Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and the Wiltshire Councillors and Officers introduced themselves. The Chairman set out the evacuation procedure for the building.

Apologies were received from Martyn Baker (Westlea Housing Association), Jo Howes (NHS Wiltshire), Iain Hunter (Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service) and ?

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2009.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting on 2 December 2009 were approved and signed as a correct record, with the inclusion of a question relating to the NHS Update - "Councillor Brian Atfield from Cricklade Town Council asked why two Primary Care Trusts currently covered the Cricklade area and asked that this matter be formally raised under the issues process" and the inclusion of an update from Bob Jones on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce.

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

Councillor Bucknell announced that Wiltshire Council’s highways team was working round the clock to repair damaged roads in the county. The meeting was encouraged to report serious potholes to CLARENCE on 0800 232323 and they would be filled in as soon as possible. Wiltshire Council was also refilling grit bins, in case of more severe weather in the coming weeks. Councillor Bucknell had received much positive feedback on the highways team going the extra mile in the bad weather and helping out where they could.

Councillor Seed had replaced Councillor Greenman as Chairman of the Northern Operational Flood Working Group. A reminder was given that when flooding problems were anticipated or experienced, Parish Councils should in the first instance contact CLARENCE, on the number above.   

Consultation on waste collection services would be held from January until April this year. There would be a display at the next Area Board meeting, Wiltshire Council roadshows and information in the Wiltshire Council magazine and on the website: www.wiltshire.gov.uk.

The Chairman personally thanked those who helped prepare in case an Islam 4 UK march had gone ahead in Wootton Bassett.     

British Telecom was running a scheme for communities to ‘adopt’ a red telephone box. Further information was available from Karen Scott, the Community Area Manager. Tel: 01249 706496, Email: karen.scott@wiltshire.gov.uk.   

To receive updates from the key partners:

a)    Wiltshire Police

b)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

c)    NHS Wiltshire

d)    Northern Community Area Partnership

e)    Parish and Town Councils

f)     Westlea

g)    Chambers of Commerce

h)   Community Area Young People’s Issue Group.

The Chairman noted that written updates received before the meeting were appreciated from all partners.

a)    The written update from Wiltshire Police was noted.

b)    The written update from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was noted.

c)    The written update from NHS Wiltshire was noted.

d)    Bob Jones spoke as the Chairman for the Northern Community Area Partnership. He apologised for the lack of a written update. At a steering group meeting a proposal to employ a community partnership worker was unanimously supported. The partnership was unsatisfied with how the issue of the naming of the Area Board had been dealt with and with the response from the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Thomson. Mr Jones expressed disappointment that the Area Board had not adopted the area plan.

The Chairman commented that the Northern Community Area Partnership would receive a written response to the points raised. Councillor Colmer advised that he would put the name of the Area Board to a Full Council meeting on Tuesday 23 February.

e)    Paul Heaphy from Wootton Bassett Town Council thanked the Area Board for their grant towards a play park and the Government for funding through the PlayBuilders Scheme. He echoed the thanks of the Chairman for people in the town staying calm in a difficult time. A flagpole would be dedicated in Wootton Bassett on Friday 29 January by Prince Charles and his wife, The Duchess of Cornwall.

David Tetlow from Cricklade Town Council also thanked the highways team for working to keep the roads clear during the bad weather and the Area Board for clarifying that Tourist Information Points would be funded for the next (2010/11) financial year.

f)     There was not an update from Westlea Housing Association.

g)    The written update from Cricklade Business Association was noted.

h)   There was not an update from the Community Area Young People’s Issue Group. 

The Community Area Manager will update the meeting on the community issues process and progress made. Online updates are available from the Wiltshire Council website at:

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboardsissuestracking.htm

The Community Area Manager explained that three new issues had been received since the previous Area Board meeting. The Community Area Manager made the point that not all issues raised would go to Area Board meetings, because much work took place outside of the meetings. The issues discussed included the following:

·         School buses at Lydiard Millicent - the Area Board was awaiting a response from the transport planning team and the next Area Board meeting would have a transport theme

·         Two Primary Care Trusts covering the Cricklade area - awaiting a response from NHS Wiltshire, the Area Board would continue to pursue this issue

·         Community Speed Watch - the prioritisation matrix of roads had been agreed and would be forwarded to the Camera Safety Unit

·         High volume of traffic in Lyneham - awaiting a response from the transport planning team

·         Flooding in the local area - in line with recent comments made by other town and parishes most affected by flooding, Cricklade Town Council felt that the Operational Flooding Working Group should include one or more representatives from towns or parishes, where the best local knowledge resides. It was disappointing, for example, that the map drawn by Wiltshire Council to define the areas for the Operational Flooding Working Group was inaccurate in that two of Cricklade’s main rivers - the Thames and the Churn - were not shown. A question from Cricklade Town Council about a comprehensive Strategic Flooding Risk Assessment or Local Planning Flood Risk Assessment remained outstanding

·         The name of the Area Board and splitting the Area Board - the issues could not progress further within the Area Board process

The Community Area Manager drew attention to the issues log that was available at the meeting. She reminded the meeting that issues could be logged and tracked on the Wiltshire Council website where information on all issues submitted to the Area Board could be found:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/areaboards/areaboardsissuestracking.htm

To consider ten applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as follows:

a)    Cricklade Jenner Hall - towards the costs of replacing the Victorian drainage system and resurfacing the courtyard area in front of the hall to make it safer for disabled users of the facilities.

b)    Wootton Bassett Town Council - towards the purchase of machinery to improve the Ballard’s Ash Sports ground.

c)    Wootton Bassett Town Council - towards the replacement of the community notice board under the Town Hall.

d)    Thames Pre-School - towards the installation of a disabled ramp, conditional on planning permission being granted.

e)    Cricklade Leisure Centre - towards the cost of resurfacing the tennis courts for dual purpose, conditional on the applicant providing an action plan that sets out their proposals to increase participation in activities at the centre.

f)     Marston Meysey Parish Council - towards the cost of replacing a section of vandalised fencing at the children’s playground.

g)    Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal Trust - to purchase grass cutting equipment to maintain tow paths as public rights of way.

h)   Wootton Bassett Bowls Club - to purchase equipment to start teaching short mat bowls in Wootton Bassett School.

i)     Lyneham and Bradenstoke Women’s Institute - to purchase projection equipment to enhance its programme of talks

j)     Fiddler’s Allotment Group - to renovate sheds, undertake fencing works and plant two community raised beds.

Grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically at:

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboardscommunitygrantsscheme.htm   

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

Decision

Cricklade Jenner Hall were awarded £4,497 towards: 1 the costs of replacing the Victorian drainage system to meet current standards and 2 resurfacing the courtyard area in front of the hall to make it safer for disabled users of the facilities.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and in particular should increase the number of people engaged in volunteering, encourage people to make healthy lifestyle changes that have a positive impact on their health, improve adult and young people’s participation in sport, increase the number of people who feel safe and reduce accidents.

Decision

Wootton Bassett Town Council were awarded £2,700 towards the purchase of machinery to improve the Ballard’s Ash Sports ground.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and links with increasing participation in sport and improving the health lifestyles of adults and young people.

Decision

Wootton Bassett Town Council were awarded £1,420.42 towards the replacement of the community notice board under the Town Hall.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and the project broadly links to increasing participation in sport and other positive activities, encouraging healthy lifestyles, improving the area and increasing participation in volunteering.

Decision

Thames Pre-School, Cricklade were awarded £2,645 towards the installation of a disabled ramp, conditional on planning permission being granted.

Reason

The above applications met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and would improve young people’s participation in positive activities, and encouraging healthier lifestyles, as well as reducing the risk of accidents.

Decision

Cricklade Leisure Centre were awarded £5,000 towards the cost of resurfacing the tennis courts for dual purpose, conditional on the applicant providing an action plan that sets out their proposals to increase participation in activities at the centre.

Reason

The above applications met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and would improve adults and young people’s participation in sports and positive activities, encouraging healthier lifestyles.

Decision

MarstonMeysey Parish Meeting were awarded £195 towards the cost of replacing a section of vandalised fencing at the children’s playground.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and would improve young people’s participation in positive activities, encouraging healthy lifestyles, improving the area and increasing the number of people who feel safe in their community.

Decision

Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, Wootton Bassett Branch were awarded £727.05 to purchase grass cutting equipment to maintain towpaths as public rights of way.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2009/10 and would improve young people’s and adults participation in positive activities, encourage healthy lifestyles, improve the local area, increase the number of people involved in regular volunteering and improve local biodiversity.

Decision

Wootton Bassett Bowls Club were awarded £980 to purchase equipment to start teaching short mat bowls in Wootton Bassett School.

Reason

The above applications met the Community Area Grant Criteria  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Kevin Sweeney, Senior Manager - Operations and Staffing, will give a short presentation on the community area’s youth services and the work currently being undertaken to update the delivery of the service. This will be followed by a discussion and there will be a proposal to set up a Task and Finish Group to compile a database of activities and opportunities in the local area.  

Kevin Sweeney, Senior Manager - Operations and Staffing, gave a short presentation on the community area’s youth services and the work currently being undertaken to update the delivery of the service. Mr Sweeney had investigated youth provision in Wiltshire for the past 18months:

·        A starting point had been to work towards the fair allocation of available resources across the county

·        Different models of resource allocation across the UK had been looked into

·        The chosen model for resource allocation in Wiltshire was based on youth population (50%), entitlement to youth work (25%), deprivation (10%) and sparsity (10%), with 5% of resources held in a central pool (e.g. to cover maternity leave)

·        The amount spent on youth services in the county had not been reduced, but how it was being distributed was changing to make it fairer

·        Consultation had taken place with staff until December 2009 and was taking place with the public from January until March 2010. The implementation date for changes to the youth service was April 2010

·        In this Community Area, 65 hours of youth service would be available, a reduction of 8 hours per week 

Kevin Sweeney and David Whewell (Head of Youth Work) then invited questions and comments from the floor. This covered the following main points:

·        Concern was raised over young people in the villages losing out with transport difficulties

·        Youth workers were praised for the excellent work they had been doing in the Community Area, reducing anti social behavior and increasing the number of young people engaged in positive activities

·        CouncillorColmer’s proposal to refer the perceived reduction in service to Overview and Scrutiny in Wiltshire Council was unanimously supported by the meeting

·        Creative use of available resources was being investigated  

·        £6,000 was needed to maintain the existing youth service for the financial year 2010/11.

·        Comment was made it was essential to maintain or increase the service available for those most vulnerable in the community 

·        Disappointment was expressed over the vague figures provided

·        The impact on the closure of Lyneham on the number of young people in the Community Area

Decision

Councillor Brady would raise the issue of funding reduction for the youth service to Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Community Area with the Cabinet, before the budget for the next financial year was set. 

A separate ‘mapping and gapping’ exercise regarding youth provision in the local area was taking place, arising from a community issue. Please contact the Community Area Manager, Karen Scott, if you would like to become involved. Tel: 01249 706496, Email: karen.scott@wiltshire.gov.uk.   

This will be an opportunity to explore the perceptions and realities of anti social behaviour first considered at the last meeting.   

Mark Rippon, Community Safety Officer, spoke to the meeting about the perceptions and realities of anti social behaviour, considered at the previous Area Board meeting and answered questions from the floor. The Community Safety team were working with their partners to address vandalism and damage to property, litter, graffiti and drunken behaviour in the Community Area. He commented that anti social behaviour did not involve young people exclusively. If you would like to report anti social behaviour, in the first instance please complete a monitoring sheet. Monitoring sheets are available from the Wiltshire Council website www.wiltshire.gov.uk, or by contacting Mark Rippon, Tel: 01249 706416, Email: mark.rippon@wiltshire.gov.uk or from Karen Scott, the Community Area Manager. Tel: 01249 706496, Email: karen.scott@wiltshire.gov.uk.  

The Chairman will invite any remaining questions from the floor. The meeting is reminded that the arrangements for future meetings are set out in the attached Forward Work Plan. 

The Chairman invited any remaining questions and comments from the floor.

Gareth Brown invited the meeting to a Battle of the Bands event in the Memorial Hall, Wootton Bassett on Friday 30 April.

Councillor Atfield asked the Area Board to provide information on the position regarding Wiltshire Council finance and Icelandic banks.

Decision

A written response to this question would be provided to Councillor Atfield.

Councillor Hatton asked the Area Board to provide updates from outside bodies at future Area Board meetings.

Decision

Partner updates from outside bodies would be invited at future Area Board meetings.    

The next Area Board meeting would be held on Wednesday 24 March 2010 at Marsh Farm Hotel.