Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board and introduced the councillors and officers in attendance.

He informed everyone that item 9 – Changes to the Waste and Recycling Services in your area, would be filmed and posted on YouTube.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meetings held on Thursday 23 June and 21 July 2011.

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

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Transport provision for activity days

There were two young people’s activity days still to take place, these were in Downton on 30^th August and in Laverstock on 31^st August 2011. Parish councils were urged to get involved if they could assist with the provision of transport for the young people to and from the events.

Reminder to Parish Councils to log highways issues on the online Issue System

The Board had urged parish councils to use the online issues system to raise highways issues so that the Board had an understanding of the maintenance requirements of each community. Then the Community Area Transport Group would then be in a position to influence the scheduling of Highways maintenance work.

Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs)

The Board also urged communities to pin point all areas where there are concerns about speeding. Sites can then be tested using metrocount strips to determine the extent of the problem. It might be possible to set up a Speedwatch Scheme, or the site could be eligible for the deployment of a SID. At the next Area Board there will be an update on this process.

Update on Winterslow Village Design Statement (VDS)

The Chairman, on behalf of the Area Board undertook a review of the Winterslow VDS and proposed that it be endorsed by the Board as a genuine representation of the views of the village. He added that it was unknown at present exactly how much force the statement would hold until the Localism Bill was released.

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board endorsed the draft Winterslow Village Design Statement as having been produced by a genuinely representative consultation of village opinion and supports its submission for adoption as Supplementary Planning Guidance by Wiltshire Council.

Help to Live at Home

The Board noted the information attached to the agenda on the joint Council and NHS review of the services available to older and vulnerable people living in the county.

To receive feedback and an update on the actions from our special meeting held in July.

There had been a range of extremely good presentations at the last special meeting of the Area Board, which had focused on Community Safety.

The Chairman outlined some of the suggestions from the special meeting reminding parish councils that the Board would like each of them to nominate a lead member for community safety.

Questions and comments included:

• Winterslow had funded 250 30 mph wheely bin stickers of the 30mph sign. They were keen to produce a further 50 stickers for additional houses and asked if the Board would consider an application for funding these and suggested that if other villages were interested in the scheme then purchasing the stickers in a larger quantity might be more cost efficient.
• Other villages were interested in the scheme but clarification on whether it was legal to display these stickers was requested. Councillor Humphries agreed to find out and feed back to the Board at a later date.

Action: Councillor Humphries

Information provided by Cllr Humphries will be included in a report which will be attached to the agenda of the next Area Board meeting on 6 October 2011.

Tom Bray agreed to send a message out across the 15 parishes to establish how much interest there was across the community area, so that a bid for funding could be put together.

Action: Tom Bray

Councillor Keith Humphries, Cabinet Representative for Public Health and Protection Services, will give a brief overview of that area of responsibility, followed by a chance to ask questions.

o   Public health

o   Community safety

o   Environmental health

o   Trading standards

o   Licensing

o   Emergency planning

Councillor Keith Humphries, Cabinet member for Public Health and Protection Services, outlined his areas of responsibility. He explained that his portfolio was both wide and unusual and that a great deal of his time was spent working with partners outside the Council.

Current areas of Councillor Humphries work include:

·       Community Safety Partnership and Consumer Direct – currently working with the Transition Board to bring public health back into local government. Services included are breast screening, bowel screening, anti smoking schemes and tackling teenage pregnancy and obesity.

• Health & Safety – areas of work include animal health, animal movement passports and planning for the Olympics. This year work is underway to reduce the number of unintentional injuries to young children, such as scaulds and burns.

• Protection Services – Including community safety and domestic abuse. There were 2,058 reported incidents  of domestic abuse in Wiltshire in 2010, however with only 1 in 5 incidents being reported, the true figure could be much higher. The cost of dealing with the reported incidents in 2010 was £19 million.

• Food Safety – The star rating on the doors of restaurants is to be replaced with a new scheme. Wiltshire Council has won an award of £42,000 to implement the new system which is much more hygiene based.

• Environmental Health - The care of the sewers, would be moving over to the Water Authority.

• Trading Standards – Investigating internet scams, current work is underway to investigate a scam where fake vodka is being produced and sold around the county. This vodka contains high amounts of anti-freeze and is highly dangerous when consumed.

• Olympics – Responsible for Team Wiltshire, the delivery of the Olympics in Wiltshire and the nostalgia after the event. Nominations for torch bearers can still be put forward. Anyone can be nominated however the team are keen to hear about unsung heroes aged between 12 – 25 years.

Questions and comments were then taken from the room, these included:

·       Councillor Devine had contacted Trading Standards for an elderly resident who was concerned over fuel prices. They had looked into the situation the same day. He felt they were doing a good job.

• Are there any plans for development at Thorney Down Transfer Station. Answer: There is a time limited planning consent at that site which expires in 2016. There are no plans for development at that site.

Information received from Tracy Carter following the meeting:

Thorney Down Waste Transfer Station is included in our Proposed Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations document which was consulted on during 13 June - 8 Aug.

The site has been assessed and is considered potentially suitable, in principle, for composting and inert waste recycling/transfer facilities however to my knowledge no new planning application has been submitted.

An online version of the document is available to view here: http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal/spatial_planning/waste_sites/wastesitesdpd

A report on the Development Plan Document Waste Site Paper will be considered by full Council at the meeting to be held on 8 November 2011.

• How does the new food  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive an update on the various changes to waste and recycling collections for the area.

Officer: Tracy Carter, Service Director, Waste Management Services

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager asked people to take part in a short quiz on waste and recycling services, by using the voting handsets which had been circulated previously. This was a fun way to establish how much people knew about which services were available and which items could be recycled under the new scheme.

Tracy Carter, Service Director for Waste Management then gave a presentation to the Board on the implementation of the new services.

This item was filmed and has been uploaded to YouTube to enable other people who were unable to attend the meeting to see it. The item can be viewed online by clicking on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwK2Y2BBV2c&feature=channel_video_title

In 2009, Wiltshire Council had inherited four different waste collection services from the four different councils. The council aims to provide the same service to everyone in Wiltshire.

The cost of landfill tax is rising by £8 per tonne per year, the current cost is £56/tonne but this is set to reach £80/tonne by 2014.

A county wide consultation previously showed that 72% of those who took part were in favour of the new waste and recycling service. For the South this would be:

·       A fortnightly collection of plastic bottles and cardboard

·       A fortnightly black box recycling service

·       Non-recyclable waste to be collected fortnightly

·       An opt-in free garden waste green bin, collected fortnightly

For those households able to home compost were urged to continue to do this as it is the best way to recycle home garden waste. Currently, 12,000 tonnes of garden waste a year is sent to landfill.

The deadline for people to sign up for the opt in green waste bin is 30^th September 2011, for a delivery of the bin in February 2012. This can be done by telephone, online, by post or at one of the forthcoming road shows.

Questions and comments were then taken, these included:

·       A Downton resident was disappointed that only plastic bottles and cardboard could be recycled in the blue bin. Answer: The Council is aware that this may be a key issue for some of its residents; however by only collecting plastic bottles we can achieve a high quality plastic recyclable material for the re-processor. If other plastics are included this reduces the rate that we are able to get for our plastics. It is hoped that in the future there will be a service which could take mixed plastics but for the time being that market is not there.

·       Would it be possible to improve the access to and from the Salisbury Household Recycling Centre situated in the Churchfields Industrial Estate, Salisbury. Currently using the same access ramp to enter and to depart causes a congestion problem? Answer: The Council is aware of the concerns around the Churchfields site and that traffic management there can sometimes be an issue.

·       Are there any plans to digest food waste to turn it into methane? Answer: At present it would not be economically viable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

This year the Board is working on initiatives around Local Employment as that is what residents said we should focus on in our consultation back in May 2011. The Board will receive updates on the 3 areas of work emerging under this theme:

·       Local Jobs for Local People – Jobs Boards at Business Parks.

·       Working to support small business – A focus group to find out from small businesses how we can support them.

·       Starting up Job Clubs in the area – Assisting communities to set up Job Clubs to help get people into work.

Since the last special meeting of the Area Board, Tom Bray, Community Area Manager had been working on various initiatives.

Three strands which emerged were:

Local Jobs for Local People – Jobs Boards at Business Parks.

Consultation work was currently underway at three business parks in Downton, Old Sarum and Whaddon.So far feedback had been good, 90% of those who returned the consultation paper said that they would advertise locally on a Job Board and 70% were interested in providing work experience opportunities.

If any other parishes felt that this model would work in their area, they could contact Tom who would work with them on this.

Working to Support Small Businesses – A focus group to find out from small businesses how we can support them.

A consultation document had been circulated, inviting small/home-based businesses to take part in a focus group to see how the Board could support them.

The invite was sent to 101 Federation of Small Business members, 15 Parishes were emailed to pass on to small businesses and 500+ emailed on the Community Area Network.

Consultation closes on 30 September with focus group to take place in October/November 2011.

Starting up Job Clubs in the Area – Assisting communities to set up Job Clubs to help get people into work.

A Job Club in Old Sarum will start at 1pm on Friday 16 September 2011, where job seekers will come together to learn practical skills to improve job searching. This session is open to all; anyone is welcome to attend as networking opportunities will be available for people who have something to offer.

Businesses have been asked, if they will help contribute to Job Clubs or offer work experience for local people.

The Board hoped to encourage the setting up of Job Clubs which were a practical way local communities could tackle unemployment.

To hear from the New Forest National Park Authority on their work both inside and outside the park boundary.

David Illsley, Policy Manager – New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA) gave an overview of their work both inside and outside the park boundary.

The NPA has a total of 22 members, the communities of Wiltshire are represented on the NFNPA by 2 members appointed by Wiltshire Council, as well as one Parish member. Councillor Julian Johnson is the current Chairman of the NFNPA (as a Wiltshire Councillor) and  Councillor Leo Randall is also a member (as a Parish Councillor).

David provided information on various work and roles of the officers at the NFNPA, this information along with their contacts are attached to the minutes as an appendix.

Questions and comments included:

• Landford Parish Councillor John Martin expressed thanks to the NPA as without their assistance he felt they would not have been able to complete the Village Design Statement.
• What work was being done to limit the amount of street furniture on the roads around the Park? Answer: The NFNPA is working with officers to reduce this.
• Is it possible to expand the use of the painted circles containing the speed limit on the road? Answer: Wiltshire Council is responsible for highways, a decision must go to central government for application to have the speed on roundels instead of road signs.

A chance to update the Board on your initiatives or issues in the area.

Written Partner updates are also attached.

To note the attached report detailing the progress of Local Issues in the Community Area.

To raise an issue go to:

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/southernwiltshireareaboard

and click on “Report an issue in your community now”

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

No applications received for this meeting. The Board has around £30k to spend up to 31 March 2012. Spread the word!

For all information relating to grants, including guidance and application forms go to: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/southernwiltshireareaboard and click on “Community grant scheme”.

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

No applications had been received on this occasion. The Chairman urged people to spread the word that funding of approximately £30,000 was available.

Clarification on the changes to the Community Area Grants Criteria was requested. The Chairman noted that because parishes are able to raise money through the precept, Area Board Grants will only be awarded to community groups and parish projects that are brand new projects incurring one off expenditure and which have wider community benefits. To discuss a potential grant contact the Community Area Manager.

A copy of the Forward Plan is attached for information.