Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Area Board for the forthcoming year.

The Democratic Services Officer sought nominations for the position of Chairman of the Devizes Area Board for the 2013/14 forthcoming year.

Decision

Councillor Simon Jacobs was elected Chairman of the Devizes Area Board for the 2013/14 forthcoming year.

Councillor Jacobs in the Chair.

To elect a Vice Chairman of the Area Board for the forthcoming year.

The Chairman sought nominations for the position of Vice Chairman of the Devizes Area Board for the 2013/14 forthcoming year.

Decision

Councillor Laura Mayes was elected Vice Chairman of the Devizes Area Board for the 2013/14 forthcoming year.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the previous Devizes Area Board councillors for all their time and effort over the last four years. Councillor Mayes was presented with a rose and container for her extraordinary commitment in recent times, especially given her health concerns. A slideshow was shown celebrating the achievements of the last four years of the area board.  

The Chairman added that the area board had been a great success and in large part this was due to excellent partnership working. Looking forward, he used the metaphor of a three-legged stool, between the town, business and the schools, both primary and secondary, to illustrate working together. He also wanted to increase the number of young people involved in the area board and noted the success of the mentoring scheme. The area board was the electorate’s opportunity to discuss and debate all the issues that affected communities and the schools, in particular, were a vital part of the process, representing our collective future. Councillor Jacobs was committed to addressing the issue of dog waste and the shortage of bins.  

The area board councillors and officers introduced themselves.

The Chairman provided information about safeguarding thresholds and the introduction of a revised safeguarding document and toolkit, as a late Chairman’s announcement. A review of guidance on safeguarding thresholds had been undertaken jointly by the Wiltshire Safeguarding Children Board and the Wiltshire Children and Young People’s Trust. Working in close collaboration with partner agencies Wiltshire Council had taken the opportunity to consider how to make integrated working and early intervention even more effective to improve outcomes for children and young people. The revised document could be found at www.wiltshirepathways.org and views were very welcome and could be sent to pathways@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Apologies were received from Nicky Mitchell (Urchfont Parish Council) and Martin Houghton.  

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2013.   

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2013 were approved and signed as a correct record.

Councillors are requested to declare any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm membership of Outside Bodies and Working Groups and to confirm Terms of Reference for Working Groups.

Decision

The appointments to outside bodies would be as below for 2013/14:

Devizes Community Area Partnership – Councillor Whitehead

Devizes and District Association for the Disabled Executive Committee – Councillor Sue Evans

Devizes Development Partnership – Councillor Gamble

Devizes Youth Advisory Group – Councillor Mayes

Decision

The appointments to the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) would be as below for 2013/14:

Wiltshire Councillor

Devizes Community Area Manager

Highways officer

Devizes Community Area Partnership representative

Town council representative

Rural parish representatives x 2

Independent (rural traffic issues)

Cycle Devizes representative

Supporting officers when required

The group is open to any parish council to request to attend to discuss an issue.

Decision

The terms of reference for CATG were agreed, as included in the agenda pack.

Decision

The appointments to the Shadow Community Operations Board (SCOB) would be as below for 2013/14:

Wiltshire Council officer

Area board representative

Town/parish council representative

Education and young people representative

Wider community representative

User and community group representatives x 3

Decision

The terms of reference for the SCOB were agreed, as included in the agenda pack.

Decision

The appointments to the Air Quality Steering Group would be as below for 2013/14:

Wiltshire Councillor

Community representatives:

-       Devizes Community Area Partnership

-       Community Area Transport Group

-       Devizes Town Council

-       Roundway Parish councillor

-       Trust for Devizes

Representatives from the following Wiltshire Council services:

-       Public protection services

-       Public health

-       Transport planning

-       Strategic planning

-       Development control

Potential co-optees:

-       Local businesses, schools etc, as appropriate.

Three short updates on partnership projects supported by the Devizes Area Board:

·       Stuart and Lorna Hislop will update the area board regarding Drew’s Pond Wood and the purchase of the adjacent land

·       Albert Wooldridge will update the area board on Roundway Allotments (the first asset transfer agreed by the area board)

·       Doug Roseman will present the new tourism map and information on the improvements to tourism town signage.   

Three short updates were provided about community projects that were supported by Devizes Area Board.

Stuart Hislop spoke about Drew’s Pond Wood and the purchase of the adjacent land. A grant from the area board had provided a great start and the funding had been matched at the meeting itself. With fundraising, sufficient funds had now been raised to purchase the land and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust would be the purchaser. He explained that a steering group was being set up to move the project forward and he thanked the area board.

Albert Wooldridge from Roundway Parish Council updated the area board on Roundway allotments. This was the first asset transfer agreed by the area board. Allotments in the parish had been a long standing wish. Albert had asked for a plan from Wiltshire Council of the land which they owned. He then visited the sites to assess their potential. Advice was sought about the possibility of transferring the asset, then a plan was drawn up for the allotments and a contractor found and signed to the project. The allotments were hoping to hold an open day on 8 June at 10.00am. Councillor Mayes and the area board were thanked for their involvement.

Tony Sedgwick presented information about improvements to the tourism town signage. This encompassed 23 finger posts, new signs to the Wharf and to the car park, eight maps installed in the car parks and town trails. This was a great example of collaborative working.    

Adrian Hampton, Head of Local Highways and Streetscene South, will provide an update on the changes to the local highway and streetscene service. The staffing structure has been changed to reflect the new highway and streetscene contract, which commences on the 1 June 2013. 

Adrian Hampton, Head of Local Highways and Streetscene South, gave an update on the changes to the local highway and streetscene service. The staffing structure had been changed to reflect the new highway and streetscene contract, which commenced on 1 June 2013. The new contract would be for one provider to take the place of the five previous providers. There would be a community team to find and fix issues and one point of contact for town and parish councils. He introduced Paul Snook, the new community coordinator, and Kristian Price, the highways and streetscene engineer (who had responsibility for two community areas).

This was followed by the opportunity to ask questions. The main priority of the service would be to look after existing assets. A community day would be held to increase input from the community.   

To receive updates from the following partners:

a.    Wiltshire Police

b.    Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (attached)

c.    Health Services

d.    Young People (attached)

e.    Devizes Community Area Partnership

f.     Town and Parish Councils.

a.    The written update from Wiltshire Police was noted and included in the minutes pack. PC Adam Hall was moving on and a replacement PC was being recruited. A number of thefts from motor vehicles had taken place. If you notice a vehicle driving too fast or dangerously, please record the number plate and report this behaviour. Noise from Station Road car park was an ongoing issue.

b.    The written update from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was noted. Mike Franklin explained there was a new fire authority with new members which was due to meet soon. Once the draft Integrated Management Plan had been agreed, Mike would be making contact with the new councillors of the area board to invite them to the local fire station. Looking at the statistics provided, Mike would seek further information on the increase of fires in April and report back to the area board.

c.    The Chairman explained that while there was no written update from the health services, important changes were taking place with the introduction of Clinical Commissioning Groups. These would be discussed at the next area board meeting.  

d.    The written update regarding young people was noted. The Youth Advisory Group were engaging with local schools at present to develop a forward plan.

e.    Devizes Community Area Partnership were holding a Cycle Devizes event on The Green on 15 June. A town bus review was shortly taking place. The Partnership thanked Councillors Mayes and Gamble for their input and looking forward to working with Councillor Jacobs in his role as Chairman of the area board, as a former DCAP member.       

f.     Devizes Town Council were working on a local plan for the community area. The first phase of consultation had been completed and people were encouraged to become involved in the second phase of consultation, which would be held over the summer months.

Councillor Gamble and Mandy Bradley, Service Director of Public Protection, will provide information about the Community Area Transport Group, the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2026 and the Devizes Air Quality Steering Group.

Councillor Gamble and Mandy Bradley, Service Director for Public Protection, provided information about the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) and the Devizes Air Quality Steering Group.  

Councillor Gamble reported that CATG had a budget of £15,751 for this year, with funding they were able to carry over, the group had a total of approximately £33,000 to spend in the community area. A proportion of this funding was already committed. Work on the west central car park was ongoing, but a slow process. Following a fatal accident on the A360, a ditch had been filled in. In the town, there was support for some lighting across The Green and new crossings to be put in place on either side of The Green. The aim was for this work to be completed by January/February 2014. Devizes Community Area Partnership were discussing Horton Avenue with the Aster Group. The group had assessed priorities for the forthcoming year for the C class and unclassified road speed limit review on the basis of collision rates, and Councillor Gamble asked for the area board to approve the roads selected.

Decision

The C249 and C50 were selected as priorities for inclusion in the C class and unclassified road speed limit review.

Decision

The C246 was selected as first reserve priority.

A petition was received from Yvonne Barker with 239 signatures requesting the zebra crossing situated next to the junction of the nursery and Waiblingen Way be converted into a pelican crossing, following a recent fatality on the crossing. The petition was received by Councillor Gamble and he set out that it would be considered by the CATG in light of the coroner’s report.  

Mandy Bradley welcomed the latest recruit to the Air Quality Steering Group in the Trust for Devizes. The group were currently reviewing how they would fit with the traffic groups in Devizes. They had met and considered air quality data, which they now had a full set of for the last 12 months. Passive monitoring had taken place at 10 sites and where trends could be identified (for which five years of data was required), one site showed a decrease in air pollution, one site remained the same, and one site (Shanes Castle) a slight increase. A preliminary ‘map and gap’ exercise would focus on the community, travel planning for schools and employers and parking management.  

An opportunity to hear about the Community Campus Project and to ask any questions you may have. The Devizes Shadow Community Operations Board has been running for several months now and is soon to begin its consultation exercise.  

This item was postponed until the July meeting.

David Bowater, Programme Lead for Communities at Wiltshire Council, will explain how we can protect and enhance our community assets, including the use of a community asset register. Please see link below:

Summary of the community ownership of assets toolkit Summary version of the assets toolkit   

David Bowater, Programme Lead for Communities at Wiltshire Council, explained how people could protect and enhance community assets. He described how a community right to bid ‘stops the clock’ on the sale of eligible assets, which could be, for example, the last shop or public house in a village. Many communities were keen to secure the future of local facilities and would like to see the best use of assets, such as high street shops and derelict land. Community asset ownership was one way of channelling the resourcefulness of local groups to take over and transform properties for the benefit of the wider community. David explained the process for when a listed asset came up for sale or for a long term lease. Further information could be found at: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/communityownershipofassets.htm

This was followed by an opportunity to ask questions, during which it was confirmed that had the Tourist Information Centre in Devizes, which at present had a desk at Age UK, come up for a five year leasehold, this would potentially be the sort of project that would be of interest.        

Councillors will be asked to consider the transfer of the following assets:

a.     Ryeleaze Playing Field (to Potterne Parish Council)

b.     Paddock Green (to Urchfont Parish Council).

Councillors were asked to consider the community asset transfer report and to make their decisions regarding the applications.

Decision

Ryeleaze Playing Field would be transferred from Wiltshire Council to Potterne Parish Council.

Decision

Paddock Green would be transferred from Wiltshire Council to Urchfont Parish Council.

Changes to the area board’s grants system for 2013-14 will be explained before councillors will be asked to consider two applications made to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as follows:

a.    Alzheimers Support - requesting £399 to purchase an iPad for the Sidmouth Street Day Club

b.    Devizes Rugby Club – requesting £5,000 towards a replacement tractor.  

Both applications meet the criteria and are recommended for consideration for approval.

The community area manager explained that the community area grants scheme had undergone some changes. The Devizes community area had roughly 20% more funding available to award, however this was for capital projects only. Match funding was required when the total project cost was over £500. There was a new online application process and £1,500 was also available for digital literacy projects. Please contact Richard Rogers if you would like further information, on 07771 547522 or richard.rogers@wiltshire.gov.uk. Concern over the loss of funding for revenue projects was noted. The Chairman also stated that he had asked for the area board councillors to be able to inspect the old Devizes rugby club tractor before making their decision, however this was not possible as the tractor could not be started.   

Councillors were then asked to consider two applications made to the community area grants scheme.

Decision

Alzheimers Support were awarded £399 to purchase an iPad for the Sidmouth Street Day Club.

Decision

Devizes Rugby Club were awarded £5,000 towards a replacement tractor.  

The Chairman thanked the members of the public, the councillors and officers for attending. The next meeting would take place on Monday 22 July at Bromham Social Centre.