Agenda item

To note the written reports and receive updates from any partners who wish to contribute:

 

a.  Parishes

b.  Wiltshire Police

c.   Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

d.  NHS Wiltshire

e.  Chippenham and Villages Community Area Partnership

f.    Chippenham Vision Board

g.  Community Area Young People’s Issues Group (CAYPIG)

h.  Children’s Parliament

i.    Area Board Priorities

j.    Westlea Housing Association – a presentation from young people about the ‘Voice It’ project.

a)    Parish and Town Councils

Updates were received and noted from Christian Malford, Grittleton and Kington Langley Parish Councils. Further verbal updates were received as follows:

 

Seagry Parish Council – The Parish Council was currently exploring the possibility of devolvement of allotments from Wiltshire Council to the Parish Council, and was also liaising with a footpaths officer to discuss parish partnerships with local organisations to fund some new gates that would allow improved access, particularly for disabled users, pushchairs, etc. The Parish Council was also concerned about the planning application notification process, as a recent application was submitted in a neighbouring parish that would affect the Seagry parish, but the Parish Council received no notification of it and could have missed the consultation deadline.

 

Stanton St Quinton Parish Council – A burger bar situated in a lay-by was causing problems with litter, accessibility and visibility and was of great concern to the Parish Council. Inspector Kate Pain reported that she would research accident statistics for that area of road and would report back to the Area Board with her findings.

 

b)   Wiltshire Police

The written report was noted. Inspector Pain reported that crime rates in the Chippenham Community Area had decreased by 13% between April to September this year compared with the previous year.

 

c)    Wiltshire Fire and rescue Service

The written report was noted.

 

d)   NHS Wiltshire

The written report was noted.

 

e)    Chippenham and Villages Community Area Partnership

Jane Clark, Chairman of the Partnership, stated that it had been a busy period and reported on the following issues:

 

·         The River Festival had been a huge success, particularly on the Saturday, and positive feedback had been received. Thanks were paid to the Area Board, Chippenham Town Council, Chippenham Borough Lands Charity and to the private sector for the sponsorship.

·         Work was underway reviewing the Community Area Plan and actions were being identified specific to what the public had indicated was needed. The Plan had been sent to 25,000 households for consultation and all views expressed were being considered.

·         Transport and parking were big issues in the area at present and the Partnership requested that the Area Board provided its support in asking Highways to report on its intentions and actions.

·         The first tranche of funding was yet to be received and was needed to employ people to assist with the consultation on the Community Area Plan.

·         The Health and Social Care Group was entering into discussions regarding tackling childhood obesity.

 

The Chairman thanked Jane for the update and undertook to follow up the issue of the delayed funding.

 

f)     Chippenham Vision Board

John Clark and Tim Martienssen reported on the following issues regarding the Chippenham Vision:

 

·         A Visioning Workshop was being held on Thursday 23 September 2010 and about 40-50 people had been invited.

·         A series of meetings had been held with ING regarding the redevelopment of the Bath Road/Bridge Centre site and the dialogue between partners had been extremely constructive.

·         A response had been submitted to the car parking strategy consultation. The Vision Board was particularly concerned with the proposals regarding the level of car parking charges in Chippenham, where charges were already high compared to neighbouring market towns.

 

g)   Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group

Richard Williams, Senior Youth Development Worker, provided an update on the following:

 

·         Developments with the Olympiad Leisure Centre were very positive and the young people were being included in various projects such as art.

·         The dirt jumps were now in place and would need maintaining. Discussions were taking place to consider collaboration between site staff, youth workers and young people to create a monthly maintenance programme for the jumps.

·         Discussions at the Bridge Centre had accelerated the debate regarding the need for a skate park and youth cafe.

·         A Campfire Conference was taking place at the weekend which was a county-wide event, and a crew of Chippenham young people would be helping out.

·         The next meeting would take place on Wednesday 13 October 2010 from 6.00pm until 7.30pm at the Bridge Centre. The group would be looking at a model to improve communication between councillors and young people.

 

h)   Children’s Parliament

A meeting had taken place in July and was attended by MPs Duncan Hames and James Gray. The meeting had been very interesting and inspiring. A road safety campaign was being driven forward with the first workshop being held this week in partnership with Wiltshire College. The finished product should be ready in January and could be screened at an Area Board meeting.

 

A question arose regarding the timescales of Middlefield services moving to the Olympiad, to which Robin Townsend, Head of Leisure, commented that he would find out and report back to the individual.

 

 

i)     Area Board Priorities

 

Road Safety – Lead Councillor Bill Douglas

Councillor Bill Douglas provided an update on road safety issues:

 

·         New safety measures on Hardenhuish Lane appeared to be working effectively. Phase 2 of the measures at the bottom of Hardenhuish Lane had received no objections and works were due to commence in October.

·         The proposed pedestrian crossing opposite the entrance to Cepen Park had received no objections and works were also due to start in October.

·         The proposed traffic calming measures on Webbington Road had received 54 expressions of support and 12 against. A report was currently being prepared and would be presented to the Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, Councillor Dick Tonge, who would then make the final decision.

·         School safety was a major priority and Charter Road School was currently considering various safety measures. Support was available to assist schools to develop Travel Plans.

·         The Highways Department Assessment report concerning the Safety Measures Campaign would be presented to the Transport Committee on Tuesday 21 September 2010. Funding was also due to be discussed at that meeting.

 

Skate Park – Lead Councillor Paul Darby

No update at this time – see 7 c iv update for next meeting.

 

Adult Social Care – Lead Councillor Peter Hutton

Councillor Peter Hutton provided an update on the Adult Health and Social Care Group:

 

·         Recent meetings had been held with various groups and had been very successful.

·         The chiropody service at Parklands had ceased operation and confirmation was currently awaited regarding alternative arrangements.

·         A workshop/road show was being planned for March 2011 where service providers could showcase their support. More details regarding this would be provided at a future Area Board meeting once finalised.

 

 

Night Time Economy – Lead Councillors Peter Hutton and Chris Caswill

Inspector Pain provided a brief update on the Night-time Economy Group, the meetings of which had been proving to be successful. One of the present initiatives was a taxi marshall scheme for Chippenham Town Centre during the busy nights over the Christmas and New Year period. A grant application had been submitted to assist with this scheme and would be dealt with later in the agenda.

 

Councillor Chris Caswill stated that a recent review of Karma nightclub in Chippenham had resulted in stronger conditions being applied to the establishment. It was hoped that current government consultation would provide local authorities with more power to deal with related incidents.

 

Childhood Obesity – Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership (ChAP)

Update to be provided for the next meeting.

 

j)     Westlea Housing Association

The report from Westlea was deferred to the next meeting of the Area Board.

 

A question arose regarding the daytime Vision Board workshop and whether the forum could be extended to those unable to attend at that time. The response was that it was a series of consultative events to be held at a variety of times to include as many views as possible.

 

The Chairman thanked the various partners for their updates.