Browse

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Devizes Sports Club, London Road, Devizes SN10 2DL

Contact: Libby Beale (Democratic Services Officer) 

Items
Note No. Item

6:30pm

1.

Welcome

To welcome those present to the meeting.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the first Area Board of the new council and asked members to introduce themselves. Nigel Carter was also welcomed as the newly elected mayor of Devizes.

2.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

 

3.

Minutes

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the last ordinary meeting held on 7 March 2017 and of the special meetings held on 5 April and 16 May 2017.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

It was moved that the minutes of the meetings held on 7 March 2017, 5 April 2017 and 16 May 2017, be approved and signed as a correct record

 

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of Devizes Area Board on 7 March, 5 April, and 16 May 2017

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

The Chairman declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 11.a due to personal involvement in the organisation, and explained that for this item, Cllr Philip Whitehead would take the chair.

6:35pm

5.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive any announcements through the Chairman, including:

·        Bobby Van Trust- Online Safety Advisers

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman made the following announcements:

 

Bobby Van Trust – Online Safety Advisers

 

The chairman drew to the meeting’s attention the written information sheet provided in the agenda pack and explained that people aged over 60 or over 18 and disabled, could request a home visit to help them protect themselves from cybercrime, and to improve their online safety.

 

Devizes Eisteddford Grant Application

 

Cllr Whitehead was in the chair.

 

It was explained that this item would be taken earlier in the agenda to allow the applicant to honour a prior engagement. The chair introduced the item and invited Michael Johnson, the applicant, to speak to his application. It was explained that Devizes Eisteddford was a three-day competitive arts festival and that the grant would be used towards buying a piano for one of the venues but that it would remain in situ all year and not for the festival only. After a short debate it was

 

Resolved:

To award £1000 to Devizes Eisteddford towards the cost of purchasing an upright piano.

 

6:40pm

6.

Area Board 2017

Graeme Morrison, Community Engagement Manager, will advise on the funding the Board has available for community projects 2017-18 and how to apply. Details will also be provided of current projects and priorities, and how local people can get involved.

Minutes:

Cllr Simon Jacobs returned to the chair.

 

Cllr Philip Whitehead delivered a presentation on the position of the new council. He reported on the results of the local elections and the councillors who had taken up cabinet positions, and reported that the size of the cabinet had reduced by one with an increase made to the number of portfolio holders to compensate. Cllr Whitehead explained that the council’s annual budget was £900million and that future budgets would be likely to become more dependent on locally raised funds with a reduction in national government funding.

 

Graeme Morrison, Community Engagement Manager (CEM), delivered a presentation on his role, current projects and priorities for the Devizes community area, and the funding available for community projects in 2017-18. The CEM explained that his role was to maximise community engagement with council services; to assist the Area Board with delivering local priorities; and to support the grant application process. In practical terms this involved supporting the working groups of the Area Board, facilitating and co-ordinating community events, and connecting the public with events and services through managing the community matters online blog and a weekly newsletter which those in attendance were encouraged to sign up to.

 

The CEM explained that the role of the Area Board was to host events, invest in community projects, agree local priorities, support and deliver youth projects, support volunteering, and act as a consultee on changes to local policy and service delivery. He went on to provide headline figures for community engagement since the board had been in operation, and the grant funding available for the municipal year 2017/18.

 

Community Hub and Library

Wiltshire Council’s offices on Snuff Street had now closed, with services transferred to the newly renovated Community hub and library on 30 May 2017. Meeting space would be available in the new hub for community use. Members of the meeting were asked to vote for a logo for the new hub, and having added the result of this vote to the online vote, it was

 

Resolved:

 

To adopt logo one (depicting a canal lock), as presented on the attached slide, as the logo for the Devizes Community Hub and Library.

6:55pm

7.

Appointments to Outside Bodies and Working Groups

The Area Board is asked to reconstitute working groups and appoint representatives and members to outside bodies as detailed in the attached report.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

It was proposed that the Area Board reconstituted the working groups of the Area Board and appointed working group representatives and members to outside bodies as detailed in the report.

 

The membership of CATG was amended to reflect the dissolution of Cycle Devizes and that Pat Straw had stepped down as a member, and it was

 

Resolved:

 

To reconstitute the working groups of Devizes Area Board with the membership as laid out in the report with the amendments above.

 

To appoint Area Board representatives to outside bodies as detailed in the report.

 

7:00pm

8.

Open Floor Session

Residents are invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

Minutes:

The chairman invited questions from the floor and the following issues were raised:

 

The next CATG meeting would take place on 14 June 2017.

 

The highways issues relating to Caen Hill, Devizes would be subject to a review in summer 2017 and this would be published and accessible to the public.

7:20pm

9.

Commemorative Tree Planting

Your views are sought on planting options for trees to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Minutes:

Graeme Morrison delivered a presentation on a county wide initiative, supported by the Woodland Trust, to plant 10,000 trees in Wiltshire to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One. The suggested options included planting a commemorative wood in one location within Wiltshire, or to distribute the trees amongst the 18 community areas.

 

In the discussion that followed the following points were raised and clarified: that the British Legion had been involved in the project’s development; that measures for the care and protection of the trees was under discussion; that it would be helpful to link with the neighbourhood plan for Devizes which included the mapping of public green spaces; that consideration should be made for linking the trees with existing war memorials; and that it would be poignant to name each tree for a specific soldier. After discussion, it was felt that the trees should be split up and allocated to the 18 community areas, but that more discussion was needed to decide on their location within the Devizes area.

 

It was agreed that should feedback from the other Area Boards be similar, a local working group for the Devizes Area would be set up for all the parishes to join and contribute to. The CEM agreed to provide an update at the Area Board meeting on 17 July 2017.

7:30pm

10.

Partner Updates

To receive updates from the following partners:

 

a.     Community Policing Team

b.     Fire and Rescue Service

c.     Health Services

d.     Devizes Community Area Partnership

e.     Schools updates

f.       Town and Parish Councils

g.     Devizes Community Area Wellbeing Group

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The chairman drew the meeting’s attention to the written updates in the agenda pack and invited partners to speak to their reports.

 

Community Policing Team

Insp Nick Mawson presented the written report and highlighted that the format of the report had changed to include a message from the chief constable and a local update. The inspector referenced recent national events and asked that members of the public stayed vigilant to suspicious activity but that there had been no specific intelligence received regarding the area and that it was important to be alert but not alarmed. Members thanked the inspector for his update and for the increased presence and reassurances of the police over the previous weeks.

 

Fire and Rescue Service

Jack Nicholson presented the written report and highlighted that there were new opportunities for volunteering in the fire service, especially with the Safe and Well team responsible for supporting vulnerable people to protect their homes against the risk of fire.

 

Devizes Community Area Partnership

Judy Rose presented the written report and highlighted the following points: that the group would have a rotating chair and that it was currently financially secure. Issues currently being worked on included health and wellbeing, the development of the neighbourhood plan, the new urgent care centre, and the cancellation of bus routes, in particularly the x33 between Devizes and Chippenham,

 

Schools updates

Sue Marshall, from Devizes school, reported that students were currently busy with exams and that one year 13 pupil had received an offer of a place at RADA. The year 13 prom had taken place with the year 11 prom arranged for later in the summer and a staff social event had also been a success. The school would soon have a new logo to represent the values of the school and its place within the Devizes community. Several primary school visits had taken place and the year 7 students were participating in the council’s Big Pledge activity challenge. Members were encouraged to attend a school open day on 12 July.

 

Sarah Lowkis, from Lavington School, reported that 31 students had completed the three peaks challenge and had broken two world records by being the youngest and fasted school group to complete the challenge. The school was preparing for a Rainbow Course to be held on 12 July on the school site for young people with disabilities. The Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) responsible for the school was in the process of changing its name to reflect wider expansion within the South West. The Chairman offered the board’s congratulations for the achievement of the team who had completed the three peaks challenge and invited students from the team to present at a future Area Board meeting.

7:45pm

11.

Area Board Funding

To consider the following applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme:

 

 

·         Devizes Eisteddfod- £1,000 torwards an upright piano;

 

·         Bromham Busy Kids Nursery- £5,000 for flooring and improvements to the play area space.

 

·         St John’s Parish Room Committee- £2,500 for refurbishment;

 

·         Strange Old Things - £1,000 to offer additional sessions from The Mobile Museum;

 

To ratify £300 funding awarded between meetings of the Area Board by the Community Engagement Manager to support a Dementia friendly cinema screening.

 

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Area Board considered three applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme, in addition to the application considered earlier in the meeting. Applicants were present to answer questions.

 

On consideration of the application from Bromham Busy Bees Kids Nursery for new flooring and improvements to the play area space, members discussed the importance of village nurseries and that the project would enable Busy Bees to make better use of the space they had available. It was clarified that the building was owned by the applicant organisation. Concerns were raised in relation to funding the whole project without further information and it was suggested that funding could be granted for the 50% of the cost of the floor with the applicant being invited to return at a later meeting with an application for the remainder of the project.

 

On consideration of an application from St John’s Parish Room Committee, the multiple and secular community uses of the rooms were discussed and it was noted that many of these groups were in receipt of free or heavily discounted use.

 

The third application for consideration was from Strange Old Things, a mobile museum. In response to questions, it was clarified that the museum was designed to be interactive and accessible to groups unable to visit traditional museum. Examples of sessions given included retirement homes, homelessness hostels, and mental health institutions. The grant would be used to expand the range of artefacts. Accreditation had been applied for but had not yet been obtained and members were keen for this to happen prior to funding being awarded.

 

Members were asked to ratify the grant of £300 awarded between Area Board meetings to support a Dementia-friendly cinema screening, and this was agreed.

 

It was

 

Resolved:

 

To award £3888.00 to Bromham Busy Bees Kids Nursery for replacement flooring

 

To award £2500.00 to St John’s Parish Room Committee towards refurbishment costs.

 

To award £1000.00 to Strange Old Things for additional sessions from The Mobile Museum, subject to obtaining accreditation from the British Arts Council.

 

To ratify £300 funding awarded between meetings of the Area Board by the Community Engagement Manager to support a Dementia friendly cinema screening.

 

8pm

12.

Urgent items

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

 

The CEM confirmed, in answer to a question, that funding for a pilot cycling scheme in the Devizes Area may be available and that the interested body should get in touch with him to discuss this further.

 

8pm

13.

Close

The next meeting of Devizes Area Board will be held on 17 July 2017.

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and reminded members that the next meeting of the Area Board would take place on 17 July 2017 at the Extra-Care Centre on Victoria Road.