Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chairman for 2019/20

The Democratic Service Officer opened the meeting and called for nominations for Chairman for 2019/20.

Cllr Clewer nominated Cllr Richard Britton, this was seconded by Cllr Randall.

Decision

Cllr Richard Britton was elected as Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2019/20. 

To elect a Vice-Chairman for 2019/20.

Cllr Richard Britton in the Chair.

Nominations for Vice-Chairman were sought.

Cllr Britton nominated Cllr Richard Clewer, this was seconded by Cllr Randall.

Decision

Cllr Richard Clewer was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board for 2019/20.

Welcome to the new deputy leader of Wiltshire Council.

To consider the list of representatives to Outside Bodies and Working Groups for 2019/20.

The Area Board is asked to:

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

b.           Agree to reconstitute and appoint to the Working Group(s) as set out in Appendix B; and

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

The Board considered the report attached to the agenda.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to:

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

b.          Agree to reconstitute and appoint to the Working Group(s) as set out in Appendix B; and

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

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board.

There were none.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 1^st May 2019.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 1^st May 2019, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were none.

To receive Chairman’s Announcements including:

·       Five Year Land Supply

·       CATG & Highways Investment Programme – Special Event 25^th September.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·       Five Year Land Supply - In Alderbury there had been an application for the development of houses on a site outside of the settlement boundary. The application went to the Inspector and was upheld. The Inspector noted that there was an absence of a 5-year land supply. This would affect us all in rural southern Wiltshire.

The Chairman asked whether this subject should be on a future agenda so that there was a better understanding of the legal ramifications. This was supported.

·       CATG & Highways – A special event was planned for 25 September. This would feature a presentation from Highways, and CATG information and scheme examples from our Highways Engineer, Julie Watts, followed by consideration of any CATG schemes currently submitted. Further details would be circulated by the CEM.

·       Latest Boundary Commissions development review – Cllr Clewer gave an update as Chair of the Council’s Boundary Review Committee.

The Local Boundary Commission had come back with another submission and were considering a number of alternatives for our area. Details were available on their website until 28^th July. Cllr Clewer did have some large scale maps to view at the meeting. He urged people to respond to the Local Boundary review for England.

·       Fire & Rescue Service

·       Wiltshire Council Updates:

o   Healthier Communities

o   Winter Weather Preparations

o   Highways Improvement Traffic Survey Requests

·       North Wessex Downs Walking Festival

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       CCG

·       Current consultations

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

The Board noted the written papers and Information available on line, as detailed in the agenda:

·       Fire & Rescue Service

·       Wiltshire Council Updates:

1.     Healthier Communities

2.     Winter Weather Preparations

3.     Highways Improvement Traffic Survey Requests

·       North Wessex Downs Walking Festival

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       Clinical Commissioning Group

·       Current consultations

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/consultations.htm

a) Parish Councils and Community groups, including showcase item from Downton Community Rooms project.

b) Community Policing – local issues and priorities

In attendance: Sergeant John Hutchings

Parish Councils and Community Groups

David Mace, Chairman of Downton Parish Council presented information on the Downton Community Rooms project.

The Community Rooms opened in November 2018. This project had been run by the parish council, but had now been handed over to the charitable trust that runs the village hall on a daily basis.

An extension had been built at the back of the exiting Memorial Hall.

The extension’s ground floor was a purpose build space for the pre-school.

The first floor has meeting rooms and there is a lift for disabled access.

The first floor has two main meeting rooms, a small kitchenette, toilets and an office.  David suggested that the Police were welcome to discuss the option of them using one of the meeting rooms.

The facilities have wireless connectivity with a bluetooth AV system. Wireless microphone system and wire connections for HDMI and audio.

The rooms could be hired out for a variety of purposes including, fitness classes, business use and to the parish council for meetings.

The total project cost was £1.2 million with a majority of that coming from development contributions and indirect sums from funding, such as S106 and CIL.

Despite these contributions there had still been quite a large funding gap so we went to consultation and asked the community. Public fund raising was agreed and we put the precept up.

One of the largest expenses was the AV system, which cost around £22k. The room bookings are currently showing a 45% use of the AV system.

The Chairman commented that this was a brilliant project, and congratulated all involved.

Community Policing– local issues and priorities

Sergeant John Hutchings (Sector deputy) was in attendance to provide an update.

Big news since the last Area Board was that we have formally split our area again, with Amesbury and the north of the sector now becoming their own area. This meant that Inspector Sparrow was now able to concentrate on the Salisbury area and surrounding villages.

We are still able to migrate Officers to where the need is. We have 50 in Amesbury and around 100 for the Salisbury policing team. We have had the support of over 1000 hrs in last month provided by the Specials. These are volunteer Officers who provide free hours to us, we are very grateful to them.

There had been a continued period of thefts from out buildings, with some lead theft in the south of the community. Much of this was carried out by travelling criminals who come from across the border.

Questions:

·       How many specials were qualified for independent patrol? Answer: We have approximately 40 in the south, with 8 qualified and the others at various stages in their training. We have many that have been Specials for a number of years that just haven’t taken that qualification to allow them to go out on their own. If we have Specials on board we want to double crew them for safety

·       Update on Youth activity arrangements.

·       Decision on the provision of bubble football.

·       Grant Funding.

Youth Budget – balance remaining for 2019/20 : £2000

Update on Youth activity arrangements

The Community Engagement Manager, Karen Linaker explained that at the beginning of the year the Board had £15,030 in the Youth Budget.

In May we went out to the youth groups across the community area to ask what provision of activities they had enjoyed and would like to see for the coming year.

As a result of that feedback, the Board committed £8630 to go towards commissioning the same Youth Activity Providers the Board had used before.

Unfortunately Active8 were now unable to provide for us this year, so instead District Sports had stepped in to provide sessions.

The Board had also previously earmarked £2100 for a new activity, ‘Bubble Football’. It was not decided at the last meeting how this would be delivered, whether the equipment would be hired in with facilitators or bought and given to the youth groups to use.

There was currently £2100 left unallocated in the Board’s Youth Budget.

Since the last meeting the Board had received a bid to the Youth Funding budget for £3352, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

The Board discussed the provision of Bubble Football and whether the way forward would be to hire or buy the equipment. If hired the CEM would assist by putting the youth clubs in contact with the organisations to make the arrangements.

Cllr McLennan asked what the comparison was in the cost of hire to buying, as he noted that the purpose was to save money.  Karen confirmed that a kit could be bought from £600, for bottom specification and then go up to £2000 for high end kit. We have 3 youth clubs, so the Board would need to decide how many sets we buy. Storage was also a consideration, however Karen advised that there was a reticence of the Youth leaders to run the activity themselves, as they would prefer to have a facilitator come in with the kit.

The hiring option did come with a facilitator, and £2100 would get you 6 hours, which divided between our three clubs would enable 2 hours per club.

Cllr Clewer added that if the equipment was purchased, there would be a need for a facilitator, and there were operating cost, maintenance and repairs to factor in.

The Chairman proposed that the decision on how to move forward with the provision of Bubble Football would need further consideration given the options available and moved that a decision take place out of the meeting, in consultation with all Board members and then fed back at the next Board meeting.

Decision

The Board would liaise with the CEM to consider the options for funding Bubble Football out of the meeting and feedback the outcome at the next meeting.

Grant Funding

The Board considered one bid for youth funding as detailed in the report attached to the agenda pack.

The applicant explained that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Community Safety is everyone’s responsibility.

·       Inspector John Hutchings presents cases where public involvement has led to action.

·       Merv Quick - South Wiltshire representative on the Wiltshire Neighbourhood Watch Association shows how Neighbourhood Watch can prompt local community action.

Now over to you!

Presentations from:

·       Sergeant John Hutchings – Neighbourhood Policing Team

·       Merv Quick – Wiltshire Neighbourhood Watch Representative for South Wiltshire.

The Chairman opened this item by saying that Community Safety was everyone’s responsibility.

The Community Engagement Manager, Karen Linaker ran through the main item for the evening, noting that there were many different things that shaped how safe people feel.  The Council’s website had a page which explained about a Central Community Safety Team. They work hard on areas such as domestic violence, and neighbourhood watch and they do that in partnership with Wiltshire Police.

Karen had carried out a quick survey, which had received 57 responses. The top 3 areas flagged up out of the 15 available to choose from were burglary, fly tipping and speeding.  

The Our Watch website was about Neighbourhood Watch, but the information was much broader. On that website you can view a short film about a scouts group that went out and asked the residents how they felt about living in their community.

Inspector John Hutchings – Wiltshire Police

Presented case studies where public involvement had led to action.

The statistics from that survey are quite telling, 11,000 questionnaires went out and only 57 people responded.

Robert Peel was the founder of the Metropolitan Police. They set up 9 Principles of Policing. Number 7 of 9 reads:

‘To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the Police are the public and that the public are the Police, the Police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.’

This was written in 1829 and is as true today as it was then.

What this means to me is that we have to work together to achieve a safe and satisfied community. We do this by using all the technologies, partnerships, strategies and sense of community spirit, available at our disposal at any given time; within the confines of the relevant and applicable laws.

Case Study 1

•        A Downton man provides a photograph of a suspicious vehicle in the area to Police via Facebook. 

•        Senior Community Coordinator Matt Holland picks this up and undertakes some intel checks on the vehicle which suggests that it is of interest to Police.

•        ANPR checks are made and the vehicle is active across the whole of the South West and often in places where crimes have been committed. 

•        Local shout out placed on Community Messaging for Suspicious Vehicle.

•        Driver and passengers identified and a coordinated approach is made via JTAG. (Joint Tasking Action Group).

•        Vehicle targeted with stop checks via ANPR markers and operations ensue to look at offences such as Conspiracy to Steal and various others which are still under investigation.

•        Cross Boarder scrap metal merchants visited as part of the investigation by HM Customs and Trading Standards and separate investigations are commenced with those agencies.

•        Since the targeted activity began, to our knowledge no further offences have been committed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

The Board will consider applications for funding from the Health & Wellbeing Fund. Balance remaining for 2019/20 : £10,968

Health & Wellbeing Funding bids:

The Board considered five bids to the Health and Wellbeing fund for 2019/20, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

John Berridge was in attendance to support the two applications from Carers Support.

Carers Support was a local charity that supported unpaid carers. There were 1100 carers in the Southern Wiltshire community area. About 20-25% will be registered with us.

The Make a Friend be a Friend project was where we would send out a postcard to every household in the area, to encourage lonely and isolated people to connect with existing local groups.

Karen confirmed that the Board could work with Carers Support to look at the figures and consider the areas to be targeted.

Questions:

·       What are you defining as the southern area? Answer: We are looking at approximately 11k homes. Karen clarified that the costing issue was that it was only possible to mailshot to a minimum of the first 4 digits of a postcode, so more direct targeting was not possible.

Karen suggested the Board deferred making a decision on that first bid until it had had time to look at which post codes should be targeted.

Decision

The application from Carers Support for the Make a Friend, be a Friend scheme was deferred until the next meeting.

Reason

The CEM would work with the applicant to bring a revised application back to a future meeting.

Carers Support requested £5835 towards the Southern Community Carers Champion scheme to bring extra resource into this area. The funding would support a Community Connector role for one day a week for a year to  engage with local groups, GPs surgeries, and others who provide a service and support to carers.

Decision

The application from Carers Support for the Southern Community Carers Champion scheme was deferred pending the outcome of the South West Wiltshire Community Area’s work with this project.

Reason

The area board was keen to see how the project worked in South West Wiltshire before agreeing to run it in Southern Wiltshire

Nunton & Downton Sheltered Housing Scheme requested £960 towards a new gardening club.

There were 23 sheltered housing schemes throughout Wiltshire, over the years the funding had not allowed us to keep up the standard of green space environment and the residents were not able to maintain the heavy work.

There were two schemes in Downton and Nunton, and the work would be steered by a Social Enterprise company, which was not for profit. So far, the enthusiasm of the residents to join in and keep the gardens going was high, and they hoped to enter a garden competition. The real purpose was a social one, as it was hoped that the garden clubs would bring people together and have associated trips out with a common theme.

Questions:

·       Of the two schemes, how many residents would take part? Answer: There would be up to 40.

·       In the costings, it has £600 for the Foragers Farm, but what does that buy? Answer: Equipment,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

The Board will consider funding applications to the Community Area Grants system. Balance remaining for 2019/20 : £35,063.93

Community Area Grants:

The Board considered four funding applications to the Community Area Grants scheme. The balance remaining for 2019/20 was £35,063.93.

Farley Cricket Club - Further improvement of facilities at Coronation Field Farley, £984

We work in conjunction with the Playing Fields Committee at Farley. There are a lot of costs involved for a small village cricket club. We also maintain the play parks.

Questions and comments:

·       Have you approached the parish council for funding? Answer: Yes, they said they didn’t have any money to offer. The Chairman of Pitton and Farley PC said he was not aware of any conversation with the applicant regarding a funding request.

·       Cllr Devine fully supported the application, as they cut the whole of the community play area.

Decision

Farley Cricket Club was awarded £800 towards the improvements works.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2019/20.

God Unlimited - Outdoor Therapy Expansion of services 2020, £5000

Founded by Christians, we welcome people of all faiths and backgrounds.

We have the provision for age 5 – 14 year olds who are having trouble in mainstream schooling. We work with them to get them outdoors.

Questions:

·       Where are you located? Answer: We are based in Shrewton, but we cover all of Wiltshire.

·       The total costing shown detail £30k, some as refurbishment to a property, what is that? Answer: That is the Riverside site which requires site improvements. There are works for a low ropes course, a new roof over an existing building and installation of a kitchen and renovation of our temporary toilets.

·       What percentage of the young people would be from our area? Answer: There were 34% of young people from this community area.

·       What is your background in the medical community? Answer: We have operated for 13 years. We work in partnership with WC. We are a fully registers organisation with WC.

·       The project deals with some of the most vulnerable young people in our area, we should support the whole amount.

Decision

God Unlimited was awarded £5000 towards the Outdoor Therapy Expansion works.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2019/20.

Winterslow and Firsdown Parish Councils - Collaboration project to purchase and deploy a Speed Indicator Device, £800

Decision

Winterslow & Firsdown PC Collaboration was awarded £800 to purchase a Speed Indicator Device.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2019/20.

Firsdown Parish Council - Parish Play Area, £5000

Brian Edgeley- Chairman explained that the parish council had acquired the play area from WC. Since that time, they had thought about modernisation of the facility. The local community had told us what they would like to see there.

The Parish had acquired a village fund for a capital cost, and had decided to  use it towards the play area.

Questions:

·       Is that the total reserves for the PC as detailed in your papers? Answer: Yes.

·       Cllr Devine supported the application, noting that Firsdown did not usually ask for much  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Cllr McLennan announced that the Planning Inspector had turned down the appeal against refusal of permission to develop housing on part of the Old Sarum flying field on the basis that we must protect the heritage of the site.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.