Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Amesbury Area Board and thanked Fighldean Village Hall for hosting the meeting.

At the Chairman’s invitation, the Councillors introduced themselves.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·        Amesbury Town Council

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 27 July 2017.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 July 217 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Councillor Mike Hewitt declared an interest in item 15, as his wife was a volunteer with the Farleys Malone (applicants for funding).

The Chairman will introduce the announcements and invite questions.

The Chairman referred to announcements in pack.

An additional announcement about  the A303 was handed out which gave an update on the decision for the new road plans at Stonehenge. The Chairman noted that the smaller roads entering the A303 would be reviewed in the next phase and that Parish and Town Councils need to ensure they get involved detailing any issues they have. More information could be found at: www.highways.gov.uk/a303stonehenge

The Chairman referred to the updates set out in the agenda and invited further updates from Town/Parish Councils and other Partners, including outside bodies.  It was noted that the preferred option was for written updates, to minimise time spent during the meeting.

Lovells

It was noted that there was an 11 day delay on the road works at the Packway.

Police

It was noted that issues with call waiting times with the 101 service were being addressed.

The recent neighbourhood task group meeting only had two attendees. It was requested that every Town/ Parish Council send at least one rep to those meetings.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service

It was noted that a restructure was taking place to ensure that the service was fit for purpose and effectively delivering the agreed priorities. Seven new District Support Officer roles are being trialled and will support on-call station management teams.

Many community engagement events had taken and will take place  including safe and well visits, educational events at local schools, attending flu clinics, Safe Drive Stay Alive and UK Business Safety Week 2017.

The recent recruitment campaign had been successful although the fire service still needed more on call fire fighters.  

Archaeological Digs

It was noted that in October for two weeks, archaeological digs will take place with lectures taking place at the Amesbury History Centre.

To receive an update on the Police estates media release.

Presenter: Inspector Nick Mawson

Inspector Nick Mawson informed the Area Board that due to efficiencies a number of buildings that were not used or staffed well would be closing. This included either Amesbury or Tidworth police stations. Due to the army rebasing it has been recommended that the Amesbury station is closed. The timeline for the closure would be approximately 2-3 years.

To receive an update.

A presentation was given providing an update on the Amesbury Youth Café. It was noted that the Youth café had been very successful and now hosted at three venues. Members of the Youth café had been involved with a number of events doing promotion and encouraging more youths to get involved. Some of the youths who attend the café recently visited Africa where they shared the skills they learnt at the Café with members of a local village. Other events have involved youths being able to attend residential events and getting involved with local democracy.

A thanks was given to all of the volunteers involved with the Amesbury Youth Café.

i.              Updates

ii.            Grants

Cllr Darren Henry informed the meeting that they were looking at having a joint Chairman which would include a youth person who could be mentored.

Membership had been increasing although more rural reps were needed and a separate group would be formed to look at fundraising.

The potential to hold a young person conference was discussed and it was agreed that it was a good idea, although more details were required.

Durrington youth provision

It was noted that their current lease of The Ham Centre would end on the 31 September and in the future would operate from Bulford and Durrington.

It was requested that the current funds remaining could be transferred to the new premises.

Resolved

It was agreed that the remaining funds could be transferred.

Grants

Cllr Fred Westmoreland introduced the grant.

Resolved

To award Wessex Community Action £4126 (half of the requested funds), for the Amesbury Youth Café.   

To receive a presentation.

Presenter: Laura Young

Cllr Robert Yuill gave an update on the Amesbury Extra Care scheme. Plans were shown of how the facility would look and what provisions would be available. A vote on the name of the provision took place with Evergreen Court coming out on top.

Questions asked included; How the provision would be funded, how placements would be managed and funded and if carer facilities would be provided.

In response it was noted that the provision had received grants from the government but was still short £13m. The placements would be managed by selling and renting the rooms and if the rooms were sold then Wiltshire Council would keep a percentage of the price. Carers including doctors, physio etc would be able to attend the facility and an area provided for them. More information would be provided if full time caring personnel would be on site 24 hours.  

To receive a presentation on the Waste Management Strategy.

Presenters: Tracy Carter (Associate Director for Waste and Environment)

                        Amy Williams (Lead waste Technical Officer)

Martin Litherland (Head of Waste Management) and Amy Williams (Lead Waste Technical Officer) gave a presentation on the waste management strategy for the next 10 years.

An update was given on the refurbishment of the recycling centres in

Amesbury. It was noted that a new contractor would be taking over the

management of the centre on the 2 October 2017, which provided an

opportunity to look at the layout and how the centre is used.

The Amesbury centre and a number around the county would be refurbished

with a change of layout and for that to take place the site would need to close for two weeks beginning the 21 November and reopen on the 1 December. During that period of closure alternative sites would be available and more information could be found on the councils website.

The key points of the presentation were:

-       The need to develop a new strategy on how waste and recycling is collected and managed taking into consideration current challenges and major developments.

-       Performance in figures - 700,00 bins from 215,000 houses were collected fortnightly; in 2016 243,000 tonnes of waste and recycling was managed by the council, a significant decrease since 2014/2015; residents produce 566kg of non recycled waste which most of that could be recycled; 44% of waste is recycled a reduction from 46.5% in 2014/2015 and the amount of waste sent to landfill has decreased from 78%in 2003 to 21% in 2016/17.

-       The budget for waste and recycling in 2017/18 has been reduced to £31.88m, to cover meet this budget charges for non-household waste would be introduced at recycling centres and charges for collection services would include reasonable costs of collection.

-       A public consultation was taking place to ascertain the views of residents which will help develop the new strategy. The consultation deadline was the 14 November 2017

A number of questions were asked which focused on: fly tipping, blue bins, selling goods, recycling food trays and the compaction system.

In response it was noted that; fly tipping was being monitored to identify patterns – there had been an increase which was mostly commercial waste; the south had smaller blue bins provided so WC would look to provide bigger blue bins; food trays could not be collected due to microwave contamination and that multiple bins for each waste category would be provided to elevate the time delays due to compaction.

It was noted that all of the mentioned points were included within the full

consultation online and accessed here: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/rubbish-andrecycling

The Chairman thanked Martin and Amy for their presentation.

To receive a presentation on the Side by Side Project

Presenter: Diane Jenkins

Diane Jenkins gave a presentation on the Side by Side project which aimed to reach more people with dementia.

The presentation focused on:

-       The aims of the project – to help those with dementia live well, remain active, keep their hobbies, be a part of their communities and get out and about

-       How people can get involved with the community service – helping with referrals, being dementia friendly, volunteering and forming local dementia action alliances.

-       40% of people with dementia felt lonely and a third lost friends following diagnosis, many felt trapped in their own homes only interacting with family or carers and 34% did not feel part of their community.

The Chairman thank Diane for the presentation.

To consider an update and recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) in relation to the funding available towards Local Transport Projects.

It was noted that the next meeting of the CATG would be on the 30 October 2017.

To determine the applications for Community Area Grant funding and Members initiative and to receive a funding update.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Councillor Fred Westmoreland introduced the item.

Dave Roberts updated the area board on some funding where the criteria has been changed.

Decision

To confirm support to allocate the £2,750 of revenue funding  from litter picking and MIDAS training to projects that fit with the JSA priorities under a community events heading.

Decision

Funding for both Durrington Football Club and Bulford PC Play Area was deferred until the next meeting as no applicant was present.

Decision

To approve the member initiative of £1000 for the Boscombe Down Social Club.

To receive an update from the H&WG and to determine a funding application.

Cllr Robert Yuill presided as Chairman for this item.

Decision

To award Farleys Malone £2500 for their on-going projects.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Cllr Darren Henry proposed a community awards ceremony which would recognise the work of local volunteers. There would be three categories: Individuals, youth/ junior and team or groups. Nominations would need to be received by 1 December 2017, judging would take place week beginning 4 December 2017 and the ceremony on the 18 January 2018.

Decision

The Area Board approved the Amesbury Area Board Community Awards ceremony.

The next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board will be held on 30 November at the South Newton & Great Wishford Village Hall, Warminster Road, Stoford, Salisbury SP2 0Q

It was noted that the next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board would be held on 30 November at South Newton & Great Wishford Village Hall, Warminster Road, Stoford, Salisbury SP2 0QW.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.