Agenda and minutes

Dog Control Orders could be made by the Council regarding any land to which the public have a right of access. Currently there were a variety of inconsistent Orders covering the areas of the four predecessor Districts. It was intended to replace all existing Orders with one consistent set, as shown in the proposals summarised in the agenda.

The Licensing Committee agreed to introduce a new harmonised consent street trading scheme across the Wiltshire Council area and wanted to invite comments and feedback on the proposed scheme.

A full copy of the proposed scheme and consultation survey were available on the Wiltshire Council website: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations/consultationonproposedstreettradingscheme.htm

Written responses should be emailed to alissa.davies@wiltshire.gov.ukor returned to the Wiltshire Council Licensing Team at Monkton Park, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1ER.

For further information or to request a printed copy of the proposed street trading scheme and consultation survey, please contact Alissa Davies on 01249 706414.

The closing date for the consultation was17 March 2011 (written responses must have been received by the Licensing Team by 17 March).

Over the last few months Wiltshire Council had been engaging with Town and Parish Councils to update its mapping systems with their local knowledge and to identify any local issues which were not apparent on initial inspection that may have been exacerbating flooding and drainage problems.

The information gathered from the Warminster Area Board was on display at the meeting, showing what had been learnt about the issues and what Wiltshire Council was hoping to do with that information.

The Public Protection Service had been reviewing its enforcement policy, and had been seeking views from interested stakeholders. 

The policy had to deal with the entire range of legislation administered by the Public Protection Service covering all environmental health and trading standards powers, as well as any relevant community safety and emergency planning laws.

The draft enforcement policy could be found on the Wiltshire Council website:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/environmentandplanning/publicprotection/publicprotectionenforcementpolicy.htm

In order to help communities protect themselves from flood risk, Wiltshire Council was introducing a scheme to supply gel sacs (these are similar to sandbags but inflate when in contact with water).

By buying in bulk Wiltshire Council had been able to negotiate a discount which would not have been available to individuals. The gel sacs were available to Parish and Town Councils for £2.50 each.

Town and Parish Councils wishing to purchase gel sacs were to contact Sarah Peterson (sarah.peterson@wiltshire.gov.uk, telephone 01225 713377).

Wiltshire Council's Cabinet has considered the results of the extensive consultation exercise undertaken between July and October and approved a refined proposal, further information on the refined proposal can be found on the Wiltshire Council website:  

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/leisureandrecreation/leisureandsportscentres/leisure.htm

The refined proposals would provide the specification for new leisure facilities in Trowbridge, Melksham, Warminster and Durrington / Amesbury as part of the wider campus development project.

This refined proposal for leisure acted as a pre-cursor to a report that the Workplace Transformation Team would present to Cabinet in the early part of 2011. 

The Council would continue the on-going dialogue which had already been established with local community groups regarding the local management of facilities.

The Wiltshire Fairtrade Coalition was an association of local Fairtrade town groups, businesses, other organisations and individuals working to promote understanding and uptake of Fairtrade produce.  The coalition offered mutual support and encouragement to members and aimed to make Wiltshire a Fairtrade county.

The Wiltshire Fairtrade Coalition held a stand at the meeting displaying more information and offering sample products.

The Chairman sought nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Warminster Area Board for the remainder of 2010/11 municipal year.

Decision

Councillor Fleur de Rhé-Philipe was elected Vice-Chairman of the Warminster Area Board for the remainder of 2010/11 municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Mr Digby Barker, Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

Mr Chris March, Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

Ms Jo Howes, NHS

Mr Michael Franklin, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Sarah Jeffries, Horningsham Parish Clerk

Karen Manfield, Longbridge Deverill and Crockerton Parish Council

Councillor Keith Humphries also offered his apologies for the rest of the meeting as he had to leave immediately due to events beyond his control.

Councillor Fleur de Rhé-Philipe pointed out that most of the Parish Councils in her division had their meeting in the first two weeks of the month and were therefore unable to attend the Warminster Area Board meetings. The Chairman asked for that issue to be taken into account when setting the dates for the Warminster Area Boards meetings.

The Area Board received an Issue Update and Progress Report from the Community Area Manager, which contained some highlights from some of the projects that had been supported by the Area Board.

The report also updated the Board on upcoming projects and investment in the community achieved through the Performance Reward Grants. The following issues were discussed:

Applications for Grants

The Chairman and the Community Area Manager invited applications for Community Area Grants and Performance Reward Grants.

Change to officer support to the area board

The Community Area Manager then introduced Jacqui Abbott who would be taking over the Warminster Community Area Manager role as of the next day.

The Chairman and Members of the Board thanked the Community Area Manager for all her hard work over the last year and a half and were joined by members of the public in wishing her all the best for the future.

Update on Corsley Memorial Playing Field

Councillor Fleur de Rhé-Philipe informed the Board that the bid for lottery funding had been successful to the delight of all involved with the project.

Warminster Voices

Warminster Community Radio had asked residents their views and opinions on what was most important about local policing; a recording of the Warminster Voices was played to the meeting.

The most mentioned included:

•         Protect the most vulnerable;

•         Police on the beat;

•         Access to a local police station;

•         Prevent street drinking;

•         Publicise non-emergency number;

•         Target speeding;

•         Quick response;

•         Help people to feel safe on the streets.

It was agreed that the recording would be sent to Councillor Ricky Rogers.

Wiltshire Police Authority (WPA)

Councillor Ricky Rogers, one of Wiltshire Council’s representative to the WPA, delivered a presentation on the future of Wiltshire Police and what the funding cuts meant to policing in Wiltshire.

Councillor Rogers informed those present that £15 million in savings were expected over the next four years, which meant that the Force would be likely to have 150 fewer officers and 200 fewer staff (although the initial plan was not to reduce the number of frontline officers) . He spoke about the top priorities and other commitments of the WPA and the Force, as well as proposals for the future.

He also informed the meeting that tremendous improvements had been seen thanks to Neighbourhood Policing and that the police helicopter would remain contracted until 2014. The WPA was also hoping to develop further their working relationship with the numerous volunteers in Wiltshire.

Councillor Rogers urged people to make their views known by completing the survey cards available at the meeting, or on-line at www.wiltshire-pa.gov.uk, or by calling 01380 734022 for a paper copy of the plans and questionnaire.

He also encouraged people to find out more about the proposal to elect a Police and Crime Commissioner in 2011/12 then to let their views be known to their local MP.

Councillor Rogers and Inspector Minty answered questions from the public and addressed some of the issues raised in the Warminster Voices:

• Warminster Police station is not a part-time station despite the closure of the enquiry service;
• “visibility” was an area Warminster Police wanted to focus on, hoping to strike a balance between “figures” (crime rates) and “trust” (residents’ perception of crime rates);
• Only one of the police houses was currently unoccupied;
• It was currently understood that the level of reduction of service and / or police stations would be proportionate in all areas of the County, no closure of stations were planned at this time;
• There were no plans to merge with other Authorities at the time, however further developing partnership and collaborative working was being looked at.

Wiltshire Police – Partners Update

Christmas and New Year had been quiet and general crime was down by 10%.

An update from the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership was received after the meeting and is detailed below.

1. We have engaged a Development Officer, Ginny Anderson, on an initial one year Contract beginning on 1 Dec 2010. We are grateful to the Warminster & Villages Development Trust (WVDT) for agreeing to be Ginny's formal employer. She will be remunerated by WVCP.

2. Ginny has an office in the Development Trust Building adjacent to the Warminster Information Centre. WVCP rents this office from WVDT.

3. Ginny's first project is to organise and report on a Health & Housing Consultation event to include consideration of self-build issues. It is intended that this will also provide a template or framework which can be used as a basis for other Consultation events which will collectively feed in to updates to the current Community Area Plan.

The area board received a presentation form Nick Bate, Emergency Planning Officer on Community Resilience.

He explained that the aim was for Town and Parish councils to have ownership of their Emergency Plan whilst taking on board the government template. Best practice would be for a named person to have ownership of the plan.

The Emergency Plans would help communities look after themselves when help cannot come quickly enough from the emergency services or Wiltshire Council (e.g. snow bound, flooding, etc). It should not be seen as a derogation of the public service responsibility to care for its population, but as highlighting areas where members of the public can be more proactive in protecting themselves and their communities, the emphasis being a common sense approach.

Following questions and comments from the public the following was clarified:

• Details of exercises, open to Town and Parish, organised annually by the Emergency Planning Team are advertised in the Town and Parish Newsletter;
• As suggested by members of the public it would be beneficial to use existing volunteer emergency groups (e.g. flood wardens, etc) and their expertise when drawing up the Emergency Plan;
• Existing flood plans, or any other existing plans, could be added as an annex to the Emergency Plans.

A draft Guide to Community resilience was available with the agenda published on the website and hard copies could be made available on request (http://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=13043). 

The Emergency Planning Officer invited anyone wishing to discuss this matter further to contact him on 07747 804604 or by email at nicholas.bate@wiltshire.gov.uk and offered to send Town and Parish Councils in the Warminster area further information.

Decision

Members of the Warminster Area Board agreed to endorse the concept of local Emergency Plans and promote it to Town and Parish Councils.

The area board considered one application seeking 2010/11 Community Area Grant funding as follows:

Decision

To award £1498 to the Warminster Cricket Club to purchase a fine turf mower

Reason

The application meets grant criteria 2010/11, demonstrates a link to the Community Plan and would contribute to the health of local young people and adults by participating in sport, an issue highlighted in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

Chrissy Adenaike, WAYs Alternative Sports Development Manager, attended the meeting and explained that the aim was to develop an alternative sport hub for young people not interest in “mainstream” sports (football, cricket, etc) which would be open once a week on Wednesdays. WAYs were also working in partnership with Kingdown School with young people aged 11 to 16 on the “Young Leader” project (train young people who then promote the sport themselves).

She also informed the area board that the alternative sports hub was launched last night and was attended by around 20 young people. The project currently had about 12 weeks of funding.

Decision

The area board was in support of the application from Wiltshire Alternative Youth Sport partnership and recommended it go forward to the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

The Community Area Manager introduced her report and explained that the sum of £2,000 seemed more proportionate to the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership’s needs than the £4,718 requested and would cover the expected cost of employing the Development Officer until the end of 2010/11

Members of the public asked what would happen to the unallocated £2,718 and the Community Area Manager explained that core funding was part of the area board’s budget and that up to 20% could be allocated for Partnerships, therefore the money would stay in the area board budget. She also confirmed that unspent budget could be rolled over for the next financial year.

Decision:

To award the sum of £2,000 towards the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership’s core costs for the 2^nd tranche 2010/11 funding.

The Community Area Manager introduced her report and highlighted the efforts made by Heytesbury Parish Council to address the concerns of local residents and the issues they had raised.

The Chairman informed all present that not all area boards had used the funding they had been allocated for the Reduced Street Lighting project; any unspent funding had now been grouped and was available for any area boards to apply for. The area board expressed their general support for the reduced Street Lighting project and invited Town and Parish Councils to consider submitting applications.

Members of the area board commended Codford (approved at the last meeting of the area board) and Heytesbury Parish Councils for their diligence and the quality of their applications. They asked the Community Area Manager to ensure that Codford and Heytesbury Parish Councils’ efforts were used as an example of best practice, which should also help other Town and Parish Councils save time when putting together their applications.

Decision:

(1)   that the Warminster area board supports the submission from Heytesbury Parish Council

(2) that the street lighting team be asked to initiate work on the scheme

Councillor Lionel Grundy, Cabinet member for Children’s Services, presented his portfolio which included:

·         Performance of children’s social services including child protection, fostering and adoption, children’s homes and special educational needs;

·         Relations with other organisations, especially the health service and voluntary organisations regarding children’s services;

·         Partnership with Wiltshire’s school governors and head teachers on education matters including school performance and funding, curriculum, buildings and admissions;

·         Performance of the youth development service and early years provision and youth justice.

With such a large and sensitive area of work to cover Councillor Grundy was grateful for the three portfolio holders who showed great dedication in helping him ensure the best was provided in the following areas of his portfolio:

·         Schools (Councillor Alan Macrae) - probably the part of the portfolio currently going through the most changes due to the Coalition Government’s plan for schools to become Academies (dealing directly with the Government rather than Local Authorities with regards to budget, admission policies, etc);

·         Youth and Skills (Councillor Richard Clewer) - amongst other duties supporting a number of youth not currently being in education, employment or training yet  remaining Wiltshire Council’s concern and responsibility ; and

·         Vulnerable Children and their families (Councillor Sheila Parker) - an understandably busy and involving area of the portfolio.

Following questions from the board and members of the public on the implications for Wiltshire of so many schools becoming Academies the following was discussed:

• Even if schools became Academies, Wiltshire Council would have to maintain standards and ensure Special Education Needs are met, however Academies would have more freedom in deciding how their deliver education;
• In case of the exclusion of a pupil, the Academy would have to cover the cost of delivering education to that pupil (Wiltshire Council had to cover the cost of education when a pupil was excluded from a school);
• The full implications were not yet known as information was still slowly becoming available and most of the changes from schools to Academies would be applied as of April 2012;
• Wiltshire Council may have to think about becoming a “commissioner” to provide services to the Academies but this remained speculation until all details of the scheme were known and understood;
• Many options were being thought through at the moment and that all those involved were keeping an open mind.

He reassured the area board that the aim remained to ensure that all Wiltshire children received the best services possible; however these services may be delivered in future.

A technical glitch meant that it was not possible to use the electronic voting handsets, but the Chairman invited people to forward their comments or suggestions to the Community Area Manager or the Democratic Services Officer.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and reminded them that the next meeting of the Warminster Area Board would be held on Thursday 10 March 2011 at Christ Church Hall.