Decision:

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board supported the bid from Action for Children to go forward for consideration by the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

Community Area Grants

Decision

Morning Star was awarded £2,224 towards the cost of the trailer only, and subject to the Community Area Manager working to support another application to the Salisbury Area Board for the remaining funds.

Reason The element of the application relating to the trailer met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2010/11 and would support the community gardening scheme and be of benefit to the people of Winterslow.   It was also considered that, as the service aided homeless people and those with substance abuse problems from the wider Salisbury area, it may be appropriate for the Salisbury Area Board to consider granting some funds to the group to support their activities.

Decision:

The application from Coombe Bissett Parish Council was deferred until the next meeting of the Board, pending clarification of the new procedures and criteria surrounding the Local Transport Plan Funding allocation.

Reason

To allow officers to investigate whether the application would be eligible for funding through the new scheme if the Area Board was minded to support it.

Decision

Redlynch Village Hall Management Committee was awarded £2,500 towards refurbishment of the Village Hall.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11, and would support the refurbishment of this community facility.  However, only 50% of the funding was awarded in view of the relatively large sum requested. 

In relation to the application from Redlynch Parish Council, David Green clarified that sources of R2 funding were not available.

Decision

Redlynch Parish Council was awarded £4,284 towards laying safety impact absorbent material on the children’s play area.

Reason The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2010/11 and would increase the safety of this community facility.

Decision

Old Sarum Community First Responders was awarded £1,534 towards equipment and consumables to set up and run the scheme.

Reason The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11 and had a demonstrable benefit to the community.

Decision

Laverstock Youth Club was awarded £2,000 towards set up costs and equipment.

Reason The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11 and would benefit the local community.

To note the appointments to outside bodies which were made by the Board last year and that they will stand as per the attached document for 2010/11.

The Board confirmed the appointments to outside bodies listed in the agenda.

A copy of the Forward Plan is attached for information.

Those attending the Area Board were invited to help improve future area boards by reviewing the evening using their hand-held voting devices.

The next meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board was scheduled for Thursday 19 August, 7pm at Alderbury Village Hall and Social Club.