Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman for 2018/2019.

The Democratic Services Officer opened the meeting and called for nominations for Chairman for 2018/19.

Cllr Stewart Dobson, seconded by Cllr Nick Fogg MBE, moved that Cllr James Sheppard be elected as Chairman.

There being no other nominations, it was:

Resolved:

To elect Cllr James Sheppard as the Chairman for 2018-19.

Cllr Sheppard then took the Chair.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for 2018/2019.

Nominations were sought for the position of Vice Chairman for 2018-2019.

Cllr Nick Fogg, seconded by Cllr Jane Davies moved that Cllr Stewart Dobson be elected as Vice Chairman.

There being no other nominations, it was:

Resolved:

To elect Cllr Stewart Dobson as Vice Chairman for 2018-19.

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

Apologies for absence were received from:

• PCC Angus Macpherson
• DWFRS Station Manager James Plumley

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 15 May 2018.

Resolved:

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 15 May 2018.

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

Cllr Stewart Dobson declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 8, the New Road Day Centre grant application, as his wife was involved with the New Day Centre and therefore he would not vote on the item.

·         Special Schools Consultation

·         UK Youth Parliament Elections and Activity

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·         Special Schools Consultation

The Chair noted the agenda report on the Special Schools Consultation and highlighted the following:

A consultation on the provision of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) School Places was underway, ending on 31 July 2018. All SEND places were currently full and 220 new places would be needed by 2026. The public could participate in the consultation online at: http://wiltshire.objective.co.uk/portal/education/special_school_provision_in_wiltshire

Cllr Jane Davies, as Portfolio Holder for SEND and Safeguarding, commented that this was a large project requiring significant investment. Local meetings had been held which were being followed up by the consultation. Marlborough Town Council had queries regarding this, therefore Cllr Davies agreed to attend the Marlborough Town Council meeting to answer these.

·         UK Youth Parliament Elections and Activity

The Chair noted the agenda report on the UK Youth Parliament Elections and Activity and highlighted the opportunities this gave for 11-18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning. Two priority campaigns had been chosen for 2018;

o   Votes at 16 in all public elections and

o   A curriculum for life.

To consider the following applications for youth grant funding:

·         1^st Marlborough Guides, £350.20 for new handbook resources;

·         Marlborough youth and community project, £3773.00 for monthly activities, resources and outreach kit;

·         New Road Day Centre, £1639.94 for active resources.

The Chair thanked Helen Bradley, Local Youth Facilitator (LYF) for all her hard work, as she was leaving the post to take up a position for another Council.

The LYF gave an update and asked the board to consider the LYN recommendations for the applications for youth grant funding detailed in the agenda. It was;

Resolved:

To grant the 1^st Marlborough Guides, £350.20 for new handbook resources.

To grant the Marlborough youth and community project, £3773.00 for monthly activities, resources and outreach kit.

To grant the New Road Day Centre, £1639.94 for active resources.

Martin Litherland, Head of Waste Management, Waste Services to give a presentation on changes to waste services and kerb-side recycling.

Martin Litherland, Head of Waste Services gave a presentation on changes to Waste Services. From 30 July 2018 waste services would introduce interim arrangements to include more recycling; you would then be able to recycle plastic posts, tubs and trays, drinks and food cartons in your blue lidded bin along with the usual plastic and cardboard. These changes would help Wiltshire Council to meet their target of recycling 50% of waste by 2020 and would also help to save energy, reduce costs and reduce landfill. It was anticipated that co-mingling of different materials within recycling bins would be introduced in around May/June 2019. Hills Waste was the new provider of the service.

In response to questions it was stated that the Council did not refer to the numbers printed on plastics when asking people to recycle as many people were not familiar with these and there could be confusion. People who did lots of recycling could request another recycling bin which the Council would provide. The meeting was asked to wash and squash their recycling and to remove tops from bottles, as when left on the bottles the sorting machines could become confused by the different types of plastics. The Council was unable to try to get large manufacturers such as supermarkets to reduce plastic usage and therefore waste, as local authorities had limited influence over these companies. Consumers had more influence with their purchasing power so the meeting was encouraged to buy greener products with less plastic packaging. The Council was reasonably confident that products which were recycled did not end up in landfill as had been seen in many news reports of late. The Council were signatories to a voluntary charter regarding recycling and published recycling figures. None of the plastic waste collected went to landfill, it was all recycled in the UK. What happens to the products produced as a result of this recycling was harder to track as at this point in the chain it may go offshore. The meeting was encouraged to contact Martin directly if they had further questions regarding this issue. If incorrect items were recycled they would be rejected at the sorting centre. Currently there was a mix of hand sorting and automated sorting. Recycling was passed through the sorting process several times to ensure it was correctly separated. Jobs had been created and Hills were running an extra shift. In time there would be a brand new sorting facility. It was requested that any problems encountered with disability access at recycling centres be reported.   

The Chairman thanked Martin for his presentation.

A presentation from the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust on waste reduction, recycling and education projects.

The Board received a presentation by Jessica Thimbleby from the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust on waste reduction, recycling and education projects. Wiltshire Council funds the Waste Education Team at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to work with Area Boards to educate and encourage school children and communities  throughout Wiltshire to reduce, reuse and recycle more of their household rubbish.  Currently the project was working in Calne, Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade, Westbury and was interested in starting a similar scheme in Marlborough.

Their education and wellbeing officers work with pre-schools, nurseries, children’s centres, parent and toddler groups, youth groups and schools to promote their message. They also run a real nappy network of volunteers who can demonstrate terry towelling nappies and lend trial nappy kits. There were currently 20 volunteers working across Wiltshire. They have a Facebook page if anyone would like to get in contact about volunteering or getting a trial kit.

Examples of schemes included art projects, a reward scheme for recycling, waste workshops and a forest school. A toolkit could be provided enabling community groups to undertake their own projects.

A key aim was to reduce waste going to landfill in order to be more environmentally friendly and save money. Other aims included reducing the use of single use plastics and encouraging people to use refillable bottles. There is an app available that can be downloaded to your mobile device that makes users aware of where they can refill their bottle for free. Surfers Against Sewage provide a community toolkit for towns to go plastic free.

The meeting was encourage to look at the WWT website for more details or to contact jessicat@wiltshirewildlife.org for more information. The Chair thanked Jessica for her presentation and commented that he was pleased young people are being educated in this way.

A presentation from Tamzyn Long of River Clean Up, an organisation which runs river clean ups and uses the rubbish collected to create art.

Tamzyn Long gave a presentation to the board regarding river and beach clean ups. In order to reduce plastics in the ocean and damage to the environment and animals Tamzyn began litter picking on beaches and rivers. Friends and family were encouraged to join her. Tamzyn now goes into schools to give presentations on plastic waste, how long it can take to decompose and the damage it can cause to ecosystems. Part of this includes giving art classes using rubbish collected to make art. The youngsters are encouraged to organise their own litter picking events.

The Chair thanked Tamzyn for her presentation. Community Engagement Manager Andrew Jack offered to publicise her Facebook page to help encourage others to go litter picking.

To consider the Area Board representatives to Outside Bodies and Memberships of Working Groups as detailed in the attached report.

To appoint representatives to the following Outside Bodies for 2018/2019:

·         Avebury Solstice Operational Planning Meeting

·         Avebury World Heritage Site Steering Committee

·         Marlborough Local Youth Network (LYN)

To appoint representatives to the following Working Groups for 2018/2019:

·         Community Area Transport Group

·         LYN Management Group

·         Health and Wellbeing Group

The Board considered the Outside Bodies and Working Groups report attached to the agenda.

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.

Cllr Nick Fogg MBE was appointed Chair of the CATG.

Cllr Jane Davies was appointed Area Board representative to the Marlborough Health and Wellbeing Group.

Cllr Jane Davies encouraged the meeting to contact her regarding Health and Wellbeing issues as the Marlborough Area Board would like to make the HWBG more proactive.

Resolved:

The Marlborough Area Board agreed to:

a) Appoint Councillor representatives to Outside Bodies as set out at Appendix A;

b) Reconstitute and appoint to the Working Group(s) as set out in Appendix B, with the amendments above;

c) Note the Terms of Reference for the Working Group(s), as set out in Appendix C.

To note the attached Partner updates and receive any further information partners wish to share:

1. Wiltshire Police
2. Wiltshire Fire and Rescue
3. Healthwatch Wiltshire
4. Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
5. MADT (Marlborough Area Development Trust)
6. Transition Marlborough
7. Town / Parish Councils
8. Marlborough Neighbourhood Plan

Attention was drawn to the written reports from partners attached to the agenda. In addition to the written updates, the following verbal updates were given by partners present.

·         Malcolm Price of the Aldbourne Recreation Sports Group thanked the Area Board for the grant funding they had received. The group had ordered 2 pole gates to stop vehicle access to the sports ground.

·         Wiltshire Police – Inspector Chris Martin gave a verbal update. Crime figures over the last two years were relatively stable. Vehicle crime had gone down however burglaries had gone up so tackling this would become a priority. A new Deputy Inspector – Sergeant Peter Foster would be starting in a few weeks.

·         PCC – The PCC Angus Macpherson was unable to attend, however a written update from the PCC was provided at the meeting. This detailed a report given to Marlborough Town Council on 23 July 2018. The PCC report mentioned its horror at the major incident in Salisbury and Amesbury and detailed some of the pressures Wiltshire Police had been placed under as a result. Thanks were given to all the Police forces that had been supporting Wiltshire and to the Army who had been providing accommodation for police officers from out of the area. The PCC had spoken to Policing Minster Nick Hurd to ensure that the increased pressure on Wiltshire officers was addressed as quickly as possible with the result that private security guards had been employed to help maintain some of the cordons freeing up officers to undertake their usual roles.

The report also detailed the move of the police force in Marlborough. As part of an estates strategy all buildings owned by the police in Wiltshire and Swindon had been reviewed. The current Marlborough station no longer met the operational needs of the Force and was too big for the policing requirements of the town. The vast bulk of the site was used for specialist services which they were looking to move to their Gablecross police station on the outskirts of Swindon. Under the new community policing model, officers and staff no longer needed to return to a police station to do paperwork and could effectively work anywhere using mobile technology. The PCC stated they were looking to gain planning approval to use The Corner House as a touchdown point for Marlborough.  This would provide 24 hour access to welfare facilities, for example; toilet and kitchen, plus rest area. The Corner House would, in addition, accommodate an interview room, part-time front counter service and have access to the building’s WiFi service. If this went ahead, the proposed move would save Wiltshire Police the equivalent cost of three police officers.

·         Marlborough Town Council provided an update on the Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan (MANP). It was stated that Consultants had been employed to help develop the Neighbourhood Plan policies and document, which would be understandable by the general public but would also include detailed technical planning documents. It was hoped that this would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

An update from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager of the success of the HomeRun App.

The Board received an update from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager on the HomeRun App.

The HomeRun App encourages active travel to school, aiming to reduce the number of cars on the road, cut congestion and improve air quality. Once a school had signed up to the App, parents could download it to their phones, allowing direct communication regarding the way children travel to school, lift sharing and active buses. The  App was piloted by 7 schools in Wiltshire including Marlborough St Marys. The school could analyse parents journeys to school, for example, seeing clusters of parents living close together who all drive to school. The school could then message them encouraging car sharing or walking buses.

The pilot was now over and the statistics had been good. Almost half of parents signed up to the App and there were slightly over 10% less car journeys as a result of the App. Journey times increased as more children were walking and the distance being walked had increased.

Due to the pilot schemes success Wiltshire Council had agreed to fund an open licence for all schools in Wiltshire and HomeRun are developing the app based on the experience of the pilot.   

Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager (CEM), to provide an update.

Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager gave an update.

·         The Big Pledge took place between 14 May and 8 July and nearly 10,000 people took part. A total of 9.5 million minutes of activity were logged. The Marlborough Area came 15^th however went the furthest towards the target at 154%.

·         The Marlborough Common parkrun grant application which the Board received in May 2018 had met the conditions applied by the Board and the funding was awarded. A 5km route on the common had been developed with Marlborough Town Council’s groundsmen. Core volunteers had been recruited and the first event was due in Autumn 2018.  

·         A nationwide sugar smart campaign had started, to get people thinking about the amount of sugar they eat. More details were available at  www.sugarsmartuk.org/.

·         The Dementia Action Alliance was going from strength to strength, with more members attending including many of the towns care homes and service providers. They were working towards holding an event on Older Peoples Day on 1 October 2018.

·         Tesco’s Bags of Help Scheme was promoted. Up to £4,000 of grant funding could be available to community groups. Contact their new community champion, Chris on  marlborough@communityattesco.co.uk for more information.

·         Tesco’s also had surplus food available through their Fair Share scheme.

·         The Our Community Matters Blogsite had been updated making it easier to navigate and use. The site could be used to publicise your own event or look for ideas from other people. The meeting was encouraged to sign up to the site to receive the newsletter.

To consider the following applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as follows:

·         St. Michael’s School, Aldbourne, £5000.00 for a new running track;

·         Wagtails After-School Club Baydon, £4460.00 for PlayPod equipment;

·         Friends of the Railway Path, £849.00 for a new map/leaflet;

·         Preshute School, £1462.50 for Jigsaw PSHE learning material

Applications to the Community Area Grants Scheme, as detailed in the agenda,  were considered.

A representative from St. Michael’s School, Aldbourne, spoke in support of their application. The proposed track would be multi-use, on an artificial grass surface and available for community use as well as being used by the school. Almost all the funding was in place and if successful this grant would complete the funding. In response to questions from the board it was stated that Aldbourne Parish Council had not provided funds as the school was unaware this was an option. The surface to be used was designed for school use, was low maintenance and the school had budgeted for cleaning for 10 years. If the

Board was unable to provide all the funds requested the school would continue with their fundraising activities.

A representative of the Wagtails After School Club in Bayden spoke in support of their application for PlayPod equipment. The Board raised concerns that a significant proportion of the funding was training.

A representative of Friends of the Railway Path spoke in support of their application. In order to promote the path a map had been designed showing the route and giving history and details. An example was provided to the Board. The maps would be sold by local retailers for £1.99, the retailer getting to keep 35% with the remainder going to the group.

The Headmistress of Preshute School spoke in support of their application for Jigsaw PSHE learning materials. Jigsaw was a learning tool, highly recommended to improve emotional and social wellbeing.

Resolved:

To grant St. Michael’s School, Aldbourne, £2,500.00 of the £5,000.00 requested towards a new running track.

Reason:

Mindful that there were limited funds available and only being a few months into the financial year, the board decided to award half the funds requested.

To grant Wagtails After School Club Bayden, £500 of the £4460.00 requested for PlayPod Equipment.

Reason:

The Board was unable to provide funds for training but would help towards the start-up cost of equipment.

To grant Friends of the Railway Path, £849.00 for a new map/leaflet.

To grant Preshute School, £500.00 of the £1462.50 requested for Jigsaw PSHE learning material.

Reason:

To preserve a dwindling grant budget further into the year.

To receive any updates from the CATG.

An update was provided by Cllr Nick Fogg MBE on the CATG. Five projects had been prioritised;  

·         Bin space at Ogbourne St Andrew, where the works were now complete

·         Traffic calming, Ermin St, Baydon, where works were now complete. A draft safety audit had been received; none of the perceived problems raised by residents were being seen on the ground.

·         Road safety at Lockeridge, a new virtual pavement was in place and working well.

·         Design guides for West Kennett and Beckhampton,  work was continuing in line with brief at Beckhampton but progress was slow. Work at West Kennet paused. The Parish Council confirmed community funding sources

·         No cycling at Figgins Lane; an engineer recommended bollards in the footpath out from River Park.  The estimated cost was £500-700. Design work was now ongoing.

Resolved

To note the minutes of the CATG meeting on 21 June 2018.

To note the current total budget for the CATG -  £19,613.

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

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Marlborough Area Board will be held on Tuesday 4 September 2018 at the Assembly Room, Marlborough Town Hall, 5 High Street, Marlborough, SN8 1AA.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Marlborough Area Board would be held on Tuesday 4 September 2018 at the Assembly Room, Marlborough Town Hall, 5 High Street, Marlborough, SN8 1AA.