Browse

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Pitton Village Hall, Whitehill, Pitton SP5 1DJ

Contact: Lisa Moore  (Democratic Services Officer)

Items
Note No. Item

7.00pm

1.

Welcome and Introductions

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board, and introduced Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport.

 

2.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive announcements from the Chairman, including:

 

·         Intelligence Network

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman urged people to read the attached information about the IntelligenceNetwork as it was an important resource. Details were attached to the agenda.

 

3.

Current Consultations

To note the information attached on current consultations, as follows:

 

·         Delayed Gypsy and Traveller Site Consultation

·         Reminder for Community Flooding Information

·         Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011 – 2026

 

For further information on all current consultations and to take part in the consultations above visit: http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman invited people to note the consultation papers attached to the agenda.

 

In addition to the information attached to the agenda, the Chairman informed people that the Board had been invited to nominate two people from within the community area to take part in one of the three stakeholder workshops. Details of these were:

 

  • Monday 1 November 2010 in Devizes
  • Tuesday 2 November 2010 in Salisbury
  • Wednesday 3 November 2010 in Trowbridge

 

Anyone interested in attending these workshops should contact the Community Area Manager, Tom Bray.

4.

Apologies

Minutes:

There were none.

5.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

6.

Minutes

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 August 2010 (copy attached).

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 August 2010 were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

7.10pm

7.

Living River Project

To receive a presentation on the Living River Parish Resource Pack.

 

Officer: Gerry Hamersley, Natural England Area Team Manager

Minutes:

This item was cancelled due to the unavailability of the speaker from Natural England.

 

7.15pm

8.

Parish Steward Scheme

To receive information about this scheme.

 

Officer: Graeme Hay, Head of Service – Local Highways and Streetscene (South)

 

 

Minutes:

Graeme Hay, Head of Service – Local Highways and Streetscene (south), showed a DVD on the Parish Steward Scheme followed by questions from the floor. Some of the questions and statements were:

 

  • Some Parish Clerks were supportive of the scheme but had experienced difficulty in obtaining a report after a Parish Steward visit, detailing what work had and had not been carried out. Answer: One great strength of the scheme was that it would never stop evolving. The current system had been looked at and as a result a new report format had been produced and would soon be implemented. The report would be available to Parishes involved in the scheme on a monthly basis.
  • Some people felt that the DVD did not represent the reality of the work and role of the Parish Steward. Answer: The Council would soon be in touch with Parishes to arrange a time to visit them to discuss what they wanted from the scheme. Graeme also reminded the Parish Clerks that they were also welcome to contact the Stewards directly themselves to discuss possible tasks to be carried out.
  • People were aware that the Stewards were allocated work from central highways work streams and by Parish Councils. Answer: When a Steward had been working in a Parish for some time, they would became aware of what work needed to be carried out, as they would know the area. The Steward would then just get on and carry out these tasks off their own back.
  • There was some concern over the pothole situation which could worsen over the forthcoming winter. Answer: Graeme set out the Councils procedure and commitment to repairing potholes especially through the winter.
  • When the Parish submits tasks to be carried out by the Steward, some of those tasks are then passed on to other departments or officers to carry out. The Parish is then unsure of what tasks the Steward is left with, could a list detailing who is carrying out which task be provided for the Parish. Answer: The new report spoken about earlier would detail this information. It would include details of work carried out and work still to be completed and by whom.

 

The Chairman thanked Graeme Hay for coming and added that the more a Parish could liaise with their Parish Steward and the coordinator, the more they would get out of the scheme.

 

The Parish Steward Scheme DVD was also available to view online at:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/roadshighwayspavements/roadmaintenance/parishstewardsscheme.htm

 

7.35pm

9.

Car Parking Strategy Feedback

To receive feedback on the consultation undertaken for the Local Transport Plan Car Parking Strategy.

 

Officer’s: Alan Creedy, Head of Service for Sustainable Transport and Cllr Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport.

Minutes:

The Board received information from Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, on the outcome of the consultation process.

 

The review had been carried out because prior to the formation of a unitary Council, the four districts had run their car parking in four different ways. As there were many issues to consider, the council had to look at the whole scheme to find a more rational approach.

 

The consultation on Mouchel’s report was open from 12 July to 3 September 2010, during that time 600 responses had been received. Some of the findings were:

 

Residents’ parking:

  • Significant support for more pragmatic approach to residential parking in new housing developments
  • Overwhelming support for policy and process on residents’ parking zones
  • Large majority support for policy on overspill parking in residential areas

Other policies and issues:

  • Overwhelming majority supported the council’s approach to parking enforcement
  • Small majority saw the kerb space hierarchy as reasonable
  • Large majority stated that council should continue to offer season tickets

 

Southern Wiltshire Responses

         7 Total respondents

         The latest park and ride was very close to us but there seems little point getting a car out just to park there especially as you could not lug all your shopping on with you

         Downton had recently had the bus service substantially reduced and small villages within the parish such as Charlton All Saints had virtually no bus service at all.

 

Questions and comments were then received, some of these were:

 

  • Some people commented that the consultation process had been made to be as difficult as possible, so to discourage people from completing it. Answer: the consultation had to be detailed enough to provide all the factual information required and that someone had been appointed to look at the consistency of consultations.

 

  • One person commented that he had used the Peters Finger Park and Ride service the previous week and had been the only passenger on the bus to and from the city centre. Answer: The Park and Ride was a strategic investment for Salisbury. Originally there had been a plan for a bypass, but when that was turned down, Salisbury was asked for other options. The Park and Ride was one of the other options. In time there would be less parking spaces in the city centre, making Park and Ride more important.

 

Councillor Devine added that the rural communities had little choice if they wished to visit the city centre, as they had to use either the bus or car. What people wanted was to keep the charges as low as possible. He also noted that millions of pounds came out of parking charges, which helped to keep the council tax down, and that it was a balancing act that Wiltshire Council seemed to have got right at the moment.

 

Councillor Tonge added that the consultation had to be detailed enough to provide all the factual information and that work would be undertaken to look at the consistency of all future  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

7.50pm

10.

Provision of New Grit Bins

The Board will make a decision on the allocation of additional grit bins in the Southern Wiltshire Community Area (report attached).

 

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered the report of the Community Area Manager on the allocation of five additional grit bins across the Community area. After discussion the Board members voted on the recommendation as set out in the report.

 

Decision

The Board allocated one bin each to the parishes of Coombe Bissett, Firsdown, Landford, Laverstock and Pitton & Farley.

 

It was also announced that there was an option for Parishes to take delivery of a one tonne bag of salt; free of charge, providing it could be stored within the set criteria previously circulated. Community Area Manager, Tom Bray would circulate the criteria information again to Parishes by email.

8.00pm

11.

Winterslow Parish Plan

The Board will receive a report from the Chairman

 

Officer: Cllr Richard Britton, Chairman

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the Board that as Wiltshire Council had no formal process for the adoption of Parish Plans, he had undertaken an informal audit of the document on behalf of the Board. The audit report had been attached to the agenda.

 

The Chairman then recommended that the Board considered the endorsement of the Winterslow Parish Plan.

 

After discussion the board voted.

 

Decision:

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board endorsed the Winterslow Parish Plan and would ensure the document received appropriate circulation at County Hall, Trowbridge.

8.05pm

12.

Release of R2 funds in Laverstock

The Board will consider the release of R2 funds to Laverstock and Ford Parish Council, as detailed in the attached report.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

This item had been withdrawn from the agenda due to the total amount of funds available for R2 falling below the threshold of £30,000 which would require it to be considered at an Area Board. However, at the next Area Board the officer dealing with R2 would update the Board on the processes involved with R2 as there were many questions from Parish Councils prior to the Area Board meeting.

8.10pm

13.

Southern Wiltshire Community Plan

The Board will receive an update on the outcome of consultation and will make a decision on preliminarily adopting the plan (Report and Plan attached).

 

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager reminded the Board that in October 2009 a Community Plan Steering Group had been formed with the aim of producing a Parish Plan by December 2010. Since then the Plan had been produced and the group had met on several occasions to put the document through its paces.

 

The next step would be to form five tasking groups to concentrate on crucial issues highlighted by the Plan. People were then asked to provide their details if interested in being part of one of the five tasking groups. The groups were:

  • Transport
  • Crime and Community Protection
  • Rural Life and Environmental Issues
  • Economy
  • Community

People interested in joining a tasking group should contact Tom Bray, Community Area Manager.

8.20pm

14.

Leisure Facilities Review

To receive information on the review of the leisure services in Wiltshire.

 

Officer’s: Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet member for Leisure, Sport and Culture and Robin Townsend, Head of Leisure.

 

 

Minutes:

Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet member for Leisure, Culture and Sport explained that the consultation was currently going out across Wiltshire to review Leisure Facilities, following the formation of Wiltshire Council. The Council had inherited twenty three leisure centres across the county, in varied levels of care and repair needs.

 

To keep the leisure centres in the same condition that they were currently in would take £93 million over the next twenty five years. The Council would provide £117 million over the next twenty five years to carry out the proposals as detailed in the officer’s report. The idea would be to create a high quality service with reduced risk to the council.

 

Details of leisure facilities within the Southern Wiltshire community area were:

 

         Downton Leisure Centre was totally independent of Wiltshire Council.

         The Brian Whitehead Sports Centre Association (BWSCA) received an annual revenue grant of £50K from Wiltshire Council.

         The council had commissioned a report on the community trust options which may be of assistance to the BWSCA.

         Due to the independent nature of the Sports Centre there were no proposals to provide further capital funds to improve the facility.

         It was recognised that the annual revenue grant was not being considered as part of this report and would be considered later in the year.

 

 

People were then invited to ask questions, some of the comments were:

 

·         In the event of Downton Leisure Centre closing, did Wiltshire Council (WC) have a contingency plan to rescue it. Answer: Wiltshire Council were not aware of any immediate threat to Downton Leisure Centre.

·         Clarification was sought about whether Downton Leisure Centre was one of the leisure centres to be refurbished as it was listed as such on the WC website.  Answer: Downton Leisure Centre was not one of the centres in line for refurbishment and the incorrect information would be removed from the website immediately.

·         ]The catchment area for Downton leisure Centre was considered to be quite vast, had WC considered cross boarder talks with neighbouring authorities. Answer: Councillor Wheeler informed the Board that he and Robin Townsend would consider the issue of cross boarder communications. Robin added that the Sports England model had taken into account other facilities situated over the surrounding boundaries.

·         The BWSC had been in financial difficulty for some time, could this be included as a consideration in the report for Cabinet.

·         There was support for the initiatives for improvements planned for Salisbury’s Five Rivers Leisure Centre, in particular the climbing wall, which would benefit young people. However it was felt that Five Rivers was not user-friendly, with the swimming pool often taken up by special interest groups, and often not open for general swim.

·         Could a rural discount card for rural residents be produced.

·         Once the upgrading of facilities had taken place and WC had passed on the facilities to others to manage and maintain, there would be a huge financial responsibility for ongoing maintenance. Could the rules of how future R2 money  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Your Local Issues

To note the attached Report detailing the progress of Local Issues in the Community Area.

 

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Tom Bray, Community Area Manager reminded people that the system was available and was a good way of getting things done in their local community.

 

Issues could be logged and tracked online at:

https://forms.wiltshire.gov.uk/area_board/report_issue.php?area_board=Southern%20Wiltshire

 

8.40pm

16.

Street Light Switching off/Dimming at Night across the Community Area

To consider the attached report.

 

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Community Area Manager attached to the agenda, detailed the proposals from Firsdown and Landford. Parish Councils to switch off street lighting between 24:00hrs and 05:30hrs at identified locations which had been consulted on locally and technically assessed by Highways.

 

The Board considered the report and comments from the room, after which they voted on the endorsement as set out in the report.

 

Decision:

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board endorsed the proposals from Firsdown and Landford Parish Councils as detailed in the report of the Community Area Manager.

 

8.45pm

17.

Community Area Grants

The Board will consider a grant application for funding from the Community Grants Scheme and an application for endorsement for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme (papers attached).

 

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Area Manager

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered two applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme and one application to endorse an initiative for funding from the Performance Reward Grant Scheme.

After discussion the Board members voted on each application.

 

Decision:

The application from Coombe Bissett and Homington Village Hall Management Committee was deferred until the February 2011 meeting of the Board.

Reason

The Board felt that as Coombe Bissett Parish Council had received funding for resurfacing of Shutts Lane, which benefitted the Village Hall, deferral until February 2011 would allow the Board to allocate remaining funds to other prospective applicants who may apply.

 

However the Board did note their support for the project to provide insulation and double glazing to the village hall.

 

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board supported the bid from Wiltshire Voices to go forward for consideration by the Performance Reward Grant Panel.

9.00pm

18.

Evaluation and Close

A copy of the Forward Plan is attached for information.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

People were asked to use the voting handsets to evaluate the meeting.

 

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

 

The next meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board would be on Thursday 16 December, starting at 7.00pm in the Trafalgar School in Downton.