Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Area Board and Cllr Tony Jackson to his first meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Chitterne Parish Council.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 2 March 2017. (copy attached).

The minutes of the Area Board held on 2 March 2017 were presented and it was requested that the “In Attendance” heading was changed to “Present”.

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of Warminster Area Board held on 2 March 2017 with the amendment specified above.

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:

·         Appointment of Warminster Area Board Chairman and Vice-Chairman 2017-18.

·         Warminster Regeneration Project.

·         Housing Site Allocations.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Appointment of Chairman and Vice-Chairman 2017-18.

Cllr Andrew Davis reported that he had been elected as Chairman at a special meeting of the Area Board on 16 May 2017 and that Cllr Pip Ridout had been elected as the Vice-Chair.

Warminster Regeneration Project.

The scoping exercise for what would be possible for the town centre had been completed in early 2017 and the Chairman invited Tim Martienssen, Head of Economic Development, to give an update on the project and to table the report (appended). The conclusions of the consultants’ report were noted. It was explained that the report would enable the council to make better-informed decisions about the site and may support future bids for funding.

In the discussion that followed, members of the public expressed disappointment that local ambitions for the site had not yet been met and that consideration should be made to the replacement or rejuvenation of the town’s leisure facilities. A specific question had been submitted regarding the way in which the matter was taken forward by Wiltshire Council and Warminster Area Board and a written answer would be provided to this. It was suggested that the regeneration working group be revived and that their first task should be to consider the consultants’ report and actions that could be implemented locally.

Members confirmed that they had entered discussion with the Cabinet member responsible for town redevelopment programmes and that further information would be sought in response to the points raised during the discussion.

The Chairman thanked Tim Martienssen, who extended an offer to the board to return to a later meeting to explore the report findings in more depth.

Housing site allocation consultation

The Chairman announced that the public consultation had started on the Housing Site Allocation and that four public exhibitions would be held in July 2017. Meeting attendees were encouraged to submit their comments and it was agreed that further information would be circulated (appended).

To appoint members to the Working Groups, Task Groups and Outside Bodies:

·         Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

·         Health & Wellbeing Group

·         Warminster and Westbury CCTV Partnership

·         Neighbourhood Plan Implementation Working Group

·         Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

·         Neighbourhood Tasking Group (NTG)

·         Local Youth Network (LYN)

·         Warminster Regeneration Working Group

The Chairman drew to the meeting’s attention the required membership of the working groups and task groups of Warminster Area Board, and the outside bodies to which the board sent a representative. It was reported that the Neighbourhood Plan Implementation Working Group had been disbanded. Nominations were sought for each of the positions and it was

Resolved:

To appoint Cllr Andrew Davis to the Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

To appoint Cllr Andrew Davis to the Health and Wellbeing Group

To appoint Cllr Andrew Davis to the Warminster and Westbury CCTV Partnership

To appoint Cllr Pip Ridout to the Warminster and Village Community Partnership

To appoint Cllr Pip Ridout to the Neighbourhood Tasking Group (NTG)

To appoint Cllr Andrew Davis to the Local Youth Network

To appoint Cllr Tony Jackson and Cllr Fleur de Rhe Phillipe to the Warminster Regeneration Working Group

To receive updates from any of the following partners:

·        Wiltshire Police

·        Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·        Warminster and Villages Community Partnership

·        Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

·        Wiltshire CCG

·        Healthwatch Wiltshire

Written updates from key partners had been included with the agenda pack and the following partners provided a verbal update to accompany their reports

Wiltshire Police

Andy Fee introduced himself and his role and invited questions. He reported that he intended to attend future Area Board meetings and to provide written updates. He gave details on the police team working in Warminster, Tisbury and Trowbridge and about their work in engaging with communities and partners. Rural protection and domestic abuse were reported to be key priorities for the area. The police radios held in CCTV centres in the area had been temporarily removed but it was acknowledged that they were a valuable way of collecting and recording evidence and work was being undertaken to reinstate them.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The officer invited questions on the written report. It was highlighted that the statistics included in the report were well received and a request was made that these continued to be included.

Warminster Town Council

It was reported that Warminster Town Council had been awarded gold status and members of the board extended their congratulations for this achievement

Athenaeum Trust

Tony Nicklin provided an update on the asset transfer of the Warminster Community Centre from Wiltshire Council to the Athenaeum Trust. The cost of the work required on the building had increased due to the identification of asbestos and fundraising was halfway to completion. Negotiations were ongoing around the access Wiltshire Council would have regarding use of office space in the building. Thanks were extended to the councillors on the Area Board who had worked hard on taking the project forward.

A short presentation from Lee Stripe – Wiltshire Police about the extent of Cyber Crime in the county and how the Police are taking action to prevent this.

This item was deferred to a future meeting

Jan Bowra - Locality Youth Facilitator, Warminster Community Area.

Jan Bowra, Locality Youth Facilitator, provided an update on the work of the Local Youth Network and encouraged members of the town and parish councils to join the network and seek advice and support with any youth projects they were undertaking. Work was ongoing to ensure LYN meetings were flexible to the needs of young people and other members. The youth grant budget for 2017/18 was reported to be £17,285 and there had been no underspend from the previous financial year. No applications for grants had been received for consideration at the meeting.

Jacqui Abbott – Community Engagement Manager.

An interactive session to build an understanding in the community and amongst local partners, parish councils and new Area Board members about the role of the Area Board, grant processes, devolved responsibilities, local priority setting and the Our Community Matters portal.

Jacqui Abbott, the Community Engagement Manager (CEM), delivered a presentation on the roles and functions of Warminster Area Board. She explained that her role was to support community engagement with council processes, to manage the community area grant fund, to support and co-ordinate community events and projects and to promote opportunities to the public.

The CEM went on to provide details of the budgets for 2017/18 for each of the Area Board’s funding streams and gave an overview of the Board’s priority areas for the coming year which were identified at a community consultation event earlier in the year.

Recent projects included a county-wide spring clean and a new tree planting initiative to commemorate the centenary of the end of the first world war which was in its planning stages.

Members were encouraged to visit the Our Community Matters website and to sign up for the weekly electronic newsletter.

Jacqui Abbott – Community Engagement Manager.

A short film.

A short film was shown on the big pledge activity challenge. Members of the meeting were encouraged to sign up to the pledge online and log their activity during the month of July. Details of the challenge were available at: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/bigpledge

Notes from the meeting of the Community Area Transport Group from 29 March 2017 were presented and it was agreed that clarification on the financial position of the grant scheme would be provided at the next meeting of the Area Board.

Resolved:

To receive the notes of the CATG meeting of 29 March 2017

To award costs associated with retaining the parallel parking arrangement, resurfacing the footway and replace damaged kerbs at Boreham Fields (issue 4538) subject to a 25% contribution from Warminster Town Council

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

The area board considered four applications to the Community Area Grant fund and members were invited to ask questions of the applicants. After consideration of each grant it was

Resolved:

To award £5000.00 to Codford Parish Council for an extension and roof restoration for Codford Village Hall.

To award £807.00 to Tynings Allotments and Leisure Gardener’s Association for external tables and chairs.

To award £2000.00 to The Woolstore Country Theatre for a new Lighting Power Distribution System.

To award £5000.00 to Heytesbury & Sutton Veny Cricket Club for cricket covers and net, and renovation of the pavilion.

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 Thursday 7 September 2017 at Codford Village Hall.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and reminded members that the next meeting of the Warminster Area Board would be held at Codford Village hall on Thursday 7 September 2017.