Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited the Councillors present to introduce themselves.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Station Manager Andy Green, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service, and

·       Phil Bevans, Headteacher, Devizes School.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2019.

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2019.

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

Cllr Sue Evans declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 15, specifically the grant application from the Devizes & District Association for the Disabled for the Nursteed Community Centre, as Cllr Evans was on the Outside Body for this organisation. Although the interest was non-pecuniary, Cllr Evans stated that she would not take part in the vote on that item.

Cllr Simon Jacobs also declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 15, specifically the grant application from Devizes Eisteddfod, as he was involved with the group. Although the interest was non-pecuniary, Cllr Jacobs stated that he would not take part in the vote on that item.

To receive the following announcements through the Chairman (written briefing notes are available in the full agenda pack or online):

·         Children’s Centre Consultation

Consultation on new proposals to build on successful community model for children’s centre services. The consultation is available at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-democracyconsultations and will run from 23 January until 20 March 2019 with a report due to go to cabinet later this spring.

·         Electoral Review

The draft recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England are now available to be viewed online via their website at:

http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/south-west/wiltshire/wiltshire-unitary-authority-ua and a consultation has been launched to receive comments. The consultation is open until 15 April 2019 and is the final opportunity for parties to comment on the proposals.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Children’s Centre Consultation

The Chairman announced that there was a consultation underway on new proposals to build on a successful community model for children’s centre services. The consultation was available at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-democracy-consultations and would run until 20 March 2019, with a report due to go to cabinet later in the spring.

The Chairman invited Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills to give an update on this. Cllr Mayes stated that the model had been changed in 2016 in response to the fact that many children’s centres were not very well used. Therefore, the decision was made to take provision out into communities to where the parents were. For example, to parent and toddler groups or community centres. This had been very successful. The consultation was looking at closing 6 more children’s centres and taking the work out into the community. The most well used children’s centres would not be closed. The proposal would save money but was also more effective, reaching the most vulnerable. The meeting was urged to look at the consultation details online and comment.

Electoral Review Consultation

The Chairman announced that the draft recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England were now available to be viewed online via their website at:

http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/southwest/wiltshire/wiltshire-unitary-authority-ua  and a consultation had been launched to receive comments. The consultation was open until 15 April 2019 and would be the final opportunity for parties to comment on the proposals.

The Chairman invited Cllr Richard Clewer, Cabinet Member for Housing, Corporate Services, Arts, Heritage and Tourism, who was present at the meeting to comment. Cllr Clewer stated that there were few changes to the outlying regions of the Devizes area however, there were some changes to central Devizes boundaries. Cllr Clewer encouraged the meeting to look at the map of the proposed changes online.

To receive updates from the following partners:

a.    Wiltshire Police

b.    Fire and Rescue Service

c.    Health Services

d.    Schools updates

e.    Town and Parish Councils

Written updates were available in the agenda pack or supplements from Wiltshire Police, The Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service, Healthwatch Wiltshire and the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

In addition to the written updates, the following verbal updates were given by partners present:

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

Although not on the agenda, the Chairman invited the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Jerry Herbert, to address the meeting. This was the first time that the Deputy PCC had attended the Devizes Area Board and he was very pleased to do so. Mr Herbert had been working as the Deputy PCC since 1 August 2018 and worked in the role for 2 days a week. The PCC, Angus Macpherson, wanted there to be more community engagement, therefore Mr Herbert was undertaking this as part of his role and was aiming to attend each of the 18 different Area Boards approximately twice a year. Mr Herbert was previously in the army and had worked for a major engineering company. He now undertook consulting work when not working as the Deputy PCC.

Knife crime had been in the news a lot recently and was considered a big problem. Thankfully, in Wiltshire it was not such a problem. Wiltshire being one of only four counties in the UK where knife crime had gone down last year. Wiltshire Police were engaged in Operation Spectre, whose aim was to get knifes off the streets.

Regarding funding, Mr Herbert stated that 60% of funding came from central government and 40% came from local taxation via the Police Precept of people’s Council Tax. Following a recent consultation, the Wiltshire Police precept would be going up. Wiltshire was the fourth lowest funded police force in the UK per head of population and faced unique challenges due to the geography of the county with a large area and a mix of rural and town populations. The rise in the precept would fund an extra 41 police officers next year. There would also be a focus on fraud and child sexual exploitation. Mr Herbert invited the meeting to let him know of any issues which he would try to address.

Cllr Anna Cuthbert stated that the PCC had been lobbying for funding and asked whether he had, had any success.  The Deputy PCC stated that he had met with the funding commissioner in November. The funding formula was to be revised as part of a current spending review. However, the spending review had been delayed due to Brexit. It was probable that the review would happen in the summer and the OPCC would be able to update on this later in the year.

·         Wiltshire Police

Following on from the Deputy PCC, Acting Inspector Pete Foster stated that funding for the police was a national issue. Updating on local crime, it was stated that burglaries in the Devizes area remained low in number. A person had been caught who was praying on elderly women, stealing their purses. They had been arrested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

·         Devizes Market Place Parking Petition

To receive the ePetition which can be viewed online here: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=76&RPID=18637467&HPID=18637467

·         Devizes Car Parking and Market Place

To receive a presentation on Devizes Car Parking and Market Place.

·         Debate and Questions

Devizes Market Place Parking Petition

The Chairman introduced the item, informing the meeting that an e-petition had been received which met the threshold for a debate at the Area Board in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme.

At the invitation of the Chairman the petition organiser, Mr Pawlak, presented the petition which had received over 717 signatures, and which requested the council to renegotiate the transfer of responsibility to Devizes Town Council for the management of Devizes Market Place and allow the town council to keep the car parking facilities there for the benefit of townspeople, visitors and local businesses.

A decision had been taken by Cabinet on 15 January 2019 that as part of the Service Devolution & Asset Transfer Package to Devizes the car parking in the Market Place would be removed.

In presenting his petition Mr Pawlak explained that the petition had come about after the announcement on 19 January 2019 which stated that car parking in the Market Place was being removed. Mr Pawlak felt that many people were very concerned about this and thought that the removal of parking from the Market Place would be detrimental to the town. They also felt that they should have been involved in meaningful discussions with Wiltshire Council and Devizes Town Council regarding the future use of the Market Place. The petition ran from 22 January 2019 until 21 February 2019 and achieved 717 signatures online. Mr Pawlak stated that several hundred more people had signed physical petition sheets. Although these had not been submitted to the Board, it was stated that the combined figure of about 1,000 signatories showed the strength of feeling regarding the issue. 

The Chairman thanked Mr Pawlak for his petition and his contribution to the meeting. The Chair announced that Devizes Town Council would give an update on the proposals for the Market Place and then the meeting could debate the issue. It was;

Resolved:

To note the petition.

Devizes Car Parking and Market Place

The Chairman invited Cllr Kelvin Nash and Mr Simon Fisher (Clerk) from Devizes Town Council (DTC) to give their presentation regarding Car Parking and the Market Place.

Mr Simon Fisher stated that there had been a lot of debate regarding the Market Place and its future use. A parking review had been conducted the previous year and people had been very concerned regarding the original changes proposed. Devizes was a wonderful town with a great retail mix and Devizes Town Council wanted it to continue to flourish. However, retail was changing. They needed to focus on how we would use our towns in the future. Devizes Town Council wanted Devizes to be a great place to visit with lots going on. Mr Fisher referenced a report by Mary Portas, who said that towns should “Put in place a ‘Town Team’: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets. Town Teams should focus on making High Streets accessible, attractive and safe”.

Devizes Town Council had recruited  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To consider the report on Highways Schemes for the forthcoming year.

Cllr Philip Whitehead gave a brief update on highways schemes (not CATG items). The spend on highways had doubled since 2014. If Wiltshire Council resurfaced and repaired all Wiltshire roads it would cost approximately half a billion pounds, therefore priorities had to be identified. The annual spend on highways was around £21 million.  The report for the proposed Highways Schemes for 2019-2020 could be found in the agenda, page 61 had full details of the Devizes proposals. Spend varied year by year but was fairly evenly balanced over the coming five years. It was;

Resolved:

That Devizes Area Board:

(i) Welcomed the road surfacing work and repairs carried out in 2018/19 and noted the improvement in the overall condition of Wiltshire’s roads in recent years, but acknowledged that further investment was still required.

(ii) Approved the highway maintenance scheme list for 2019/20 prepared for the Area Board.

(iii) Noted the new provisional five year programme, which would be reviewed annually to ensure best value for money and whole life costing for the highways asset.

Residents are invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

The Chairman invited residents to ask questions of their local councillors.

A resident stated that they had written to Cllr Laura Mayes regarding flooding at the Windsor Drive/London Road traffic lights. The reply stated that the drains needed work and this would be looked at. The resident stated this was incorrect and the problem was due to the curvature of the road. He felt this was very dangerous as the access/exit points for the crossing went through the water.

Cllr Mayes stated that she would forward the information to Cllr Whitehead. It was confirmed that this was on the section of road that had just had works completed on it. Cllr Whitehead would get an inspection done and it was under warranty so the issues could be resolved.

There were no further questions.

To receive any updates from the Local Youth Network and to consider the following applications for youth grant funding:

·         Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA), £3,978.00, towards their Young people’s Carnival Incubator project.

·         Bromham Youth Club, £4,798.00, for the Bromham Youth Club, 2019/20.

·         21st Century Legacy, £1,000.00, towards Be the Best You Can Be coaching.

·         Wiltshire YFC, £2000.00, towards their Devizes Summer 2019 Pop Up Youth Café.

·         Wiltshire YFC, £5,000.00, for the Potterne Youth Centre 2019.

·         Wiltshire YFC, £3,500.00, towards Devizes Pop Up Provision.

·         West Wilts Special Needs Activity Scheme, £400.00, towards their Special needs fun days, 2019.

Representatives of DOCA, Bromham Youth Club, Wiltshire YFC and West Wiltshire Special Needs spoke in support of their applications. The West Wiltshire Special Needs application was moved up the agenda and considered under Chairman’s Announcements as the representative had to leave the meeting early. Andrew Jack, Community Engagement manager detailed the 21^st Century Legacy application as their representative was unable to attend.

The applications for Youth Grant Funding were considered by the Board and it was;

Resolved;

·         To grant Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA), £3,978.00, towards their Young people’s Carnival Incubator project;

·         To grant Bromham Youth Club, £4,798.00, for the Bromham Youth Club, 2019/20;

·         To grant 21st Century Legacy, £1,000.00, towards Be the Best You Can Be coaching;

·         To grant Wiltshire YFC, £2000.00, towards their Devizes Summer 2019 Pop Up Youth Café;

·         To grant Wiltshire YFC, £5,000.00, for the Potterne Youth Centre 2019;

·         To grant Wiltshire YFC, £3,500.00, towards Devizes Pop Up Provision;

·         To grant West Wilts Special Needs Activity Scheme, £400.00, towards their Special needs fun days, 2019.

The Chairman thanked all the applicants for their applications and their hard work.

To receive an update on the Devizes Health and Wellbeing Group and consider the following application for Health and Wellbeing funding.

·         Bromham Good Neighbours, £300.00, for their Combating loneliness and social isolation project.

Cliff Evans, Chairman of the Devizes area Health and Wellbeing Group gave a brief update to the meeting. The group were committed to running another Health and Wellbeing day on 15 June 2019. They would be applying for funding for this event. They had already received applications for space on the green at the event. Exhibitors would cover the whole range of Health and Wellbeing, from Alzheimer’s Support to personal trainers. The HWBG wanted to communicate and share what was available. There would also be demonstrators, for example exercise groups and team sports. So far around 20 groups had signed up to take part.

Representatives from Bromham Good Neighbours and Devizes Men’s Shed spoke in support of their applications for Health and Wellbeing funding.

The Board considered the applications for Health and Wellbeing funding and it was;

Resolved;

·         To grant Bromham Good Neighbours, £300.00, for their combating loneliness and social isolation project;

·         To grant Devizes Men’s Shed, £800.00, for additional workspace for their Shed.

To consider the update and any recommendations arising from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG).

The minutes for the meeting on 6 March are attached for information.

Cllr Philip Whitehead gave an update on the CATG. The minutes for the CATG meeting on 6 March were contained in the agenda pack. There had been very good attendance from Parish Councils.

It was stated that the Devizes to Poterne footpath extension may have to be mothballed. An independent road safety audit had found that more land was needed to make the footpath wider. Negotiations had been ongoing to try to acquire this land but as yet had been unsuccessful. If this issue was not resolved they would be unable to continue the project and it would be removed from the CATG list.

The implementation of the proposed speeding restriction in the High Street in Worton was to be combined with carriageway maintenance works which would make the work cheaper.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Whitehead for the update.

To receive an update from the Devizes Air Quality and Transport Strategy Group.

Cllr Peter Evans gave an update on the Devizes Air Quality and Transport Strategy Group. The notes from the meeting on 8 March 2019 were included in the agenda pack.

Air Quality data had been submitted to the national organistation for analysis. It was hoped this would be completed by the end of March and uploaded to the website.

The Canal Towpath work had been delayed as the developer contributions had not been received. Therefore the work would be rolled forward to 2019/2020.

Works on the Gains Lane crossing were due to begin that evening and should take a 2 or 3 nights to complete.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Evans for the update.

·         To receive an update from the new Devizes Community Engagement Manager, Andrew Jack.

The Chairman formally welcomed and introduced the new Devizes Community Engagement Manager, Andrew Jack. The Chair invited Andrew to give an update.

Andrew Jack gave his contact details to the meeting; tel -  01225 713109; mobile - 07769 917270 and email: andrew.jack@wiltshire.gov.uk and invited people to contact him. Andrew explained that he had been the Marlborough Area CEM for 7 years. There had been many changes within the CEM team which had been reduced to 13 CEM’s covering 18 community areas. Andrew would be the Devizes CEM for the foreseeable future. He would be in Devizes a lot and hoped to work out of the library one day a week so that people could pop in and see him. Once the day had been finalised he would publicise it. The CEMs worked to support local communities; support vulnerable people; help communities to do more for themselves and give advice on grant funding and project development.

The CEM gave an update on National Armed Forces Day which would take place on 28, 29 and 30 June in Salisbury. Friday 28 June was aimed at serving members of the forces, Saturday for families and Sunday for the community. Sunday included an attempt to break the world record for the largest Human Poppy. The CEM had met with Devizes Royal British Legion about their plans to participate in Sunday’s events. The Devizes Area Board were offering to fund transport to Salisbury, there would be more information on this nearer the time. Andrew was looking for a community group to take part in the tapestry project.

The Great British Spring Clean would be taking place from 22nd March to 23rd April. People could register their litter pick with Keep Britain Tidy who could provide branded bin bags. There was some litter picking equipment available that Andrew may be able to help people get and he could also help with getting Streetscene to collect the litter afterwards.

The CEM announced that grant funding levels should remain the same for the next financial year:

·         Capital funding: £49,000

·         Youth Funding (revenue): £24,000

·         Health & Wellbeing funding (revenue): £6,700

He was happy to support projections and develop applications so contact him for details.

Comments from the audience included suggestions of people and organisations who may be able to help with National Armed Forces Day, for example the history teacher at Devizes School, the cadets in Lavington and the Potterne Royal British Legion.

The representative of Devizes Men’s Shed stated that they were pleased a permanent CEM had been appointed as it had been a bit difficult over the last few months when there had been several changes.

The Chairman thanked Andrew for the update.

The Chairman also proposed a vote of confidence in Graeme Morrison, the previous Devizes CEM, as he had been excellent at his job and always available. It was;

Resolved:

To record a vote of confidence in Graeme Morrison, the previous Devizes CEM.

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

·         St James Church, Devizes, £5,000.00, for their St James Community Hub project.

·         Devizes & District Association for the Disabled, £2,380.31, towards new carpets for the Nursteed Community Centre.

·         Devizes Eisteddfod, £941.53, towards a digital piano for Devizes Eisteddfod.

·         The Fulltone Orchestra, £5,000.00, towards the Fulltone Festival.

·         West Lavington Village Hall, £2,455.50, towards upgrades on the village hall.

·         Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, £979.27, towards the Devizes Orchard and Playing Fields Volunteer Group.

Representatives of St James Church, Devizes & District Association for the Disabled, Devizes Eisteddfod, The Fulltone Orchestra, West Lavington Village Hall, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Cllr Peter Evans spoke in support of their applications.

The Fulltone Orchestra application had been considered earlier in the meeting under Chairman’s Announcements, as their representative had to leave the meeting early.

An extra application which was not published in the original agenda but was detailed in agenda supplement 1 was also considered. This was a member led initiative from Cllr Peter Evans.

The Board considered the applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme as detailed in the agenda and supplement. It was;

Resolved:

·         To grant St James Church, Devizes, £5,000.00, for their St James Community Hub project;

·         To grant Devizes & District Association for the Disabled, £2,380.31, towards new carpets for the Nursteed Community Centre;

·         To grant Devizes Eisteddfod, £941.53, towards a digital piano for Devizes Eisteddfod;

·         To grant The Fulltone Orchestra, £5,000.00, towards the Fulltone Festival;

·         To grant West Lavington Village Hall, £2,455.50, towards upgrades on the village hall;

·         To grant Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, £979.27, towards the Devizes Orchard and Playing Fields Volunteer Group;

·         To grant Cllr Peter Evans, Member Led Initiative, £1000.00 for Promotional activity and an evening event for the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race.

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

There were no urgent items.

The next ordinary meeting of the Area Board will be held on 13 May 2019 at the Devizes Hub and Library.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and announced that the next ordinary meeting of the Area Board would be held on 13 May 2019, 6.30pm, at the Devizes Hub and Library, Sheep Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1DJ.