Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Warminster Area Board and invited members of the board to introduce themselves.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Cllr Keith Humphries

·       Sandra Samuel (Community Youth Officer)

·       Barry Pirie (Associate Director for People and Business)

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2016 (copy attached).

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will introduce the Announcements included in the agenda and invite any questions.

The Chairman referred to the Carers in Wiltshire: Joint Strategy 2016-2020 announcement included in the agenda pack. It was noted that a draft strategy had been produced and was available for the public to view and comment on before being finalised. The closing date for responses was the 13 July 2016.

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

Ø  Wiltshire Police

Ø  Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Ø  Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

Ø  Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

Ø  NHS Wiltshire CCG

Ø  HealthWatch Wiltshire

Some written updates have been received and are included in this agenda.

Some written updates had been received before the meeting and were included in the agenda.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service:

Jason Moncrieff, District Commander for South West Wiltshire, introduced himself and gave an update on actions within the Warminster area. It was noted that there had been 61 incidents since the 1^st of April, most of which had been false alarms. The biggest issue the service currently faced was around educating the public on how to handle emergency situations involving fire and would be a key focus going forward.

It was also noted that key appliances were used strategically throughout the area to ensure maximum coverage. Warminster had 85% availability throughout the last quarter.

A question was asked about a recent incident where an older person had been stuck in a lift and why a charity would be charged for the fire service to assist with the incident.

Mr Moncrieff informed the meeting that the fire service did not receive funding to carry out those types of rescues. The responsibility, by law, is with the responsible owners. The fire service does not treat those types of responses as emergencies unless someone was in danger or medically unwell. An engineer should be the first point of call unless someone was in danger. It was also down to the Incident Commander if there would be a charge imposed for the rescue.

A question was asked if the fire service still carried paramedic equipment.

It was noted that the fire service did carry some equipment which was primarily for when a firefighter was injured. There was a co-responder scheme which was where a fire engine might attend an incident if an ambulance was called and unable to reach the incident on time, although he was not sure if Warminster was fully involved with that scheme.

The Chairman thanked Mr Moncrieff. 

i.                 Update on activities

ii.                LYN Grant requests

Cllr Pip Ridout updated the Area Board on the LYN activities. The next meeting of the LYN would take place on the 16 May 2016 at 6pm. A new Community Youth Officer model had been decided and the current 18 Community Youth Officers would be replaced by 7 Local Youth Facilitators.

Friends of Wiltshire would continue to oversee the skate park project.

Resolved:

To note the updates and changes to the Community Youth Model.

This item was deferred to the next Area Board meeting.

Cllr Humphries to request Area Board approval to form a local Health and Wellbeing Group & report back on progress.

Jacqui Abbott, Community Engagement Manager, gave a presentation asking for the Area Board to approve the formation of a Warminster Health and Well Being Group.

The groups would provide a community led local forum to facilitate the coordination of joined up services for older people. Membership of the group would be decided by the Area Board. 

Resolved:

To approve the formation of a Health and Well Being Group.

To agree a proposed road resurfacing and maintenance programme with a list of proposed local schemes for 2016/17.

Presented by Peter Binley, Head of Highways Asset Management & Commissioning Highways and Transport.

Peter Binley, Head of Highways Asset Management, gave a presentation on the Local Highways Investment Fund 2014-2020. It was noted that Wiltshire Council had a major programme of investment in highway maintenance over six years, which started in 2014/15 and would see a significant improvement in the condition of the county’s highway network. The investment had been targeting roads in the worst condition, and included minor roads as well as the main roads. The programme was now reaching the end of its second year, and had already seen a substantial amount of work completed.

A question was asked if footpaths would be included in the scheme and it was noted that some work had been completed on footpaths, although the road network had to be prioritised. A footpath programme would be looked at in the near future.

Resolved:

To defer the approval of the highways schemes until the next Area Board meeting and in the mean time for the Democratic Services Officer to email around the highways report to Members and Town and Parishes. 

To receive an update from the Community Engagement Manager and to introduce local residents to the ‘Big Pledge’ for 2016  http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/wiltslegacy.htm.

Jacqui Abbott, Community Engagement Manager, gave an update on recent activities.

It was noted that there was still a vacancy for an Older People’s Champion.

Dementia awareness week was due to be held in May and if any local groups wanted a dementia awareness session then to please contact Jacqui Abbott. A Dementia Action Alliance had been developed for the area which would make things easier in becoming a dementia friendly town.

The Warminster Shed community programme was still being looked into as a possible programme where local residents could attend and share skills.

The Road to Rio Big Pledge had also begun which aimed to help keep Wiltshire residents active. Individuals or teams could sign up with an aim to be the most active and help the Warminster area be the most active compared to the other Wiltshire areas. More information could be found on the Wiltshire Council website.   

To consider applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme.

The area board considered the following applications seeking 2015/16 Community Area Grant funding:

Resolved:

Corsley Show Society was awarded £1000 towards the Corsley Show ground to provide wet weather capable show-field traffic access and egress routes.

Warminster Amateur Swimming Association was awarded £1000 towards anti wave ropes.

Chapmanslade Village Hall and Memorial Ground was awarded £1305 towards new lighting.

The Chairman will invite those attending to raise any urgent items of public concerns and will also invite any questions from the floor.

If you would like to raise an issue please contact the Warminster Community Area Manager, Jacqui Abbott on 07771 844 530 or jacqui.abbott@wiltshire.gov.uk or report the issue on the Wiltshire Council Website by using this link or http://services.wiltshire.gov.uk/Forms/area_board/index.php.

.

There were no local issues raised.

To receive any updates.

It was noted that Wiltshire Council’s Economic and Regeneration team had been exploring regeneration opportunities and the Area Board would be updated in due course.

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

There were no urgent items.

The next meetings of the Warminster Area Board will be on:

·       30 June 2016 – Warminster Civic Centre

·       08 September 2016 – Warminster Civic Centre

The future meeting dates were noted as:

·       30 June 2016 – Warminster Civic Centre

·       08 September 2016 – Warminster Civic Centre

The next meeting of the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) would take place on the 31 May, 10am at the Warminster Civic Centre.