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Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Laverton, Bratton Road, Westbury BA13 3EN. View directions

Contact: Roger Bishton  (Democratic Services Officer)

Items
No. Item

1.

Chairman's Welcome and Introductions

Minutes:

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

 

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from:

 

Cllr Russell Hawker – Wiltshire Council

Cllr Gordon King – Wiltshire Council

Cllr Sonja Harris – Dilton Marsh Parish Council

Jan Bowra – Locality Youth Facilitator

 

The Chairman reported that as only two Wiltshire Councillors were present, the meeting was not quorate and therefore, although the meeting would take place on an informal basis, nor decisions could be made.

3.

Minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 August 2016.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting would be presented to the next meeting of the Area Board for a decision on their accuracy to be made.

 

 

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

5.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

6.

Partner and Community Updates

To receive any updates from our partners. Some reports have been received and are included in the pack.

 

·         Wiltshire Police

·         Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

·         BA13+ Community Area Partnership

·         Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group

·         Healthwatch Wiltshire

·         Westbury Town Council

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Area Board received the following updates from key partners:-

 

(a)           Wiltshire Police  Sgt Louis McCoy presented a report from which it was noted that the number of reported crimes in the Westbury area over the past two months had dropped. The only series of note was a small spate of thefts from vehicles which occurred overnight between 31 August and 1 September 2016 in the Oldfield Park area.

 

There were occasional thefts from vehicles parked in beauty spots and the public were regularly advised not to leave valuables in the cars on display.

 

It was noted that the current area priority was on Edward Street where there were continual reports of anti-social behaviour involving youths. The area was being proactively patrolled and the issue had recently been made a sector priority which allowed for extra officers to be deployed.  Additionally, work was being carried out with the Wiltshire Council local youth network with the intention of doing some positive activities with the identified youths.

 

Further to his explanation about community messaging at the last meeting, Sgt McCoy reported that there had been a 20% growth in its use over recent months which was encouraging.  The link to use this facility was https://www.wiltsmessaging.co.uk

 

(b)      Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service     An update report was received and noted.

 

(c)       BA13+ Community Area Partnership  Phil McMullen, BA13 Community Area Partnership Coordinator presented an update report from which it was noted that the next Partnership meeting was due to be held on 17 November 2016 at the Leighton Recreation Centre, starting at 7.00pm. The theme of the meeting would be “The Environment” when fracking would be discussed.

 

(d)      Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group  An update report was received and noted.

 

It was pointed out that the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) did not at yet have an established relationship across all the health and care organisations with the B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire footprint and accordingly the CCG was at an early stage of developing a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).  Outline proposals for the next five years were shared with NHS England in June 2016 and further more detailed plans would be submitted shortly.  A programme of public engagement would commence in the autumn and it was requested that the Area Board receive updates, possibly as part of the regular CCG report.

 

(e)       HealthwatchWiltshire  An update report was received and noted.

(f)        Westbury Town Council  An update report was received and noted.

 

Cllr David Tout reported that a defibrillator had been placed outside the main entrance to Watersmead Care Home but he was unsure as to whether or not it had been registered with the Ambulance Trust.

 

7.

Community Policing Model

A video recording will be shown introducing the implementation of a new community policing model across the County.  Sgt Louis McCoy, Community Policing Team Deputy Sector Head, will be in attendance. 

Minutes:

Sgt Louis McCoy, Community Policing Team Deputy Sector Head and Rachel Kirby, System Thinking Lead made a presentation which explained the implementation of a new community policing model across Wiltshire.

 

Rachel Kirby showed a short video recording which introduced the concept of community policing.

 

She explained that the Community Policing Team combined Neighbourhood Policing, Response Teams and Local Crime Investigators so that there was a “one team” approach to community policing. This meant that there was a larger team of officers and police staff available to attend incidents and lead to an improvement in the communication between teams and departments. It provided the public with a better service because issues could potentially be resolved at the first point of contact (i.e. 101 and 999 call-takers) and provide them with a named officer/police staff member who they could keep in touch with during the investigation. It also encouraged officers and staff to take ownership of cases.

 

It was reported that each Community Policing Team would be overseen by a Superintendent and have an Inspector and a Deputy who directly lead the Team. The Team would be made up of a mix of police officers, community co-ordinators, PCSOs, civilian local crime investigators and Special Constables.  

 

Following the successful trial of the community policing model in several West Wiltshire areas including Westbury and Warminster, the model was being rolled out across the Force, starting with the county of Wiltshire on 17 October 2016 and followed by Swindon on 7 November 2016.

 

Rachel Kirby explained that the new model was working well and was helping to speed up the solving of crimes due in part to the quicker and easier sharing of information.  As an example she referred to a crime in Bradford on Avon which led to the perpetrator was apprehended within 48 hours.

 

It was mentioned that some villages were disappointed that a police presence was rarely seen in their areas.

 

Rachel Kirby stated that the Police would be engaging with the public as the roll-out of the Model proceeded and would welcome any feedback. She suggested that members of the public spoke with their local officers to find out more information or provide feedback, which could also be sent at feedback@wiltshire.police.uk

 

Further information, including videos and infographics explaining the new model could be found at www.wiltshire.police.uk/information/community-policing-pilot

 

The Chairman thanked Sgt Louis McCoy and Rachel Kirby for their interesting and informative presentation.             

8.

Community Hub Update

A progress update will be provided at the meeting.

Minutes:

The Chairman reported that an update would be provided at the next meeting when Cllr John Thomson, Deputy Leader of the Council and Laurie Bell, Associate Director, Communities & Communications, would be able to attend.   

9.

Westbury Railway Station Sidings Yard Lane

(1)       To note that this lane is blocked at its connection with the footpath leading to both Dilton Marsh (Penleigh) and Oldfield Road.  Paul Millard, Senior Rights of Way Warden and Ali Roberts, Rights of Way Officer, will be attending to provide further information.

 

(2)       To receive details about a proposed new cycleway.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

(1)       It was noted that Westbury Railway Station Sidings Yard Lane was blocked at its connection with the footpath leading to both Dilton Marsh (Penleigh) and Oldfield Road. The Chairman introduced and welcomed PauI Millard, Senior Rights of Way Warden and Janice Green & Alison Roberts, Rights of Way Officers who were attending this meeting to provide further information.

 

Ms Green explained that this lane was not recorded as a public right of way on the Definitive Map, the legal record of the public’s rights of way, and this could only be changed if it could be shown that this was incorrect. She stated that under Section 53 of the Countryside & Wildlife Act 1981, a Definitive Map Modification Order could be made, provided that there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the path had been used by the public on a regular basis for a period of 20 years.  The process was lengthy and often led to public inquiries if objections to the proposal to include the path as a public right of way on the Definitive Map.  Members of the public wishing to pursue this should complete a witness statement using a form which would be available from Liam Cripps, Community Engagement Manager, the Laverton or Westbury Library.

 

(2)       Ms Green also referred to the proposal to provide a new cycleway. She explained that this could only be considered based on usage and could take two to three years to process.  It was suggested that articles be published in White Horse News and Our Community Matters drawing attention to this proposal and encouraging members of the public who used this path as a cycleway to contact the Community Engagement Manager for further information about the process and to provide written evidence as to usage.      

10.

Youth Grants

To consider a report from Jan Bowra, Locality Youth Facilitator requesting funding for two applications.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that as the meeting was not quorate, this item would need to be deferred.

11.

Follow on from Healthwatch Meeting

A healthwatch report entitled Health and Care in Westbury is attached.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The meeting received a healthwatch report entitled Health and Care in Westbury for information.

 

Members of the public were encouraged to visit the website at www.healthwatchwiltshire.co.uk

 

It was noted that the report suggested that the White Horse Medical Centre had been designed to cater for the medical needs of all Westbury residents both currently and after the expansion of the town and surrounding area.  This was questioned but it was pointed out that many patients were seeking appointments with GPs when in fact an appointment with a specialised nurse or other medical professional would be more appropriate and thereby free up doctors’ diaries.  Furthermore, it was noted that 55 hours of appointments at the White Horse Medical Centre were lost in May and 156 days wasted in Wiltshire during July due to non-attendance.   The White Horse Medical Centre was looking to amend their appointments process to help overcome this problem.

 

It was reported that nationally 75% of medical students were female and it was quite likely that the majority would eventually wish to work part-time.

 

 

12.

Health & Wellbeing Group

To receive an update from Lorraine Walters, Older People’s and Carers’ Champion.

Minutes:

Lorraine Walters, Older People’s and Carers’ Champion gave a brief update on recent activities that had been taking place.  In particular, she referred to funding which had been raised by the Westbury Lions’ Group to help promote activities for older people.

 

She stated that the next meeting was due to be held on Wednesday 16 November 2016 at the White Horse Health Centre, starting at 9.30am, the aim of the meeting being to plan and progress future activities.

 

Lorraine Walters informed the meeting that one of her principal aims at present was to meet with the people of Westbury and surrounding villages to ascertain the needs of the community area. She noticed that very little publicity seemed to be available on the work of the Health & Wellbeing Group and thought that much could be done to drew the Group’s work to the attention of the community by the use of the White Horse News and Buddy News. She referred to the use of local publications in nearby towns such as Melksham which she considered should be replicated in Westbury.    

13.

Big Pledge, Road to Rio Review 2016

The Community Engagement Manager will make a presentation reviewing the 2016 Big Pledge, Road to Rio activity challenge, including a breakdown of the county-wide and local participation. A summary report is attached.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

A report by the Community Engagement Manager was received which reviewed the 2016 Big Pledge, Road to Rio activity challenge, including a breakdown of the county-wide and local participation.     

 

It was noted that in Wiltshire 18,000 local people took part between 4 June and 29 July and in total walked, ran, swam or cycled 779,742km over eight weeks.  The challenge gave them the motivation to get moving and the chance to see what a difference exercise could make.

 

People signed up to take a virtual journey around the world to the 2016 host city of Rio de Janeiro.  Individuals, schools and teams completed a 20 stage journey that included stops at previous host cities. 

 

The Big Pledge team collated data for each community area based on Wiltshire Council’s community areas using the postcode of participants.  The meeting was delighted to noted that Westbury came second in the County with 97 participants completing a total distance of  78,669km.

14.

Delegation to Community Engagement Manager

A report by Libby Beale, Senior Democratic Services Officer is attached.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that as the meeting was not quorate, this item would need to be deferred.

 

15.

Community Area Grants

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

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that as the meeting was not quorate, this item would need to be deferred.

 

16.

Future Meeting Dates

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will take place on:

 

Thursday 8 December 2016 at The Laverton, Westbury, BA13 3EN

 

Future Meeting Dates

 

Thursday 2 February 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury BA13 3EN

 

Thursday 13 April 2017, venue to be confirmed.

Minutes:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Westbury Area Board would be held on Thursday 8 December 2016 at The Laverton, Westbury.

 

The Community Engagement Manager informed the meeting that a conference entitled Our Community Matters would be held at the Leigh Park Community Centre on Tuesday 8 November 2016, starting at 7.00pm, the purpose being to find out what were the three top priorities for a number of issues affecting the people in the Westbury Community Area.  This conference would be open to all members of the community.