Agenda and minutes

Members of the community were invited to look around the Springfield Campus and Community Gardens.

·         Hear about what has taken place in the Springfield Community Gardens - Richard Rogers

·         Find out more about the wildflower area with local ecologist and author - Peter Harper

·         Find out what is still planned and how you can get involved

·         “Prettying of Pickwick” – Lorraine Vaun-Davis

·         Update from Transcoco – Nikki Kenna

·         Sun and Ticks - Issie Tucker

·         Time for comments and questions

Richard Rogers, Community Engagement Manager, updated on the work that had been done to improve the Springfield gardens. The gardens had initially not been maintained well until local groups had volunteered to help maintain the green space and plant flower beds. Thanks were given to Transcoco who had retied and mulched trees, and the Brunel Shed who had made raised beds. Other community groups each had a flower bed they were maintaining.

Peter Harper, a local ecologist, was invited to speak about how to maintain a wildflower meadow at the campus.  Pathways were to be mown around the wildflower meadow to allow people to access it and for it to appear deliberate. Ideas were provided as to how the meadow could be developed in the future to improve engagement, for example through the use of interpretation boards.

Residents were invited to get in touch if they were interested in volunteering to assist with mowing and maintenance in the community garden.

Apologies had been received from Lorraine Vaun-Davis, Richard Rogers updated on her behalf that lamp posts in Pickwick were now being used to host planters.

Cleo Sanders from Colerne Gardening Club, reported back on a £1,000 grant provided to the club by the Area Board. It was explained the funding had allowed the Garden Club to purchase important equipment and acted as seed money for a larger grant from the Ministry of Defence. The club involved teaching groups of children about gardening and allowing them to harvest food crops which they would then cook with. The club was hugely popular and enjoyed by the children who were meeting and working with different groups of people.

Nikki Kenna, Transcoco, reported back on funding from the Area Board which had allowed the group to maintain a community orchard. It was noted that Brunel Shed was now making a display board for the Orchard. The meeting heard the group was now working on developing Corsham as a Fairtrade town.

Issie Tucker and Jane Vowles, Wiltshire Council Public Protection, advised the meeting about the risk of ticks over the summer months and how to deal with a suspected tick. The risks of sunburn were also highlighted and residents were encouraged to cover up and wear suncream over the summer months.

David Wright, Box Parish Council, told the Board about a project to improve Box Hill Common, an area of around 4 hectares, to allow a nature trail and wildflower meadow.

Following the presentations on ‘All Things Green’, comments from the floor included that the work to improve the Springfield Gardens had been a great success, however routes in the wildflower meadow needed to be wider. The project to maintain Box Hill Common was also welcomed by local councillors.

The Chairman opened the start of the formal meeting and invited other councillors to introduce themselves.

Apologies for absence were received from Richard Williams, Andy Harris and Cllr Ruth Hopkinson.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 25 May 2017.

It was queried that on the minutes of the last meeting Dave Martin  was marked as both in attendance and as having given his apologies, it was requested the minutes be amended to correct the true record of attendance.

Resolved:

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 25 May 2017 subject to the amendment as detailed above.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the following chairman’s announcements:

·         Draft Housing Site Allocations Consultation

·         Bobby Van Trust

Attention was drawn to written updates available in the agenda pack and an additional update on tables at the meeting in respect of Wiltshire’s Housing Site Allocation Draft Plan consultation. Box Parish Council queried whether the Parish Council had been sent this information, it was confirmed all parish councils should have been contacted and the information had also been in the parish newsletter from Wiltshire Council.

To receive any updates from the following partners:

(a)  Wiltshire Police

(b)  Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

(c)  Health Services

(d)  Town and Parish Council Nominated Representatives

(e)  Corsham Community Area Network (CCAN)

(f)   Chamber of Commerce

(g)  Local Youth Management Group

(h)  Digital Corsham

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from the Community Policing Team, Fire and Rescue Service, Healthwatch Wiltshire and Wiltshire CCG.

Mark Unwin, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, updated  that a new Chairman of the authority had been elected. The Service was currently assisting with the checking of tower block construction materials following the Grenfell Tower disaster.  The officer also advised more defibrillators were now available to the service to assist with lifesaving response. The meeting was reminded not to enter old mines in the area, recently there had been a spell of incidents with people endangering themselves getting stuck in old mines.

Box Parish Council highlighted the closure of Rudloe Community Centre and advised it was working with the MoD to reduced traffic congestion near MoD Corsham. The parish was also working on the adoption of local paths and the project at Box Hill Common.

Colerne Parish Council, updated that the village was suffering from damage to properties, walls, trees and grass verges as a result of HGVs getting stuck on narrow routes. The parish council had not been able to find a solution with Wiltshire Council and sought assistance from the Board.

Corsham Town Council encouraged applications for a vacant position on the council and spoke of the great success of the Corsham Food Festival.

Lacock Parish highlighted the recent success of their running race around the village, in which 904 people had crossed over the finish line.

Corsham Chamber of Commerce was pleased to announce a huge rise in membership numbers and encouraged residents and businesses to subscribe to the Chamber’s online newsletter. The Chamber’s summer social event was to be held the following week.

Cllr Ben Anderson, invited feedback from the meeting about how the Local Youth Network could be developed.

The meeting heard from Digital Corsham that the organisation was working on a number of projects, including historical recordings for the Corsham area.

Mike Davidson - Chair, Wiltshire NHW Association

The Chairman announced a change to the order of the agenda, bringing forward items on the Neighbourhood Watch.

Mike Davidson, Wiltshire Neighbourhood Watch Association, advised the Association was to host a meeting for the community and other partners such as the Police, in September to revitalise Neighbourhood Watch. Information was provided as to how residents could keep informed about crime in the local area and the use of Community Messaging.

Resolved:

To thank Mike Davidson for the informative presentation.

Dave Martin (Clerk of Corsham Town Council)

Dave Martin, Corsham Town Council, explained the town now had a draft Neighbourhood Plan and would go out to formal consultation in the autumn, following this the Plan would be examined and go to a local referendum. It was highlighted the plan would give the town more influence to direct future developments in the area and would allow the community to retain more money from developments via the Community Infrastructure Levy.

Resolved:

To note the update on the progress of a Neighbourhood Plan for Corsham.

Tim Martienssen - Head of Economic Regeneration Service Delivery, Wiltshire Council

Tim Martienssen, Head of Economic Regeneration, presented on the Corsham Mansion House redevelopment. Following ideas from a user group and the community, proposals for redevelopment had been submitted by way of a planning application. These proposals had since been agreed by the Secretary of State and work on the site could now commence from August 2017 when the old library site would be demolished. The whole project was due for completion by October 2018. Residents were assured the redevelopment would be done responsibly to restore the historical features of the building, and advice on the matter had been sought from various bodies and experts.

Following questions from the floor, it was confirmed the new Mansion House would be able to accommodate office space for up to 60 people, and the management contract for the building had not yet been awarded. The Chairman thanked the officer for his presentation and expressed support for the redevelopment as an opportunity to stimulate local business.

Resolved:

To note the update on the Corsham Mansion House redevelopment.

Including recommendations for funding:

·         Celebrating Age Bid - £1,500

Kevin Gaskin, Corsham Health and Wellbeing Board, updated the group was busy organising three events:

·           Heat and Eat cookery workshops – Starting 7^th September Springfield Campus

·           Slipper Exchange and Health Fair- 4^th October, 1pm Springfield Campus

·           Health and Wellbeing Workshop – 11^th September TBC

Kevin presented an application for funding to support arts and culture activities in the Corsham area. Ten monthly sessions would be run over two years and could include the parishes. In response to questions, the Community Engagement Manager confirmed the application met the grants criteria as the events funded by Corsham would be delivered within that community area. Councillors requested that all older people, including those not already involved in community groups, be invited to participate and that activities also be available to residents in rural locations.

Resolved:

To grant Celebrating Age £1,500 towards arts and culture activities.

The Wiltshire Councillors will consider the following applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme

·         Friends of Corsham Regis School - £5k towards new playground equipment.

·         Corsham Amateur Swimming Club - £750 towards starter equipment and white boards.

·         First Colerne Sea Scouts - £1,140 towards a boulder wall.

Members considered applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme and invited applicants to speak to their projects. The Chairman spoke in support of the application from Regis Primary Academy advising he had visited the school. A representative from Corsham Swimming Club spoke in support of their application for funding to update equipment to support swimmers of all ages. A representative from Colerne Sea Scouts advised their funding application would allow the group to buy a boulder wall which would retain and attract members.

The Chairman thanked applicants for speaking and invited them to come back to a future meeting to feedback on how they had used the funding.

Resolved:

·           To grant Corsham Amateur Swimming Club £750 for new equipment.

·           To grant Friends of Regis Primary Academy £5,000 towards new playground equipment.

·           To grant First Colerne Sea Scouts £1,140 towards a boulder wall.

Cllr Ruth Hopkinson

Cllr Ruth Hopkinson was not in attendance to present an update from the Community Area Transport Group, however it was understood there were no recommendations arising from the group for the Board to consider.

·         Thursday 21 September 2017 - Springfield Campus

·         Thursday 23 November 2017 – Springfield Campus

The next meeting of the Board was programmed to be held on Thursday 21 September 2017, however the Chairman advised the Board was now considering bringing the meeting forward to the afternoon of 11 September, to follow the adult social care workshop led by the Health and Wellbeing Group.