Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Linda Packard welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave an outline of the evenings proceedings.

An interactive presentation on ‘Is your community ready for the Wiltshire Energy Challenge?’, which will cover the achievements in reducing our energy demands and related carbon emissions, made across the whole of Wiltshire, as well as to highlight the local initiatives relevant to the community area; and provide information on the development of the Wiltshire Council’s Energy Resilience Plan.

Clare Langdon, from Wiltshire Council’s Green Economy Team, gave a presentation regarding the Council’s achievements in reducing energy demands and related carbon emissions; the local initiatives being undertaken in the Chippenham community area; and the development of the Wiltshire Council’s Energy Resilience Plan.

The discussion included the following issues:

·       That Wiltshire Council was seeking to reduce its energy costs, currently standing at £13.6m;

·       That reducing the energy consumption in buildings and fuel consumption were target areas;

·       That a combined heat and power unit had been installed in the Olympiad and, along with some other measures, was saving £30,826 per year.

·       That activities undertaken by the Chippenham and Villages Environment group (CAVE) included using thermal imaging to identify heat is lost from homes;

·       That it was estimated that there are 8,000 properties in fuel poverty in Wiltshire;

·       That the Council was working with contractors, through procurement processes, to reducing the carbon impact of work down on behalf of the Council; and

·       That boilers would be replaced where they were already scheduled to be replaced.

The Chair thanked the officer for the information.

Officers will attend the meeting to discuss the Chippenham Site Allocation Plan. There will be an opportunity for questions, and people will be informed how to make their views known as part of the consultation.

Further information can be found on the Wiltshire Council website:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/planningpolicy/chippenhamsiteallocationsplan.htm

The Chair introduced the following officers from Wiltshire Council, who were attending to discuss the Draft Chippenham Site Allocations Plan, answer questions and provide information about how to make views as part of the consultation: Alistair Cunningham - Associate Director, Economic Development & Planning; Georgina Clampitt-Dix – Head of Service, Spatial Planning; and Carolyn Gibson – Manager, Spatial Planning.

Issues discussed in the course of the item included:

·     That the Core Strategy had been adopted by Wiltshire Council on 20 January;

·     The Core Strategy establishes the need to plan for growth in Chippenham (including at least 4,510 homes over the period 2006 to 2026), recognising that some housing has already been delivered or is committed. Core Policy 10 therefore requires the Chippenham Site Allocations Plan to secure the delivery of 2,625 homes by 2026. 6 criteria are established in Core Policy 10 to be used when considering site allocations at the town. Employment land growth has also been identified (26.5 hectares) but none, as yet has been delivered. 5 strategic areas of search have been established in the Core Strategy, which have been used to assess where site allocations should be located at the Town;

·     Based on the evidence base that has been developed, focused on the core criteria, the 5 strategic areas have been compared in order to consider where growth should be located;

·     The Chippenham Site Selection Report draws this evidence together and explains the reasoning behind the proposals;

·     That three sites in Areas of Search E, B and C have been identified as the preferred option;

·     That site D was the least favoured site based on an assessment of the criteria;

·     That Wiltshire Council had not proposed to allocate any land for development west of the A350;

·     That Neighbourhood Plans need to be consistent with the Wiltshire Core Strategy;

·     That assessing the traffic impact of the potential development informed how the transport issues were addressed;

·     That the intention was to have sustainable growth with services provided in the Chippenham Area and as part of the developments to meet the needs of the new growth;

·     That officers were happy to arrange to meet community groups to consider their issues and questions at the exhibition arranged for 16 March 2015 at the Neeld Hall;

·     Whether a further Area Board meeting would be possible within the consultation time frame; and

·     Alistair Cunningham reminded the meeting that the Plan would be examined by an independent Inspector and that members of the public may attend any examination hearing session that are held as these take place in public.

The Chair reminded the meeting that the consultation was open until the 8^th April and that, along with displays being available in libraries, there would be an open event in the Neeld Hall, Chippenham between 12 – 7pm on 16 March 2015.

Members of the public were also encouraged to access more information via the Council’s webpage: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/planningpolicy/chippenhamsiteallocationsplan.htm

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jane Scott, Howard Greenman and Desna Allen from Wiltshire Council; from Councillors and Martin Coates from Chippenham Town Council; from Associate Director Parvis Khansari, Wiltshire Council; and from Mike Franklin, Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2015.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2015 were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

·       Chippenham Area Board Community Awards

Upon making an announcement on the Chippenham Area Board Community Awards, the Chairman encourage members and partners to nominate recipients by the closing date of the 25^th May.

More information can be found on the website:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/areaboards/chippenhamareaboard.htm

To receive a short presentation on what was delivered in 2014 and what’s coming up in 2015.

Victoria Welsh gave a short presentation about some of the activities that had taken place as part of the Legacy Project. This year, schools and community groups were encouraged to take part in a pageant celebrating the 800^th  anniversary of the Magna Carter on 15^th June 2015..

People were encouraged to contact Victoria Welsh – victoria.welsh@wiltshire.gov.uk – for further information.

Community Area Grants

To ask councillors to consider the following applications for funding:

Capital

1.    Charter School Friends Association award £1,315 towards the Charter Primary School new ICT suite, conditional upon the balance of funding being in place.

2.    Waste Not Want Not award £1,700 towards the Waste Not Want Not Improvements Project, conditional upon the balance of funding being in place.

3.    10th Chippenham Scout Group award £1,000 towards Archery Equipment.

4.    The Rise Trust award £931 towards the Forest Kids at Ivy Wildlife Garden Project.

5.    Chippenham and District Talking Newspapers Going Digital  award £2,262 towards digital equipment for the Chippenham and District Talking Newspapers for the visually impaired.

Revenue

6.    Area Board Project and Councillor Initiative award £1,195 towards Communications Campaign & Toolkit to promote Events & Activities in Chippenham Community Area.

Grants application packs are available from the Community Area Manager or at: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboardscommunity grantsscheme.htm

The Community Area Manager (CAM), Victoria Welsh, introduced the report, which asked members to consider applications for funding.

The Chairman suggested that with the consent of the meeting, that the Capital items would be considered together. The Committee noted that the application from the Charter School Friends Association had been withdrawn as the scheme was only for the benefit for the users of the school and was thus ineligible.

Resolved to award the following Capital funds:

1. Waste Not Want Not award £1,700 towards the Waste Not Want Not Improvements Project, conditional upon the balance of funding being in place.

2. 10th Chippenham Scout Group award £1,000 towards Archery Equipment.

3. The Rise Trust award £931 towards the Forest Kids@Ivy Wildlife Garden Project.

4. Chippenham and District Talking Newspapers Going Digital award £2,262 towards digital equipment for the Chippenham and District Talking Newspapers for the visually impaired.

The meeting then proceeded to consider the revenue applications.  The Chairman, who had initiated the project, answered questions from the meeting regarding the impact, cost and value of the project.

Resolved to award the following Revenue funds:

Area Board Project and Councillor Initiative award £1,195 - carried towards Communications Campaign & Toolkit to promote Events & Activities in Chippenham Community Area.

To consider the report arising from the last meeting of the CATG and any recommendations within.

The Chairman presented the report arising from the last meeting of the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) and the recommendations therein.

Resolved:

1.     To note the Financial Summary at Appendix 1;

2.     To note the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) update at Appendix 2;

3.      To note progress on prioritised schemes and approve increased funding allocation for Community Issue 2062 Lowden Tunnel, conditional upon a 25% contribution from Chippenham Town Council towards the cost of the scheme at Appendix 3;

4.     To approve the schemes recommended for prioritisation & funding,  conditional upon a 25% contribution to the cost of the schemes from the relevant Town and Parish Councils at Appendix 4;

5.     To approve the list of schemes recommended for retention & further consideration  at Appendix 5;

6.     To approve the list of schemes recommended for removal at Appendices 6 and 6a; and

7.     To approve funding allocation for the nominated 20mph speed restriction locations in Redlands and Chestnut Road  Sutton Benger, conditional upon a 25% contribution to the cost of the schemes from the relevant Town/Parish Council at Appendices 7 & 8

The purpose of the report is to provide an update on the work of the Local Youth Network (LYN) and to ask the Area Board to approve the membership of the LYN Steering Group.

Councillor Peter Hutton presented the report which provided an update on the work of the Local Youth Network (LYN) and asked the Area Board to approve the membership of the LYN Steering Group.

Issues discussed in the course of the item included:

·       That the needs assessment was in draft and would be considered by the LYN, and would then form the basis of the forward workplan;

·       That Summer projects were likely to be a priority;

·       The members of the LYN would be attending the April meeting of the Chippenham Area Board;

·       That young people were being trained and encouraged to take more of a leading role in the work of the LYN;

·       That whilst there is a formal process that all projects must be considered, the LYN welcomed new ideas from young people;

·       Project need host organisations to support and be accountable for any bid for money;

·       That the LYN was building relationships with schools; and

·       That the work of the LYN had been promoted locally including in the local press.

Resolved to approve the Membership of the LYN Steering Group membership, as set out in Appendix One of the report.

To received feedback from the recent Parish Forum meeting.

Consideration of this item was deferred due to the absence of Councillor Greenman.

To note the written updates provided and answer any questions arising from the floor:

      i.        Parish and Town Councils

    ii.        Wiltshire Police

   iii.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

   iv.        Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

    v.        Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership (ChAP)

   vi.        Chippenham Vision

  vii.        Chippenham Campus Development Team

viii.        Youth Issues update

   ix.        Chippenham Partnership of Schools

    x.        Other Community Groups

The written updates from Partners, circulated prior to the meeting, were noted.

Following a question from Councillor Caswill, the Chair asked officers to find out who was currently providing the individual services that will make up the new Children’s Community Health Service.

The Chairman stated, in relation to the Campus Project, that the decision to undertake a feasability study had been agreed, a contractor approved and that funding was available.

The Chair read out the update, from Tim Martienssen on the Chippenham Vision, as follows:

The Vision is to be brought to an end.

3 Vision partnerships were stablished in 2009 by Wiltshire Council as advisory partnerships. Projects they were originally envisaged to oversee ranged from producing Masterplans to car parking studies, site development briefs and proposals to fund small community projects.

Since 2009 Community Area Boards have come into being  and are now well established. There is an amount of duplication between their role and the Visions and they undertake some activity that was originally envisaged for Visions e.g.  funding community projects.

In addition since 2009 Campus Boards have been established, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have been established and The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has been established.

BIDs have the ability to raise fairly large sums  and the capacity to deliver activities that promote the town centre. The LEP is providing the lead on major strategic development projects  (including Chippenham Station project).

The Visions have been successful in producing clear Vision objectives and town Masterplans and these will be used to guide future development.  However Wiltshire Council has had to make significant year on year budget savings and is still facing further major budget cuts. It needs to consider where best to focus its limited resources to support local development.

The Council is therefore proposing that the Visions come to an end and that Area Boards pick up the partnership, local co-ordination and advisory role and that projects (BIDs, Campuses, Regeneration Projects etc) report progress directly to the Area Board. Members of the Vision will in future engage through the Area Board or where they have direct involvement in specific projects.

The final Chippenham Vision Board meeting is therefore due to take place on 1^st April.

The Chair further stated that there were a number of questions outstanding and she hoped that these could be discussed at a future meeting.

To receive updates on the Area Board’s Focus Areas for 2014/15, as follows:

     i.       Outdoor spaces – Lead Councillor: Cllr Linda Packard

    ii.       Crime & Community Safety – Lead Councillor: Cllr Desna Allen

  iii.        Road Safety - Cllr Bill Douglas

  iv.       Child Poverty – Lead Councillor: Cllr Chris Caswill

Updates were received as follows:

Updates were received as follows:

       i.          Outdoor Spaces

Councillor Nick Watts that, following the roundtable discussion at the previous Area Board meeting, representatives from charity The Nature of It (NOI) had visited Birds Marsh Wood. After Wiltshire Wildlife Trust had withdrawn, NOI had been working to agree with the developer the action required on the site.

     ii.          Crime & Community Safety

Councillor Peter Hutton stated that the Safe Places project for Chippenham should be launched on the 24 April in Emery Gate. People were encouraged to attend to find out more.

With regard to achieving Purple Flag status, partners had been working towards submitting an application.

With reference to the Police’s use of the CCTV part-funded by the Area Board, The Chair stated that arrangements would be made so that it could visit the area board.

   iii.          Road Safety

Councillor Bill Douglas stated that he was pleased to see 20mph projects prioritised in the Transport Grants, and that they been designed to be enforceable.

   iv.          Child Poverty

Councillor Chris Caswill stated that the group was collecting and refining data on Chippenham. They planned to meet with Cabinet Member and Director soon, would bring the issue to the attention of all Parliamentary Candidates in the run up to the election.

The next agenda planning meeting will take place on Wednesday 25 March at 10:30am at Monkton Park.

Any parish or town council representative interested in attending should contact the Community Area Manager or the Chairman.

The meeting is asked to note the meeting date below:

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting. The next meeting of the Chippenham Area Board would take place on Monday, 27th April, 2015 at 7.00 pm in the Neeld Hall, Chippenham

The next agenda planning meeting would take place on Wednesday 25 March at 10:30am at Monkton Park. Any parish or town council representative interested in attending should contact the Community Area Manager or the Chairman.