Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to Corsham Area Board and introduced the Councillors and Officers present.

There were no apologies.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 14 November 2018

The minutes of the meeting held on 14^th November 2018 were approved and signed as a correct record.

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:

·         Mansion House

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner- Precept consultation.

·         Polling District and Polling Place Review.

·         Special Schools.

The Chairman drew attention to the written announcements included in the agenda pack:

·       Mansion House

·       Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner – Precept consultation

·       Polling District and Polling Place Review

·       Special Schools

To Consider two funding requests:

·         Thrive, Mind, Reset - £4,772 to provide one to one and groupwork for up to 25 young people focusing on pre-exam stress and other related issues. (Denise Little)

·         Open Blue Bus – £3,000 to provide drop in sessions in Colerne from Easter onwards

Cllr Ben Anderson introduced 2 applications for youth grant funding.

Resolved

1. To award Thrive, Mind, Reset £4250 to provide one-to-one and groupwork for up to 25 young people focusing on pre-exam stress and other related issues.
2. To award Open Blue Bus £3000 to provide drop-in sessions in Colerne from Easter onwards.

Acting Inspector Don Pocock

Don Pocock, Wiltshire Police Acting Inspector, gave a presentation about the demands placed on Wiltshire Police.

Matters highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: the size and distribution of the police force; the typical daily demand for Wiltshire Police; the proactive work undertaken to safeguard the public; the Wiltshire Police Control Strategy; the Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Plan 2017-21; the history of Wiltshire Police’s operational model; the Community Police model; the distribution of Community Policing Teams; the breakdown of each team; the use of regional collaboration; cost cutting across the force; the use of the 101 service; funding from regional and national levels and continuing work with vulnerable children and adults.

Wiltshire CCG

Sarah MacLennan gave a presentation on the CCG RUH Maternity Transformation Consultation.

Matters highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included:  the background to the proposal for future maternity services; the changing needs of the local population; the amount of local births and where they take place; use of post-natal community hospital beds; the need to base staff in the right locations; rate of usage between different birthing centres; the desire to increase opportunity for home births; increasing birth rates across the locality; the breakdown of the proposal for future maternity services; the benefits of the proposal; the effect of the proposal on future finances and that the public can engage with the consultation at  www.transformingmaternity.org.uk.

To hear about and discuss the use of 20mph speed limits and zones.

Richard Moulton & Cllr Steve Abbott.

Richard Moulton and Cllr Steve Abbott gave a presentation about the proposal to introduce 20mph speed limits and zones throughout Corsham.

Matters highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: why there is more traffic in Corsham; the analysis of short trips by car; why people are choosing to not walk or cycle in the local area; the impact of motorised traffic on residents and the environment; the effect that introducing 20mph zones in Corsham could have; road safety; the local areas that have already implemented such a system; that 20mph speed limits in towns are supported by Public Health England; that Corsham Town Council had explored the possibility of 20mph zones in its Strategic Plan 2018-22 and the Public Realm Project.

• National Armed Forces Day including a request for funding

• Health and wellbeing Group including a request for funding from the Crafty Club

·         Lives and Livelihoods project update

Richard Rogers gave a presentation on the National Armed Forces Day in June 2019 and how Wiltshire’s communities could get involved.

Matters highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: the three-day programme of the National Armed Forces weekend; the scope of

the event; community involvement in the event; the importance of the event to

Wiltshire and Salisbury in particular; the social media photograph campaign; the

community tapestry project and the largest human poppy world record attempt.

Resolved

To deny the allocation of £1467 for three National Armed Forces Day projects (Community Art Tapestry, Human Poppy World Record Attempt and Social Media Photograph Campaign).

Reason

It was noted that this would not be a suitable use of the Area Board’s limited funding and that the money would be better used within the Corsham area.

Kevin Gaskin gave an update on the Lives and Livelihood project. It was noted that this was a project jointly funded by the Corsham Health and Wellbeing Group, Celebrating Age and The Heritage Lottery Fund; that it is a project focussing upon lives and livelihoods in the Corsham area.

Kevin also introduced one application for health and wellbeing grant funding.

Resolved

To award the Corsham Crafty Club £800 for a community social project that offers free arts and crafts sessions for local residents.

To receive any updates from the following partners:

·         Wiltshire Police

·         Transcoco (Plastics Free Wiltshire)

·         Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·         Health Services

·         Town and Parish Council Nominated Representatives

·         Corsham Institute

·         Chamber of Commerce

·         Schools

Partner Updates

a)    Wiltshire Police – the written report was noted.

b)    Transcoco (Plastics Free Wiltshire) – the following points were noted:

·       That since its launch in July Plastics Free Wiltshire had participated in a large number of events, consulting with around 30 businesses in the Corsham area in the process.

·       That there was confusion amongst households over waste collection and efforts were being made to make it clearer to local residents.

·       That a Refill Scheme was soon to be introduced encouraging local businesses to offer free water refills and that the TeraCycle Scheme was being launched for hard to recycle items.

·       That there was a Give and Take Day on 2^nd March 2019 in which local residents can swap their unwanted items with each other.

c)    Health Services – the written reports and following points were noted:

·       That residents were encouraged to sign up to an RUH Membership.

·       That membership is completely free to anyone over 16 and provides members with the opportunity to influence how your local hospital is run.

·       That more details on how to sign up can be found at http://ruh.nhs.uk/membership/ 

d)    Corsham Town Council – the written report and following point was noted:

·       That there was to be a consultation over the next three months about parking in the town and how it can improve the high street experience.

e)    Lacock Parish Council – the following points were noted:

·       That there was a public meeting to air concerns about traffic issues in Lacock and that residents were encouraged to participate.

·       That the Community Area Transport Group had been asked to look at introducing a coach ban in Lacock to discourage parking in certain areas.

·       That the Parish Council were continuing to look at ways to ease traffic issues and congestion around Whitehall Garden Centre. 

f)      Corsham Institute – the following point was noted:

·       That as part of the Children and Young People Programme, it would hold the Corsham Safer Internet Festival 2019 - 10 free events, running from 4^th – 19^th February 2019.

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

• Sea Squad Explorer Scout Unit (Corsham) – Requesting £1,000 for camping equipment

• Rising Sun Memorial Box – Requesting £1,800 towards an information board for the site

Consideration was given to the 2 applications made to the Community Area Grants Scheme.

The Chairman invited a representative of each applicant to give a brief overview of their project to the Area Board.

It was noted that page 53 of the agenda pack should read Applicant: Rising Sun Memorial Box rather than Applicant: Box Bowls Club.

Cllr Philip Whalley noted that the Area Board was disappointed that there had been no financial input in the Rising Sun Memorial Box from Box Parish Council.

Resolved

1. To award Sea Squad Explorer Scout Unit (Corsham) £1000 for camping equipment.

2. To award Rising Sun Memorial Box £1800 towards an information board for the site.

In response to a question from the public it was noted that if you require funding for large capital projects from town and parish councils then these will need to be discussed well in advance.  

The Chairman noted that this was Richard Rogers’ last Corsham Area Board and thanked him for all of his hard work in the Corsham area.