Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Amesbury Area Board and invited Councillors and officers to introduce themselves.

(a)               Bulford Bridge Closure – confirmation of dates and diversion route

(b)               Special Educational Needs Review Consultation (attached)

(c)               Gypsies and Travellers Consultation (attached)

The Chairman commented that he had called this Extraordinary meeting as he considered that the gap of 11 weeks between meetings was too long.  In addition, two items had arisen which could not have waited until the next scheduled meeting on 29 April 2010.  

It was announced that there would be an Area Board hosted event in June for Parish Councils to comment on how the Amesbury Area Board was working. 

The Chairman advised that he would permit a few minutes for issues which were not on the agenda to be raised by the public and representatives from Parish Councils:

·         A member of the public referred to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that £100 million would be made available for improvements to highways, and asked whether this would be ringfenced by local authorities.  Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet Representative for Highways and Transport, confirmed that the money would be ring-fenced for highways, although the Chancellor had not clarified how the funding would be allocated.  It was anticipated that the money would also be used towards motorways, and so Wiltshire Council could receive around £600K.

·         Responding to a comment that roads in the north of the county were in a better state of repair than those in the south, Councillor Tonge commented that there was a similar perception by those living in the north of the county, that the roads in the south were better.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

(a)          Bulford Bridge Closure

The works to Bulford Bridge would begin on 4 May 2010 and were scheduled to continue until 30 October 2010.  A map was shown detailing the detour route, and it was noted that letters would be sent to all those in the affected area.  A representative of Durrington Town Council suggested that the MOD river-crossing upstream could be used as a detour route.  It was noted that this crossing would not be closed, although nor would it be promoted/signed as an alternative crossing.

(b)          Special Educational Needs Review Consultation

This consultation had commenced at the end of February and would run to 24 May.  Members of the public were invited to engage with this review by going to an event at Salisbury City Hall on 4 May.  Full details were set out on page 3 of the agenda.

(c)          Gypsies and Travellers Consultation

It was noted that this consultation would run from 6 April to 4 June.  A drop-in event for members of the public was being held on Thursday 13 May in Salisbury.  Full details were set out on page 5 of the agenda.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Fred Westmoreland.

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

Councillor John Noeken declared a prejudicial interest in item 9 (R2 Funding Request from Amesbury Town Council) as a member of Amesbury Town Council.  Councillor Noeken confirmed that he would leave the room during consideration of this item.

There were no other declarations of interest.

Simon Banton (Figheldean Parish Council), will speak on Light Pollution from Local Businesses.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Simon Banton, of Figheldean Parish Council, gave a presentation highlighting the environmental and economic consequences of light pollution.

Light pollution had a direct environmental effect on birds and insects, in addition to the indirect impact of generating the wasted energy.  It was estimated that one 500W security light operating every night for one year had the same environmental impact as driving a car for 5000 miles.

The economic cost of wasted light was estimated at £1 billion per year, of which the vast majority was commercial and recreational (£880 million) and old style, inefficient street lights (£120 million).

The Salisbury Plain area was one of the last in the country where reasonably dark skies could be found.  However, conditions had deteriorated over the last few years, with the effects being noticed by astronomers and members of the military.

Simon welcomed the replacement of some street lights in Amesbury with newer designs which directed all the light downwards.  However, he commented that his attempts to address concerns over light pollution had met with varying levels of success, with one query being unsuccessful as the lights were not deemed to be a hazard to traffic, nor to residential amenity and did not infringe planning restrictions.

In conclusion, Simon asked the following questions:

1.    How far and over what timescale did the street light replacement programme extend?

2.    Did Wiltshire Council have a light pollution reduction strategy, and if so who was responsible?

3.    What could be done about the light polluters who did not break any regulations?

Councillor Dick Tonge commented that the street light replacement programme would continue with specific funding from the government.  Each Area Board would receive £5,000 towards the replacement of up to 100 street lights with new energy efficient units.  The Chairman suggested that Simon may be able to feed ideas directly into this process.

Unfortunately, Wiltshire Council was restricted in how it could address light pollution caused by existing sites.  However, council planning policy now required all new residential and commercial developments to comply with restrictions over lighting arrangements.  The Cabinet Representative for Waste, Property and Environment, Councillor Toby Sturgis, was responsible for this.

The Chairman and members of the Board thanked Simon for his presentation and for raising this important subject.

Jo Howes, Community Engagement Manager from NHS Wiltshire will deliver a brief presentation on changes to the Out of Hours Service in Wiltshire.

Jo Howes, Community Engagement Manager for NHS Wiltshire, presented the new arrangements for providing out-of-hours GP services in the county.

For the past four years, out-of-hours services had been provided by NHS Wiltshire through four separate organisations across Wiltshire.  This contract had recently been retendered to provide a county-wide service, and from 1 April 2010, Wiltshire Medical Services (WMS) would be the sole provider for medical and dental out-of-hours services.

WMS was an established provider of such services, having operated in North Wiltshire and Kennet since 2004.  The service was run by local GPs on a rota basis, and there was an agreement that no locum or agency doctors would be used.

Out-of-hours services were for urgent, yet not life threatening medical treatment.  Callers to the service would be advised on self-care or asked to come to their nearest base for treatment, or visited at home. The service would operate from eight bases, including Amesbury.

A member of the public commented on the excellent service provided by the minor injuries unit at Salisbury District Hospital and asked whether the opening hours would be harmonised with those of the units at Trowbridge and Chippenham hospitals.  Jo undertook to find out and respond to the Area Board though Karen Linaker.

The Area Board welcomed the change in service and the Chairman thanked Jo for the presentation.

To consider a motion to be proposed by Cllr Ian West and seconded by Cllr Graham Wright concerning the proposed closure of the A344 (Report and Briefing Paper attached).

Councillor Dick Tonge – Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport and Phil Tilley – Transport and Development Manager will be in attendance to answer questions.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Councillor Ian West asked the question as set out in the agenda papers, regarding the proposed closure of the A344:

If the proposed closure of the A344 goes ahead, what contingencies has Wiltshire Council put in place to safeguard the communities of Bulford, Durrington, Larkhill and Shrewton and the other villages in the Till Valley which will be affected by the extra traffic generated by this closure, especially on Telegraph Hill and Shrewton High Street?

Councillor West commented that the proposed closure would also exacerbate the existing pressure on the A303, particularly at peak times, which in turn would impact on local roads and alternative routes. 

The Chairman then invited comments and questions from the floor, which were raised as follows:

·         Various objections were expressed in relation to the proposed closure of the A344 due to the anticipated impact on local roads.

·         Durrington already suffered from extra traffic as a result of congestion on the A303.  This was causing damage to the surface of the local roads, which needed urgent attention, particularly in view of the anticipated increase in traffic if the A344 was closed.

·         It was suggested that traffic could be directed down the A360 from the junction with the B3086 to alleviate pressure on Shrewton High Street.

·         A resident of Shrewton noted that little progress had been made in addressing speeding on the High Street, despite this having been raised with the Neighbourhood Policing Team.  The resident was encouraged to raise this through the Area Boards’ Issues system, and Inspector Sweett undertook to look into the issue.

·         Concern was raised that the closure of the A344 would see the removal of a 5000 year old Right of Way.

·         Concern was also raised that safety on the A303 could be affected, as drivers often stopped on the A344 to view/photograph Stonehenge.  Doing this on the A303 would be extremely dangerous.

·         It was noted that the A303 was not within the remit of Wiltshire Council Highways, and that the lobbying of the government should continue to find a long-term solution for this route.

·         Councillor Graham Wright commented that weight restrictions on Telegraph Hill would prevent heavy traffic from using this as a detour.

Phil Tilley, Transport and Development Manager for Wiltshire Council, responded to the points raised.  He commented that congestion on the A303 was the overriding issue and that traffic avoiding the A303 would have an environmental impact on the local roads.  A long term solution to the A303 would alleviate much of the pressure.  Referring to the briefing note set out in the agenda, he commented that the analysis showed a nil effect on Telegraph Hill, and that the impact on other roads/junctions would be mitigated by the proposed improvements (to the Longbarrow roundabout, the Countess Junction, and Airmans Corner).  The impact of the closure in terms of accidents and traffic volume would continue to be monitored, and mitigating measures such as weight restrictions could be considered if necessary.

It was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To give further consideration to the Board’s response to the Working Group’s report, as considered at the previous meeting on 11 February 2010.

Councillor John Smale introduced the background to this issue, advising that the Working Group’s report had recommended the “de-priming” of the A338 / A346 corridor from Laverstock roundabout in Salisbury, to the M4 Junction 15 near Swindon.  This would allow for weight/width/length restrictions to be placed on the route, with a view to reducing Large Goods Vehicles (LGV) traffic along the route, in turn reducing the environmental impact of such traffic, and improving general safety at certain priority locations along the route.  The decision whether to “de-prime” the route, was one for the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Working Group had sought the support of all four Area Boards along the route to request that Wiltshire Council apply to the DfT on that basis.

The Amesbury Area Board had considered this issue at its previous meeting on 11 February, where concern had been raised that de-priming the A338, would push traffic across onto the A345 through Amesbury.  The Area Board had resolved to give further consideration to the issue in consultation with officers and the Working Group.  As a result of these further discussions, Councillor Smale proposed a motion, which was seconded by the Chairman.  Comments and questions were then invited from the floor:

·         Councillor Smale expressed the view that further consultation should be carried out with affected residents and with the freight industry, prior to any final decision by the Council to apply to the DfT for the corridor to be de-primed.

·         It was noted that, at the meeting on 11 February, and following concerns that de-priming the A338 could see increased traffic on the A345 through Amesbury, reference had been made to the roadworks at Cholderton in the past year which had seen the A338 closed for three weeks.  In relation to this, the view had been expressed that there had been no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, to suggest any displacement of traffic onto the A345 as a result of the temporary closure of the A338, and so this could indicate that de-priming the A338 would not have an excessive impact on the A345.  However, the contrary view was also expressed, that the A345 had seen increased traffic due to the works at Cholderton.

·         In addition, it was also noted that concern had been raised at the meeting on 11 February 2010 regarding the location for the Area Board meeting.  It was suggested that it would have been helpful to hold the meeting in a venue on the route in question, to encourage affected residents to attend.

·         Councillor Smale explained that if an application were to be made for the de-priming of the route, then an alternative route would be required.  The A30 was considered to be the best solution, although this would require works to the St Thomas’ Bridge in Salisbury, which currently was not suitable for use by LGVs.

·         Councillor Charles Howard, representing the Collingbournes and Netheravon division, and a member of the A338/A346 Working Group, commented that the full report was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Having declared a prejudicial interest in the following item, Councillor Noeken left the room during consideration of the item.

To consider a request from Amesbury Town Council for the release of R2 funding (Report Attached).

Officers: Ian Brown (Service Head, Amenities and Fleet) and Steve Ibbetson (Technical Manager).

Steve Ibbetson, Technical Manager at Wiltshire Council, introduced the report, explaining that R2 funding comprised financial contributions from developers under planning legislation (also known as Section 106 contributions).  Developers could contribute towards this fund for public open spaces, as an alternative to providing on-site amenity space.

Amesbury Town Council had requested the release of £56,199 towards a Locally Equipped Area for Play at Harvard Park.  Roger Fisher, Mayor of Amesbury, spoke in support of the request, commenting that the play area would include equipment selected following consultation with local children, and a zip wire which had been funded through a Community Area Grant from the Area Board at a previous meeting.

No objections had been raised, following consultation with local residents, and it was hoped that the works could be completed in time for the summer.

Decision

The request from Amesbury Town Council for the release of £56,199 from R2 funding towards the construction of a Local Equipped Area for Play at Harvard Park, Amesbury, was approved.

A copy of the Forward Work Plan is attached for information.

The next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board is scheduled for Thursday 29 April 2010, 6pm at Winterbourne Earls Village Hall.

It was noted that the next meeting of Amesbury Area Board would be held on 29 April 2010, 6pm at Winterbourne Earls Village Hall.

The Chairman also announced that the Area Board Councillors would host an informal meeting with Parish Council representatives to discuss how the Area Board process was developing in the Amesbury Community Area.  (Note – following the meeting, it was confirmed that this meeting would be held on Thursday 10 June at Antrobus House at 5.00pm)

Before closing the meeting, the Chairman welcomed Andrew Kerr, Wiltshire Council’s new Chief Executive.