Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from:

·         Councillor Julian Johnson – Board member

·         Councillor Stuart Wheler – Cabinet member

·         Karen Scott – Community Manager Volunteering - Item 13.

There were none.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 5 April 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising from the last minutes:

·         Councillor Britton thanked all involved in the 1^st of May Jubilee event in Cathedral Close, Salisbury. The Southern Wiltshire tent and displays had been a success.

·         The weblink to the draft Wiltshire Core Strategy would be added to the minutes to enable them to be viewed online. Councillor Britton stated that once the Wiltshire Core Strategy was adopted the South Wiltshire Core Strategy would be replaced with the Wiltshire wide Core Strategy.

This document would contain changes such as the replacement of the current R2 funding with a Community Infrastructure Levy. Therefore it was important for all concerned to keep up-to-date on any changes by checking the online links to the documents as they become available.

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/planningpolicy/wiltshirecorestrategy.htm

·         An event for parish councils had been held on Thursday 31^st May to look at ways of developing and introducing the use of Social Media such as Facebook, Flickr and Youtube. This can help with communicating with groups of the community which we are currently not reaching. Councillor Britton added that if any parish was interested in attending a more detailed workshop event they should contact Tom Bray, Community Area Manager for further information.

The Chairman gave a reminder of the purpose and objectives of the Area Board. He said that Parish Councils existed to look after their villages and promote the interests of their residents. The Board had exactly the same objectives. Its work was to support that of the PCs and help tackle problems which were common across the Community Area. The aim is for the two to work together. The more Parish Councils participate in the work of the Area Board the more benefit their communities will derive from it.

To note the information on the following current consultations:

The Chairman drew attention to the consultations listed on the agenda

and stated that everyone needs to be aware of what information is coming out through Wiltshire Council, one way of doing this is to keep up to date by checking the consultation online: http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet representative for Transformation, Campus Development, Culture, Leisure and Libraries will provide an insight into his area of responsibility, followed by an opportunity to ask questions.

Councillor Wheeler had been unable to attend due to a local planning matter in his division, he had given his apologies.

Written Updates attached are:

·         Wiltshire Council – Helping People to live safely in their own home

·         Wiltshire Council – 11-19 Commissioning Strategy Update

·         Wiltshire Council – Informal Adult Education

·         Wiltshire Council – New Standards Framework

·         Youth Service Update

·         NHS

·         Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT)

·         Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·         Area Board Issues System

·         Any other comments or reports

The Board noted the written updates attached to the agenda, in addition the following updates and comments were received:

Wiltshire Council (WC)

A new Standards Framework and Code of Conduct for Councillors had been adopted by WC, as a result of this it was hoped that parish councils would follow suit and adopt the same. A briefing session for clerks, parish, town and city councillors on the new standards regime would take place on 14 June 2012, at Salisbury City Hall at 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start, to 8.00pm. Details of how to book a place were available on the briefing paper attached to the agenda.

Informal Adult Education - Councillor McLennan noted that the paper indicated that a view on the preferred option could be submitted by the Board. Tracy Carter, Service Director added that an online survey was available for anyone wishing to submit their comments, this was open until 27 June 2012. Paper copies were also available from libraries, the deadline for those was 15 June 2012.

Councillor Britton asked those present if they wished for a speaker to attend the next meeting to provide further information, the offer was declined.

Youth Service

The Community Area Youth Coordinator (Tony Nye) had recently moved post to a secondment within the council. The vacant post was currently being covered by existing team members until a replacement was secured, interviews would take place at the end of June 2012. Parishes were asked to contact Jaki Farrell – Youth Development Coordinator - if they had any questions or youth related issues.

Jaki.farrell@wiltshire.gov.uk  or Tel: 01747 861400

Police

Sergeant Dean Garvin gave an update informing the Board that PCSO Stephanie Dutton had recently joined the Southern Wiltshire NPT. This meant that for the first time in four years there was a full team in the community area.

Some positive points for the area included reports that both the Downton Cuckoo Fair and the Jubilee Celebrations had both gone smoothly, as had the Laverstock mini marathon.

There had been some burglaries in Downton and Redlynch, the policing teams were working on this and hoped to be able to provide a more detailed update at the next Board meeting.

Comments and questions to Sergeant Garvin included:

Councillor McLennan noted that the placement of cones in streets around the Hudsons Field event meant that vehicles parked along Roman Road at its junction with Old Castle Road, extending as far as the pig farm (Old Sarum Farm) entrance. Local residents felt this caused safety issues.

Councillor McLennan asked if the procedure could be revised for any forthcoming events such as the Olympic Torch event on 11 July 2012.

Answer: Sgt Garvin was unsure whether the police had placed the cones or Salisbury City Council, he agreed to find out and to provide a response at the next meeting.

Action: Sergeant Garvin

Information on Neighbourhood Watch and who to contact regarding new schemes was requested.

Answer: The Chairman noted that item 12 on the agenda included proposals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Board will consider the proposals as detailed in the attached officer’s report.

The Board will receive a presentation about the Volunteer Centre Wiltshire.

The Board will consider proposals to develop and support volunteering in our area.

Officer: Karen Scott, Community Manager (Volunteering Development)

Karen Scott was unable to attend the meeting and make her presentation.

In the survey to determine 2012/13 Area Board themes, Volunteering came second in importance and a close third in terms of ‘deliverability’. The Chairman outlined the two separate aspects to volunteering in the community which currently ran in parallel and were unconnected with each other:

·         Local:  At Annual Parish Meetings a common theme isthe need for volunteers: Help to run the Village Hall; people to come forward for co-option onto the PC; help to maintain country Rights of Way; engagement in community organisations of all kinds.

·         Salisbury-based voluntary-sector organisations.Charities (eg. Age UK, British Red Cross, Alzheimer’s etc) are also in need of volunteers – usually, but not necessarily, Salisbury-based.

The Chairman outlined the proposals for consideration.

The Area Board would like to consider the possibility of providing some sort of joint stimulus to these separate activities. They would like to both help individual parishes meet some of their volunteer needs; and also to work with established Salisbury-based third sector organisations (a) to increase volunteer support for them, and (b) to stimulate and support their work in our Community Area.

To this end the Area Board suggest the following actions:

1.    The Area Board would survey the Salisbury-based third sector organisations to ascertain:

-          Which are seeking volunteers (regardless of location);

-          Which are active in our Community Area;

-          Which would be interested in participating in a ‘Volunteer Fair’ run by participating Parish Councils.

2.    The Area Board would offer support to those Parish Councils who, in conjunction with their community organisations would like to run a local Volunteering Fair.

The Area Board would support those villages with funding for:

 
-     A promotional flyer and/or advertising

-          Venue hire

-          Refreshments

-          Other innovative ideas that might increase the profile of the event.

The Area Board could also enable those Salisbury-based organisations identified in 1 above to attend. If required, appropriate Wiltshire Council/GROW officers could also be engaged to attend and support.

Funding for each event would be up to £350 made available by the PC producing a 1-page proposal outlining the plans and associated costs for the event. The Community Area Manager will provide a brief appraisal and release the funding to the relevant PC.

Decision

1.    The Southern Wiltshire Area Board adopts the proposals outlined in the report.

2.    In order to enable development of this work the Board delegates authority to the Community Area Manager, in consultation with Southern Wiltshire Area Board Councillors, to spend up to £350 on each local Volunteering Fair. All expenditure should be reported to the next Area Board meeting.

Councillor Leo Randall outlined three work stream proposals for consideration:

1) To produce a collaborative maintenance programme of all work and requirements within each parish across the community area. Details would need to be submitted to the Board by the PC’s by 16 July 2012 to enable works to be carried out during the summer.

2) To produce a publication of local walks. The idea is to produce a series of walks (short and long) in our community area to promote walking and enjoying our countryside. The walks could link up to special places of interest and also local shops and pubs.

3) To make representations to Wiltshire Council’s Corporate Director to give delegated powers to Rights of Way Wardens to enforce rights of way issues.

The Board had issued definitive maps of the Rights of Way in each parishes patch. An online version of these maps can be found here: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/publicrightsofwaymapping

The Board aims to encourage each PC to nominate a Lead for footpaths and Rights of Way issues. Then bring nominated people together to ensure a coordinated approach.

The Area Board would assemble a pool of resources as follows:

Money:

·           Area Board funding

·           CATG funding

·           Parish Improvement Grants

·           Parish Council contributions

·           R2

·           Other grants – NFNPA, Paths for Communities

People:                     

·           Lead members from PCs

·           Community Payback

·           The leisure credits scheme

·           The Ramblers

·           Contracted workers funded from the above supplemented by PC contributions

·           Local volunteers

·           New Forest Rangers

The Board had already met with the South Wiltshire Ramblers (SWR) to discuss their work in the area and how they could contribute to this project, and Nick Cowen (Wiltshire Council – Rights of Way Warden) and Sarah Manchester (New Forest National Park Authority - Countryside Access Officer) to discuss the Area Board proposals. All were very supportive.

The Board received a presentation from the South Wiltshire Ramblers about their work in the area.

Questions and comments were then taken, these included:

·         Were the SWR group looking for new volunteers? Answer: As detailed in the report attached to the agenda, it would be up to PC’s to encourage volunteers to work on projects in their own areas, as the Ramblers group work on projects across the whole of Wiltshire.

·         Councillor Devine noted that he was very impressed with the work of the SWR Group and that he was not aware of the scope of their work, which included installation and replacement of kissing gates and stiles.

·         Would the SWR be invited to future footpath working group meetings, to provide advice? Answer: The SWR would be invited to attend along with Nick Cowen.

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board supports the proposals for developing the theme of Footpaths – Rights of Way in 2012/13, as set out above.

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager agreed to send an email to all parish councils with full clear details of what the Area Board was asking parishes to do.

Action: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

The Board considered the attached CATG update report and recommendations for funding two projects.

Decision

Southern Wiltshire Area Board approved the two recommendations for funding from the CATG budget for 2012/13:

·         30mph written on road at gateway into Ford from Old Sarum – awarded £1,750.

·         Milford Mill Road – Lining and dropped curb to improve footway facilities over Millford Mill Bridge – awarded £1,000.

The Chairman noted that it was hoped R2 funding would be available towards the Footpath from Whaddon to Grimstead project; however there were restrictions on how R2 funds could be used for footpaths.