Decision details

To award Young People’s Grants, Community Area Grants and Local Highway and Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG) funding in relation to Calne Area Boardas follows: 

Community Area Grants 

ABG1511 – Calne Men’s Shed - £500 for the purchase of an of an oscillating cutting tool, drill and impact driver kit.

ABG1529 - Calne Tennis Club - £2,885 towards Court refurbishment.

Young People’s Grants

ABG1532 – Calne Wordfest - £565 towards Youth Tale Trail Storytelling

ABG1568 – The Open Blue Trust - £2,098 towards the Open Blue Bus in Calne

LHFIG

1)    To allocate funding to Issues already on the Priority Schemes List:

• 3-23-3 Foxham Speed Limit £9,800

• 3-23-8 Sandy Lane Gates & Signs £3,150

• 3-23-12 Studley Village Speed Limit Review £2,030

2)    To add the following Issues to the Priority Schemes List with funding:

• 3-23-14 Hilmarton & Goatacre SID Posts £1,050

• 3-23-16 Tytherton Lucas Warning Signs £500

• 3-23-22 Stockley & Broads Green Speed Limit review £2,030

3)    To close the following Issues:

• Active Travel Calne Silver St

• 3-23-4 Bremhill Parish Village Gates

• 3-23-17 Calne London Road Crossing

• 3-23-20 East Tytherington Maud Heath Causeway

I approve the grants and LHFIG awards set out in this report.

This decision was published on 6 March 2024 and will come into effect on 14 March 2024.

Calne Area Board currently has four unitary Members. At its meeting on 6 February two of the Members were unable to attend, one being unwell, and the other being forced to withdraw at very short notice. The meeting was therefore inquorate and unable to take any formal decisions on grants or other matters.

The next scheduled meeting of the Area Board is 28 May 2024.

Some of the grant applications remaining to be determined are in excess of £1,000, which is beyond the limit of the delegation arrangements for Area Boards. It is therefore not possible for the Strategic Engagement and Partnerships Manager to take the decision to award all of the grants in consultation with the Members of the Area Board.

Whilst an extraordinary meeting could conceivably be arranged, it is not considered a practical or reasonable option to arrange what would be a very short meeting solely for the purposes of considering the grant applications.

Given the lack of quoracy at the meeting on 6 February 2024 was through no fault of the Members of the Area Board, the lengthy gap until the next scheduled meeting, and the potential negative impact on local projects if the decisions are not made, the Leader has agreed to take the decision under his executive authority. In general, simply not determining applications in time for a specific meeting would not justify taking the decision through alternative means.

To determine the decisions at the next scheduled meeting of the Area Board or the Leader to determine the decisions following consultation with the Area Board Members.

The four local Members of Calne Area Board are in agreement with the proposed grants. Members of the public may give their views to the proposed decision in this report. Although it was not at a properly constituted meeting, the grant applications were discussed at Calne Area Board on 6 February 2024 where the public and the Members present had the opportunity to give their views.

Following the by-election for the vacant seat on the Board, the new Member has confirmed their support for the proposals.