Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Steeple Ashton village hall, and then introduced the Wiltshire councillors who made up the area board.

The Chairman thanked the various stake holders and parish representatives in attendance as well as the Wiltshire Community Bank representatives for their display which was viewed before the meeting.

i.Election of the Chairman

To elect a Chairman for the forthcoming year.

ii.Election of the Vice Chairman

To elect a Vice Chairman for the forthcoming year.

iii.Appointments to Outside Bodies and Working Groups.

To note that appointments to outside bodies which were made by the Board last year along with any changes as detailed in the attached document will continue for 2012/13.

i.Election of the Chairman

Cllr Jonathon Seed was re-elected as Chairman for the forthcoming year.

ii.Election of the Vice Chairman

Cllr Rod Eaton was re-elected as Vice Chairman for the forthcoming year.

iii.Appointments to Outside Bodies and Working Groups for the forthcoming year.

Shadow Community Operations Board – Cllr Roy While.

Melksham Community Area Partnership – Cllr Roy While.

Melksham Youth Action Group (YAG) – Cllr Jon Hubbard

Melksham Community Area Youth Issues Group (CAYPIG) –

Cllr Jon Hubbard & Cllr Mark Griffiths.

Apologies were received from Cllr Steve Petty, Insp Lisette Harvey – Wiltshire Police, Mitch Roberts – Atworth PC and Jill Tompkins – Wiltshire Involvement Network.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on the 26 March and 4 April 2012.

 Decision

• The minutes of the 26 March and 4 April 2012 meetings were agreed as  correct records and signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are requested to declare any personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Agenda Item No.16 Small Grants Scheme – Queensway Tenants/Residents Association, jubilee street party.

Cllr Jon Hubbard – Personal interest, had worked on the grant application.

Agenda Item No.16 Small Grants Scheme – Thornbank & Orchard Gardens residents, jubilee street party.

Cllr Jon Hubbard – Personal interest, had worked on the grant application.

Agenda Item No.9 Tackling financial exclusion with a focus on Wiltshire Community Bank.

Cllr Jon Hubbard – Personal interest, is a member of the West Wilts Credit Union.

Agenda Item No.6 Chairman’s Announcements – Informal Adult Education.

Cllr Jonathon Seed – Personal interest, Chairman of Urchfont Manor board of management.

(reports in pack where appropriate)

11 to 19 Commissioning Strategy Update (Youth Advisory Groups, Volunteers and Income Generation).

Paths Improvement Grant Scheme.

Helping People to live safely in their own homes.

Bath HGV Restrictions – Cleveland Bridge Weight Restrictions.

Community Area Grants and Small Grants Scheme.

Informal Adult Education.

Community Budgets Pilot.

The following Chairman’s announcements which were contained in the agenda pack were briefly outlined:

11 to 19 Commissioning Strategy Update (Youth Advisory Groups, Volunteers and Income Generation).

Paths Improvement Grant Scheme.

Helping People to live safely in their own homes.

Bath HGV Restrictions – Cleveland Bridge Weight Restrictions.

Community Area Grants and Small Grants Scheme.

Informal Adult Education.

This item was outlined in detail by the Chairman as each area board had been asked to feedback which option(s) it preferred, this would then be fed back to the Wiltshire Council Cabinet and would help to inform its decision on the council’s strategy for informal adult education.

Decision

·         That the Melksham Area Board agreed on option 4 with elements of option 3.

Option 4 – Wiltshire Council to coordinate and promote informal adult learning opportunities offered across the county.

Currently, every provider publishes their own prospectus and promotes their activities independently.  With the support of education providers, it may be possible to collate this information to provide a single compendium of informal adult education in Wiltshire, both residential and non-residential.  Such a publication (available on-line) could not only serve to improve access to informal adult education but may also encourage more education providers who would be able to promote their activities in a cost-effective way.

Option 3 – Wiltshire Council to facilitate the provision of informal adult education at a local level.

Rather than be the organiser and provider of activities, the council could work through its network of area boards and community area networks to identify the demand for specific informal adult education provision in each community area.  The demands will include provision for leisure learning and that needed to reach disadvantaged members of the community.  The council could establish partnerships with adult education providers to share this information and meet this demand.  Providers would be able to offer activities with reduced risk and in venues to suit the participants.

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

a.      Melksham CAYPIG

b.      Melksham Youth Advisory Group (YAG)

c.      Community Area Partnership Representative

d.      Wiltshire Police

e.      Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

f.        NHS Wiltshire

g.      Melksham Town Council

h.     Parish Council Nominated Representatives

i.        Melksham Chambers of Commerce

a.Melksham CAYPIG/YAG

Siobainn Chaplin – Integrated Youth Service, Wiltshire Council & Elena Rossi – YAG briefly outlined and presented a DVD film which highlighted the issues of littering and the effects on our local wildlife.

The Chairman commended the youth group for their good work.

b.Community Area Partnership Representative.

Colin Goodhind advised that:

• The CAP were keen to involve the YAG in any youth related topics in the community area plan.

• The CAP website now has specific pages for all Melksham community area villages, any contributions from the villages would be welcomed by the CAP to enhance these pages.

Theme Groups

• The Community Safety group are planning to hold regular meetings with the Neighbourhood policing teams to look at policing priorities, these meetings would be held on a three monthly basis.

• The Waterways group are now looking at all waterways in the Melksham area.

c.Wiltshire Police/ Wiltshire Police Authority

Angus MacPherson gave the Police update, the report was noted.

Points made included:

• Vehicle thefts in the Melksham town centre, owners leaving their vehicle unlocked or with windows open.

• Incidents of anti-social behaviour and burglaries dropping in the Melksham area.

• Blues N Zuz had been awarded the Queen’s award for volunteering, well done to all concerned.

d.Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The written update distributed with the agenda was noted.

e.NHS Wiltshire

The written update distributed with the agenda was noted.

f.Melksham Town Council

Cllr Chris Petty advised that he had nothing to report.

g.Parish Council Nominated Representatives

Melksham Without PC

Mike Mills advised that the ownership of the Bowerhill sports field had now been signed over to Melksham Without PC. A big thank you to the Area Board for its support in this matter.

h.Melksham Chamber of Commerce

Not in attendance.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their updates.

Siobainn Chaplin - Integrated Youth Service, Wiltshire Council.

Siobainn Chaplin - Integrated Youth Service, Wiltshire Council gave a brief update of the importance of street based youth work and thanked the Area Board for its continued support.

Points made included:

·         Promotes healthier living.

·         Good work with relationship issues.

·         This ongoing work helps to keep young people off the streets.

The Chairman thanked Siobainn Chaplin and the young people for the update and attending the area board.

Emma Cooper - VCS Support, Wiltshire Council.

Emma Cooper - VCS Support, Wiltshire Council gave a power point presentation.

Points made included:

• What is financial exclusion.

• What does it mean to be financially excluded.

• Where is financial exclusion found.

• Does it exist in the Melksham community area.

• How the Wiltshire Community Bank operates.

• That Wiltshire Council were looking to give its staff the opportunity to save with the Wiltshire Community Bank.

The Chairman thanked Emma Cooper for her presentation and the Wiltshire Community Bank representatives who had answered questions before the meeting.

Lucy Murray-Brown – Campus and Operational Estate Management Lead, Wiltshire Council.

Lucy Murray-Brown – Campus and Operational Estate Management Lead, Wiltshire Council gave a power point presentation which outlined the provision of services and facilities over the next ten years for the Melksham community area.

The presentation was split into four areas:

• Shurnhold – the George Ward school site.

• Central – the Melksham House site.

• Bowerhill – the Christie Miller sports centre site and area.

• Woolmore Farm – the east of Melksham housing development and area.

Questions raised from the floor included:

• Would there be access to the Melksham Campus, central site from the Melksham bypass?

a.too early to know as yet.

• What will the actual cost of the Campus project be?

a.could’nt say at this moment in time, commercially sensitive information etc.

• Would the Brookside extra care housing provision be replaced “like for like”?

a.would have to look into that, not my area of expertise.

The Chairman thanked Lucy Murray-Brown for her presentation and expressed the view that these were exciting times for Melksham.

Cllr Roy While.

Cllr Roy While advised that:

• The SCOB were now in a position to talk with Wiltshire Police as to what police presence they envisage on the Campus.

• A youth group is be formed to work with the SCOB and feedback on any youth related matters.

• Moving into the feasibility stage with the SCOB talking to the architect about what should go where on the site.

• More involvement with users, who will become more involved as the plans build.

The Chairman thanked Cllr While for his update.

Cllr Roy While.

Cllr Roy While outlined the problem of lorries parking over night in Hampton Park West, Melksham.

Points made included:

• The main issues were littering and urination.

• The police were not concerned about any safety related issues in regard to this matter.

• That discussions were ongoing, talking with both Melksham Without parish council and Great Bear Distribution.

• That Cllr While would update at the next Area Board meeting.

The Chairman thanked Cllr While for his update.

Cllr Mark Griffiths.

Cllr Mark Griffiths gave the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) update from the meeting held on Monday 14 May 2012.

Points made:

From a budget of £13,225 the CATG had prioritised three schemes for consideration.

1. Atworth Gateway feature – gateways producing an entrance to Atworth at both ends of the village to assist in long standing road safety issues on the busy main road. The total for the work would be £6,000, made up from a parish council investment of £2,000, CATG £2,000 and £2,000 grant request from the Area Board as a Cllr lead initiative.

2. Safety Bollards in Melksham town centre to stop vehicles parking on the new street works and avoiding possible collision with pedestrians and nuisance to disabled users. A total cost of £3,000, made up of £2,000 from CATG and £1,000 to be applied from MTC.

3. Middle Lane/Top Lane footpath improvements – to be entered as a bid for the separate substantive scheme funding, which is a separate £250,000, aside from that awarded directly to CATG. The meeting decided that at a total cost of £15,475 we would be best to apply for a grant from the Substantive Scheme and as such would need to put in a substantive bid ourselves which the group decided should be £7,500, with Melksham Without parish council contributing £1,500. If these funds were agreed we would have to wait on a decision from the Substantive Scheme, which if unsuccessful would mean a return of the CATG  and Melksham Without parish council money.

Decision

• That the Melksham Area Board agreed to support the three schemes that the Community Area Transport Group had put forward for consideration.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Griffiths for his update.

 Cllr Jerry Wickham – Keevil parish council advised the meeting that Keevil parish council were seeking support from the Area Board in its fight to get the main footpath which was in a very poor state of repair, having had no repairs since the mid 1070s and was the only footway in the high street,  resurfaced by Wiltshire Council at a cost of £20,000.

Decision

·         That the Melksham Area Board agreed to support Keevil parish council in its bid to have the High Street footway resurfaced by Wiltshire Council and that the Chairman would write to the Cabinet Member for Highways accordingly.

Cllr John Noekin - Cabinet Member for Resources, will explain his portfolio and answer any questions.

This Item was dropped from the agenda as Cllr John Noeken was unable to attend the meeting.

Community Grants Scheme

Atworth Youth Club have applied for £665 for a coach trip to Thorpe Park.

Small Grant Scheme – confirmation of funding awarded for jubilee celebrations

·         Queensway Tenants/Residents Association - £350 for a jubilee street party.

·         Atworth Jubilee Events Group - £350 for a time capsule to commemorate the Queens Jubilee.

·         Thornbank & Orchard Garden residents -£350 for a jubilee street party.

·         Poulshot PC - £350 for a jubilee street party.

·         Semington PC - £350 for jubilee celebrations.

Cllr Initiated Projects

Cllr Mark Griffiths - £2,000 towards Atworth village gateways.

Community Grants Scheme

Decision

Atworth Youth Club were awarded £665 for a coach trip to Thorpe Park.

Reason

This application demonstrates a link to the Melksham community plan – ‘activities for young people’.

Small Grant Scheme – confirmation of funding awarded for jubilee celebrations

Queensway Tenants/Residents Association – awarded £350 for a jubilee street party.

Atworth Jubilee Events Group – awarded £350 for a time capsule to commemorate the Queens Jubilee.

Thornbank & Orchard Garden residents –awarded £350 for a jubilee street party.

Poulshot PC – awarded £350 for a jubilee street party.

Semington PC – awarded £350 for jubilee celebrations.

Cllr Initiated Projects

Cllr Mark Griffiths – awarded £2,000 towards Atworth village gateways.

·         Weds 8 August 2012 – Bowerhill Village Hall.

·         Weds 10 October 2012 – Seend Community Centre.

• Weds 8 August 2012 – Bowerhill Village Hall.

• Weds 10 October 2012 – Seend Community Centre.

Area Board Issues Process:

Please see our online issues tracker for progress on all issues submitted to the Melksham area board to date. 

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/areaboards/areaboardsissuestracking.htm . 

You can also submit issues online for the area board to consider, or fill in an issues sheet by hand.  https://forms.wiltshire.gov.uk/area_board/areaboards.php

The Chairman thanked everybody for attending the meeting and advised that this had been Abbi Gutierrez’s, last meeting before going on maternity leave. The Chairman thanked Abbi Gutierrez for all her efforts and hard work and wished her well on behalf of the Area Board.

Alison Sullivan was introduced as the acting Community Area Manager.