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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Trafalgar School, Breamore Rd, Downton SP5 3HN

Contact: Lisa Moore  (Democratic Services Officer)

Items
Note No. Item

7.00pm

1.

Welcome and Introductions

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor Richard Britton welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Southern Wiltshire Area Board. Those sitting at the top table introduced themselves.

 

2.

Apologies

Minutes:

There were none.

3.

Minutes

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 30 July 2015.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 30 July 2015, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

4.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were none.

5.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

There were none.

7.05pm

6.

Report on issues facing the community as a whole

To note any written updates or information available online:

 

·       Police – Neighbourhood Policing Team Update

·       Fire & Rescue Service

·       Wiltshire Council Updates:

1.     School place planning

2.     Children’s Centres Consultation

 

·        Southern Wiltshire Issues System: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/areaboards/areaboardsissuestracking.htm

·       Consultations webpage:

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

 

·       Any other comments or reports

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Police – Inspector David Minty

In addition to the written report in the pack, David explained that a new system which produced the reports was now in place which had greater flexibility, enabling him to report on a range of areas other than the standard set. Although there had been a 50% increase in public order offences that only equated to 3 additional offences over the period. Weapon offences were down 75% which equated to 5 less, which indicated how safe this part of Wiltshire was.

 

Cross border work continues on various initiatives, including a scheduled farmer’s initiative in November 2015.

 

Following a spate of vehicle crime, PC Clissold had carried out a detailed investigation of private CCTV in the targeted areas, which had resulted in 2 arrests.

 

Questions were then received, these included:

 

·       What was Wiltshire and Swindon Police forces attitude to the new ban on smoking in vehicles containing children? Answer: The plan was to issue a warning to those caught, for the first 3 months, and to look for a behavioural change to emerge.

·       Was there a problem with cross border communication when transferring calls to Hampshire when something happens in their patch? Answer: There was good communication between the two control rooms, the only issues occurred when there was poor mobile reception in rural areas.

 

Fire – Cllr Devine

The combination of Wiltshire and Dorset Fire Services was progressing well, with the new service scheduled to take over from 1 April 2016. The new headquarters would be in the Five Rivers Campus in Salisbury. The Fire Service also had state of the art communications and worked with cross border services.

 

Wiltshire Council Updates

The Board noted the School place planning and the Children’s Centres Consultation updates attached to the agenda.

 

Issues

The Board noted the information available online: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council/areaboards/areaboardsissuestracking.htm

 

Consultations

The Board noted the information available online:

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

 

Any Other Comments or Reports:

Parish Clerk for Pitton and Farley, Catherine Purves had held a Parish Clerks meeting which had been well attended. The next was scheduled for February 2016.

 

7.20pm

7.

PCC Annual Report and the new Police and Crime Plan 2015 - 17

Sean Cooper from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner will give a short presentation and Q&A session on the new Police and Crime Plan for 2015 – 17.

 

Minutes:

Sean Cooper from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) presented information on the PCC Annual report 2014/15 and the Police and Crime Plan for 2015/17.

 

The Plan set out the Commissioner's four priorities:

Priority 1: Prevent Crime and anti-social behaviour

Priority 2: Protecting the most vulnerable in society

Priority 3: Putting victims and witnesses at the heart of everything we do

Priority 4: Secure high quality, efficient and trusted services

 

One aim is to keep Wiltshire and Swindon as one of the safest places in

the country. 

 

The PCC made three specific commitments to the public:

 

1.     Neighbourhood teams were at the centre of policing in Wiltshire.

2.     Neighbourhood policing would be protected by shifting resources to the front line.

3.     Any increase to the police element of council tax would be used to reduce the impact of central funding reductions on neighbourhood policing.

 

Key work to deliver included:

 

·       Get the best out of Mobile Technology

·       Estates and custody efficiencies

·       Get value out of every £ spent

·       Strategic Alliance with Avon and Somerset

·       Deliver £10M savings through efficiencies in 3 years

 

Questions and comments included:

 

·       How have you assessed that threats had changed significantly? Answer: The national threat had risen to ‘severe’ due to terrorism. We are looking at national issues at a local level. A great deal of our time goes to working on child exploitation, which has been an issue around for years.

·       Was the reshaping of the Community Policing pilot in west Wiltshire a way of disguising reductions in numbers of Officers? Answer: The Commissioners fundamental commitment was to reinforce Community Policing. There would still be Community Beat Managers in the new model, which would bring the team together and make it more efficient.

 

The Chairman, Councillor Britton also sat as the Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel (PCP), which kept a watching brief in a scrutiny role over the work of the PCC. The PCP had been invited to contribute to the revised plan and did submit many comments, many of which were included in the final plan.

 

Further information was available online at: Pcc@wiltshire.pcc.pnn.gov.uk

 

 

7.35pm

8.

Area Board Theme - Young People

To receive a report from Emma on the outcomes of the Summer activities and a proposal to procure more services for young people in Southern Wiltshire. Also to consider an application for Community Youth Funding.

 

Officer: Emma Drage, Community Youth Officer

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Community Youth Officer, Emma Drage gave an update on the outcomes of the programme of summer activities which had taken place around the community area. Several villages had enjoyed various activities with the main favourite being zorbing.

 

The Board then considered one request for Youth Grant Funding and one request for a change of use for funds already awarded as detailed in the report.

 

Decision

The application from Alderbury Football Club be deferred until the next meeting.

Reason

No one from the club was in attendance to answer questions on the application.

 

Decision

The Board agreed to the change of use request from Old Sarum Youth Club, for funding previously awarded.

Reason

The Area Board agreed that the need of the club had now changed and that an alternative use had been identified which would provide alternative activity sessions and resources.

 

Emma then presented information on two proposals for procured funding to secure two providers of alternative activities for a set number of hours, which could be shared by the villages within the community area, as detailed in the report.

 

Following discussion the Board considered the recommendation as set out in the attached paper.

 

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board agreed to allocate £10,350 of Youth Activites funding to the procurement of services as detailed below:

Go Active (Sports)
60 hours

£6,000

BoomSatsuma (Arts/Music)
60 hours

£4,350

Total

£10,350

 

7.55pm

9.

Area Board Theme - Older People: A focus on Dementia

Andrew Day and Caroline Wilson from Salisbury & District  Alzheimer’s Society will provide a presentation about practical community initiatives that communities can set up which could make a difference to people living with dementia.

Minutes:

Andrew Day and Caroline Wilson from Salisbury & District  Alzheimer’s Society gave a presentation about practical community initiatives that communities could set up which could make a difference to people living with dementia.

 

Dementia affects most people in one way or another, whether that be personally, through a family member, a friend or a loved one. There were 7,000 people living with dementia across Wiltshire, with 300 living in the Southern Community area.

 

Andrew and his colleagues were working with 50 people in the Downton area to facilitate an art course for those living with dementia. People attending the initiative welcomed the opportunity to meet others with similar issues, forming companionships and using skills which some of them had not used since they were school aged.

 

Working with Wiltshire Council as part of the Big Pledge initiative, to train employees to become Dementia Friends.

 

Everyone’s journey with dementia was different. It was possible to live well with dementia, but it required help and support. It was hoped that training more people to become Dementia Friends would enable us to think about small everyday things we could all do to make others lives easier.

 

Involving young people at Trafalgar school with a community project, brought the ages together. The Scouts had also decided to develop a Dementia Friendly badge.

 

Training to become a Dementia Friend takes one day and is free. Sessions for local shops were being held in Salisbury to raise awareness.

 

Tim Mason from the Community Safety Partnership explained that the Safe Places initiative in Salisbury was a scheme where shops displayed an orange sticker in the window, to advertise that they offered a safe place for vulnerable people in need of a quiet place to go when in need of help. Employees in participating shops had received training to provide assistance. Sometimes this was just to provide a quiet space and a cup of tea.

 

Working closely with the Alzheimer’s  Society and vulnerable people to establish a list of places that those with issues would feel comfortable going to for assistance.

 

It was hoped that the scheme could be rolled out to other areas outside of Salisbury. People were urged to spread the word and parish councils were asked to consider having it as an agenda item for discussion at a future meeting. Pubs, cafes and shops could all be approached to see if they were interested in a training session to be a safe place and to become Dementia Friends.

 

 

 

8.15pm

10.

Area Board Theme - Footpath project

To receive an update on current progress and a report on the future of the footpaths project following a meeting of the Footpath Project Management Group on 30 September 2015 (report to follow).

 

Minutes:

The Board received a verbal report on the progress of works throughout the community area. A meeting had been held that week to assess the work which had been carried out to date and to consider how the future work of the could be made sustainable.

 

The paid Volunteer Coordinator post was coming to an end, the Board was looking at ways to continue funding this post and would report back at a future meeting.

 

Footpath project in numbers:

 

·       There had been 50 volunteer sessions

·       13 parishes had been involved so far

·       54 kissing gates had been installed

·       Over 1000 hours of volunteer time had been given

·       There were 3 circular walks in progress

 

 

Sessions

Gates

Volunteers

Volunteer hours

Alderbury

8

3

23

126.5

Coombe Bissett

1

2

4

22

Downton

6

12

39

214.5

Firsdown

3

 

13

71.5

Grimstead

3

3

15

82.5

Landford

1

1

5

27.5

Laverstock

2

3

5

27.5

Odstock

1

7

4

22

Pitton & Farley

5

3

23

126.5

Redlynch

9

7

49

269.5

West Dean

1

 

6

33

Whiteparish

4

5

29

159.5

Winterslow

5

8

38

209

Total

49

54

253

1391.5

 

Future of the project:

 

·       Volunteer Coordinator review

·       Maintain monthly activity days

·       Footpath Clearance project scoping

·       ‘Enjoy your countryside’ event in New Year

 

The official opening of the Pitton Circular walk would take place on 11th October 2015. There would also be some activity days running on 5th and 6th October in Redlynch.

 

Winterslow were in the process of publishing a booklet of 4 walks around Winterslow. They agreed to share a copy of the booklet with the Area Board.

 

The Chairman praised the work accomplished by the Footpath Group, adding that it was another initiative taken on by the Southern Wiltshire Area Board which was taking off in other areas.

 

 

8.30pm

11.

Community Opportunities Board (COB)

To consider the attached report.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Board had previously identified three areas where community hub project might be relevant – Alderbury, Downton and Winterslow. They had been invited to decide whether to set up their own steering groups to define and take forward the project in their village with the main COB keeping a watching brief and providing overall guidance.

 

However, recent guidance from Cabinet had reminded Area Boards that the overall responsibility for campus or community developments lay with them – not the COBs. Area Boards were asked to take back control and direction of these projects. It had been left to the Board to decide what role, if any, COBs might play in this new setting.

 

The Chairman recommended that the main COB should be disbanded and that each mini-COB (local campus working groups in Downton, Alderbury & Winterslow) should now report direct to the Area Board in liaison with their local Wiltshire Councillor and Community Engagement Manager (Tom Bray).

 

The Chairman thanked all the members of the COB who had contributed to getting these three projects established.

 

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board agreed to disband the main COB and that each mini-COB should now report direct to the Area Board in liaison with their local Wiltshire Councillor and Community Engagement Manager.

8.40pm

12.

Community Area Transport Group (CATG) Update

To note the report of the CATG and consider any recommendations for funding arising from the last meeting held on 22 September 2015.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Board noted the minutes of the last CATG meeting held on Tuesday 22 September, and considered the recommendations for funding as detailed in section 4 of the table.

 

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board approved the CATG funding for the following schemes:

 

1.     The Borough, Downton - £950 for the implementation of the NWAAT subject to the Parish Council confirming its contribution of £350 and the extent of the NWAAT.

2.     High Street, Downton - £400 for the implementation of the works subject to the Parish Council confirming its contribution of £200 and the extent of the tactile paving required.

3.     Pennings Drove, Coombe Bissett – Highways Officer toconfirm with PC the number of ‘No Through Road’ signs required and report back to next meeting.

 

 

 

8.45pm

13.

Community Area Grants

The Board will consider 3 applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme, as detailed in the attached report. Application details are available by following the link.

 

Applicant

Amount requested

Applicant: Farley Cricket Club
Project Title: Development of facilities at Farley Cricket Club

View full application

£834.00

Applicant: Hazel Hill Trust
Project Title: Hazel Hill Trust Transformative Learning in Nature pilot

View full application

£4192.72

Applicant: Circular Arts
Project Title: We Can
View full application

 

£1000.00

Total amount applied for at this meeting:

£6026.72

Total spent so far:

£23662.00

Funding left for 2015/16:

£21894.78

 

 

Officer: Tom Bray, Community Engagement Manager

 

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered 3 applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme for 2015/16, as detailed in the report attached to the agenda.

 

Applicants present were invited to speak in support of their application. Following discussion the Board voted on each application in turn.

 

Decision

Farley Cricket Club was awarded £834.00 towards the refurbishment of the practice facilities.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2015/16.

 

Decision

Hazel Hill Trust was awarded £4,192.72 towards a Transformative Learning in Nature pilot.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2015/16.

 

Note: The Board requested that Hazel Hill Trust return to feedback progress of the project in 6 months time.

 

Decision

Circular Arts was awarded £1,000 towards the ‘We Can’ project.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2015/16.

 

 

14.

Delegated Authority

To agree to delegate authority to the Community Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Area Board councillors, to approve expenditure between meetings as follows:

 

  • Where the funding is needed urgently and the matter cannot wait until the next scheduled area board meeting.
  • Funding may only be approved up to a maximum of £500 per decision.
  • Decisions taken under this delegated power shall be reported to the next area board meeting.
  • Funding may only be granted under this delegated power to applications which fully meet the Community Area Grants criteria.

 

 

Minutes:

Decision

The Southern Wiltshire Area Board agreed to delegate authority to the Community Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Area Board councillors, to approve expenditure between meetings as follows:

 

  • Where the funding is needed urgently and the matter cannot wait until the next scheduled area board meeting.
  • Funding may only be approved up to a maximum of £500 per decision.
  • Decisions taken under this delegated power shall be reported to the next area board meeting.
  • Funding may only be granted under this delegated power to applications which fully meet the Community Area Grants criteria.

 

9.10pm

15.

Close

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

 

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 3 December 2015 at 7.00pm at Alderbury Village Hall.