Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence were received from Andrew Williamson and Sheila Glass.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2017.

Resolved:

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2017.

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

To receive the following Chairman’s Announcements:

·       Supporting those with SEND into employment or internships. There is a video for those interested in learning more.

·        Public Space Protection Orders

·       Clean Up Wiltshire

·       New ‘Work Wiltshire’ Website

·       Real Change Wiltshire

The Chairman drew attention to the Announcements in the agenda pack in respect of: Public Space Protection Orders, Clean Up Wiltshire and Real Change Wiltshire campaigns and the new ‘Work Wiltshire’ website. A video from the Wiltshire Employment and Skills Team about how they support those with Special Education Needs and Disabilities into internships and employment was played, and businesses interested in employing a person with SEND were encouraged to get in touch.

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

1. Wiltshire Police and Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner 2018 Precept Consultation
2. Dorset and 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 History Society

Written updates were available in the agenda pack from Wiltshire Police, HealthWatch Wiltshire, Wiltshire CCG, and Transition Marlborough.

Cllr Hall was invited to provide an update on behalf of the Town Council and on the local plan which was being reviewed. The Mayor thanked the Area Board for the grant funding it had provided to improve the community and youth centre which was now open for business. Other news included that the Town Council had started a tourism working party, an anti dog-fouling campaign and the council had some funding left in its grant pot to give to community groups.

The Chairman asked the Mayor to give a presentation from the Marlborough History Society, the presentation included details of Marlborough’s role in the English Civil War, the impact of the Great Fire of 1653 and the 7^th Wiltshire battalion in the First World War. Information on the History Society’s 2018 programme and 2019 Civil War re-ennactment were provided.

Milly Carmichael, Transition Marlborough, updated the group was launching a Repair Café at the beginning of March and would be running film nights at the community centre. Transition Marlborough was also working to promote biodiversity amongst flying insects, particularly bees, to increase the pollinator population; details of recent studies were provided. Following questions from councillors it was confirmed the group would be in touch with the National Farmers Union via the Space for Nature project, additionally a page on how residents could support the bee population would be available on the Transition Marlborough website.

A video from the Police and Crime Commissioner on his 18/19 precept proposals was shown.

To hear from Merchant’s House about their recent work and restoration projects.

Find out more at   http://www.themerchantshouse.co.uk/

Clyde Nancarrow, from the Merchant’s House, detailed the history of this house on the High Street that had been built following the Great Fire in 1653. It was explained the building had been bought by the Town Council some years back and survived on a peppercorn rent. Recently wall paintings had been discovered at the house and brought back to their original splendour. Current projects included reinstating lead windows and furnishing rooms to 17^th Century fashion. Photographs of original features were provided and councillors agreed this was a rare example of a 17^th century middleclass house that remained almost untouched. The Board encouraged people to pay a visit to Merchant’s House and commented the panelled room was of particular interest.

The Chairman thanked Mr Nancarrow for the informative presentation.

An update from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager, on progress following Marlborough’s Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) event in 2017, and plans for 2018, including the ‘Clean Up Wilts’ litter-picking event.

Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager, spoke on progress following the Joint Strategic Assessment event that had been held in 2017 to identify community priorities. Details of recent projects to address the community priorities were provided including: support from MAPAG for deprived families to access facilities at the leisure centre, funding granted to support a mobile youth club, drop in sessions at Marlborough Library for those with dementia and their carers, and finally, funding from MADT to buy specialist computers to develop coding and digital skills.

The officer also introduced a new campaign ‘Clean Up Wilts’ for 2018, much work had been done in 2017 against fly tipping and the focus of the campaign was now on litter picking. The community was encouraged to join litter picks on the weekend of 3 March, further details and equipment could be accessed through the Community Engagement Manager. The new Innov8 mobile youth club and its dates of operation in each location was also promoted.

Comments from the floor included that a difficult community priority to solve was that of affordable housing for the area, parking in the town was also a major issue. It was suggested the Board could also look at what could be done to protect vulnerable people in the community from scams, cybercrime and rogue traders.

Resolved:

To thank the Community Engagement Manager for this presentation and note the progress against JSA priorities.

To consider the following applications for Health and Wellbeing funding:

·        Alzheimer’s Support – Mildenhall Memory Group £1,429.61;

·        ‘Our Time’ Project – Marlborough Our Time £2,500

·        Berwick Bassett and Winterbourne Monkton Parish Council - £1,900

The Area Board considered applications for community grant funding.

Sarah Marriott from Alzheimer’s Support introduced an application for funding to support a Memory Group that had just been set up in the town, this would act as a support network for those with Dementia and their carers. Dementia sufferers would also be exposed to music and dance which was gentle exercise, aswell as being good for memory and wellbeing.

A representative from ‘Our Time’ introduced their application for funding towards a theatre project with elderly people in care homes and described how this would be tailored to each environment and would help connect older people and trigger memories. The Area Board recommended the application be deferred since members were not clear on the benefits/outcomes of the project for those taking part and advised it must be sure of this to allocate funding.

Jill Petchey, Berwick Bassett and Winterbourne Monkton Parish Council, explained their application to support the purchase of 3 defibrillators for the parish. Following questions it was confirmed three defibrillators were considered necessary due to the rural and linear nature of the settlements meaning they were isolated. The villages also experienced poor ambulance response times. It was noted there were farm and construction companies in the locality which may use the defibrillators.

Resolved:

To grant £1,429.61 to Alzheimer’s Support for a Memory Group.

To defer the application of £2,500 for ‘Our Time’ to allow evidence to be submitted as to the benefits of the workshops for the older people involved.

To grant £1,900 to Berwick Bassett and Winterbourne Monkton Parish Council to provide defibrillators.

To consider any updates and recommendations arising from the CATG meeting in December.

Cllr Fogg gave an update on the current priorities of the CATG namely:

·        No entry signs for HGVs on Silver Street

·        Bin Space at Ogbourne St Andrew

·        Traffic Calming at Ermin Street

·        20mph limits at various locations in Marlborough

·        Road safety at Lockeridge

It was noted new projects would be logged when the high priority woks had been completed. Cllr Davies advised that, despite some newspaper headlines about 20mph zones increasing speeding, there was not evidence to substantiate this.

Following questions from the floor it was confirmed councillors were lobbying for more school warning signs on George Lane. It was highlighted Marlborough Town Council had yet to be invoiced for CATG projects it was helping to fund, and requested this be actioned soon before the end of the financial year. There were also questions about what could be done to reduce HGV use of Herd Street and Cllr Dobson requested a new survey to establish the route of HGVs be discussed at the next meeting of CATG.

Resolved:

To note the update from the CATG and to progress issues raised at this meeting as detailed above.

There were no further questions.

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 13 March 7.00pm at Marlborough Town Hall.

The next meeting of Marlborough Area Board was to be held on 13 March 2017 at 7pm at the Marlborough Youth and Community Centre.