Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Warminster Area Board and invited people sitting at the top table to introduce themselves.

Apologies for absence were received from:

-       Heather Abernathie, Warminster Town Council Clerk

-       Philip Jefferson, Chapmanslade Parish Council

Councillor Pip Ridout had apologised as she would be late due to a prior commitment.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2011 (copy attached).

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were no Declarations of Interest.

The Chairman will introduce the Announcements included in the agenda and invite any questions.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

The meeting of the Area Board will not take place on 12 January 2012. Instead a Community Area Forum will be held in Christ Church Hall.

The Community Area Manager is in the process of issuing the invites for the event; one of the outcomes of the event will be to update the Warminster and villages community area plan.

The Chairman asked everyone to note that the meeting on 12 January 2012 would not be a meeting of the Area Board but a Community Event organised jointly by the Community Area Manager and the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership.

A meeting of the Area Board would be organised on another date in January 2012 to consider grant applications if required.

On 13 September 2011 Wiltshire Cabinet approved the Commissioning Strategy for 11 to 19 year olds.

The Chairman drew the meeting’s attention to the fact that Wiltshire Cabinet had approved the Commissioning Strategy for 11 to 19 year olds On 13 September 2011, as well as a Wiltshire Youth Work Offer.

The seven broad priorities for the strategy and details of the key features of the Youth Work Offer were included in the agenda.

Have your say on how your council works by viewing the current consultations. The information below is available on the Wiltshire Council website under: Council and Democracy / Consultations and can also be accessed by using this link.

The Chairman encouraged everyone to get involved with ongoing consultations if they could.

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

Ø  Wiltshire Police

Ø  Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Ø  NHS Wiltshire

Ø  Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

Ø  Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

Ø  Warminster Community Area Young People’s Issues Group

Ø  The Warminster and District Chamber of Commerce

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

Lindsey Winter, Area Inspector for Warminster, Westbury, Tisbury and Mere informed the meeting that performance figures showed no significant changes since the Response Officer had been based at the Trowbridge Hub, as part of a national initiative.

Inspector Winter reminded everyone that they were still welcome to contact her should they have any issues they wished to raise.

Digby Barker wished to express the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership’s appreciation for the tremendous work and effort Tim Trounson had invested in the Partnership and to wish him well for the future as he was moving away from the area.

He also invited people to get involved and help shape the future of the Warminster Community Area. More details of ways to get involved could be found on the advert included in the agenda. People could make contact or submit ideas and questions by using the email form on the website www.communigate.co.uk/wilts/wvcp.

The Chairman announced, on behalf of the Warminster Town Council, that there would be a remembrance parade in Warminster on Sunday 13 November.   

The Area Board welcomed Sandra Samuel who had very recently taken over from Sam Shore as the Youth Development Coordinator for Warminster.

An update from the Community Area Manager and leaders of the groups working on existing issues.

If you would like to raise an issue please contact the Community Area Manager whose details are available on the front page of this agenda or report the issue on the Wiltshire Council Website by using this link.

The Chairman will invite those attending to raise any urgent items of public concerns and will also invite any questions from the floor.

1. The Community Area Manager reminded people that they could either report or track issues on the Wiltshire Council website or contact her directly on 07771 844 530 or email jacqui.abbott@wiltshire.gov.uk.

She was glad that a number of issues were being raised, especially as so many of them could be resolved, even if for some of the more complex issues it sometime could take a while to reach a solution.

2. Susan Jones, a Chapmanslade resident, raised the issue of the re-opening of the lay-by on Black Dog Hill and expressed her concern and anger at the impact this had on her and her husband’s lives. She explained that the lay-by had been reopened after an 18 months temporary closure. Since then Mrs Jones felt that there had been a number of issues such as joy-riders, anti social behaviour and illicit activities taking place at the lay-by. She also stated that their mail was no longer being delivered due to access issues and that she had been made aware by the refuse collectors that they may also be unable to collect refuse should there be any further issues with access.

Councillor Pip Ridout arrived at this point.

It was clarified that the re-opening (as well as the temporary closure) had been a decision of the Highways Agency who were responsible for the lay-by, not Wiltshire Council. The Board could understand Mrs Jones’ concerns and felt that some of the issues raised could benefit from further clarification, especially whether or not Mr and Mrs Jones had been consulted with regards to the reopening of the lay-by and the access issues for services such as mail deliveries and refuse collections. The Community Area Manager offered, and the Board agreed, to open discussions with the Highways Agency as well as to get some clarifications regarding the consultation, mail deliveries and refuse collections.

ACTION: Jacqui Abbott

3. The issue of cars and lorries parked on the pavement in Warminster was raised, the Community Area Manager invited the gentleman who had raised the issue to speak to her after the meeting so she could get more details. Although it was not a police matter as such, Inspector Winter also invited the gentleman to give her more details outside of the meeting.

ACTION: Jacqui Abbott and Inspector Winter

4. Speeding was also raised as an issue especially in areas where a 30mph limit changed to 60mph for a short while then back to 30mph again (such as the road near Turnpike Cottage). It was established that the road in question was an unclassified road. Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and

Transport, explained that a review of all A and B roads had just finished and a review on C and Unclassified road would start. Suggestions of changes or work to be undertaken would be sent to all Area Boards and each Area Board would be asked to identify the priorities for their area. It was planned for two projects per area to be undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, will present his portfolio. You will be invited to ask questions at the meeting but it would be very helpful if you could inform Marie Gondlach (tel: 01225 713 597 or email: marie.gondlach@wiltshire.gov.uk) of your question(s) prior to the meeting.

Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet Representative for Highways and Transport provided the Board with a brief outline of his responsibilities which included: highways repairs and improvements, speed limits, litter picking, setting priorities with partners, flood prevention, passenger transport (subsidised buses which amounts to 5 million journeys, school transport, etc) and car parking.

The overriding consideration was to make highways safe. Every two years the quality of the roads and skid resistance were surveyed.

Highways and Transport had a budget of £60M and had received an additional £3.7M last year following the extremely bad winter.

Councillor Tonge was glad to announce that projects such as Speedwatch and “Safe drive – stay alive” were tremendous successes.

Some projects had been delegated to the groups or bodies best able to deal with them, for example the allocation of Speed Indicator Devices would be decided by Area Boards, same for the allocation of speedwatch equipment, Town Councils would be invited to focus on parking restrictions. Community Area Transport Groups and Flood Working Groups were also being consulted and invited to lead on projects when appropriate.

Wiltshire Council officers will be attending the meeting to provide more information and answer questions on related projects and initiatives.

Martin Rose, Principal Traffic Engineer – Traffic & Network Management, gave a three part presentation which covered:

·         Waiting & Parking Restriction Reviews: the background to the review and the process to be followed.

·         Speed Limit Review for C class & Unclassified Roads: the background to the review and the process to be followed.   

·         Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs): what SIDs are, how they can be used and details of the deployment process.

The presentation is attached to these minutes for further information.

Martin Rose encouraged Town and Parish Councils to submit requests for SIDs by contacting Jacqui Abbott, Warminster Community Area Manager. Each request would then be assessed and go through the process detailed in the presentation.

In response to questions asked it was confirmed that SIDs:

-       Can be deployed on roads with a speed limit higher than 30 mph.

-       Could be deployed on a housing estate if the criterions were met, although this did not tend to be common practice.

A representative from Community First will be attending to talk about community transport including Wheels to Work, The Good Neighbour Scheme and the Link scheme.

Liam Tatton-Bennett, Community Transport Manager for Community First delivered a presentation focusing on Community transport in the Warminster Community Area and the Wiltshire Good Neighbours scheme.

The full presentation is attached to these minutes for further information on services available and relevant contact details.

Liam Tatton-Bennett explained that Community First was an independent charity aiming to help improve quality of life of people and local communities throughout Swindon and Wiltshire.

With 330 local members, Community First worked in close partnership with local communities as well as voluntary organisations and statutory agencies to help deliver a wealth of community programmes.

There were 22 co-ordinators working 10 hours a week as part of the Good Neighbours scheme, which had received some promising feedback.

Mike Lucas, Chitterne Parish Clerk and member of the Community Area Transport Group (CATG), updated the Board on progress made so far on the Chitterne Traffic Calming project which was halfway to completion. He was delighted to report that he had received positive comments on the work done so far, including the fact that “it looked right”.

The Chairman of the Area Board informed the meeting that good progress had been made “investigating” the Chins Court signage project. He explained that the proposed trial pits on Elm Hill / Portway would provide information needed regarding the missing pavement.

Members of the board commented on the good quality of the report and the amount of work undertaken by the CATG.

Decision:

The Warminster Area Board:

a)    Agreed for an extra £300 from the 2011/12 budget to be allocated towards the Copheap Lane project.

b)   Agreed that any unspent budget from 2011/12 would allocated to the Copheap Lane project. 

c)    Allocated £8,500 - £10,000 from the 2012/13 budget towards the Copheap Lane project.

d)   Agreed £350 towards the signage for Chins Court.

e)    Agreed £300 towards the Elm Hill / Portway trial pits

ACTION: Jacqui Abbott

To consider a request for funds to support a pilot transport project proposed by Warminster & Villages Community Partnership.

A request for funding for a pilot youth transport project had been received and included in the agenda.

Sandra Samuel, very recently appointed Warminster Youth Development Coordinator, introduced the funding request and explained that the main aim was to enable Young People to access youth services (for example rural communities where Youth Centres have been closed). The pilot was expected to have a trial period of one year.

It was suggested that the project would need to be suitably advertised and that local organisations should be informed of its availability as they may be willing to also advertise it.

Decision:

a.    To grant £4,045 for a trial period of one year to the Warminster Villages and Community Partnership for the provision of a pilot transport scheme to enable young people to be transported into Warminster up to three times weekly.

b.    That Councillor Pip Ridout would monitor the progress of the scheme as the Area Board representative for the Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group (CAYPIG) and inform the Area Board of any issues arising.

c.    That the Warminster Area Board review the pilot transport scheme at the 8 November 2012 meeting at the latest, or sooner should Councillor Pip Ridout inform the Area Board of any issues arising.

ACTION: Jacqui Abbott

To consider a request from Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

to receive funding.

A request to release the second and final tranche of core funding (covering the financial year 2011/12) for the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership (WVCP) had been included in the agenda.

The Community Area Manager introduced the report and highlighted the fact that WVCP had made really good progress to meet the commitments listed in their work plan and had submitted evidence to show how the first tranche of funding had been or would be spent.

Decision:

The Warminster Area Board agreed the release of the second and final tranche funding as Board Members were satisfied that the Warminster and Villages Community Partnership’s work plan commitments as detailed in the report were being met.

ACTION: Jacqui Abbott and Andrew Jack, Community Partnership Development Officer

The board will consider the existing Forward Work Plan for the Warminster Area Board at which point the Chairman will invite those present to suggest topics to be considered at future meetings.

If you cannot attend the meeting and would like to suggest topics please contact the Democratic Services Officer whose details are available on the front page of this agenda.

There were no comments from those attending  the meeting.

The meeting of the Area Board scheduled on 12 January 2012 will not take place.

If required a meeting of the Warminster Area Board will be set up in January to consider grant applications and / or any urgent business.

The next meetings of the Warminster Area Board will be on:

·         8 March 2012 – Warminster Civic Centre

·         10 May 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         5 July 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         6 September 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         8 November 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         10 January 2013 – venue to be confirmed

·         7 March 2013 – venue to be confirmed

It was noted that:

The meeting of the Area Board scheduled on 12 January 2012 would not take place.

If required a meeting of the Warminster Area Board would be set up in January to consider grant applications and / or any urgent business.

The next meetings of the Warminster Area Board would be on:

·         8 March 2012 – Warminster Civic Centre

·         10 May 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         5 July 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         6 September 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         8 November 2012 – venue to be confirmed

·         10 January 2013 – venue to be confirmed

·         7 March 2013 – venue to be confirmed

Tony Nicklin, member of Warminster Town Council, was pleased to report that the 2 hours free parking scheme (claiming back cost of parking ticket from retailer) was a success.

Reassurance was offered that issues with the car parking machines were being addressed by Wiltshire Council.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and drew the meeting to a close.