Agenda item

Joy Hillyer from the Wiltshire Police Authority informed the Board that she would attend the next meeting in February to consult on the proposed spending cuts of the Wiltshire Police Authority. An online questionnaire was available for people to register their views on the plans for the proposed spending cuts at: http://www.wiltshire-pa.gov.uk/

A Parish Councillor had completed the questionnaire online as a member of the public, but asked if Parishes would be sent the form. Answer: Joy would bring copies of the form to the next Area Board for people to complete, but if people could access the website, they were urged to do so. The more people completing the form the better, as this would produce a wider picture of people’s opinion.

Since the meeting, four Budget Consultation Forums had beenscheduled. People were invited to attend and give feedback and their thoughts on the challenges, choices and options that the council and police faced.

David McMullin, Section Commander for South Wiltshire gave an update and circulated the crime figures for the three community areas. He also commented on the proposed cutbacks, stating that there was no intention to reduce the number of officers working in the Neighbourhood Policing Teams, or the number of Response Officers that he currently had however savings would need to be made in other areas.

Copies of the crime figures are attached to the end of these minutes.

It was noted that some Parishes had been struggling to obtain the Metro Count statistics for their areas. Councillor Lionel Grundy was asked to take the message back to Cabinet that some Parishes were experiencing difficulties with the Community Speed Watch Scheme.

Councillor Grundy agreed to take the message back to Cabinet.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (WFRS) - Mike Franklin gave an update on the fire statistics which had been circulated at the meeting. Some of the points he touched upon were:

·         Out of the seventeen fires attended within the community areas, four of those had been started deliberately.

• There had recently been several thatch fires across the county, which had been time costly to deal with.
• Owners of thatched properties were urged to have them checked by the Fire Safety Service. Cards were available at the reception desk for people to complete if they wished to request this service.
• It had been found that some of the 10 year life smoke alarms issued by WFRS had been reported as faulty. People were urged to report any problems with these smoke alarms, so that they could be checked and replaced if necessary. 

Two questions were asked:

1.    What was the advice of WFRS on netting over the top of thatched roofs, whether it caused a hindrance when thatches caught fire. Answer: Mike Franklin would seek guidance from a technical officer and feedback any advice to Richard Munro for inclusion in the minutes or circulation in the Just a Minute.

2.    What was the fault with the smoke alarms. Answer: The battery which was supposed to last 10 years was not lasting that long. The smoke alarms would start beeping to signal the battery needed replacing, which make people think the smoke alarms were not working.

Thatched Roofs – a Message from Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

Wire netting covering a thatched roof is used as a bird and rodent deterrent; it also keeps the roof “tidy”. The first job fire fighters have to do before they can tackle a fire in a thatched roof is to remove some or all of this wire so that they can attempt to make breaks in the thatch and to expose burning material. The wire netting is sometimes difficult to remove due to the roof construction and this operation is also quite hazardous, however we are providing some specific training for operational staff in January to make this aspect of fire fighting easier to understand and deal with. The main hazard of the netting is that, because it is metal, it can sometimes become live when overhead power cables become involved in the fire, putting the fire fighters at increased risk. In an ideal world we would prefer there not to be netting.

The WFRS is about to embark on a County-wide thatch fire awareness project which will involve  writing to all thatched property owners in Wiltshire inviting them to take advantage of our newly produced thatch packs and home safety check service.

Phil Matthews, Wilton Town Councillor informed the Board that he sat on the NHS Board and if anyone wished to raise a point regarding the NHS, they could contact him so that he could take the message back.

Jaki Farrell, the Youth development Coordinator based in Mere and Tisbury gave an update on recent projects and activities around the community areas, some of these were:

·         Duke of Edinburgh Award.

• Junior Youth Clubs, set up and ran by the older young people in Mere.
• Leisure Credit Scheme – footpath clearance, scrub clearance at hidden military badges in Fovant.
• Community Farm (in Laverstock).
• CAYPIG – one in each community area.
• Area Board Young People’s Day

There would be some structural changes due to the recent Management Review, but clarity on this was not currently available. When more was know Jaki would report back to the Board.

Councillor Grundy supported the hard work of the Youth Officers out in the communities like Jaki, and added that although there would be some cuts; these would be at management level, so that the impact on the ground would be kept to a minimum.