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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Devizes School, The Green, Devizes

Contact: Tara Shannon  Democratic Services Officer

Items
Note No. Item

6.30pm

85.

Welcome

To welcome those present to the meeting.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting and invited the councillors and officers present to introduce themselves.

 

86.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from:

 

·         Devizes Station Manager, Phil Peaple, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·         Cllr Judy Rose, Mayor of Devizes

·         Dr Richard Stanford-Hill, CCG

·         Georgina Keily-Theobald, Headteacher, Downlands School

·         Sarah Lowkis, Headteacher, Lavington School

·         Cllr Anna Cuthbert

 

87.

Minutes

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2019.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the last meeting were presented for consideration and it was;

 

Resolved:

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, with two corrections, the spellings of the following names: Mark Lascelles on page 12 and Sarah Lowkis on page 13.

 

88.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

6.35pm

89.

Grant Feedback - South Western Ambulance Charity

To receive a demonstration from the Devizes Community First Responder group of the lifting chair which the Devizes Area Board helped to fund.

 

Minutes:

For various reasons, this agenda was withdrawn. Hopefully it would be coming to the January Devizes Area Board meeting.

 

6.45pm

90.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive the following announcements through the Chairman:

 

·       New Fly-Tipping Campaign – We’re Targeting Fly Tippers

The new We're Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign aims to combat the scourge of fly-tipping by offering residents a reward of up to £200 in high street vouchers if they report information that leads to the successful prosecution of an offender or the payment of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). Email peter.white@wiltshire.gov.uk with as many details as possible to report fly-tipping.

·       British Telecom Proposed Payphones Removal Consultation

The council has received notification from BT regarding consultation on its current programme of proposed public payphone removals. BT propose to remove payphones with low usage levels following a full consultation. Wiltshire Council will also carry out a consultation. Responses received by 14 January 2020 will be included in our return to BT. Please see the agenda report for full details and email Mary Moore, Economic Development and Planning, on mary.moore@wiltshire.gov.uk to comment.

·       Community Governance Review

Wiltshire Council are undertaking a Community Governance Review, which is a process to provide the opportunity to review and make changes to governance arrangements to town and parish councils. For further information and to comment please go to http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-democracy-cgr.

·       Wiltshire Green Pledge

Earlier this year Wiltshire Council pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030, and its councillors have agreed to seek to make the county of Wiltshire carbon neutral by 2030.

To help with this, The Green Pledge has been launched which is asking people to commit to making small changes that can have a big positive impact on the environment.

Please go to http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/green-economy-climate-emergency to make a pledge.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman made the following announcements:

 

·         New Fly-Tipping Campaign – We’re Targeting Fly Tippers

The new We're Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign was announced. The campaign aimed to combat the scourge of fly-tipping by offering residents a reward of up to £200 in high street vouchers if they report information that leads to the successful prosecution of an offender or the payment of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). Email peter.white@wiltshire.gov.uk with as many details as possible to report fly-tipping.

 

·         British Telecom Proposed Payphones Removal Consultation

The council had received notification from BT regarding a consultation on a programme of proposed public payphone removals. BT proposed to remove payphones with low usage levels following a full consultation. Wiltshire Council would also carry out a consultation. Responses received by 14 January 2020 would be included in our return to BT. Please see the agenda report for full details and email Mary Moore, Economic Development and Planning, on mary.moore@wiltshire.gov.uk  to comment. The Chairman noted that parish councils and registered charities could adopt a kiosk for £1.00. Uses for these kiosks could include mini libraries, or a space for a defibrillator.  

 

·         Community Governance Review

Wiltshire Council were undertaking a Community Governance Review, which was a process to provide the opportunity to review and make changes to governance arrangements to town and parish councils. For further information and to comment please go to http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-democracy-cgr.

 

·         Wiltshire Green Pledge

Earlier this year Wiltshire Council pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030, and its councillors had agreed to seek to make the county of Wiltshire carbon neutral by 2030. To help with this, The Green Pledge had been launched which was asking people to commit to making small changes that could have a big positive impact on the environment. Please go to http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/green-economy-climate-emergency to make a pledge.

 

·         National Grid VIP Project

The Chairman announced an exciting new project in the Devizes Area. The National Grid was currently in the early stages of developing a landscape enhancement project in the North Wessex Downs. The project would involve the removal of approximately 4km of high voltage overhead electricity line, and associated pylons, near to the Millennium White Horse, north of Devizes, and subsequently replacing it with underground cable.

 

The project was still in the early stages of development and National Grid was undertaking a range of ecological, archaeological and ground investigation surveys as well as meeting with local stakeholders to discuss their plans and their potential to transform this special landscape.

 

Given the rich archaeological heritage of the area, National Grid was working closely with local archaeologists, the Wiltshire County archaeologist and Historic England to devise the best route to bury the cables.

 

There would be public drop-in events in the new year where National Grid would share more information on its plans with the wider public and local people would have the opportunity to feed back their thoughts.

 

The Visual Impact Provision (VIP) makes use of a financial provision from the energy industry regulator, Ofgem, to deliver landscape enhancement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

6.50pm

91.

Partner Updates

To receive updates from the following partners:

 

·         Wiltshire Police

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC)

·         Fire and Rescue Service

·         Schools updates

·         Town and Parish Councils

·         Health Services

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Philip Whitehead arrived at 6.41pm.

 

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from Wiltshire Police, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service, Healthwatch Wiltshire and the CCG.

 

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

 

·         Wiltshire Police

Acting Inspector Pete Foster directed the meeting to the written report in agenda pack. In addition he announced that several arrests had been made recently for offences including the theft of lead from St James’ Church roof and for possession with intent to supply.

A knife amnesty (Operation Sceptre) had taken place which was very successful. Although Devizes did not have an issue with knife crime, many knives had been handed in.

Devizes Police had also been focusing on Rural Crime, trying to tackle offences like hare coursing and theft.

 

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC)

PCC Angus Macpherson drew people’s attention to the updated Police and Crime plan which was available on their website (https://www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk/). The annual report on policing in the county for 2018/2019 was also available on the website.

Wiltshire Police had been recruiting heavily. There were over 500 people being assessed. There were 40 people training to be officers at the current time and 20 more joining after Christmas. It was explained that it took time to recruit and train officers as they received around 22 weeks training and then a year’s further on the job training.

The PCC highlighted the Herbert Protocol detailed on page 41 of the agenda pack, which consisted of a document in which carers, family and friends of vulnerable adults can fill out key details about the individual as a pre-emptive measure in case they later go missing. This would enable the police to start their initial enquiries sooner with the aim of finding the missing person safe and well. The PCC requested that people promote the protocol.

In response to questions it was stated that unfortunately knife crime was part of 21st century living, however the police were not complacent. Police fire arms teams were moving back under Wiltshire Police control and once this had happened there would be more education and prevention work undertaken. The force was also looking for PCSO’s to work educating youths. They wanted the important message that most people who are hurt by knives are also knife carriers to reach young people.

Cllr Laura Mayes also stated that there was a Community Safety Partnership where multi-agency work was undertaken to do contextual safeguarding to protect vulnerable people. The reverend of St James’ Church stated that Amnesty bins were headline grabbing but work went on all year round to prevent knife crime.

 

·         Schools updates

Phil Bevan, Head teacher, Devizes School welcomed those present to Devizes School and advised that there was a lot of building work being undertaken at the moment. He gave a brief update on behalf of Georgina Keily-Theobald, Head teacher, Downland School. Downland had been expanded and could now take around 90 students. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

7.15pm

92.

Anti-Social Behaviour

To receive a presentation on Anti-Social Behaviour from Rowena Lansdown, Anti-Social Behaviour Officer, Wiltshire Council.

 

Minutes:

The board received a presentation from Rowena Lansdown, Wiltshire Council Anti-Social Behaviour Officer.

 

The officer explained that the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) team sat within the Public Health Directorate and was part of the Vulnerable Communities team. The makeup of the team was explained. People could contact the team on asb@wiltshire.gov.uk.

 

ASB was defined as “conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person”.

 

The team undertook this work partly due to cases like the Fiona Pilkington case in 2007. For over 10 years she had suffered from ASB and her disabled daughter was mocked. She had reported this to different agencies, but the agencies were not communicating, there had been a failure to link incidents and to identify social needs. Unfortunately, she took both their lives because of the impact of the ASB. Now all the relevant agencies had regular conferences to prevent this happening.

 

Actions taken when ASB was reported included; meeting with victims and issuing log sheets, completing a risk assessment matrix, referring the victim to Victim Support; referring the case to the Anti-Social Behaviour Risk Assessment Conference (ASBRAC); monitoring the case and taking appropriate action and only removing the case from ASBRAC when agencies were satisfied that it was resolved.

 

The ASBRAC concept was recommended by the Home Office as good practice. Wiltshire’s ASBRAC was governed by the Community Safety Partnership and was made up of agencies such as the Police, Council, Fire, Housing Associations and others. They involved multi agency meetings that had the wellbeing of victims at heart. They provided a forum for sharing information and assigning actions. ASBRAC was outcome driven with a focus to safeguard the victims and reduce the anti-social behaviour from the perpetrator. For example, an acceptable behaviour contract may be agreed with the perpetrator. If the perpetrator had issues themselves, for example substance abuse, mental health issues or housing problems then they would also get relevant agencies to attend.

 

No single agency had sight of the full situation but may have crucial information about the individuals involved which assisted with agreeing appropriate actions.

 

If all the actions taken failed to resolve the situation they could take enforcement action. Enforcement options included: Criminal Behaviour Orders; ASB Injunctions; Closure Notices/Orders; Community Protection Warnings; Community Protection Notices and Absolute Grounds for Possession.

 

In 2018, through ASBRAC they supported 140 victims and issued 6 Community Protection Warnings, 1 Injunction and 6 Closures.

 

In response to questions it was stated that most of the ASB in Devizes was related to drug and alcohol abuse. The drug abuse was not in the form of County Lines. The ASB team also dealt with problems relating to homelessness. The number of ASB cases reported seemed to be rising. However, this was thought to be as a result of increased reporting. People could see the reporting cases to the ASB team worked. It was not thought that there had been a large increase in ASB cases. The team could use more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

7.30pm

93.

CCG - Update on Devizes Health Centre

To receive an update from Dr Richard Sandford-Hill of the CCG on the Devizes Health Centre.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda and would be coming to the next area board in January.

 

Cllr Mayes stated that there was informal feedback that the project should be happening in the next couple of years, hopefully with ground being broken for building works next year.

 

Several members of the public expressed their disappointment that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda and in the delays in getting this project off the ground.

 

It was explained that the NHS were responsible for this project, rather than the council. However, councillors were working hard behind the scenes to try to move the project along.

 

7.40pm

94.

Wiltshire Council - Focus on the Future

Wiltshire Council welcomes local residents to join its senior leaders at a series of events to discuss the services that the council provides and its plans for future years. The Devizes event will take place on 25 November 2019.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that the Focus on the Future meetings, where local residents could join the councils senior leaders to discuss the services that the council provides and its plans for future years, had been postponed due to the General Election. The Devizes event was now due to take place on Thursday 16 January 2020, 5.30pm at the Devizes Hub and Library. All were welcome to attend.

 

7.45pm

95.

Open Floor

Residents are invited to ask questions of their local councillors.

Minutes:

The Chairman invited questions from the floor.

 

A resident of Great Cheverell stated that she was extremely worried by the large volume of traffic through the village and particularly the large number of big lorries. This seemed to have increased since the railway bridge had been lowered. There was no pavement on some sections of road and the speaker had herself been knocked over by a car, although thankfully had not been hurt. It was stated that action should be taken to make things safer before someone did get hurt.

 

Cllr Richard Gamble stated that he was aware there was a problem there and he had seen the photographs she had sent in. He also stated that he was glad she had not been hurt when she was knocked over. It would be useful if they could get the parish council to report the issue formally to the CATG, so they could look at it. However, it would be a very difficult problem to solve.

 

Cllr Philip Whitehead explained that it was Network Rail who had lowered the bridge in order to reinforce it, so that trains could continue to run. In response Wiltshire Council had lowered the road underneath as much as was possible. They were trying to encourage HGV’s to use other routes.

 

One idea was to ask central government to get HGV’s to use special sat nav’s which only showed them routes suitable for HGV’s. This would solve a lot of the problems. However, this would have to be up to central government to implement.

 

Mr Michael Maxwell, expressed his concerns regarding the Black Dog crossroads on the A360 near Devizes. He explained that he had written to Cllr Bridget Wayman, Cabinet Member for Highways to highlight his concerns that someone may die at the junction if no action was taken. An article had also been in the Gazette and Herald regarding the issue. Black Dog crossroads was currently ranked 94th out of 118 priority spots in Wiltshire. He stated that accidents seemed to be rated on severity of injury, however, he felt that all accidents should be taken into consideration.

 

In response Cllr Philip Whitehead stated that every single accident reported to the police was reported to Wiltshire Council Highways. He did sympathise and agreed with some of the arguments raised. However, the council had to prioritise and undertake works in order.

 

Cllr Richard Gamble stated that CATG would look at the issue.

 

The Chairman thanked everyone for their comments.

 

7.55pm

96.

Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

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

 

The minutes of the CATG meeting on 5 November are attached for information.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Richard Gamble, Chair of CATG, updated the meeting. He directed people to the minutes in the agenda pack and stated that the last CATG meeting had been extremely well attended. There was a lot on the agenda. In order to progress items through the system the CATG operated a scheme whereby 5 issues were given the highest priority. There were currently 9 issues in the top 5 priority section. The budget for CATG was extremely small to deal with all the issues raised and the possibility of delivering all through CATG was unrealistic. Cllr Gamble was going to look at ways of addressing this. He encouraged all those with issues to contact him and attend CATG.

 

8.00pm

97.

Air Quality

To receive any updates from the Devizes Air Quality and Transport Strategy Group.

 

Notes from the Air Quality and Transport Strategy meeting on 5 November are attached for information.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Richard Gamble updated the meeting. Air Quality and Transport Strategy meetings were now being held after CATG meetings as there was some overlap in Highways issues.

 

There was the opportunity to look at issues such as public transport and cycle lanes. Hopefully reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.

 

8.05pm

98.

Local Youth Network

To receive an update from the Local Youth Network and consider the following applications for youth grant funding:

 

·       Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA), £4,983.00, towards their Carnival Incubator Intensive Workshop project.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

A representative from Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA) updated the meeting on the success of last year’s carnival and spoke in support of their current grant application.

 

The Board considered the application and it was;

 

Resolved:

 

·         To grant Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA), £4,983.00, towards their Carnival Incubator Intensive Workshop project.

 

8.15pm

99.

Health and Wellbeing Group

To receive an update on the Devizes Health and Wellbeing Group.

 

 

 

Minutes:

Cliff Evans, Chairman of the HWBG gave an update to the meeting. Devizes had held 2 health and wellbeing days over the past two years and plans were being made for next year’s health and wellbeing day. These events had previously been held on the small green, the group were looking at the possibility of moving the event into town, possibly in the Market Place in order to take advantage of the increased footfall. Plans would be finalised in the new year and the group were also looking at the possibility of increasing the event to more than once a year.

 

A very late grant application had been received, which involved requesting £250.00 towards an Xmas Shin Dig for disadvantaged, lonely and vulnerable people. This was to be held at St James’ Church on 6 December. The application had been received too late for it to be considered by the board. However, as the application was time sensitive it was agreed that this could be looked at under delegated powers in between meetings.

 

The Chairman thanked Cliff for the update.

 

8.25pm

100.

Community Engagement Manager Update

To receive any updates from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager.

 

Minutes:

Andrew Jack, Devizes Community Engagement Manager, gave an update to the meeting. If anyone wanted to contact him, his details were: Tel: 01225 713109, Mobile: 07769 917270. Email: andrew.jack@wiltshire.gov.uk.

 

A successful careers day had been held at Devizes School on 2 October, with around 20 local employers and 180 students from years 12 and 13 attending. Another event was being planned for year 10 students on 12 December. This event was to be more of an introduction to work, giving students the chance to talk to people and employers regarding the training, qualifications and experience required for certain roles. Along with the opportunity to think about interviews and first impressions.

 

A summary of grant funding provided by Wiltshire’s 18 Area Boards over 2019/2019 was detailed. £1,141,326 was given out in total. In the Devizes Community Area 42 grants had been awarded with a total value of £78,307. If people were interested in applying for a grant they could contact Andrew for advice.

 

The meeting was encouraged to sign up for the Our Community Matters website and newsletter at https://ocm.wiltshire.gov.uk/devizes/.

 

The meeting was also encouraged to sign up for the Wiltshire Green Pledge at  www.wiltshire.gov.uk/green-economy-climate-emergency. The pledge encouraged people to make small changes in their everyday life which could have a positive impact on the environment.

 

The meeting was advised of First Aid training courses that may be useful to volunteers, contact Andrew for details.

 

The meeting was also reminded that the last day to register to vote for the General Election was midnight on 26 November.

 

The Chairman thanked Andrew for his update.

 

8.35pm

101.

Area Board Funding

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

 

·       St James Church, £5,000.00 towards a new accessible entrance.

 

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Reverend Keith Brindle and Richard Saint spoke in support of the St James’ Church application.

 

The Board considered the application and it was;

 

Resolved;

 

·         To grant St James Church, £5,000.00 towards a new accessible entrance, on the condition that planning permission is granted.

 

102.

Urgent items

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

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

 

8.40pm

103.

Close

The next ordinary meeting of the Area Board will be held on Monday 13 January 2020 at the Devizes Hub and Library.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and advised that the next meeting of the area board would be held on 13 January 2020 at Devizes School at 6.30pm.

 

The Chairman wished everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year.