Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2017.

Resolved:

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 2 February 2017 as a correct record.

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

 There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

·                Leigh Park Community Centre, Westbury – Transfer of Land

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

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

·         Wiltshire Police

·         Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

·         BA13+ Community Area Partnership

·         Health & Wellbeing Group

·         Westbury Town Council

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

(a)          Wiltshire Police Community Coordinator, PC Amy Hardman presented a report from which it was noted that a multi-agency operation to tackle illegal fishing had started in March 2017.  Under the banner of Operation Clampdown, water bailiffs and volunteer bailiffs were trying to target specific locations and were liaising with local fishermen at these places to establish where illegal fishing was taking place and whether or not any criminal offences were occurring. They were also linking in with the Environment Agency, Angling Trust, Rural Crime Team and with the Community Police Team to develop intelligence relating to offences and possible suspects.

The Area Board was informed that through feedback and working with local communities, community messaging was developing well and daily updates about local crimes were being uploaded on www.wiltsmessaging.co.uk  This was enabling the Force to reach as much of the community as possible and was being well received.

It was reported that overall, crime reported within Westbury had been just under the figure predicted for March. However, the area around Westbury Market Place had been made a priority area for the Community Police Team, which should involve increased patrols during the evenings and nights and also during the day throughout the school holidays. Statistics for the villages around Westbury indicated that crime figures were below those predicted in all crime types.

PC Hardman drew attention to the availability of a new toolkit which was available from Wiltshire Council at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-events-toolkit.pdf  This toolkit provided guidance and advice for most types of events, including topics ranging from traffic management to toilets, and gave contact details for which agencies and departments needed to be contacted when applying for various licences or road closures.

Dr Peter Biggs requested information about the cost of carrying out the investigation regarding the late Sir Edward Heath and if all the officers involved had now returned to their usual duties.  The Chairman responded by saying that the Chief Constable would be asked what information was available and this would be reported back to the next meeting.

(b)          Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service  A report was presented by District Commander Andy Green from which it was noted that there had been some changes in senior staff since the retirement of Darren Gunter, Chief Fire Officer (CFO).  Ben Ansell had been appointed CFO with effect from 1 December 2016 and Jim Mahoney was now Assistant Chief Fire Officer with responsibility for Operations (Response).

The Fire and Rescue Authority had approved a budget of £53.735 million for 2017/18 together with a requirement to increase council tax with a 2.6 pence per week increase for Band D properties, resulting in an annual fire precept Band D of £70.59 within the council tax for the year starting on 1 April 2017.

(c)          BA13+ Community Area Partnership  The written report was received and noted.

Carole King further reported that Healthwatch Wiltshire had very recently published a couple of reports on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

An update will be provided at the meeting.

An update was provided by the Chairman.

Richard Hatt, Headteacher at Westbury Junior School had reported that the School had been instrumental in establishing the opportunity to create a Community Centre in the Old Youth Centre.  This had arisen from the need of children in the area to become active and occupied both within and outside of the school day. The Centre would not be managed by the School but by a charitable trust, a non-profit organisation, who would have ownership via a lease.  The following actions would be required:-

·         The establishment of the charitable trust

·         Formal support for the project from the Area Board and the Town Council

·         Establish practical support for a half day a week for a project support worker

·         Agree a date for formal transfer of the building from the Local Authority

·         Establish pump priming funding to open the Community Centre.

Progress would be reported back to the Area Board in due course.

To consider the following application for funding from the Youth Grants Scheme:

·         £2808.24 – Fairfield Farm College, for a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) inclusive sports facility.

Consideration was given to a report by Jan Bowra, Locality Youth Facilitator, in which councillors were asked to consider funding for one application. 

On hearing from Dr Tina Pagett, College Principal

Resolved:

To approve a grant of £2,056.00 towards the cost of providing  a FFC multi-use games area MUGA inclusive sports facility for Fairfield Farm College, Dilton Marsh.

To receive an update report from the Community Engagement Manager.

The Community Engagement Manager reported that the first set of Youth Awards had been made at the Leigh Park Community Centre on Friday 10 March 2017.  300 members of the public had been present and 174 young people had been nominated to receive an award.  Some excellent and incredible performances had been made by various youth groups, including Matravers Dance Group and the evening had been very well received.

Plans were being made for a similar evening to be held the following year and potential sponsors were already expressing an interest.     

To consider the following applications for funding from the Community Area Grants Scheme:

·         £1000.00 – Bratton Recreation Ground, for equipment improvements

·         £1250.00 – West Wilts Society of Model Engineers, for a new milling machine

·         £2037.73 – Laverton Institute Trust, for a projector for the Laverton Institute main Hall.

Consideration was given to a report by the Community Engagement Manager in which councillors were asked to consider funding from the 2017/18 Area Grants Budget, all of which met the grants criteria. After receiving brief statements from the applicants giving reasons for the requests,

Resolved:

(1)       Application 2196 – Bratton Recreation Ground

To approve a grant of £1,000.00 towards the cost of providing:-

·         A ride-on rotary mower to replace the existing worn-out mower.

·         A cricket square mower to replace the existing worn-out mower.

·         A towed roller to be used on the football pitches and cricket outfield.

(2)      Application 2252 – West Wilts Society of Model Engineers

To approve a grant of £750.00 towards the cost of providing a WWSME new milling machine, it being noted that a grant of £500.00 had been made by Westbury Town Council.

(3)      Application 2265 – Laverton Institute Trust

To approve a grant of £2,037.73 towards the cost of providing a replacement projector for the Main Hall.

To receive the notes of the Westbury Community Area Transport Group meeting held on 8 March 2017 and to consider the recommendations set out in the notes.

The Area Board received notes of the Westbury Community Area Transport Group (CATG) meeting held on 8 March 2017.

Resolved:

(1)      To allocate £3,600.00 for the implementation of all advertised waiting restrictions in Leigh Road, Westbury.

(2)          To allocate £1,418.00 towards the extension of the footway in Bratton Road, Westbury to the White Horse Viewing Area.

A progress report on the transfer of land from Persimmon Homes (Wessex) to Wiltshire Council will be made at the meeting.

The Area Board was informed that Persimmon Homes had transferred land at Leigh Park Community Centre, Westbury to Wiltshire Council whose solicitors would be sending a draft lease to the Community Centre’s solicitor within the next few days to complete the transfer of land.  

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

There were no items of urgent business.

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

Thursday 15 June 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury, BA13 3EN.

Future Meeting Dates

Thursday 10 August 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury BA13 3EN

Thursday 12 October 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury BA13 3EN

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will be held on Thursday 15 June 2017 at The Laverton, Westbury.