Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Cereal Partners UK, Conference facility, and introduced the Wiltshire councillors who made up the board, as well as Sharon Davies, (Service Director), the Community Area Manager and the Democratic Services Officer.

All town, parish and partner representatives in attendance were welcomed by the Chairman.

Steve Ford (Factory manager, Cereal Partners UK, Staverton) welcomed everybody and gave a brief overview of the History of production at the Staverton site, how the site worked and how Cereal Partners UK contributed to the local economy.

Apologies were received from Jo Howes (NHS Wiltshire) and Mike Franklin (Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service).

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

Agenda Item No.7 Digital Inclusion.Cllr Malcolm Hewson – Personal interest, employed by British Telecom.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2011

A question was raised by Andrew Nicholson concerning the chairmanship of the discussion around the application for Performance Reward Grant funding for the Kingston Foot Bridge.  

Decision:

• The minutes of the meeting held on the 16 March 2011 were approved and signed as the correct record.

i)        Community Area Transport Working Group – report of meeting held on 18 April to consider priorities and progress with minor capital improvement works

ii)      Big Society, Localism and What it Means for You – report of seminar held on 6 April  

iii)    Possible transfer of asset: Culver Close, Bradford on Avon – roundtable meeting to be held between the Town Council and Wiltshire Council on 31 May 2011

iv)    Section 106 contributions to Play Parks in Bradford on Avon – roundtable meeting to be held between Wiltshire Council, Bradford on Avon Town Council and the Friends of Barton Farm on 6 June 2011

v)      Partner updates from Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue and NHS Wiltshire

The following announcements contained in the pack were mentioned briefly:

i) Community Area Transport Working Group – summary report given of meeting held on 18 April to consider priorities and progress with minor capital improvement works.

Alan Mines, Wingfield Parish council asked if the Area Board could speed up funding and contract placing for extra grit bins before next winter. Bill Parks,  Head of Service Local Highways and Streetscene (Central) advised that there would be no funding of new grit bins during the current financial year.

The Chairman suggested that it would be useful to have a Community Area Transport Working Group presentation at a future Area Board meeting.

ii) Big Society, Localism and What it Means for You – report of seminar held on 6 April.

The Chairman reported briefly on the event which had discussed the Localism Bill, in general, and greater public involvement in spatial planning processes, in particular. Consultations with parents at primary school ‘cake sales’ was one initiative which would be trialed in order to reach parents and therefore a wider cross-section of the community.    

iii) Possible transfer of asset: Culver Close, Bradford on Avon – roundtable meeting to be held between the Town Council and Wiltshire Council on 31 May 2011.

iv) Section 106 contributions to Play Parks in Bradford on Avon – roundtable meeting to be held between Wiltshire Council, Bradford on Avon Town Council and the Friends of Barton Farm on 6 June 2011

These two roundtable meetings had been arranged subsequent to concerns expressed at the previous area board meeting.  

v) Partner updates from Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue and NHS Wiltshire were noted. Insp David Cullop advised that a representative of the Wiltshire Police Authority would be happy to attend a future Area Board meeting to give an update on the results of consultation. The Chairman advised that this would be update would be included in a future meeting.

vi) Kath Brownlee – Youth Update.

Kath Brownlee and some young people from the Youth Centre presented their ideas for improvements to the Integrated Youth Service and the Bradford on Avon Youth Centre.

Points made included:

• A plan of improvements for the youth centre had been drawn up, these included, a collage to brighten up the building, better IT resources and redecoration.

•  Further development of the Young Parents and Babies and Bumps group.

• Further development of the Lesbian, Gay and Transgender young peoples group.

• Looking to plan more trips with young people from the surrounding villages as well as Melksham and Trowbridge.

• Developing a plan to keep a youth worker at St Laurence School.

The Chairman thanked Kath Brownlee and the young people for their update.

Steve Ford, Factory Manager, Cereal Partners UK to give welcome and profile the company.

Steve Figures, Chairman of Staverton Parish Council, to summarise local achievements and issues for the future.

Trevor Heeks, Staverton Parish Council, gave a presentation that highlighted Staverton’s past, present and future and outlined the relationship between Cereal Partners UK and the village of Staverton.

Ian Baker, ICT/ E-Learning Advisor, Wiltshire Council.

Speaker from Bradford online community.

Electronic voting to gather the views of the meeting on issues of digital inclusion and the business and community needs of superfast broadband.

Ian Baker, Digital Inclusion Programme Manager, Wiltshire Council and Cllr Christopher Cochrane, advised that Wiltshire Council was investing in digital inclusion and access to super-fast broadband to support homes and business throughout the county.

The Council had decided to invest £16m in improving access to digital services in areas which would otherwise miss out. This investment along with government grant and additional investment from the telecoms industry would generate over £30m of funds. The council had set a target of 85% and possibly rising to 95% (pending government funding) of all premises to have superfast broadband availability by 2015. 

Online surveys of business and the community were available through the Wiltshire Council website.

Superfast broadband was already available in certain towns in Wiltshire, such as Melksham, and was being rolled out on a case-by-case basis. Any lobbying that could help strengthen the business case was welcome would help accelerate the arrival of superfast broadband in the Bradford on Avon community area. 

The Community Partnership and Chamber of Commerce had carried out a piece of rapid consultation through members and the community website at www.bradfordonavon.com There was not time to receive this feedback but the

results would be shared with the Council and more widely.

Questions raised from the floor included:

Why can’t the telecoms companies cover all areas?

a)These companies will only cover areas that are economically viable to them.

Roads throughout Holt were dug up to provide Trowbridge with broad band, could this existing infrastructure be build on?

a)Probably not, some telecoms companies are reluctant to share infrastructures with each other, e.g. Virgin Media.

Would Wiltshire Council fund this broad band?

a)The broad band would not be operated by Wiltshire Council, it would be sub-contacted to a suitable provider.

The Chairman thanked Ian Baker and Cllr Cochrane for their presentation.

Tim Edmonds, Communications Manager RUH Bath, to discuss the implications of the application for trust status.

Brian Stables and James Scott, RUH Bath, gave a presentation that outlined the implications of the application for trust status.

Points made included:

• The RUH is in the top 20% of acute hospitals in England and Wales for stroke care.

• The trust is improving the ways in which it cares for people with dementia and setting local standards.

• The RUH is expanding its role as a regional provider of specialised treatment for patients with prostrate cancer.

• To continue to provide comprehensive acute care.

Questions from the floor included:

It can be difficult to get to the RUH both by car and public transport, have you any plans to improve accessibility?

a)The RUH is looking to engage in more local consultations, with staff coming out to local areas to see patients.

It can be frustrating to visit the RUH when it looks like a building site.

a)The building work is a sign of investment in the hospital infrastructure.

It is good to know that cases of super bugs are now much lower at the RUH.

a)Yes, good focus, with both staff and patients playing their part.

The Chairman thanked Brian Stables and James Scott for their presentation.

Isabel Martindale, on behalf of the Organising Committee, to provide details of the festival events.

Cllr Isabel Martindale Briefly updated the meeting on the forthcoming Bradford on Avon Community Sports Festival which was to be held from the 15 – 22 May and which had been organised under the banner of the Community Partnership. 

A programme of activities was circulated along with posters for the event. The week-long festival of sports and wellbeing activities has been awarded the much coveted Inspire mark from the IOC as a taster event to the London Olympics.  

Cllr Martindale also thanked the Area Board for the grant funding the organising committee had received and hoped that people would be inspired by the 2012 London Olympic games.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Martindale for her presentation.

Peter Dunford, Community Area Manager, to summarise current live issues and progress made in finding solutions.

The Community Area Manager highlighted the broad range of issues being addressed from across the community area. Issues were being addressed and resolved on a case by case basis or through specialist forums, such as the Transport Group.     

Details would be brought to public awareness through publicity, future board meetings and through updates to the online issues system.

a)     End of Year Summary 2010/11 and Review of Community Area Grants Scheme for 2011/12 

b)     Councillors will consider 2 applications seeking 2011/2012 Community Area Grant Funding:

i)       Play Area Footpath, School Lane, Staverton - Staverton Parish Council requesting £ 980

ii)     Bradford on Avon Arts Festival 2011 – requesting £ 1,500

Copies of the completed application forms and grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically at:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboardscommunitygrantsscheme.htm

End of Year Summary 2010/11 and Review of Community Area Grants Scheme for 2011/12.

The Community Area Manager outlined the nature and geographical distribution of support in 2010/11 and proposed changes to the grants criteria for 2011/12 which would restrict the eligibility of applications from town and parish councils for projects considered to be within parish council powers and responsibilities.

The Area Board was unhappy with the changes to the Scheme Review for 2011/12 and requested the Community Area Manager to write a letter to the Cabinet of Wiltshire Council highlighting the Area Board’s concerns.

The Wiltshire Councillors considered two applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme 2011/12 as follows:

Cllr Alan Mines, (Wingfield PC) commented on behalf of the Bradford on Avon Community Area Grants Advisory Group for each application.

Decision:

• Play Area Footpath, School Lane, Staverton – Staverton Parish Council – awarded £980.

Reason:

• The above application met the Community Area Grant criteria for 2010/11 (although not for 2011/12) and demonstrates a link to the Bradford on Avon Community Plan and Wiltshire Local Area Agreement through its aim to provide access to modern play facilities for all, including the disabled and low income families. The funding should be awarded from the underspend and carry-over of funds from 2010/11 financial year.

Decision:

• Bradford on Avon Arts Festival 2011 – awarded £ 1,175.

Reason:

• The above application met the Community Area Grant criteria for 2011/12, and demonstrates a link to the Bradford on Avon Community Plan and Wiltshire Local Area Agreement through its contribution to community cohesion; to cultural development; to tourism development; to activities for young people; and to community volunteering. The grant was awarded at a reduced level due to some aspects of the proposal being deemed to be ineligible for funding.

Feedback using electronic voting.

Attendees were invited to give feedback using electronic voting.

Points made from the floor included:

• The agenda was too long, would like less corporate presentations and more local related topics.

• More time given to village/parish news at each meeting.

The Chairman thanked the floor for the points raised.

Wednesday 20th July – Westwood Social Club.

Wednesday 21st September – St Margaret’s Hall, Bradford on Avon.

Wednesday 23rd November – Holt Village Hall.

Wednesday 20th July – Westwood Social Club.

Wednesday 21st September – St Margaret’s Hall, Bradford on Avon.

Wednesday 23rd November – Holt Village Hall.