Agenda and minutes

Chairman’s Announcements:

·         Air Quality Strategy for Wiltshire

·         Highways Programme for 2010/11

·         Reducing Unnecessary Street Lighting in Wiltshire

The Chairman, Councillor Christopher Williams, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Tidworth Area Board and invited all those present to introduce themselves.

Councillor Williams also welcomed and introduced Councillor Richard Clewer, who was the Portfolio Holder with responsibility for Youth and Skills. Councillor Clewer was representing the Cabinet in the absence of Councillor Keith Humphries.

Councillor Williams made the following announcements:

Air Quality Strategy for Wiltshire

The Council had developed an Air Quality Strategy as an over-arching document detailing the approach to air quality. A consultation on the Strategy was running until 18 June 2010 and people were welcomed to submit their views. Further details were included in page 3 of the agenda.

Highways Programme for 2010/11

The Annual Programme of Highway Maintenance and Improvement Schemes for 2010/11 had been approved and the information was presented on an individual Community Area basis.

The information was available on the Council’s website under Community Area Highway Information, and further details were included in page 5 of the agenda.

Reducing Unnecessary Street Lighting in Wiltshire

Councillor Mark Connolly set out the details of a new initiative to help reduce energy costs and light pollution by switching off and/or dimming unnecessary street lighting at night time. A pilot scheme had already taken place in Tidworth, where parts of the lighting on the Ludgershall to Tidworth cycleway were turned off between midnight and 6.00 am.

Following this successful pilot, and one in Urchfont, each Area Board would receive £5,000 towards the introduction of schemes in their areas that would seek to reduce unnecessary street lighting.

Councillor Williams welcomed suggestions from parish and town councils and other interested parties, as to the most effective way to utilise this funding. Any ideas or suggestions for areas where street light reductions could be effective should be reported back to the Area Board. This would then be debated at a future meeting.

Councillor Williams proposed that, if there was no other interest from those present, Councillor Connolly should be nominated to act as Project Leader for this initiative, to liaise with the community and resolve any issues with the public. There were no other nominations and Councillor Connolly agreed to undertake the position of Project Leader.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Keith Humphries (Cabinet representative with responsibility for Health and Wellbeing), David Sherlock (Tidworth Town Council), Mike Cox (Collingbourne Ducis Parish Council), John Cherrett (Fittleton Parish Council), Alan Butterworth (Tidcombe and Fosbury Parish Council), Graeme Hay (Head of Service – Local Highways and Streetscene – South) and Michael Mead (St James’ Church).

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 15 March 2010.

Decision

The minutes of the previous Area Board meeting, held on Monday 15 March 2010, were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive updates from local youth groups on youth issues in the community area, and to consider ideas for youth transport projects.

Councillor Williams announced that the sum of £5,000 had been allocated to help local youth groups with transport initiatives or any other youth activities as required. Ideas were sought on how this funding could be utilised.

Wendy Higginson, Assistant Youth Worker, introduced a DVD that was played. The DVD showed an insight to a music room that had been set up as a result of £8,100 of grant funding that the group had received. The music room was now fully functional, with a range of different musical equipment, and had even won an award.

Wendy provided an update on recent activities, as follows:

·         A snapshot survey had been conducted at the Wellington Academy to find out how transport barriers affected young people’s access to youth services. As a result of the survey, a pilot project would start on 7 June that would transport young people from around the Community Area to the youth centre and drop them home again. The local radio was suggested as a possible means for advertising this service.

·         A presentation had been made at the previous meeting regarding long-term needs of young people. Wendy and Val Powley, Community Area manager, were now working with Andrew Jack to manage research on this, with particular focus on the rural areas. Anyone with ideas or who was able to assist should contact Wendy.

·         With the help of Extended Services, a six-week project for 8-12 year olds would run from 10 June on Thursday evenings. The project would then be evaluated to determine how it would be progressed.

·         Councillor Connolly announced that there would be an open evening at Tidworth Youth Centre on 24 May from 7.00 pm until 9.00 pm.

A representative of Enford and Avon Valley Youth Club announced that the club, which was new and benefitted from excellent facilities, was experiencing problems with transport for people to get to and from the club and could potentially benefit from some of the funding that was available. Councillor Williams recommended that the Club contacted Val Powley to explore this possibility further.

To receive feedback from the Health Fair held on 14 April 2010 and to determine the next steps to address health issues in the Tidworth Community Area.

Val Powley, Community Area Manager, provided feedback from the Tidworth Community Area Health Fair that had taken place on Wednesday 14 April 2010. The Fair had been organised by the Area Board in partnership with NHS Wiltshire.

There had been a number of interesting stands at the Fair, including stands from the Tidworth Community Area Partnership (TCAP), MS Society, the Military and also stands with the opportunity to check blood pressure. The Fair had proven very successful in terms of partners working together to address health priorities.

Val announced the intention to form a working group to take forward actions to address health issues identified in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. The group could be built around the Health and Social Care Group of the TCAP.

Various partners indicated a willingness to be involved in the group, including the Area Board councillors, Col Tabor of the TCAP, Inspector Martin Sweett representing Wiltshire Police and Andy Schofield, Principle of the Wellington Academy. Anyone else interested in becoming involved should contact Val.

To receive a presentation on the NHS Out of Hours and Single Point of Contact Services from Jo Howes, Head of Community Engagement, Wiltshire PCT.

Jo Howes, Head of Community Engagement at Wiltshire PCT, gave a presentation on the NHS Out of Hours and Single Point of Contact service. There was now a single provider across the county instead of the four providers that there were previously, which should improve clarity and efficiency for users.

The main change in the Tidworth Community Area was that patients previously had a choice of attending the centre at Savernake in Marlborough, or to have a home visit where appropriate. There was now the option for patients to be seen at the Amesbury Health Centre, which would hopefully improve access for some people.

The single telephone number to use to access the service was 0300 111 5717. Leaflets with further were available to take away.

Councillor Connolly enquired about the bowel cancer screening programme, particularly with regards to age ranges. Jo was not aware of this but agreed to find out and report back to the Area Board. Jo announced that bowel cancer could be difficult to identify and treat, and so urged people to attend the screening if they were invited.

To receive a presentation on the Salisbury Plain Sustainable Communities Study from Richard Brown of Drivers Jonas Deloitte.

Richard Brown, of Drivers Jonas Deloitte, gave a presentation on the Salisbury Plain Sustainable Communities Study. Richard explained that he had been appointed by Wiltshire Council to undertake the study as part of the Military Civilian Integration Programme.

The presentation, which could be found as part of the agenda document, summarised the main outcomes of the study, the timescales for the different stages of the study, and an exploration of the key pros and cons of having a large military presence in the local area. It was the latter issue that Richard wanted to obtain responses to from people in attendance at the meeting. The following points were raised:

·         David Wildman of the Tidworth Chamber of Commerce felt that there was a vast amount of rented accommodation in the area that far outweighed private home ownership. The introduction of more key worker housing schemes would be beneficial. It was also important to create the right type of jobs, both to attract people to the area and to encourage them to stay.

·         Humph Jones of Tidworth Town Council felt that a military presence in the area did not have a negative impact on crime and anti-social behaviour, and thought that crime was generally low and dealt with very well. He also announced that the study’s consultation had missed the parish and town councils.

·         Graham Wright of Durrington Town Council commented on the isolation of Larkhill and felt that opportunities for housing and jobs were needed in order to retain struggling local shops. It was also important to keep in touch with parish and town councils.

·         In response to a query that arose regarding school performance, Andy Schofield, Principal of Wellington Academy, commented that he did not feel that any such issues were related to the military presence.

·         Councillor Richard Clewer commented on the pressures that military families face and the stress that this causes, particularly for the school children. This was something that Wiltshire Council was already working to address, but needed to be considered further as part of this study.

·         Col Paddy Tabor agreed with Councillor Clewer’s comments and reiterated that a lot of families were finding this extremely difficult, particularly in Bulford where a recent Tour in Afghanistan had put a lot of strain on families. Col Tabor also agreed that there was a lack of appropriate housing for the military population and families were sometimes forced to move further away, leaving them isolated.

·         Ken Beard of Ludgershall Town Council commented on ‘Area 19’ and enquired whether this site would proceed. Area 19 was a patch of land north of the cricket pitch in Tidworth where 360 homes were planned for the military. Col Tabor stated that the development of Area 19 was definitely required, but that there were financial constraints and Bulford was the first priority.

·         In response to a comment regarding the issue of noise pollution, particularly for the outlying areas, Col Tabor stated that a road had been partly constructed to remove some of the military  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive a presentation on the outcome of the Local Development Framework Consultation from Mathew Pearson, Planning Officer, Regional and Spatial Planning.

Mathew Pearson, Planning Officer (Regional and Spatial Planning), gave a presentation on the Local Development Framework (LDF) consultation results. The consultation, which had taken place between October to December 2009, was an important step towards the development of the Wiltshire Core Strategy.

The consultation had been publicised widely and included a series of public exhibitions and workshops. Over 2000 comments had been received, and a number of issues had been raised in the Tidworth Community Area, including:

·         The imbalance of military/civilian presence.

·         The ability of Tidworth and Ludgershall as market towns to absorb growth.

·         Housing development was supported, with the right balance of affordable units so as not to discourage developers.

·         Potential flooding issues in Tidworth and infrastructure concern relating to the A303 and water treatment/sewerage in Ludgershall.

·         A requirement for more light industrial units.

Mathew outlined the proposed actions to respond to the issues raised, and stated that the production of the draft core strategy was the next step in the process. This would then be formally submitted to the Secretary of State for consideration in spring 2011.

Further information was available at http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk.

To receive an update from the Community Area Manager on issues raised, including issues with dog fouling and parking on double yellow lines.

Val Powley, Community Area Manager, introduced Stephen Matthews, Cleansing Technician, who was present to discuss the issues of dog fouling and the lack of litter bins.

Stephen Matthews introduced his role and explained that he would be reviewing street cleansing in general. This would include looking at litter bins and considering whether they were in the correct locations according to usage and local requirements.

With reference to the problem of dog fouling, Stephen strongly encouraged the use of bags and bins, and stated that there was a requirement to educate people regarding the correct way to clean up after their dogs.

In the past there used to be separate bins for general waste and dog waste, which some people had found confusing. Stephen confirmed that this was no longer the case and that bins for general waste could now be used for dog waste too. There was also a series of new stickers being placed on litter bins to notify the public of this change.

The following comments were made in the discussion that ensued:

·         Stickers had previously been placed on lampposts, etc, warning people of potential fines for allowing dog fouling. Stephen stated that these were issued by Environmental Health and he agreed to investigate if some could be obtained for this area.

·         There was a particular problem with dog owners putting their dog’s waste into bags, but then casting the bags into bushes and undergrowth.

·         Ludgershall Town Council had arranged litter picks along the roads in problem areas. Litter bins had been requested along these routes, but were not favoured in these locations due to them being used as school routes and the costs involved.

·         In response to a query regarding the issuing of fines to offenders, Stephen agreed to obtain some statistics and report back to the Area Board.

·         If people were aware of who the offenders were, they could be reported to the Council and a warning letter would be sent to them. This was thought to be an effective deterrent.

·         It was suggested that dog DNA could be used to identify offenders in cases where the dog owners denied responsibility.

Councillor Williams thanked Stephen for attending and announced that another local issue had arisen regarding illegal parking on double yellow lines, particularly during times when enforcement was not in place.

Chris Major, Parking Services Manager, had provided a response to this via email, which Councillor Williams read out. Chris Major had stated that he had asked theEnforcement Manager to look at the way problems were addressed within the area and to add the enforcement of the restrictions in this area to the rota.

Chris had also stated that his team aimed to work in partnership with those groups that held local knowledge and asked that any information should be submitted to the parking team via email at parking@wiltshire.gov.uk or via the Parking Services helpline on 01249 706131. That information would then be passed to the enforcement team for action.

Val Powley encouraged people to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive an update from the Tidworth Community Area Partnership (TCAP) and information on the work of the Thematic Groups, as follows:

Health and Social Care

Transport

Housing & the Built Environment

The Economy

Communication

Crime and Community Protection

Education and Life Long Learning

Culture and Leisure

Countryside and Land-based.

Col Paddy Tabor, Chairman of the Tidworth Community Area Partnership, introduced the new Partnership Co-ordinator, Tony Pickernell. Col Paddy announced that good financial support had been received for the post, and thanked those partners that had contributed and given the matter their consideration.

Brief updates were given on each of the Thematic Groups:

Health and Social Care Group

Val Powley announced that this group was now chaired by Rea Jones and it was hoped that it would provide the nucleus to take forward actions from the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

Crime and Community Safety Group

Val stated that membership of this group had previously dropped, but recent efforts had seen new interest emerge. David Marks was the Chair of this group, and several projects regarding youth were underway, including the Stag Project.

Transport Group

Councillor Connolly provided an update on this group, which had met recently, and announced that the group had gained over £150,000 of funding for various local projects.

The sum of £140,000 had been received for widening the shared path from Wellington Academy to Tidworth and would be completed during the summer. £20,000 of this had been received from the Local Transport Plan funding and £120,000 had come from Links to Schools.

Another £12,500 had been received, of which £3,500 would be used for a new footpath on the A345 in Enford from ‘New Buildings’ to the bus stop, and £9,000 would be used for an assessment of possible zebra crossings on the A342 in Andover Road, Ludgershall. This was to look at the points between Meade Road and Pretoria Road where there were bus stops.

The signage on the approach to Tidworth was yet to get underway, but there was a meeting being held on 18 May where this issue would be discussed with officers and progress would be reported back.

The A338/A346 Working Group report had been considered by the Tidworth, Pewsey, Amesbury and Marlborough Area Boards, and the resolutions passed by those Boards requesting de-priming of the A338/A346 Corridor between Salisbury and Swindon were passed on 21 April 2010 to the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport for consideration. A Cabinet decision is now awaited on whether or not Wiltshire Council will request the Department for Transport to de-prime the Corridor road.

Communications Group

Baz Reilly of Castledown Radio extended a thank you for the money that was received to support the radio station. The licence for the radio was held by the company Castledown Radio Ltd, which Wellington Academy had joined as an entity itself. A Branding and Communications study was currently underway.

Baz encouraged new people, including parish and town councils, to get involved with the radio station.

Education and Life Long Learning Group

There was more work to do with this group, with particular focus on post-education training and more emphasis on schools.

Culture and Leisure Group

The future direction of this group was unclear at this stage.

Countryside and Land-based Group

The Bourne Valley linear path  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To receive any updates.

Partner updates had been received from NHS Wiltshire and from Everleigh Parish Council and were available at pages 27 to 31 of the agenda. Tidworth Town Council reported that it had a new Chairman, David Sherlock.

Councillor Williams encouraged the parish and town councils to use the update template as a means of updating the Area Board, the public and partners on recent news and activities. The template would be sent out by the Democratic Services Officer prior to each meeting.

A partner update had been received from Wiltshire Police and was available in the agenda packs. Inspector Martin Sweett commented that the update included plenty of useful links and contacts, and also an updated list of local priorities for Tidworth. Priorities for the Ludgershall and Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team were to be set next week.

Inspector Sweett made the following additional announcements:

·         Pro-active work was continuing against anti-social behaviour and any comments or suggestions should be fed into the local teams.

·         Local action plans were already being developed regarding Halloween and bonfire night.

·         Plans were also underway to deal with issues arising from the World Cup, although no major problems were envisaged. A dedicated team had been set up to deal promptly with any World Cup related issues, so the team should be contacted whenever necessary.

·         A new Police Community Support Worker was now working at Wellington Academy as part of the Safer Schools Partnership.

·         Last year there was an 11.5% reduction in crime from the previous year which was very positive. Dwelling burglaries, in particular, had reduced with only 10 occurring last year.

Col Tabor provided an update on the military and informed of the sad news regarding Captain Jonathan Allen, who had been killed by a passing lorry whilst cycling home to Burbage from his base in Tidworth. Col Tabor also made the following announcements:

·         A litter pick ‘clean sweep 2’ had been held on 22 April with the help of Wiltshire Council and Test Valley Borough Council. 23 tonnes of rubbish had been collected and these litter picks would now be held on a six-monthly basis.

·         An Environment Strategy Group had been set up and was aiming to reduce the military’s contribution to landfill to zero by 2020.

·         There would be a substantial mission rehersal exercise starting in the next few weeks so there was likely to be an increase in noise from helicopters and other equipment.

Councillor Williams had received a letter from a representative of the Ludgershall Mission Hall promoting the hall as a peaceful alternative to places of worship. The hall was in need of funding, and Councillor Williams recommended an application for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme. Although the hall did not meet the grant criteria, this could be overridden if councillors felt that there was a wide community benefit.

To determine two applications for grant funding from Collingbourne Cricket Club and Zouch School.

Grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager on 01722 712487 or electronically by following this link.

Consideration was given to two applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme.

Collingbourne Cricket Club

David Paterson and Karl Rogers spoke in support of the club’s application for grant funding, which was required to improve and upgrade equipment such as nets and matting. The club had 40 paid-up members at present, and was working with Wellington Academy to enhance its links with young people.

Decision

Collingbourne Cricket Club was awarded £1,000 towards the cost of the replacement of cricket nets and matting.

Reason  The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2010/11 and would provide an opportunity for people to participate in positive activities.

Zouch Primary School, Tidworth

Alex Grant of Circular Arts and Pauleen Lawes, Deputy Head of Zouch Primary School, spoke in support of the school’s application for grant funding to further develop its community cohesion activities. The funding was being sought to help towards the cost of piloting a project to help with the integration of army families and the local community.

Councillor Clewer asked for clarification on some of the planned expenditure, including the £10,000 for professional fees for artists and the event costs/workshop material costs, which appeared to be similar things. Alex Grant explained that the professional fees would pay for the 10 professional artists to work on the project. The artists had already been persuaded to reduce their costs by 30% and had a key role to play.

Alistair Cunningham, Service Director, enquired whether the funding from Plain Action had been awarded yet. Alex explained that this funding had not yet been awarded but the application was due to be determined in July, and that many of the funding streams depended on the project receiving local authority support.

Alistair suggested that the application from Zouch Primary School be put on hold until the councillors had received answers to their questions and other funding streams were confirmed.

Decision

The application from Zouch Primary School was deferred and would be considered at a future meeting.

Reason  To allow for further clarification to be sought on the detail of the application and to allow other funding sources to be confirmed.

To determine an application for funding from Wiltshire Alternative Youth Sports.

Wiltshire Alternative Youth Sports

Wiltshire Alternative Youth Sports was seeking £150,000 for its Wiltshire Alternative Sports Hub Development.

Alex Muse, Sports Development Officer, provided an explanation of the hub development project and explained how it would improve young people’s access to facilities. The T2A project and the Pewsey project would both be used as models whilst also being further improved.

Decision

The Area Board was in support of the application for funding from Wiltshire Alternative Youth Sports.

To receive the Forward Work Plan and review future agenda items.

The Tidworth Area Board Forward Plan had been circulated prior to the meeting and was available at page 45 of the agenda. The Forward Plan included items that would be considered by the Area Board at future meetings.

Councillor Williams encouraged people to come forward with any local issues they may have, as these could be considered at future meetings.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board will be held on Monday 19 July 2010, 7.00 pm at Collingbourne Kingston Village Hall.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance at the meeting and encouraged people to complete and return their evaluation forms.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board would be held on Monday 19 July 2010, 7.00 pm at Collingbourne Kingston Village Hall.