Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Cllr Graham Payne, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Trowbridge Area Board.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Dennis Drewett

To approve the minutes of the meeting of Trowbridge Area Board held on Thursday 19 January 2017

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 19 January 2017 as a true record.

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

Cllr Ernie Clark declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8.a.i

Cllr Steve Oldrieve declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8.a.iii, as a member of the applicant organisation

Cllr Graham Payne declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8.a.iv and declared that he would be replaced in the Chair for that item by Cllr Horrace Prickett

The Chairman paid tribute to Cllr Helen Osborn who had recently retired from Wiltshire Council. He described how Helen was a tour de force who had served on Trowbridge Town Council and West Wiltshire District Council as well as on Wiltshire Council, and that all who knew her would miss her quiet but enthusiastic input into local affairs and her considered opinion during debate. The Chairman concluded by stating how much he had enjoyed working with her on Trowbridge Area Board and that he wished her all the best in retirement. This sentiment was endorsed by all members of Trowbridge Area Board.

The Chairman announced that there would be a public meeting held at 6.30pm on 14 March at County Hall to discuss the future arrangements for Trowbridge Area maternity services and provide an opportunity for members of the public to put forward their ideas and comments.

To note the written reports and receive any updates from the following:

Partners

      i.        Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)

    ii.        Wiltshire Police

   iii.        Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

   iv.        Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

     v.        Town and Parish Councils

   vi.        Local Youth Network

The Chairman drew the meeting’s attention to the written updates in the agenda pack and invited partners to speak to their reports as follows:

Wiltshire Police

The written update was noted. A question was asked about the success of the recently implemented alcohol exclusion zone in Trowbridge and it was confirmed that this would come to a later Area Board after a longer period of time had elapsed in which to test the zone’s effectiveness.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Andy Green, of DWFRS, presented the written update and highlighted the following points: that a new fire safety advisor had been employed to support residents with health and safety advice in their homes and those in rental accommodation in particular; that the Community Safety Plan was available to view on the fire services’ website www.dwfire.org.uk; and that the details for requesting fire detector installation and checks and were available in the report and online.

Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

Lindsey Millen, of TCAF, presented the written update and highlighted: that a new youth club had been opened in Studley Green with support from a number of partners and was proving popular; that work had been undertaken with the Seymour residents’ association to open The Hub for young people; and that work continued to take place within John O’Gaunt school to provide lunch time drop-in support for students.

Town and Parish Councils

Lance Allan, of Trowbridge Town Council, presented the written report and highlighted: that the transfer of ownership of the old football ground to the town council had been very welcome; and that the dismissal by Wiltshire Council of some of the waiting restriction zones proposed by the town council had been disappointing. It was confirmed that no formal notification had been made with regard to restrictions on Leapgate.

Cllr Ernie Clark, on behalf of Hilperton Parish Council, reported that the parish council had not raised their precept and that work on the neighbourhood plan was going well. Cllr Clark also put on record his thanks to Trowbridge Town Council for their help with the neighbourhood plan.

Cllr Horrace Prickett, on behalf of North Bradley Parish Council, reported that the parish council had made a small increase to their precept and that development of a neighbourhood plan was progressing well with public meetings being very well attended.

Local Youth Network (LYN)

Emma Drage, Locality Youth Facilitator, reported that four grant applications had been made since the previous Area Board meeting and that before these were determined the youth budget stood at £11,000.28.

Wiltshire Councillors appointed as representatives to Outside Bodies will report on any recent news, to include:

      i.        Trowbridge Area Board Campus Working group

    ii.        Health and Wellbeing Group

   iii.        Safer Communities Group

These reports were presented elsewhere in the agenda.

An update will be provided on the Trowbridge Health and Wellbeing Centre.

Tim Martienssen, Head of Economic Regeneration at Wiltshire Council, provided a progress update on the Trowbridge Area Health and Wellbeing Centre development. He reported that consultants had been procured from Alliance Leisure and Max Associates, and that their work would include a review of the 2015 Pick Everard and Saville Report on development options for the East Wing site, to enable any concerns to be addressed regarding its accuracy and relevance to the new development. The report of this review would be circulated to the Area Board for their comments.

The officer reported that ongoing positive discussion was taking place with the working group and that a meeting would be held with Sport England to discuss a forthcoming scoping exercise/needs assessment. Work was also on-going with NHS England to ensure all strands of the project would fit well together.  The officer reported that it was anticipated the needs assessment would be available by the end of May 2017, with outline planning permission to be in place by the end of August 2017.

Colin Kay, the Area Board working group representative, welcomed the progress and work done to date, and reported that he remained keen that the leisure aspect of the development stayed on the agenda.

In response to comments, Tim Martienssen confirmed that he had explicitly requested that the consultants worked closely with the town and parish councils in their work going forward, and agreed that a copy of the review would be available for the Area Board meeting on 1 June 2017.

The Chairman thanked Tim for his presentation and ongoing work and reminded members that the health and wellbeing centre would continue to be a standing item on future Area Board meeting agendas.

a.    Community Area Grants

To consider the following applications:

                      i.        £2528.40 for Hilperton Village Hall for a fire alarm system and emergency lighting (contribution towards a £5056.80 project).

                    ii.        £5000.00 for Avon Valley Runners for the creation of running track at the rugby club (contribution towards a £30k project).

                   iii.        £5000.00 for St Thomas Church for a kitchen refit and dishwasher (contribution towards a £15k project).

                   iv.        £813.59 for Trowbridge White Ensign Association for an exhibition tent.

                     v.        £310.00 for Friends of the Down Cemetery for maintenance equipment.

                   vi.        £2058.17 for The Mead Community Primary School for an art studio (contribution towards a £12.5k project).

b.    Youth Grants

To consider the following applications:

                      i.        £2736.00 for Duke of Edinburgh Awards

- LYN recommendation to award £2600.00

                    ii.        £5000.00 for the Moroccan Association

- LYN recommendation to award £3500.00

                   iii.        £2000.00 for Youth For Christ

- LYN recommendation to award £1864.00

                   iv.        £3200.00 for T-CAF

- LYN recommendation to award £3064.00

c.    Member-Led Projects

To consider the following applications:

                     i.        £1200.00 for the hire of access equipment for gull removal in Canal Rd, Trowbridge

- Cllr Nick Blakemore

                    ii.        £20,000 for the new build of Hilperton preschool (contribution towards the £242k project)

- Cllr Ernie Clark and Cllr Steve Oldrieve

d.    Health and Wellbeing Fund

To consider the following application:

                     i.        £1590.00 : Consultation project with older people and carers

                    ii.        £1500.00 : Cultural Age Partnership’s “Celebrating Age” arts project.

a. Community Area Grants

The Area Board considered six applications to the Community Area Grant Scheme. Applicants were in attendance to answer questions on their applications. After discussion around each application, it was

Resolved:

To award £2528.40 to Hilperton Village Hall towards the cost of a fire alarm system and emergency lighting.

Note: Cllr Clark abstained from this vote

To award £5000.00 to Avon Valley Runners towards the creation of a running track at Trowbridge Rugby Club.

To award £5000.00 to St Thomas Church towards a kitchen refit and dishwasher for Holy Trinity chapel of ease.

Cllr Graham Payne left the chair and Cllr Horace Prickett chaired.

The representative from Trowbridge White Ensign Association was invited to speak in support of their application and it was

Resolved:

To award £813.59 to Trowbridge White Ensign Association for an exhibition tent.

Cllr Graham Payne returned to the chair.

In response to a question it was confirmed that the Friends of the Down Cemetery had been established in January 2017 and that the equipment would be stored in an un-consecrated chapel already in use for other storage.

It was

Resolved:

To award £310.00 to the Friends of the Down Cemetery for the purchase on maintenance equipment.

To award £2058.17 to The Mead Community Primary School towards the construction of a new art studio.

b. Youth Grants

The Area Board considered four applications to the youth fund. Emma Drage, the locality youth facilitator, presented the Local Youth Network’s (LYN) recommendations for each application and explained that the recommended funding for each project had been reduced in order to allow all projects to be funded from the remaining 2016/17 funds. Applicants were in attendance to take questions.

After discussion, it was

Resolved:

To award £2600.00 to the Duke of Edinburgh Award for Trowbridge Open Award Centre.

To award £3500.00 to the Moroccan Association for their Youth Inspiration volunteering project

To award £2000.00 to Youth For Christ for an academic and personal mentoring project

To award £3200.00 to TCAF for a youth zone at the Trowbridge Active Festival.

c. Member-Led Projects

Two applications were presented under the Councillor-Led Initiative grant scheme: access equipment for the reduction of the gull population on Canal Rd Industrial Estate, Trowbridge; and a new-build for Hilperton Pre-school. Cllr Blakemore and Cllrs Clark and Oldrieve presented their projects and took questions.

The Chairman explained that both applications could be determined at the meeting but that due to insufficient funds in the Area Board’s 2016/17 budget, should members wish to grant the full amount, the remainder could be taken from the Area Board’s 2017/18 budget on 1 April 2017, subject to the funding being available. He advised that should the funding not be available, the decision would not be implemented.

Cllr Clark confirmed that the Department for Education would contribute £3 for every £1 raised locally for Hilperton pre-school and that because this scheme was due to finish, determination of the application was urgent.

It was

Resolved:

To award £1200.00 for the hire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Peter Binley, from Wiltshire Council, will present the list of proposed highways improvement works in the Trowbridge Area.

The Area Board is asked to:

i) Note the progress report on the Local Highways Investment Fund 2014-17

ii) Review the proposals for future works and to recommend any amendments or potential future sites for further investigation

Peter Binley, Head of Highways Asset and Commissioning at Wiltshire Council, presented a list of proposed highways improvement works in the Trowbridge Area, as outlined in Appendix two of the Local Highways Investment Fund report.

The officer reported that the amount of highway in bad condition had halved since 2009 but that there was still work to do and any small areas of road in need of attention could be reported to the local highways engineer. In response to a question, the officer confirmed that requests had for streetlighting to be reinstated in areas where they had been turned off, had reduced.

It was noted that the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) had made comments around the wording of some parts of the report and that these would be picked up and fed back through the notes of the CATG meeting held on 24 Feb 2017.

The Chairman thanked Peter for his attendance and reported that the board was grateful for the good working relationship they had with the local highways engineer, and it was

Resolved:

To note the progress report on the Local Highways Investment Fund 2014-17.

To approve the proposals for future works as laid out in Appendix two of the Local Highways Improvement Fund report.

The results of the three travel surveys conducted in the Leapgate area of Trowbridge will be presented.

The Chairman drew member’s attention to the results of the three metro-counts undertaken in the Leapgate area of Trowbridge in January and February 2017.

Leap Gate, north of Soprano Way, had been found to be applicable for a Community Speedwatch scheme, and arrangements were being made for this.

Cllr Oldrieve reported that a larger piece of work was currently being done into speeding and road use in the area and it was therefore agreed that further discussion on the reports would be deferred to the June meeting of Trowbridge Area Board where it would form a substantive agenda item.

Pc Paul Harvey, of Wiltshire Police, will deliver a presentation on Cyber Crime in Wiltshire.

Pc Paul Harvey, of Wiltshire Police, delivered a presentation on Cyber Crime in Wiltshire. The officer described what was meant by cybercrime and explained that it was any crime committed using online technology and did not only take place on computers. He reported that the annual cost of cybercrime to the nation was £1billion, and around £10million to Wiltshire specifically.

The officer reported that cybercrime was being taken very seriously by Wiltshire police and that there was often a significant crossover with victims of other kinds of crime. Victims were those of all ages and that males were slightly more likely than females to be affected.

The officer explained that cybercrime often went unreported and that it was important that people were aware of how to prevent it and protect themselves. He offered to visit any groups who would like support with protecting themselves or who would like to receive further information. Interested groups should get in touch at paul.harvey@wiltshire.pnn.police.uk.

Following the presentation, it was noted by members that cybercrime had been recognised in the past as an issue by the Area Board and that it had been useful to learn more about its impact locally.

Mary Cullen, the Community Engagement Manager, will provide an update of her work and show a short video from the Trowbridge Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) event.

Mary Cullen, the Community Engagement Manager, gave an update of her work in the Trowbridge Area

There had been continued engagement with the local community around the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, most notably during the Great British Spring Clean which had taken place over the weekend of 3-5 March and which had been attended by over 175 people and had culminated in 124 bags of rubbish being collected in the Trowbridge area. The officer reported that she could provide the necessary equipment to groups interested in organising litter picks at other times.

A Dementia Friends workshop had been held at Trowbridge town hall on 28 February 2017 to report on progress and share good practice form around the county. A Singing For The Brain project had been set up in Trowbridge with support from an Area Board grant, and Dementia Awareness week was due to take place between 14 and 20 May 2017.

An older person’s champion had been appointed and was undertaking a mapping exercise to establish what current activities were on offer in the Trowbridge Area and to identify gaps in service provision.

The Safer and Supportive Communities group which had been formed from representatives from the Area Board, town council, fire and police service, NHS, and other community partners, was currently re-visiting the Safe Places scheme with a  view to relaunching it in the near future.

The CEM reported the work coming up which included: the Big Pledge, a county-wide health and wellbeing challenge; planning for commemorative activities to mark the centenary of the end of world war one in 2018; and the roll out of the Healthy Schools award scheme which had been shown to make big differences to children’s health and wellbeing. She then showed a short video of local community activity over the previous year.

The Chairman thanked Mary Cullen for her continued hard work in the Trowbridge Area.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and wished members not standing in the upcoming council election a happy retirement. He reminded members that the next meeting would be held on 1 June 2017.