Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Richard Britton, welcomed everyone to first online meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board, which was being broadcast live to the internet.

There were none.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 June 2020

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 June 2020, were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman at a later date.

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

There were none.

To receive Chairman’s Announcements

·       Wiltshire Council Updates – Connect 5, Covid.

·       Current consultations

The Board noted the attached Wiltshire Council updates on Covid-19 and the  Connect 5 online sessions.

The Chairman drew attention to the Covid update and noted that The Community Engagement Manager, Karen Linaker would address this in more detail, later in the agenda.

a)    Wiltshire Council update on Covid 19 response and recovery work to date

b)    Community Policing – local issues and priorities, and update of Covid 19 response and recovery work in this area

c)     New Electoral Divisions for Southern Wiltshire

·       Area Board Boundary Review – Briefing paper attached:

A consultation will run from 10 September 2020 – 31 October 2020 on the Draft Recommendations of the Electoral Review Committee for Area Board boundaries to take effect for May 2021.

Wiltshire Council update on Covid 19 response and recovery work to date

16 voluntary community groups had been set up in the southern Wiltshire community area since the start of Covid. The local village response had been helping the overall council’s response, which was primarily through the Wiltshire Wellbeing hub, set up to aid access to goods, services and support where needed.

Out of the 352 businesses eligible for a grant within southern Wiltshire community area, a total of 237 were successful in applying and were paid out.

Downton library would be in a final phase of those to reopen. It was hoped to be partially open by November.

Work was ongoing on local outbreak management plans, led by Wiltshire’s Public Health team, which was also a key point of contact for any community groups that wish to set back up again.

Email: Publichealth@wiltshire.gov.uk

Cllr Clewer noted that as the council’s deputy leader he had also been heavily involved with the response and associated activities. Central Government had stepped in to provide some financial support. He thanked Karen for all she had done in the process.

The Chairman noted how impressed he was with the speed with which a new department had been created at Wiltshire council, to administer the government business loan scheme.

On a more local point, there was a worry that many community groups which had wound down as a response to Covid, may not restart. He urged all Board members and the town and parish councils to encourage the local community groups wherever possible.

Questions and comments included:

·       There was a big issue in obtaining prescriptions at the start are we now in more of a stable position with pharmacies delivering?

Answer: Yes, it has improved, however there were some areas where it was still patchy with room for improvement. As part of the recovery structure the council had its health colleagues including pharmacy colleagues working to improve such issues.

Cllr Clewer - There had been lessons learned. Procedures were now in place which would kick in very easily should they be needed.

·       I have worked with the Winterslow and Firsdown Covid response group and we have found on the whole the councils response to be very prompt. We have considered the national picture and are starting to gear back up again. Wonder if Wiltshire council may consider posting a reminder out that the support networks are there.

Community Policing – local issues and priorities

Inspector Pete Sparrow highlighted some of the things that have come in over the last 6 months was a new analytical tool which has helped us to look at statistics, to adapt and change the ways we are able to respond.

Crime was at a low level for this time of year. We have developed a new model called the 4 E’s: Engaging, Explaining and Encouraging people to follow the regulations produced by government and then when that has failed, to Enforce.

Staff were doing their best to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Karen to provide a brief update on the following:

·       Youth Activities

·       Health & Wellbeing projects

·       Eco Friendly Villages project

·       Rights of Way and footpath projects

·       Community Safety Directory

Karen Linaker, Community Engagement Manager, gave an update on the work and projects of the Board prior to lockdown.

·       The “Make a friend, be a friend” project had been started and was still intended to go ahead.

·       Eco Friendly Villages project – work had begun and would be picked back up again with a volunteer in East Grimstead.

·       Community Safety Directory – Helped by Merv Quick, the directory had been completed and issued to parishes.

·       We investigated with Inspector Sparrow, a Smartwater project for some parishes, however that hit a stumbling block due to the problems created by parish councils seeming to be ‘trading’.

·       We also started work on mapping out which groups were already running for older people.

·       The Board had set aside £3700 to tackle older people’s isolation.

·       Continued supporting young people’s activities

The Chairman noted that although there were a wide range of initiatives going forward, it was frustrating that they had been put on hold due to Covid, and it would be important to try and resurrect them.

The area board will facilitate discussion on the latest ‘joint strategic needs assessment’ for the Southern Wiltshire Community Area, and explain how you can get involved in helping to refresh and re-set our local priorities based on this data and in the light of issues that have been brought to bear by the pandemic. 

The Chairman noted that when Covid struck, the Board had not received the JSNA data, which set out the statistics for the community area.

Karen explained how the Board would facilitate discussion on the latest ‘joint strategic needs assessment’ for the Southern Wiltshire Community Area, and how people could get involved in helping to refresh and re-set the local priorities based on the data and in the light of issues that had been brought to bear by the pandemic.

Covid 19 had highlighted areas for consideration:

·       Strong neighbourhood support for the vulnerable and more/new people stepping forward to lend a hand during the crisis - How to keep that going for the long term?

·       Greater dependence upon online communication, e.g. for home schooling/working, shopping, accessing GP appointments, parish council meetings, area board meetings, etc. - Was this community area’s broadband capacity fit for that purpose? How digitally inclusive are we?

·       A period where vehicle use was less, and more sustainable modes of transport prevailed - How can we take forward these benefits?

·       The impact upon our physical and mental wellbeing - Who amongst us need help?

·       The impact upon village and community groups and organisations - Which groups need help and support to re-start?

New data was available to inform the local priorities:

https://www.wiltshireintelligence.org.uk/community-area/southern-wiltshire/ 

A series of notable findings were presented by Karen under the headings of Health & Wellbeing, Environment, Housing, Transport & Highways, Children & Young People, Deprivation and Community Safety.  The slides from the presentation are attached to the minutes.

The next steps:

•        Begin to shortlist priorities (based on discussions at the meeting, and a subsequent online survey) by the end of October

•        Organise a series of virtual mini events i.e. ‘working with our parish councils’; health and wellbeing, young people, housing, environment, between November 2020 and March 2021 to facilitate detailed discussion around these priorities

•        Prepare findings and proposals from these events for the new Area Board in May 2021, offering a clear rationale for which priorities should be taken forward, how and by whom.

The Chairman explained that the objective was to formulate some proposals and project ideas to present to the new Area Board in May, to give them a running start.

It was suggested and agreed that the presentation slides be circulated to parish councils prior to the mini events, to allow them to prepare points to feedback.

A number of villages also had Facebook pages which could be another method of inclusion, circulating the data and asking for feedback.

The board was asked whether it could request a map of the Wiltshire Council owned land which could be developed for affordable housing.

Cllr Clewer noted that in terms of council housing, the council was looking at it with Stone Circle its housing company. There could be a number of reasons why rural sites could be unsuitable.

The Chairman agreed to look into obtaining a land map for the area, which indicated the sites for considered by Stone Circle.

Steve Bennett was in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The area board will consider a report and recommendations for funding as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

The Area Board noted the report and recommendations for funding as detailed in the papers attached to the agenda.

It was noted that there was £15,402 remaining in the youth budget for the financial year. Winterslow youth club had been struggling over the summer, as had most volunteer youth clubs, due to the restrictions in place.

The situation at Winterslow was that it was unlikely to survive.

In previous years the Area Board had funded youth activities through a number of providers, including District Sports, Boom Satsuma, Anybody Can Cook, and last year it commissioned Bubble Football which was very popular.

The Chairman asked whether it was felt that Winterslow YC may be helped by one off activities and if so whether the Board should approach them to offer some provision of that nature.

Cllr Devine was in consultation with the YC in Winterslow and advised that he may be able to set up a repeat of a remuneration with the same lady that carried them through once before.  He asked that some funding be reserved for that possibility at a future date.

Cllr McLennan noted that Old Sarum YC had been able to get going as they had had support from a paid youth worker Youth Action Wiltshire. He suggested that this be looked at for others struggling to return.

Action – KL to look at some professional assistance from Youth Action Wiltshire for the youth clubs across the area which were struggling to continue.

Decision:

That the Southern Wiltshire Area Board:

·       Authorised the Community Engagement Manager to finalise arrangements and costs for the provision of activities at Old Sarum Youth Club to a maximum of £1,200.

• Investigate one off projects with existing youth clubs

• Supported the idea of funds being used to facilitate a series of fun days for the remainder of the financial year, covid-19 arrangements permitting, subject to the details being agreed at the next meeting.

·       Explore potential new initiatives suggested at this meeting for how the remaining youth budget was used.

£28,824 available for capital projects; £15,402 available for youth projects; £7,700 available for Health & Wellbeing projects; £3,700 earmarked for older people isolation initiatives.

The Board will consider funding applications as detailed below and in the attached report.

Officer: Karen Linaker, Community Engagement Manager

The Board considered the funding requests as detailed in the report attached to the agenda and uploaded as supplement 1 to the agenda.

It was noted that £3700 from the current budget had been ring fenced for older people isolation projects. 

Firsdown PC – Play area zip wire upgrade – requested £4000

Applicant Mr Rogers was in attendance to present the application.

Decision

That Firsdown PC be awarded £4000 towards the Play area zip wire upgrade project.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2020/21.

Hamptworth Croquet Club -Keeping the club open – requested £5000

Applicant Mr Bennett was in attendance to present the application.

A crowd funding project, £1000 from Persimmons Homes and was backed by Sports England. This had brought in more than was needed for a safe storage facility which would house the equipment. The applicant confirmed that they had no concerns about being able to raise the balance through annual membership fees.

A suggestion to widen the net on target age of new members, to include a wider range and cater for all was put to the applicant.

The Chairman noted that it was the Board’s usual preference to see support and if possible a financial contribution towards projects from the parish council. The applicant advised that he had contacted the PC to introduce himself, however he had not yet put in a request for funding.

Decision

Hamptworth Croquet Club was awarded £5000 towards the purchase of machinery to maintain the lawns with a suggestion that the Club look to expand the range of ages of its membership by targeting younger members to join.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2020/21

Winterslow PC – Barry’s Field Officials Facility – requested £2500

The Board was asked to ratify an urgent decision taken in August 2020 under the delegated authority of the Community Engagement Manager.

Decision

The Area Board ratified the award of £2500 to Winterslow PC for the Barry’s Field Officials Facility project, which had been made in August 2020 under CEM Delegated Powers.

The application from Phoenix Stars had been withdrawn due to the purchase already having been made and the restrictions on retrospective funding.

To note the report and consider any funding recommendations of the last CATG meeting held on 15 September 2020, a copy of the meeting notes are attached, along with a Highways Improvement request form from Redlynch PC.

The Board considered a scheme from Redlynch PC to repair street name plates, which had not been discussed at CATG due to missing the deadline.

Decision

The Redlynch PC Street name plate project was allocated £600.

The Board also considered the recommendations of the CATG as set out in the report attached to the agenda.

Cllr Randall declared a non-pecuniary interest in the Solar Panel application as he was on the Whiteparish PC.

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board approved the CATG recommendations as set out in the report and listed below:

·       Signing & Lining – Grimstead Butterfurlong Road/Long Drove £637

·       New street nameplates – Grimstead £750

·       Footway Improvements design works – Longhedge A345 junction with Mynarski Close £2800

·       Solar Panel & Post for a SID – Whiteparish, Romsey Road/Green Close £439

Future meeting dates:

·       Thursday 28 January 2021

·       Thursday 3 March 2021

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 28 January 2021 at 7.00pm