Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Warminster Area Board meeting.  He explained that the meeting scheduled for 14 January 2010 had been cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions.  This meeting would consider those items which could not be deferred until the March meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Councillors Keith Humphries and Christopher Newbury

Councillor John Noeken – Cabinet Member

Barry Pirie – Service Director

Jo Howes – NHS Wiltshire

Sam Shore – Youth Development Service

Heather Abernethie – Warminster Town Council

CAYPIG Representatives

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

Councillors Andrew Davis and Pip Ridout declared general personal interests as members of Warminster Town Council.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2009.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 November 2009 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To determine applications for Community Area Grants.

Consideration was given to two applications made to the Community Area Grants Scheme.

(a)  WVCP Health and Social Care Group

Decision

To agree that a grant of £999 be awarded to the WVCP Health and Social Care Group to commission “Anybody can cook” sessions.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and will raise awareness in local families for the need to eat healthily.

(b)  Warminster Adventure Sports Club

Decision

To agree that a grant of £1,000 be awarded to the Warminster Adventure Sports Club to purchase a whitewater canoe.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and will increase participation in adventure sports by a wide cross section of the community.

To consider whether the Board wishes to propose or support any bids for Performance Reward Grant.

The Area Board considered a request for funding submitted under the Performance Reward Grant Scheme.  The application was from the Warminster Athenaeum Trust for a phase IV restoration project.  The amount of funding sought was £45,015 for the purchase of a lift to enable disabled, young and old people to access the function room area on the first floor.

Decision

To support the bid for performance reward grant funding from the Warminster Athenaeum Trust to go forward for consideration.

It was noted that the bid for £12,000 from the Friends of the Park for a teen shelter and boxing in of skate ramps had been successful under this grant scheme.  The young people had now been asked to assist with choosing the shelter and finding a solution to the litter problem.

To consider a proposal from the Community Area Manager to commission Warminster Community Radio to record the views of people in Warminster, to inform discussion at Area Board meetings.

The Area Board considered a proposal to work with Warminster Community Radio to record the voices of those unable to attend the Area Board meetings.

The project would enable the Community Radio to visit various locations and ask for people’s views.  An audio recording would then be played back at Area Board meetings.  If successful this could be built into the Community Area Partnership’s core funding costs and could be developed further to aid inclusion and to bring forward the views of those people who were unable to attend Area Board meetings.

Decision

To allocate £490 to commission Warminster Community Radio to provide an audio recording service for those people unable to attend Area Board meetings.

Warminster Development Trust

The Warminster Development Trust asked whether an item could be included on the next Area Board agenda.  The Trust asked to discuss its interest in purchasing the Old Town Hall in Warminster with the aim of bringing it back into community use.

Decision

To agree that this matter be included in a future agenda for the next meeting of the Area Board on 4 March 2010 providing that some firm proposals are available for consideration.

Mr Michael Turner raised concerns about the recent town centre improvements.  He stated that the increase in street furniture had caused obstructions in the town.   There was no loading bay in the High Street and this led to lorries blocking the road and had caused a backlog of traffic.  Mr Turner felt that the Market Place was not working successfully.

The Area Board noted Mr Turner’s comments and asked him to put his concerns in writing for consideration at a future meeting so that officers could respond accordingly.

The next meeting of the Warminster Area Board will be on Thursday 4 March 2010, 7pm at Kingdown School, Woodcock Road, Warminster, BA12 9DR.

It was noted that the next meeting would take place on Thursday 4 March 2010 at Dewey House, North Row, Warminster.