Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman, Cllr Johnny Kidney, welcomed everyone to the meeting and made introductions.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Cllr Sarah Gibson

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2023.

The minutes from the previous meeting on 1 November 2023 were presented for consideration.

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held

on 1 November 2023.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will give an update on outcomes and actions arising from previous meetings of the Area Board:

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy Public Engagement – Video (Contact – Alison Levy – Local Nature Recovery Strategy Officer

·       FACT Family Help Programme Update – Newsletter to be included in agenda pack – Contact is Simon Thomas – FACT Programme Lead

·       Archaeology Service Annual Newsletter 2023 – Contact - Roland Smith Assistant County Archaeologist

The Chairman gave an update on outcomes and actions arising from previous meetings of the Area Board:

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy Public Engagement

·       FACT Family Help Programme Update

·       Archaeology Service Annual Newsletter 2023

The Board is asked to note the following Information items:

·       Community First

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Update from BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

The board noted the following information items:

·       Community First

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Update from BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

To consider a number of environmental issues for the Area Board.

To hear from:

·       Parishes,

·       BART (river)

·       Youth group

·       Climate Friendly Bradford

·       Nature Recovery Plan

The Board considered several environmental issues in the area, hearing from numerous partners:

Wingfield Parish Council

• Explained that they had established a working group called Greener Wingfield, which allowed them to involve local councillors and residents together
• Reiterated the importance of parish councils being involved in green initiatives.
• Described a slow start to the group with small events to meet and greet and gather ideas. Leaflet drops had been made to encourage participation from residents. Information on local grants available for green projects was also distributed.
• There was a Walking Wingfield Map leaflet in its planning stage.
• The Annual Litter Pick was due to take place soon.
• Wildlife recording was described as a priority for Wingfield to understand what wildlife is present and the level of need.

Winsley Parish Council

• Wild Winsley After School Club was described as a major success which worked on a variety of projects such as rewilding the school field and planting trees.

• Hosted the organisation Nature Chain who look to inspire people to leave an area of their gardens wild to create a “chain” between gardens.

• Ideas to run a river festival were being explored.

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART)

A charity that began in 2012, BART delivers education, land and river management advice and practical river restoration work throughout the Bristol Avon catchment.

Their aim was to re-connect communities to their local rivers and help them to better appreciate and improve them for the benefit of people and wildlife.??

The rest of BART’s presentation describing all of their work can be found in the PowerPoint presentation.

Bradford On Avon Town Council

Described much of their volunteer work sampling across the Bristol Avon catchment, noting an improvement between July 2023 and January 2024. Their analysis looked for indicators including temperature, phosphates, nitrates and data collected was uploaded to BART’s database.

Climate Friendly Bradford On Avon

Climate Friendly Bradford On Avon gave a presentation urging the Area Board to become more involved in countywide initiatives relating to climate change. These included:

• Making climate action a separate Area Board priority

• Taking Wiltshire Council’s Carbon Literacy Awareness Training

• Improving community climate awareness and engagement

The full presentation can be found in the PowerPoint

Nature Recovery Plan (LNRS)

A video was shown to attendees.

The LNRS process was described as having two main outputs:

• A written document listing priority opportunities for habitat improvement and restoration in the strategy area??.

• A Spatial Map or local habitat map to contain existing nature sites and habitats, and locations of priorities for future habitat improvement and restoration.

The following statement was read out:

What is a LNRS going to do?

Across the globe, driven by human impacts,?species’ population and range sizes?are?declining?by?13%?on average with?80% of land area in the UK? being intensively managed for food production and urban development. This has led?to habitats being degraded and fragmented?which, alongside climate change is resulting in a loss of biodiversity?.

?The 2010 Lawton review set out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Verbal Updates

To receive any verbal updates from representatives, including:

·       Parish and Town Councils

·       Climate Friendly Bradford

·       Wiltshire Music Centre

·       Streets Ahead

·       Health and Wellbeing

·       Local Youth Network

Written Updates

The Board is asked to note the following written and online updates attached to the agenda:

·       Bradford on Avon Town Council

·       Neighbourhood Policing Team

·       Age UK Update

The board noted the written updates and heard verbal updates.

Bradford on Avon Town Council

Finished their Traffic Modelling Study and engagement sessions were set for the 20^th and 23^rd March 2024.

A Live Music Festival was scheduled for May/June.

Climate Friendly Bradford

Climate Friendly Bradford On Avon gave a presentation highlighting the following work:

·       A CSE PLACE Project

·       Trowbridge Greenway Feasibility Study

·       CSE Home Energy Retrofitting

·       Fairer For All Town Traffic Scheme

The full presentation can be found in the PowerPoint

Street Ahead

Streets Ahead described initiatives they were pushing for in Bradford On Avon:

·       New and wider footways for pedestrians

·       Narrower carriageways (inc. the bridge)

This would allegedly lead to reductions in maximum speeds and acceleration and give greater journey time reliability.

Road Safety

A Road and Safety Update was presented by Perry Payne and is attached to the agenda.

To note the remaining budgets and to consider any applications for funding.

Further information on the Area Board Grant system can be found here.

Attendees were updated on the Boards current financial position.

Older and Vulnerable Adults

Dementia Action Alliance requested £500 towards transport costs.

Resolved:

To grant Dementia Action Alliance £500 towards transport costs

Dementia Action Alliance requested £500 towards reducing loneliness and isolation in the Bradford on Avon Area.

Resolved:

To grant Dementia Action Alliance £500 towards reducing loneliness and isolation in the area.

Saxon Group Riding for the Disabled Association requested £5000 towards their RDA Competition and Running Costs.

Resolved:

To grant Saxon Group Riding for the Disabled Association reduced amount of £4953 towards their RDS Competition and Running Costs.

To note the minutes and consider any recommendations arising from the last LHFIG meeting.

The recommendations from the most recent meeting of the Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG) on 15 January 2024 were considered by the board.

Resolved

To approve the recommendations from the meeting of the Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group on 15 January 2024.

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

An urgent item was raised by Cllr Trevor Carbin to request an update on the flood barrier in Staverton in the next Agenda.

Future Meeting Dates (7.00-9.00pm):

·       5 June 2024

·       18 September 2024

For information on applying for a grant or grant application deadlines for these meetings, contact the Area Board Delivery Officer, Caroline.LeQuesne@wiltshire.gov.uk

The next meeting of Bradford on Avon Area Board will be on 5 June 2024.