Agenda and draft minutes

To elect the Chairman of the Warminster Area Board for the forthcoming year.

Nominations were sought for a Chairman for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Councillor Andrew Davis seconded by Councillor Bill Parks, it was,

 

Resolved:

 

To elect Councillor Pip Ridout as Chairman of the Warminster Area Board for the forthcoming year.

To elect the Vice-Chairman of Warminster Area Board for the forthcoming year.

Nominations were sought for a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Councillor Pip Ridout seconded by Councillor Christopher Newbury, it was,

 

Resolved:

 

To elect Councillor Andrew Davis as Vice-Chairman of the Warminster Area Board for the forthcoming year.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Sarah Jeffries (Horningsham Parish Council) and Simon Thomas (FACT Lead).

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2024 were presented for consideration. After which, it was;

 

Resolved:

 

To approve and sign as a true and correct record of the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2024.

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

Cllr Andrew Davis declared that he was a Trustee of the Lakeside Centre and would therefore leave the room during the Warminster Youth Club grant application and would not vote.

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

 

In addition, The Board is asked to note the following items:

 

·       Consultation on Statement of Licensing Policy

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy Public Engagement

·       Multiply – National Numeracy Day

The Chairman made the following announcements as per the agenda pack:

 

·       Consultation on Statement of Licensing Policy

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy Public Engagement

·       Multiply – National Numeracy Day

Part I – Looking Back

 

To receive the Area Board End of Year Report as well as to report on progress made in addressing the Area Board priorities selected for 2023/24:

o   Improving outcomes and positive activities for Young people – Cllr Andrew Davis

o   Health and Wellbeing – No councillor appointed

o   Environment, Biodiversity, and sustainability – Cllr Tony Jackson

o   Community Safety – Cllr Pip Ridout

o   Transport and Access – Cllr Bill Parks

Part II – Looking Forward

·       To highlight potential priorities for the Area Board to consider for 2024/25.

·       To appoint Members as Lead representatives to Outside Bodies and any new Non-Priority Working Groups as set out at Appendix A;

·       To appoint a Lead representative to the LHFIG (listed on Appendix A) and to note the Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix B.

Part I – Looking Back

 

The Area Board received a presentation from Caroline LeQuesne, Area Board Delivery Officer on the Area Board End of Year Report. The presentation included the following points:

 

o   Improving outcomes and positive activities for Young people – Cllr Andrew Davis

Cllr Davis updated that the Local Youth Network (LYN) had been re-established and had had its first meeting recently with partners, which had been kindly accommodated by Wiltshire Police. Gratitude was placed to the partners in the room who had supported some of the work taking place. An overview of some of the work which had taken place was provided both in the town and rural villages, including but not limited to detached youth work and pop-up events.

 

o   Health and Wellbeing – No councillor appointed.

Gratitude was placed towards David Reeves for his running of the Health and Wellbeing Forum, which acted as an incredible opportunity for networking. David Reeves provided an update on the success that 650 Health and Wellbeing booklets had been produced and received well. Reference was also drawn to the success of the Health and Wellbeing Fair, which David outlined that there were plans to hold another event. In addition, a digital inclusion event had successfully taken place involving 7 organisations, which showed people how to get online, be safe as well as how to recycle old devices.

 

o   Environment, Biodiversity, and sustainability – Cllr Tony Jackson

It was outlined that an Eco watch event had taken place, which included a film and a speech from a brave, young local resident. Reference was also drawn to grants which had been provided to such places as Grovelands and the Orchard. Cllr Jackson placed gratitude towards Caroline LeQuesne’s efforts and support.

 

o   Transport and Access – Cllr Bill Parks

The LHFIG had supported 10 projects, spending £35,275, including providing support for over 70 signage and access projects which aimed to combine rights of way to give continuous links around Warminster. Cllr Parks thanked Nigel Linge and the Salisbury Plain Rights of Way Volunteer Group for their hard work to open up bridleways and footpaths with it noted how beneficial the work had been.

 

Part II – Looking Forward

 

Liam Cripps, Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager (SEPM) provided a summary of the Community Survey/CAJSNA Data:

o   It was outlined that the Area Board was more than just four business meetings a year, with a lot of work done by volunteers and community organisations to create an empowered community.

o   There had been 84 responses to the survey (3.1% of the population), with the demographic of respondents split across age groups.

o   The following 4 priorities were identified by respondents:

Health:

o   Almost 50% of respondents had chosen this as their first choice.

o   The top 5 health issues in order were mental health support, support for “living longer better”, support for keeping physically active, care for those living with dementia, tackling levels of obesity.

o   CAJSNA data was provided to support this, including that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To note the remaining budgets and to consider any applications for funding, as detailed in the attached report and summarised below:

 

Remaining Budgets:

 

Community Area Grant	Older & Vulnerable	Young People
£21,559	£7,700	£19,457

 

Area Board Initiatives:

 

Ref/Link	Grant Details	Amount Requested
ABG1752	Warminster Area Board - Maiden Bradley Parish News	£500

 

Community Area Grants:

 

 

Ref/Link	Grant Details	Amount Requested
ABG1413	Selwood Housing - Westleigh Community CCTV Project	£5,000
ABG1733	Tynings Allotments and Leisure Gardeners Association - Tynings Allotment Access Improvement	£982
ABG1789	Corsley Reading Room - Corsley Reading Room Repairs	£2,500
ABG1792	Corsley War Memorial Playing Field - Equipment for volunteers to use when maintaining the playing field and orchard	£500

 

Older & Vulnerable Grants:

 

Ref/Link	Grant Details	Amount Requested
ABG1750	Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall - Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall Community Coffee Mornings	£500
ABG1802	Corsley Reading Room - Community Film Club	£300

 

Young People Grants:

 

Ref/Link	Grant Details	Amount Requested
ABG1785	Warminster youth club - Warminster youth club core costs	£5,000

 

Further information on the Area Board Grant system can be found here.

The Area Board considered the following applications for funding:

 

Area Board Initiatives:

 

Warminster Area Board - £500 towards Maiden Bradley Parish News

 

Decision

 

Warminster Area Board was awarded £500 towards Maiden Bradley Parish News from the Older and Vulnerable funding pot.

 

Moved – Cllr Bill Parks

Seconded – Cllr Pip Ridout

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Community Area Grants:

 

Selwood Housing – £5,000 towards Westleigh Community CCTV Project

 

Decision

 

Selwood Housing was awarded £5,000 towards Westleigh Community CCTV Project with the respective amounts being taken from the following funding pots, £3,000 Community Area Grant pot, £1,000 Older and Vulnerable pot, £1,000 Youth Grant pot.

 

Moved – Cllr Pip Ridout

Seconded – Cllr Bill Parks

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Tynings Allotments and Leisure Gardeners Association - £982 towards Tynings Allotment Access Improvement.

 

Decision

 

Tynings Allotments and Leisure Gardeners Association was awarded £982 towards Tynings Allotment Access Improvement.

 

Moved – Cllr Tony Jackson

Seconded – Cllr Andrew Davis

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Corsley Reading Room - £2,500 towards Corsley Reading Room Repairs

 

Decision

 

Corsley Reading Room was awarded £2,500 towards Corsley Reading Room Repairs.

 

Moved – Cllr Bill Parks

Seconded – Cllr Pip Ridout

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Corsley War Memorial Playing Field - £500 towards Equipment for volunteers to use when maintaining the playing field and orchard.

 

Decision

 

Corsley War Memorial Playing Field was awarded £500 towards Equipment for volunteers to use when maintaining the playing field and orchard.

 

Moved – Cllr Bill Parks

Seconded – Cllr Pip Ridout

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Older and Vulnerable Grants:

 

Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall - £500 towards Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall Community Coffee Mornings.

 

Decision

 

Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall was awarded £500 towards Maiden Bradley Memorial Hall Community Coffee Mornings.

 

Moved – Cllr Bill Parks

Seconded – Cllr Pip Ridout

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Corsley Reading Room - £300 towards Community Film Club.

 

Decision

 

Corsley Reading Room was awarded £300 towards Community Film Club.

 

Moved – Cllr Bill Parks

Seconded – Cllr Pip Ridout

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

 

Youth Grants:

 

Warminster Youth Club – £5,000 towards Warminster Youth Club Core Costs.

 

Decision

 

Warminster Youth Club was awarded £5,000 towards Warminster Youth Club Core Costs.

 

Cllr Andrew Davis left the room for this grant application as per his declaration.

 

Moved – Cllr Pip Ridout

Seconded – Cllr Bill Parks

 

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

To receive an update from Wiltshire Police Chief Constable, Catherine Roper.

·       Wiltshire Police

The Area Board noted written updates attached to the agenda. In addition, Inspector Louise Oakley provided a verbal update which covered the following points:

·       An overview of the current neighbourhood policing team was provided as well as the areas that they cover.

·       Reference was drawn to the Neighbourhood Policing Pillars, which were outlined as being engaging communities, solving problems, and targeting activity.

 

Inspector Oakley provided a breakdown of local priorities in Warminster which included the following points:

·       A question had been raised at the last Area Board regarding knife crime statistics, therefore Inspector Oakley had gone away to confirm that the data provided at the last Area Board was out of data and was from 2018, therefore meaning that Warminster did not currently have a knife problem. Further detail was provided that most knife crime reports related to domestic incidents and that Warminster was the lowest in the county for knife crime.

·       It was outlined that shoplifting had seen an increase; however, CCTV had enabled the police to catch 5 people, with work being conducted with businesses, including Shopwatch meetings and prevention work to reassure shop managers.

·       A lot of partnership work with other agencies had taken place in relation to youth anti-social behaviour crime. In addition, a youth worker who had received Area Board funding was patrolling the streets and speaking to youths. Additionally, 4 youths had been referred to the Focus Deterrent Group for their input and support.

·       Burglaries had seen an increase in January but had since decreased. The only issue recently had been shed breaks in Warminster, therefore the police had increased patrols at the allotments.

 

The Area Board received an update from Wiltshire Police Chief Constable, Catherine Roper. The update covered the following matters:

·       There are three operational policies for Wiltshire Police which are safer public spaces, tackling violence and tackling burglaries. This has led to greater visibility from the Police, with the force held to greater account, which has led to crime rates decreasing. For example, the positive outcome rate for burglaries had been tripled as well as violence decreasing.

·       It was outlined that in the summer of 2022, Wiltshire Police had been placed into “Engage” by the independent auditor after it had not provided a satisfactory service. Since then, the force had recently been taken out of “Engage”, which demonstrated that it is making process with investigations, protecting the vulnerable and responding to crime.

·       In the last 14 months, the Chief Constable had reorganised front line policing, with the re-establishment of Neighbourhood Policing Teams, who would not be reinstructed to other roles.

·       The police were now focusing on detective assets and focusing on the vulnerable, with it noted that though domestic violence is decreasing, there is concern that this isn’t a true reflection therefore the force is working to provide safe spaces for people to come forward and talk.

·       A new strategy had been launched two weeks ago, which shows what the Police have committed to publicly deliver over the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Warminster Garrison

·       Warminster Health and Wellbeing Forum

·       Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

·       BSW Together

·       Community First

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

 

Some written updates have been received and are included in this agenda.

Updates were received from the following partners:

 

·       Warminster Garrison

The Area Board received a verbal update from Welfare Officer Jason Broad, which covered the following points:

·       The scope of the Warminster Garrison was outlined, including that the Garrison was set to receive 289 families of 2 Royal Yorkshire Regiments in August 2024.

·       The culture of the Garrison was outlined.

·       The Warminster Garrison Environmental and Conservation Working Group was outlined including their work and involved parties.

·       The Garrison had trained circa 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

·       An overview of community support and events completed by the Garrison was provided.

·       It was outlined how the Garrison had been involved in the Spring in the Park event on 5 May, including the provision of an obstacle course.

·       The Garrison was set to hold a Health, Sport and Wellbeing Fair on 21 August 2024, which would be free to attend.

 

After the verbal update, there was time for the following questions and points to be made, including that the Garrison would provide flyers to Councillors which could then be distributed to parishes.

 

·       Warminster Health and Wellbeing Forum

The Area Board noted the written update attached to the agenda. The Area Board received a verbal update from David Reeves which covered the following points:

·       The Boots pharmacy Avenue Branch closed in October, after work had been done to keep the pharmacy open, which had unfortunately been unsuccessful.

·       David had attended the Wiltshire Council meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board last week with the aim of getting them to change the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment to reflect the fact that Warminster could not cope with having only two pharmacies.

·       It was outlined the Boots pharmacy Avenue Branch had prescribed the most prescriptions in Warminster.

·       A response had been provided which was simply a statement that the Boots pharmacy Avenue Branch would close.

·       David made a plea to the Area Board to consider putting their weight behind changing the requirement to allow market entry applications to take place.

·       Currently there was one application with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) however it was unknown if this would be successful.

 

After the verbal update, there was time for the following questions and points to be made:

·       The Chairman stated that four members of Area Board sat on the Western Area Planning Committee so could therefore have an influence on applications.

·       Online prescription delivery was discussed with it suggested that most repeat prescriptions were able to be delivered online, however new prescriptions would need to be set up in person via appointment.

·       Attention was drawn to the Volunteer Fair which was set to take place in the Civic Centre on 1 June 2024.

 

Action: The Area Board moved a motion which agreed to write to the Integrated Care Board to express that they were concerned about the provision of pharmacies in Warminster.

 

·       Town and Parish Council Nominated Representative

The Area Board noted a written update Warminster Town Council which was attached to the agenda.

 

Cllr Sue Fraser provided a verbal update including:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive an update from Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership Manager, Perry Payne.

The Area Board received an update from Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership Manager, Perry Payne. The update covered the following matters:

·       It was outlined that road safety is not the remit of one organisation, therefore the Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership allows organisations to work together.

·       The organisations of the Partnership were outlined.

·       The three main workstreams of the Partnership were identified as Engineering, Education and Enforcement.

·       Currently education has a focus on the #Fatal5, which it was explained are the 5 main contributors to road traffic collisions.

·       The education provisions of Wiltshire Council and Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service were outlined.

·       Gratitude was placed towards the work of Community Speedwatch teams, with it stressed that these people were volunteers making a significant contribution.

·       Community Speedwatch data was provided for Warminster from July 2020 to May 2024, with it noted that 882 watches had been carried out with 4,432 letters sent.

·       Additionally, 36 traffic survey speed assessments had taken place with 7 areas needing Community Speedwatch action and one requiring police action.

·       The enforcement aspect of the Partnership was outlined, including the role of Community Speed Enforcement Officers who between 1 January 2023 and 8 May 2024 had been active in 851 locations, issued 10,667 speed awareness courses, 1,450 fines/points and 144 individuals referred to court.

·       The work of the Road Policing Unit was outlined, including Operation Tramline.

·       An emerging trend had been identified of an increase in pedestrians distracted by mobile phones and stepping out into roads.

 

After the update, there was time for the following questions and points to be made:

·       Gratitude was placed to the impact of the work in villages.

·       The issue of LGVs from Somerset quarries not sticking to freight routes and travelling through villages at excessive speeds and weights was discussed. Perry Payne suggested that the Local Member get in touch with him via email to follow up on the issue and then to arrange a meeting with all relevant parties to take the issue further. It was acknowledged by the Chief Constable that the enforcement of weight limits was a grey area, in addition Inspector Oakley stated that some work had taken place in relation to this, with the team speaking to companies and the traffic commissioner, however it seemed as though this had not been followed through so she would further investigate it. It was also outlined that enforcement of weight limits required specific training and the use of weight bridges, which the neighbourhood team did not have.

·       It was outlined that there was set to be a meeting with the Director of Highways in Maiden Bradley to discuss freight issues.

·       It was suggested that cyclists, scooters, and mobility scooters on pavements be added to the education element of the Partnership.

·       It was agreed that statistics for the 33 speed enforcement locations for the Warminster Area would be attached to the minutes.

To receive an update from FACT Lead, Simon Thomas on the FACT Programme.

The Chairman noted that the Area Board was due to receive a presentation from FACT Lead, Simon Thomas on the FACT Programme, however it had been requested that this agenda item be withdrawn. Simon had provided Democratic Services with the following update to be included within the minutes:

 

With the roll-out of Family Hubs across Wiltshire, there will be changes to the FACT Family Help Pilot activity in Warminster and Westbury.  Events will be held in both Warminster and Westbury in June/July to:

·       Share the achievements and learning from the project so far and the plans to embed the learning in wider delivery activity.

·       Introduce the new Family Hub delivery arrangements.

·       Explain arrangements for the ongoing provision of support for schools related to Early Support Assessments.

·       Confirm the next steps for the project.

 

The events would be aimed at schools, early years settings, voluntary/community groups and other organisations working directly with children, young people and families as well as Local Area Board members.

To note the minutes and consider any recommendations arising from the last LHFIG meeting held on 1 May 2024, as set out in the attached report.

 

Further information on the LHFIG process can be found here.

Cllr Bill Parks introduced the minutes and recommendations from the LHFIG meeting held on 1 May 2024.  Cllr Andrew Davis also noted that he attended the meeting.

 

After which, it was;

 

Resolved:

 

The minutes of the Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group meeting held on 1 May 2024 were agreed as a correct record as well as approving the spending recommendations within.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman stated that the date of the consultation on the closure of Weymouth Street for 7 months had now been changed from 5 June to 6 June.

The next meeting of the Warminster Area Board will be on 12 September 2024.

The date of the next meeting was12 September 2024.