Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Trowbridge Area Board.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Graham Payne, Michael Hudson – Service Director, Mike Franklin of Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, Roger Evans of North Bradley Parish Council and the Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group.

      i.        To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 17 March 2011.

    ii.        Matters arising from the previous minutes.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 17 March 2011 were agreed a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

It was noted that, following the recent issue of cars being sold on the roadsides, the problem seemed to be reoccurring on the Frome Road site.

Action: The Community Area Manager would inform the appropriate officer and request an update for the next Area Board meeting.

Councillors Jeff Osborn, John Knight, Peter Fuller, Tom James and Helen Osborn all declared general personal interests in Trowbridge Town Council issues due to being members of Trowbridge Town Council. All councillors had dispensations allowing them to speak and vote on such matters.

To include the following:

      i.        Consultation on Waste Sites

    ii.        End of Life Care

   iii.        Older People’s Accommodation Strategy

   iv.        Thank you re dropped kerbs

    v.        Longmeadow Tara – Wilts Life Awards.

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

      i.        Wiltshire Police

    ii.        Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

   iii.        NHS Wiltshire

   iv.        Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

    v.        Community Area Young People’s Issues Group (CAYPIG)

   vi.        Parish and Town Councils.

Updates from partners were received as follows:

      i.        Wiltshire Police

An update report from Wiltshire Police was included within the agenda. The following issues arose from the report:

·         Inspector Cullop announced that the results of the recent public consultation would be presented at a future meeting of the Area Board.

·         The ‘lock it or lose it’ campaign was soon to be re-launched. This would hopefully raise awareness for people to be more vigilant with their vehicles, especially older vehicles which tended to be targeted by thieves.

·         The overall crime detection rate in the Trowbridge Community Area was the highest in the county.

·         Non-dwelling burglaries, which included sheds, garages and some commercial property, tended to be higher during the summer months with garden machinery being targeted.

·         A range of options for partnership working were being explored, including the use of community hubs in partnership with Wiltshire Council and regional working with other forces including the sharing of units such as major crime.

    ii.        Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

Update reports from Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service for March and April were included within the agenda and handed out at the meeting. There was no further update.

   iii.        NHS Wiltshire

An April update from NHS Wiltshire was included within the agenda. There was no further update.

   iv.        Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

An update from TCAF was distributed at the meeting. Concern was raised that the Trowbridge Community Area was missing out and action needed to be taken in partnership with interested parties to address the issues and make the area attractive to investors.

Action: Councillor Keith Humphries undertook to pass on these concerns to his Cabinet colleagues.

    v.        Community Area Young Peoples’ Issues Group (CAYPIG)

The CAYPIG was now meeting once every week at the Studley Green TARA and various ideas were being explored including fundraising and a commercial cinema. The CAYPIG had also been presented with a certificate from Trowbridge Town Council for services to the community.

   vi.        Parish and Town Councils

Parish Councils Liaison Group

The Parish Councils Liaison Group had very recently met and the main issues that had arisen had been transport related. The group was working with the appropriate Wiltshire Council officers to address the issues.

Trowbridge Town Council

Trowbridge Town Council provided an update as follows:

·         The Town Council remained concerned about car parking charges in the town, particularly at Church Street and Stallard car parks. The Town Council was also concerned at the potential ban on Cleveland Bridge in Bath.

·         A ‘Trowbridge Villages’ exhibition was currently on display at the museum, and further events would take place on Saturday 7 May in conjunction with the Lions May Fayre.

·         The Town Council had recently met with the CAYPIG and would be taking forward the request of possibly providing lighting at the skate park until 9.00pm.

·         The Civic Centre project remained on budget and was scheduled for completion before the end of the year.

·         Newland Homes had expressed interest in developing 78 homes on the remainder of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive updates from Wiltshire Councillors appointed as representatives to outside bodies.

Transforming Trowbridge

The ongoing issue of poor pedestrian access to the Gateway in Trowbridge had been the main focus, and a transport and footfall survey needed to be carried out in order to assess the problem and decide on the best course of action. The loss of jobs as a result of the closure of Vodaphone and Virgin Mobile was also a major concern. The new Matalan store in Trowbridge was due to open next Thursday, and the KFC appeal had come through and would be taking place shortly. Another major concern was with regards to the completion of a new leisure centre, which had been put back from 2013 to 2015.

Councillor Keith Humphries will talk about his Cabinet responsibilities for Health and Wellbeing, and respond to any questions.

Note – questions may be submitted in advance – please email penny.bell@wiltshire.gov.uk by Friday 29 April 2011.

Councillor Keith Humphries provided an explanation of his responsibilities under his Cabinet portfolio of Health & Wellbeing, which was soon to be re-named as Public Health & Public Protection. The main elements to Councillor Humphries’ portfolio included:

·         Working with a wide range of partners country-wide.

·         Working to integrate public health into public authorities, with Wiltshire Council being an ‘early implementer’.

·         Dealing with all public matters including screening programmes, trading standards, environmental health, food safety, licensing and emergency planning.

·         Knowledge management, including the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

·         The Olympics, dealing with the build up and the legacy afterwards, and organising the torch relay.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Humphries for his presentation.

To receive an update on the building of the play area from Niki Willows, Play Development Advisor, Wiltshire Council.

To receive information on plans for the future and to obtain the views and opinion of the Area Board.

Chief Executive James Scott or Chairman Brian Stables.

Brian Stables, Chairman of the RUH NHS Trust, gave a presentation on the RUH’s Foundation Trust application and its plans for the future.

A Foundation Trust was described as follows:

·         Public Benefit Corporations, based on the concept of mutual organisations.

·         Members were drawn from patients, the local community and staff.

·         Accountable to members for the types of services offered and standards of care

·         Integral to the NHS but with greater freedom from the control of the Strategic Health Authority and Department of Health.

·         Greater freedom to invest money in patient care based on local need.

·         Foundation Trusts were not private hospitals, did not return a profit to members but invested surplus in patient care.

The RUH would continue to provide comprehensive acute care through the Service Development Plan, but would be focussing on cancer care, the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and developing the hospital site.

It was envisaged that the RUH would become an NHS Foundation Trust by April 2012. Updates were available via the RUH website at: www.ruh.nhs.uk/foundationtrust

After the presentation, the following comments arose:

·         Massive investment had been made, particularly in the past few months, to abolish any remaining mixes-gender wards.

·          ‘Monitor’ was the licensing organisation for Foundation Trusts, and the White Paper had made provision for Monitor to become a ‘market-maker’.

·         The hospitals were not in competition with each other, as the number of patients was not decreasing.

·         All hospitals needed to be a Foundation Trust, or part of one, by 2014.

·         There was no intention for the RUH to ever enter into any Private Finance Initiative schemes.

The Chairman thanked Brian Stables for his presentation.

To receive information on the broadband survey from Ian Baker, ICT/E-Learning Advisor, Wiltshire Council.

Ian Baker, Digital Inclusion Programme Manager at Wiltshire Council, gave a presentation on the Council’s Superfast Broadband survey.

The current provision of broadband in Wiltshire was quite patchy, particularly in rural areas, and Wiltshire Council was investing £16million with the aim of having a minimum of 85%, (possibly 95%) of premises to have access to superfast broadband by 2015.

Further information, including access to the survey, could be accessed via the following link: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/digitalinclusion

Doug Ross of Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF) will present the draft Trowbridge Community Area Plan for the Area Board’s endorsement.

Doug Ross, Trowbridge Community Area Future Coordinator, presented the draft Trowbridge Community Area Plan and sought the views of the Area Board.

A number of comments arose, as follows:

·         Some people felt that a new secondary school was required on the Eastern side of Trowbridge. The suggestion of a new school on the northern side was also made.

·         The issue of housing needed to be considered further, particularly with the lack of first time buyers which impacted on the market. It was also important not to misinterpret housing as meaning ‘social housing’ only.

·         A comment was made regarding the provision of green space in Trowbridge town, and it was suggested that a more robust approach was needed for the provision of informal green space.

·         It was felt that the main outcomes within the plan needed to be more specific with appropriate targets being set.

·         It was suggested that the plan should contain more emphasis on cycling and cycling provision within the town and surrounding villages.

·         A few comments were made regarding the size of the plan, and it was suggested that the size should be reduced because it was too long at present.

Decision

The Area Board noted the Draft Trowbridge Community Area Plan and thanked the Coordinators for their work, and requested that further work was completed with a view to bringing a revised Plan to a future meeting of the Area Board for consideration.

To report on information regarding the Bath Bridge ban.

The Chairman reported that he had been in contact with Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways & Transport, along with various appropriate officers, regarding the issue of the proposed bridge ban in Bath.

Bath & North East Somerset Council was currently going through its elections and so it had been advised that the issue would be best addressed following this. An update would therefore be provided at the next meeting of the Area Board.

To receive an update on the Community Asset Transfer application from Wiltshire Rural Music School.

To present a short film of Larkrise Community Farm and Newtown Primary School, which both received Community Area Grant Funding during 2010/11.

A DVD was played featuring recent projects at Larkrise Community Farm and Newtown Primary School, both of which received Community Area Grant Funding from the Area Board during 2010/11.

Following the DVD, the Chairman presented both projects with a plaque and both projects were congratulated on their achievements.

The Chairman will take any other items of urgent business.

The meeting is asked to note the future meeting dates below and is reminded to complete the evaluation forms.

The Forward Plan is attached for information.

      i.        Community Area Grants

To consider the following applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme 2011/12:

a)    Trowbridge Wanderers – to refurbish shower facilitities  - £5,000 requested

b)    Alzheimer’s Support – Creation of Trowbridge Dementia Hub - £4,500 requested

c)    Trowbridge & District Youth Band – to run a participatory music project with children from Studley Green - £990 requested

    ii.        TCAF Funding

To consider the allocation of the first tranche of funding to Trowbridge Community Area Future.

      i.        Community Area Grants

The Area Board considered the following applications to the Community Area Grant Scheme 2011/12:

a)    Trowbridge Wanderers – the sum of £5,000 was requested to refurbish the shower facilities.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £5,000 to Trowbridge Wanderers.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Trowbridge Community Area Plan.

b)    Alzheimer’s Support – the sum of £4,500 was requested for the creation of a Trowbridge dementia hub.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £4,500 to Alzheimer’s Support on condition that the match funding from the Landfill Trust was confirmed.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Trowbridge Community Area Plan.

c)    Trowbridge & District Youth Band – the sum of £990 was requested to run a participatory music project with children from Studley Green.

Decision

The Area Board awarded the sum of £990 to the Trowbridge & District Youth Band on condition that the group did not apply for a similar project elsewhere as this would become core funding.

Reason: The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria 2011/12 and demonstrated a link to the Trowbridge Community Area Plan.

    ii.        Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF)

The Area Board considered the allocation of 2011/12 funding to TCAF.

Decision

The Area Board approvedthe whole year’s core funding of £15,556 with an agreement to release the 1^st tranche of £7,778 immediately.

The Area Board agreed to the release of the 2^nd tranche at the 17 November 2011 Area Board meeting as long as conditions set by the Partnership Development Officer and agreed by the Board had been met.