Agenda and minutes

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

At the Chairman’s invitation, the Councillors and officers in attendance at the meeting introduced themselves.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·       Cllr Mike Hewitt

·       Mike Franklin - WFRS

To hear expressions of interest from groups and clubs from throughout the area for the funding of youth projects.

Cllr Smale invited expressions of interest from youth groups and clubs for the funding of youth projects.

The following expressions were received

·       Langfords Youth Group – new portacabin

Langfords Youth Group is a voluntary funded group who were looking for funding to assist in their fundraising for portacabins. These are to be placed on the sports field at Steeple Langford, giving young people of between the ages of 8-16 years old a  dedicated place to go.

·       Bourne Valley new explorer scouts group

With 15 young people reaching the age of 14 in the next two years the scout group were looking to set up an explorer scout group to cater for children aged 14-18, and asked for £500 towards the hall costs for the first 3-4 weeks.

·       Air Training Crops

The Air Training Crops covered a large area including Amesbury, Durrington, Tidworth, Bulford and Upavon. Transport was their biggest issue and they asked for £500 towards the purchase of a minibus.

·       Porton Football Club

Porton Football Club is a thiriving club that runs a range of teams between the ages of 8 through to under 14’s. Currently they have 5 -6 teams moving through the leagues. They operate a pay as you play system and currently the FA1 /2 coaching badges are funded by parents, demonstrating their commitment. They are looking to structure the club and they asked for funding to assist them in their goals of providing support for the training of managers, creating a stronger team identity through kit and winter wear, investing in more sustainable equipment and providing cafe equipment to give them the chance to produce their own revenue scheme.

·       Girl Guides Association

The guides are looking for funding to enable them to invest in camping equipment. This equipment would be shared by all guide groups in the south of Wiltshire.

·       Durrington Otters

The Durrington Otters highlighted the success of their sessions at Sportsfest, and asked for funding to allow them to offer similar sessions throughout the school holidays.

A further expression was received from the Amesbury School Cluster asking for funding towards the costs of providing a counselling service to the 7 schools in the Amesbury cluster in 2013/14. A grant application had been received for this and the request would be considered under the Community Area Grants item later in the meeting.

During the table exercise that followed the following points were noted:

·       There was a need for more leaders to facilitate better communication with communities, especially dedicated youth leaders

·       There was a lack of youth clubs in the Bourne Valley area

·       Communication could be improved between schools and local governing groups over upcoming events

·       Youth groups could communicate better with parent over their longer term plans

·       There needed to be better access to funding and a clearer understanding of what funding is available

·       Help should be offered in writing bids

·       The use of tourism to promote the local economy should be explored

·       Networking and awareness needed to improve,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2013.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2013 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

There were no declarations of interest.

a)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue draft Public Safety Plan 2013-16

To inform the Board of the current consultation on the draft Public Safety Plan 2013-16

The Chairman made the following announcements:

a)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue draft Public Safety Plan

A consultation was currently taking place regarding the new draft Public Safety Plan 2013-16. The Chairman invited parishes and members of the public to comment. The consultation ends on 1 August 2013.

b)    Update on Bulford to Amesbury Cycle Way

The feasibility study has taken place and is in the process of being completed as a consequence of consultation with officers. Public consultation will be arranged for the end of September and is likely to include two drop in sessions, one in Bulford and one in Amesbury. Further details on the dates and venues will be announced at the beginning of September.

c)     Sportfest

Congratulations were give to Cllr Graham Wright on the success of the Sportsfest event. Cllr Wright explained that its success was partly down to it attracting people from all around the community. He highlighted the sessions from Bulford Archers as having a queue throughout the afternoon, noting that they had been a recipient of a grant from the Board, and also congratulated the Bourne Valley Scout Group. Thanks was given to Avon Valley College and Durrington Town Council for their support and he looked forward to doing it all again next year!

To receive an update from the Community Area Manager on local issues; and to provide an opportunity for parish representatives, clubs, groups or any individuals to raise a local issue on the night.

Karen Linaker, Amesbury Community Area Manager reminded the meeting of the local issues system.

David Goodman, a member of Durrington Town Council praised the Sportsfest event, commended Durrington Cemetery on its appearance and noted that the Durrington to Amesbury footpath was almost nearing completion. He expressed his dismay at the new highways reporting system, explaining that he had used the new system and not yet received an acknowledgment. He was disappointed that there had been no improvement with the new highways lead and asked for feedback on the matter.

ACTION: Karen Linaker

He went on to highlight the drain in the Bulford road area, noting that despite Cllr Graham Wright drawing attention to the issue three times nothing further had happened and it was a flood risk. He also drew the Board’s attention to the garages in Chalfield Road, explaining that they were poorly maintained and attracted anti-social behaviour. He asked for support from the Board in asking Wiltshire Council to deal with the matter.

ACTION: Karen Linaker

John Menzies, from Figheldean Parish Council highlighted the issue of Mill Pond at Figheldean with it being advertised as a wild swim area. He said that weekends had become intolerable with up to 70 cars being parked at one time. Inspector Lange explained that the best way was to present a united front and urged residents to call 101 and make notes of car registration plates for the police to follow up. It was agreed that a meeting needed to be arranged as soon as possible between the MOD, police, representatives from the village and the Chair of Amesbury Area Board.

ACTION: Karen Linaker

Jenni Bertram, the Youth Development Co-Ordinator for the Amesbury Area introduced herself and explained that she was part of the integrated youth service, providing provision for 14 – 19 year olds in the Amesbury Board area. She highlighted the upcoming set up of a Youth Action Group for the area, starting from September 2013 and which would be looking for a chair under the age of 25. She was hoping to recruit from youth groups and looked forward to working together as a community.

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.

a)    NHS Wiltshire

The written update seen at pages 15 - 16 of the agenda was noted.

b)    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The written update seen at pages 17 – 18 of the agenda was noted.

c)    Wiltshire Police

Inspector Lange introduced the written report circulated at the meeting and attached to these minutes. He explained there was an ongoing problem with shed burglaries and encouraged all to mark their property with their postcode.

Successes included the arrest of three burglars and the recovery of stolen property. Operation ‘Engage’, which is aimed at reducing rural crime, had resulted in the issuing of £790 worth of on-the-spot fines to motorists using red diesel.

d)    Good neighbours

Janet Tidd explained that she now covered the whole of the Amesbury Area and would be visiting all parishes to explain what Good Neighbours do to help in their communities.

To receive updates from the following:

·       Community Facilities, Health and Well-Being

·       Crime and Community Safety

·       Sport, Leisure and Culture

·       Environment

·       Housing, Economic Development, Planning and Tourism

Community facilities, health and well-being

The next meeting of the community facilities, health and well-being panel would be on 23 September 2013 at 6.30 pm where they would be meeting with the lead for the Health Community network and day opportunities service.

Crime and community safety

Cllr Noeken noted the issues identified by the group as being abuse, especially alcohol and enhancing neighbourhood watch. The lower crime figures seen in the Amesbury urban area were a result of better co-operation between the public, councils and the police. Police were also working hard on reducing anti-social behaviour (ASB) and played a DVD showing the ASB issues created on a Saturday night by the lack of available taxis. A meeting would be set up in the next couple of weeks to take forward the issue of the night time economy in Amesbury and the next panel meeting would also focus on this.

Sport, leisure and culture

Cllr Wright drew attention to the success of Sportsfest as described in the Chairman’s announcements and noted that the focus of the next meeting would be on culture and leisure. He invited anyone interested to contact him.

Environment

The focus for the environment panel was noise pollution, waste / recycling and dog fouling. It was noted that they were still trying to gather enough numbers to hold in-house dog warden training.

Housing, economic development, planning and tourism

Cllr Westmoreland explained that the panel would be looking at a way to work with the area co-ordinator who administers the Balfour Beatty contract, including a way in which work could be monitored and reported when it was not being done.

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

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

The Area Board considered an update on schemes currently being considered by the Community Area Transport Group (CATG).

The Board noted that 20 out of 22 parishes had not held speedwatch group meetings for months. The Police and Crime Commissioner was due to relaunch the scheme in September, and an invitation was extended to all town and parish councils to attend a speedwatch demonstration on Thursday 25 July 2013 from 6.30pm at St. Margarets Hall.

Previous results showed that SIDS were most effective and highlighted the need to target people.s

Concern was raised over the impact of the A303 throughout the communities in the Amesbury Board area that it travelled through, including queues and roadblocks, and it was agreed that this should be advanced as a priority.

Decision:

To support the Transport Groups recommendations to fund the schemes listed in the table below:

To receive a verbal update from Cllr Westmoreland, Amesbury Area Board representative on the Amesbury Shadow Community Operations Board.

Cllr Westmoreland explained that the Amesbury Shadow Community Operations Board provided an opportunity to create either a single site or a series of sites which focussed on making it easier for people to get the services they want.

The Board had looked at what’s available and would be sending out a questionnaire to the community asking for their feedback on topic such as upgrading of buildings and services/buildings that are in the wrong place.

A short presentation followed by a question and answer session to raise awareness of what public health is and does.

John Goodall, Associate Director of Public Health explained that the Health and Social Care Act 2011 had introduced a lot of change, including incorporating public health into Wiltshire Council. He noted that the local authority statutory responsibilities had changed and slightly increased. A short video was shown which detailed the changes and attention was drawn to the local health profile and the joint strategic needs assessment.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Councillor John Noeken, Lead member for Grants, introduced this item. A reminder was given on the dates for receiving applications for the forthcoming meetings of the Board, as detailed below:

8 August for the September Board meeting

10 October for the November Board meeting

19 December for the January 2014 Board meeting

13 February for the March 2014 meeting

The Area Board considered applications for Community Area grant funding.

Decision

Steeple Langford Allotment Trustees was awarded £1449 towards a new Community Orchard project.

Reason - The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2013/14 and would benefit all age groups within the community, encouraging greater community involvement and food production.

Decision

The Stonehenge School (Amesbury School Cluster) was awarded £2500 towards a counselling service.

Reason - The application was supported on the basis that is a project of community wide benefit working with children and young people.

Decision

Steeple Langford Parish Council was awarded £3000 towards the cost of refurbishment and replacement works to the village play area.

Reason - The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2013/14 and would benefit all age groups within the community

Decision

Amesbury Community Players was awarded £500 towards the cost of a new lighting control system.

Reason – the application met the Commmunity Area Grants Criteria 2013/14.

Decision

Brambles Pre-School was awarded £350 towards the cost of setting up a new after school club.

Reason – this application was supported on the basis that it accords with the board’s community plan priority for children and young people.

ACTION: Karen Linaker

To note the attached Forward Work Plan.

The next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board will be held on 19 September 2013 in Shrewton Recreation Hall, Recreation Ground, Mill Lane, Shrewton SP3 4JY.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 19 September 2013, 7.00pm at Shrewton Recreation Hall, Recreation Ground, Mill Lane, Shrewton SP3 4JY.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.