Decision details

The Chairman invited representatives from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service to provide an update on the Ludgershall Fire Cadets group.

The Fire Cadets group had been running successfully in the local area for many years and was well attended and valued by local people. However, due to financial constraints, The Fire and Rescue Service had recently announced that, with regret, it would be closing the local Fire Cadets group.

There was strong support locally for the Fire Cadets group to continue and interim funding arrangements were being sought to help with this. The Chairman recommended that a comprehensive financial plan be put together with details of the levels of funding required, and the councillors would consider this at the next meeting and determine whether any funding support could be given by the Area Board.

A partner update report had been received from Wiltshire Police and was available in the agenda at page 27. Inspector Martyn Sweett, Area Commander, also reported that recent statistics had shown a 17.7% reduction in crime in the area compared to the previous year. The following comments were made by members of the public:

·         Excessive speeding on Bulford Road in Tidworth was causing problems and anxiety for local residents and it was requested that the camera van had a presence in the area of the same level as the Collingbournes. It was agreed that this would be raised as a formal issue.

·         Any schemes completed using the Community Payback scheme should involve the offender completing their service in the area where they committed the crime.

·         It was acknowledged that a similar Community Payback scheme had been successfully utilised in the past to paint the churchyard fence.

Col Paddy Tabor provided an update from the Garrison and stated that it had been a quiet period over the past couple of months, with some regiments returning from Afghanistan. A Polo event had been held recently which had been a great success.

David Wildman of the Chamber of Commerce stated that work was continuing on the local economy and on the Castledown Business Centre. Alistair Cunningham, Service Director for Economy and Enterprise, added that the Regional Development Agency owned the freehold of the Castledown site and that discussions were currently taking place regarding how best to retain the site as a local facility for Wiltshire.

The Chairman opened the floor to further comments from partners and the following comments were made:

·         The Clarence reporting service appeared to have deteriorated lately with incidents not being responded to within satisfactory timescales. The Chairman recommended that the local councillor be contacted in these instances to strengthen the need for action. He suggested that the particular issue relating to a sign near the Ram pub be raised as an issue on the online issues system.

·         The A345 was due to be resurfaced and had been prepared in readiness for this, but had since been left and as in an unsafe condition. The works needed to be completed urgently and this should also be raised as an issue.

·         Fly tipping was becoming a problem again in the Ludgershall car park recycling area and it was agreed that this matter would also be raised as an issue.

Graeme Hay introduced himself to the meeting as the new Head of Service – Local Highways and Streetscene (South). He commented that the roadworks for the A345 were in the scheduled programme and would be completed in due course. In response to the comment regarding Clarence, Graeme stated that this would be investigated and a response would be passed to the Area Board. An issue would also be raised in the meantime.