Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution (part 3, paragraph 4.8), the Chairman announced that he would vacate the Chair for the first part of the item, as he was seeking re-election to the position of Chairman.  As such, the Vice-Chairman, Councillor Graham Wright, took the Chair.

Councillor Graham Wright in the Chair

The Vice-Chairman invited nominations for the position of Chairman of the Amesbury Area Board for the forthcoming year 2012-13.

Decision

Councillor John Smale was elected Chairman of the Amesbury Area Board for the forthcoming year 2012-13.

The Chairman sought nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Amesbury Area Board for the forthcoming year 2011-12.

Decision

Councillor Fred Westmoreland was elected Vice-Chairman of the Amesbury Area Board for the forthcoming year 2012-13.

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

At the Chairman’s invitation, the Councillors and officers sitting at the front of the meeting introduced themselves.

The Chairman welcomed Karen Linaker, Community Area Manager and Kirsty Butcher, Democratic Services Officer to the team.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·         Mark Smith

·         Mike Franklin

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

Councillor Graham Wright declared a prejudicial interest in item 12 (Community Area Grants – specifically in the application from Larkhill Community Partnership) as he was the Chairman of the Partnership.  Councillor Wright confirmed that he would leave the room during consideration of the item.

a)    Jubilee Event

The Chairman thanked everyone who took part in the successful Jubilee event at Salisbury Cathedral.

b)    Rural Facilities Survey

More information was available at page 13 of the agenda.

The Chairman noted that all parish clerks should have received the survey.

c)    Pathways Improvement Grant scheme

The Chairman encouraged all to contact Michael Crook with ideas for improvements to countryside access in their area

d)    11-19 Commissioning Strategy Update

The information available on pages 17 and 18 of the agenda gave a summary on the progress of the Commissioning Strategy for 11 to 19 year olds.

e)    Helping people to live in their own homes.

More information was available on pages 19 and 20.

The Chairman noted that the care and support service is now in place.

f)     Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service – Consultation on Integrated Risk Management Plan for 2012-15

The Chairman informed the meeting about the consultation taking place and the documentation available on each table.

To receive an update from the Community Area Manager on local issues.

Vicky Cobbold, Amesbury Community Area Manager, introduced 4 metrocount results, 3 enclosed at pages 21-26 of the agenda, and 1 circulated at the meeting.

The subsequent discussion highlighted the fact that speeding is the biggest issue raised through the Area Board’s issues system. It was considered that the percentile measure used in the results was not effective or practical. Councillor John Brady acknowledged that these comments had been heard before and agreed to take the message back.

Inspector Lange confirmed that whilst speeding is a priority for the neighbourhood team there were limited resources available, and the results of metrocounts were intended to inform prioritisation of resources. However he has discretion on how these are used. He accepted that points made were very valid, and suggested a working group be set up to focus on the issue of speeding in the villages.

Given the lack of police resource it was suggested that the speed camera owned by Durrington may be used in other places. Inspector Lange agreed and confirmed they were happy to work with communities who would like speedwatch in their area.

To receive updates from the Town and Parish Council Representatives, and from other partner organisations, including outside bodies on which the Area Board is represented.

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. 

Police

Inspector Lange introduced the written report circulated at the meeting. In response to questions he asked all to encourage people to report non-domestic burglaries. He was not sure of the speed limits on byways and agreed to find out and report back. He noted the request for more information regarding capture of criminals and will feed this back to his bulletin team.

Fire

Written report noted.

NHS

Written report noted.

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

The Minutes of the latest CATG meeting are attached for information.

Councillor Mike Hewitt, as Chairman of the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) introduced the item and discussed the A338 Broken Cross Bridge scheme. He confirmed it would be going ahead ‘in situ’ although there was no further progress on access at present, which he acknowledged was a big concern for villages. An open public meeting will be held in July in Winterbourne Earls and Network Rail will be invited to provide an update to the next Area Board on 19 July 2012.

A survey had been sent to parish councils and schools regarding parking problems. Whist this was considered a good idea there was a call for caution due to existing pressure on Wiltshire Council to vary the use of their car parks. 

The Board was asked if it would support the campaign for a reduction in speed on the A303 at Winterbourne Stokeafter 3 fatalities since December 2011.

Decision

It was agreed that support would be given to the fight for a reduction from 40 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour and the Community Area Transport Group would add this to their next agenda.

A query over whether an Community Issue form completed online by Sam Shepherd had been received will be looked into.

A request to revisit the possibility of a crossing at Porton Road crossroads given the funding available was seen as too costly, however it was suggested that signage stating ‘accident blackspot’ may help. Currently this is not supplied by Wiltshire Council however this will be investigated.

All were asked to ensure any temporary signage placed in relation to Jubilee events met the guidelines in place and to consult with highways if there was any doubt.

Sandy Lewis from Wiltshire Council and Lisa Thornton from GROW introduced the presentation, which highlighted the wide range of volunteering opportunities in Wiltshire.

They announced new approaches to volunteering, including time credits,

It was announced that the volunteering centre in Wiltshire had achieved national accreditation and a new single phone enquiry line adopted - 0845 521 6224.

Thanks were given to all volunteers including the local Link scheme for the beneficial work done.

Howard Jarvis, co-ordinator of Speedwatch in Shrewton gave an overview on their operation.

He explained the process that started with proving the issue of speeding with the police using speed sensors and metrocount assessments. This was followed by a two hour training session, arranged by the police, which covered legal and operational practice. He confirmed that operating sites had to be cleared and risk assessed by the police.

As co-ordinator he explained he was responsible for drawing up the rota and deciding on dates and times. He was lucky as he had 14 people within his team to draw from, but his experience found that, although initially easy to deploy as many as possible, it caused people to become jaded and they settled on 2 people teams doing two 30 minute slots in each period, which worked very well. He co-ordinated them by sending out an email two weeks before to find out availability and drawing a rota from this which was circulated 1 week before. These details were transposed onto a spreadsheet and sent to the police.

In responding to questions he explained that each member was given a letter of authority by the police and this seemed to calm difficult situations with irate motorists. He confirmed there had never been an issue with victimisation, and stressed the message they were conveying was that Shrewton was not a village to speed through.

The Board thanked Mr Jarvis for his presentation and congratulated him and his team. They discussed the interpretations of metrocounts and the possibility of the Shrewton Speedwatch team visiting other areas for one to two hours to collect data and consider alongside the existing metrocounts.

The Board highlighted the level of speeding was unacceptable on the A338 asked Inspector Lange what results the mobile speed unit had and how successful it had been in prosecuting offenders. Inspector Lange agreed to research this and report back to the Board.

Councillor Wright offered the use of the Durrington speedgun should sites be agreed and authorised by police.

It was agreed that a working group should be established to explore the options available and Councillor Wright would take the lead.

Councillor Noeken introduced the report and set the context by explaining the high cost of providing informal adult education and the need to make savings this year.

The Board members were asked to give their preferred option and reasoning, and this exercise showed that only two options were considered possible – option one or option three. The debate that followed highlighted concern over the lack of information available and evidence with which to take a decision. It was felt that the consultation should be on an individual basis.

It was noted that the consultation was also available online at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/adulteducationconsultation.htm

It was agreed to take a consensus which gave the following result:

Option three received ten votes

Option one received seven votes

Several people abstained.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Councillor John Noeken, Lead member for Grants, introduced this item.

Councillor Noeken drew attention to the revised criteria set out in pages 47 and 48 of the agenda.

Decision

Stapleford Parish Council was awarded £3968.31 towards the upgrading of playground equipment and football pitch.

Reason - The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2012/13 and would support this community group in providing facilities for sport and promoting a healthy lifestyle

Decision

Winterbourne Parish Council was awarded £995 towards allotment renovation works and the creation of additional plots.

Reason - The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2012/13 and would benefit all ages of the community.

At this point Councillor Graham Wright moved away from taking part, having declared a prejudicial interest in the following application.

Decision

Larkhill Community Partnership was awarded £2500 towards the Layers of Larkhill Community Project.

Reason - The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2010/11 and would benefit all ages of the community

(ACTION: Karen Linaker)

Councillor Smale read out a thank you letter received from Colonel Winchester with reference to the grant given to Larkhill for the refurbishment of the Hall.

Councillor Hewitt thanked the Board for the grant given to the cricket club at Winterbourne, explaining that it had been well used and that the youth teams had benefited.

Councillor Smale asked the Board to agree the release of £1,500 in respect of costs arising from the Jubilee event held on 1 May 2012.

Decision

The Board approved the release of £1,500 in respect of costs arising from the Jubilee event held on 1 May 2012.

(Action: Karen Linaker)

Councillor Smale introduced the report on the Appointments to Outside Bodies and working groups.

It was agreed that there was a need for a resident’s panel and that a paper should be brought to the next meeting proposing the structure of this.

Decision

The Board agreed the appointments to outside bodies as set out in Appendix A to the report.

Decision

The Board agree the appointments to working groups as set out in Appendix B to the report, subject to the addition of Janet Tidd – Idminston Parish Council.

(ACTION: Kirsty Butcher)

The Board noted the terms of reference for Working Groups as set out in Appendix C of the report.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board would be held on 19 July 2012 at Shrewton Village Hall, 2 The Limes, High Street, Salisbury SP3 4BW at 6.00 pm

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending, and thanked Councillor Wright for his enthusiasm and drive as Vice-Chairman over the last twelve months.

He gave the Board’s thanks to Vicky Cobbold for the tremendous job done over the last twelve months.