Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to St Margaret’s Hall, and introduced the Wiltshire councillors who made up the board, including John Thomson, (Deputy Leader, Wiltshire Council cabinet) who was in attendance for this meeting, 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.

Apologies were received from Gwen Allison, (Bradford on Avon Town Council), Matthew Midlane, (Monkton Farieigh Parish Council), Martin Moyes (Holt Parish Council), South Wraxall Parish Council and Mike Franklin, (Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service).

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2010.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on the 22 September 2010 were approved and signed as the correct record.

It was however noted that Cllr Carbin raised a query re (Agenda Item No.8 – Leisure Review), regarding the correspondence from Sport England that demonstrated support to the Wiltshire Council Proposed Leisure Strategy. Councillor Carbin commented that he had not yet seen this correspondence. It was agreed that the Community Area Manager would follow this up.

New NHS Medical Practice in Bradford on Avon – Dr James Heffer

Dr James Heffer advised the area board of a new NHS medical practice that was scheduled to open for the residents of Bradford on Avon in April 2011.

Points made by Dr Heffer included:

• The new practice was the result of the merging three of the current Bradford on Avon medical practices.

• The new practice made good sense with the current national situation of funding within the NHS and an ageing UK population.

• The practice would have an NHS spend of £10 million and a drug spend of £2 million.

• The three merging practices would endeavour to keep their patients informed as to developments of the new practice by surgery news letters.

The Chairman thanked Dr Heffer for his update.

Street Lights switch off Project - Diane Teare

Diane Teare gave a brief presentation highlighting a project to encourage local communities to think about turning off suitable street lighting from midnight to five am, reducing energy costs, light pollution and CO2 emissions.

Points made by Diane Teare included:

• There had been around one hundred nominations received for lights to be considered.

• No firm decisions had been reached yet as to which lights would be included in the project.

• Residents would get the opportunity to review the scheme at a later date, with a view to check whether lights had been suitable in their chosen locations.

• The project scheme had received good support from Bradford on Avon town council, the chamber of commerce, the conservation trust as well as local councillors.

• Communities on the whole did appear to support switching off lights.

• Any further nominations for the scheme will be held for future funding.

• The final decisions would be announced at the February area board.

Questions raised from the floor:

• Will the villages be included in any future schemes?

It was confirmed that parishes could also nominate streetlights and

that each parish council in the community area had been written to ask if they would like to be involved in the initiative. Diane Teare was project managing the initiative in Bradford on Avon Town with the support of the Town Council.

The Chairman thanked Diane Teare for her update.

The 2011 Census

The census has collected information about the population every ten years since 1801 (except in 1941).

The next census in England and Wales is on 27^th March 2011.

The Chairman advised of the importance of including hard to reach groups such as the boating community.

Bradford on Avon Youth Group Update – Kath Brownlee

Points made by Kath Brownlee, Youth Development Co-ordinator for Bradford on Avon included:

• During the last three months the youth group had been involved in a youth parents group and organised a Wednesday evening drop in at Holt.

• The group are planning an ice skating and shopping trip to Bristol in December.

• The Youth Development Co-ordinator was looking to get some professional artists to work with the youth group in brightening  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

Points members of the community would like to raise

No points were raised by members of the community.

Cllr Simon Coombes gave an overview of the recommendations from the meeting of the Community Area Transport Group held on Friday 12 November 2010. The purpose of this meeting was to prioritise traffic scheme, grit bin and dropped kerb requests in the Bradford on Avon Community Area.

Points made by Cllr Simon Coombes included:

• The first meeting had been a positive one.

• The group were encouraged by the fact that they can now view Wiltshire Council’s transport statistics.

• It was agreed that the grit bin assessment had been a worth while exercise.

Decision

·        Transport Schemes

A total of 47 requests for small scale traffic schemes had been put forward in the Bradford on Avon Community Area. Following discussion from the Community Area Transport Group it is recommended that:

i) That Bradford on Avon Town Council were asked to put forward either Trowbridge Road (from Poulton to Junction – request no. 3) or Bath Road/ Mount Pleasant (request no. 18 & 19) for a feasibility study.

ii) That a feasibility study is undertaken to look at the possibilities for a school crossing in Holt (request no.33).

iii) That a feasibility study is undertaken to look at the possibilities for the provision of a footway on Magdalen Lane (A366) in Wingfield (request no. 12)

iv) In addition it was recommended that requests from Town and Parish Councils, the Safer Community Action Group and those submitted via the area board issue tracker is amalgamated into one list and that this list be circulated to all town and parish councils to enable any additional local knowledge to be added.

v) It was also requested that information regarding ‘cluster sites’ (where there are a large number of motor vehicle accidents) was made available to the group for information purposes as this drives the allocation of a separate stream of funding.

Grit bins

A total of 32 requests had been received for new grit bins across the community area.  The area board had been allocated a total of 6 new grit bins for this financial year. 

vi) It is recommended that one new grit bin is provided to each of the following parishes but that the exact location would have to be negotiated with the area highways team as not all locations are suitable for grit bins: Limpley Stoke, Wingfield, Winsley, Staverton,  Holt, Monkton Farleigh

In addition, it is recommended that

vii) The location of current grit bins in the town of Bradford of Avon is reassessed to ensure that the maximum community benefit is derived from the existing stock.

viii) Persimmon are approached and asked to replace the grit bin that was located at the end of School Lane in Staverton as this was removed during the development of the new housing estate.

ix) The area highways team are asked to look into whether Thesfield Drive can be added to the main gritting route as this would enable access for a large number of residents.

Dropped kerbs

A total of 35  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

Nick Bates, (Emergency Planning Office, Wiltshire Council) will give a brief presentation on how communities can plan locally for emergencies.

Nick Bates, (Emergency Planning Office, Wiltshire Council) gave a brief presentation on how communities can plan for emergencies in their own localities.

Points made by Nick Bates included:

• Some contingency plans are currently in use.

• The emergency planning team are on hand to assist town and parish councils to draw up or refresh their contingency plans.

• The emergency planning team would like each town/parish council to have a named representative who can take ownership of their plan.

• The emergency planning team would like the Bradford on Avon community area to become a pilot scheme, with the town and parish councils all drawing up their own local contingency plans.

Points raised from the floor included:

·        Town and parishes should think about pooling knowledge when drawing up their plans.

·        Central government appear to be looking at cutting red tape so that local communities can get involved in projects such as contingency planning.

Decision

• That the Bradford on Avon Area Board supports the proposal for a pilot Local Contingency Planning scheme.

• That Nick Bates returns to a future Bradford on Avon Area Board with a written update on the progress of the scheme.

The Chairman thanked Nick Bates for his presentation.

Councillor John Thompson will say a few words about Wiltshire Council’s response to the comprehensive spending review and there will the opportunity for community members to express their concerns on any potential impact of spending cuts on the Bradford on Avon Community Area.

Councillor John Thomson gave an update on Wiltshire Council’s response to the comprehensive spending review and any potential impact of spending cuts on the Bradford on Avon Community Area.

Points made by Councillor Thomson included:

• Wiltshire Council was committed to making savings and protecting vital services.

• Wiltshire Council would not be raising council tax next year.

• Over the next four years Central government grants to Wiltshire Council will be cut by 28%.

• All Wiltshire Council departments were facing 12% cuts in their budgets.

• Wiltshire Council was looking at the ways that it supplies its services, with the need to be more customer focussed.

• There was a priority to protect the most vulnerable people in our community.

• The need to rationalise the council’s property portfolio.

• An opportunity to re-shape an change local government.

Questions raised from the floor included:

• Will Wiltshire Council be rolling out the concept of “value for money” across its departments?

      Yes, the council will be looking at all areas for making savings.

• Have Wiltshire Council looked at staff taking career breaks and short term working to try and protect jobs?

      The unions have rejected these ideas.

• Why does’nt Wiltshire Council look into audio conferencing as a way to saving energy and costs?

      Yes, it’s a concept that is worth pursuing.

• The Bradford on Avon hospital has gone, the swimming pool may close, what is the future of the library?

The library review is ongoing, but shutting libraries is not something   that Wiltshire Council wants to do, Cllr Thomson would like to see more community involvement in libraries.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Thomson for his informative update.

Jim Lynch from the Community Area Partnership will give a progress report.

Jim Lynch, (Community Area Partnership) gave an update including the following points:

• The Community Area Partnership Transition group had been working with local groups in the community to develop a survey looking at the impact of spending cuts on community groups.

• The survey looked at the impact of the cuts in twelve themed areas.

• It was proposed that the information from the survey would be developed to form the basis of the community plan.

• It was hoped that themed areas could be discussed at future area boards.

• The Community Area Partnership’s success rests on its relevance and the public buying into it.

Decision

·        That the Bradford on Avon Area Board allocates £7,932.49 to the Community Area Partnership for its first tranche of funding.

It was also agreed that Jim Lynch would send all Wiltshire councillors on the board a copy of the survey report for the purposes of clarity.

The Chairman thanked Jim Lynch and David Gregory for their update.

Gerald Millward Oliver from the Bradford on Avon Development Trust will give a brief update on the Bradford on Avon swimming pool.

Gerald Millward Oliver, (Bradford on Avon Development Trust) gave a brief update on the Bradford on Avon swimming pool.

Points made by Gerald Millward Oliver included:

• The Development Trust were looking to appoint new directors.

• Gerald Millward Oliver had met with officers of Wiltshire Council with a view to the Bradford on Avon Development Trust taking over and running the swimming pool.

• The need to get as much inform as possible to determine the viability of running the swimming pool.

• A meeting had been held with Bradford on Avon swimming pool association, who support the idea of the Development Trust taking over the swimming pool.

The Chairman thanked Gerald Millward Oliver for his update.

The Wiltshire Councillors will consider three applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme 2010/11, as follows:

i. Holt Sports and Recreation Committee request £5,000 towards the cost of constructing a second sports court on the Holt Recreation Ground.

ii. Bradford on Avon Chamber of Commerce request £1,880 towards the cost of installation of Christmas lights.

iii. Beejays Netball Club, Netclub Club request £560 to enable the club to set up a new ‘Back to netball’ club at St Laurence School for parents.

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

The Wiltshire Councillors considered three applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme 2010/11 as follows:

Cllr Alan Mines, (Wingfield PC) outlined the report on behalf of the Bradford on Avon Community Area Grants Advisory Group.

Decision

·        Holt Sports and Recreation Committee were awarded £5,000 towards the cost of constructing a second sports court on the Holt Recreation Ground.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant criteria for 2010/11, and helps to make the recreation facilities in the village, the best that could be available for the community. This also reflects the need for outdoor facilities as expressed in the Community Plan.

• Bradford on Avon Chamber of Commerce were awarded £1,500 towards the cost of installation of Christmas lights.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant criteria for 2010/11, and encourages inward investment and to market the town as ideal for small high skill businesses. 

·        Beejays Netball Club were awarded £560 to enable the club to set up a new ‘Back to netball’ club at St Laurence School for parents.

Reason

The above application met the Community Area Grant criteria for 2010/11, and responds to issues in the community plan surrounding the lack of indoor sports provision and the need for locally based exercise facilities.

Proposal to hold a participatory budgeting event for young people at the March Area Board.

Wednesday 19 January 2011 – venue to be confirmed.

Wednesday 16 March 2011 – St Margaret’s Hall.

 Future Meeting Dates

Wednesday 19 January 2011 – venue to be confirmed.

Wednesday 16 March 2011 – St Margaret’s Hall.

The community area manager made the point that she was struggling to find suitable rural venues to hold area board meetings and asked community members to contact her if they had any suggestions.

Proposal to hold a participatory budgeting event for young people at the March Area Board.

The community area manager outlined the proposal to hold a participatory budgeting event for young people at the March Area Board.

Decision

The Bradford on Avon Area Board agreed to hold a participatory budgeting event for young people at the 16 March 2011, Area Board.

The Chairman thanked everybody for attending the meeting.