Agenda and minutes

Chairman’s Announcements:

      i.        Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

    ii.        Local Transport Plan Scheme – Funding Allocation

   iii.        Parking Strategy Consultation

   iv.        The Friends of the Ridgeway

The Chairman, Councillor Christopher Williams, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Tidworth Area Board and invited everyone present to introduce themselves.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

      i.        Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

At the meeting on Tuesday 18 May 2010, Councillor Christopher Williams had been elected as Chairman of Tidworth Area Board for the 2010/11 Municipal Year and Councillor Mark Connolly had been elected as Vice Chairman of the Area Board for the same period.

    ii.        Local Transport Plan Scheme – Funding Allocation

A briefing paper was available in the agenda at Page 3 which included details of the above Scheme. Councillor Mark Connolly reported that the Tidworth Community Area Partnership’s (TCAP’s) Transport Group had been successfully operating for many years now and provided an ideal forum for the consideration of small scale transport schemes in the Community Area. The Scheme required the setting up of a Community Area Transport Group and the Chairman asked for agreement from the Area Board that the TCAP Transport Group should be adopted to act in this capacity. At the previous meeting, two local transport schemes had been prioritised and Councillor Connolly proposed that they were taken forward using the local funding now available. The Chairman put the proposal to the public and the majority of those present were in favour.

Decision

The Area Board agreed that the TCAP Transport Group should also act as the Community Area Transport Group to deal with funding allocations under the Local Transport Plan Scheme.

Decision

The Area Board agreed that the two local transport schemes previously identified should be put forward under the Local Transport Plan Scheme.

   iii.        Parking Strategy Consultation

A briefing paper regarding the proposed Car Parking Strategy was available in the agenda at Page 5. The consultation on this Strategy was now open and would close on 3 September 2010. People were encouraged to submit their views via the online portal or by sending comments to transportplanning@wiltshire.gov.uk or in writing to the Sustainable Transport Group, Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8JD.

Paper copies of the questionnaire and a reference copy of the main and technical report were also available in all libraries.

   iv.        The Friends of the Ridgeway

A briefing note from The Friends of the Ridgeway was included in the agenda at Page 7 and detailed proposals for a new strategic path for walkers from Avebury via Stonehenge to Old Sarum. Further details on the proposals could be obtained from the Friends of the Ridgeway or from Val Powley, Tidworth Community Area Manager. A presentation on the project would be given at the September meeting of the Area Board.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Toby Sturgis (Cabinet Member for Waste, Property and Environment), Mike Matthews (Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service), Jo Howes (NHS Wiltshire), Rowan Cherrington and Pat Caddick (Chute Forest Parish Council).

Councillors are requested to declare any personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on Monday 17 May 2010 and Tuesday 18 May 2010 and to address any matters arising.

Val Powley, Tidworth Community Area Manager, provided feedback on matters arising from the last meeting.

NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

In response to a query at the last meeting, Jo Howes, Head of Community Engagement at NHS Wiltshire, had advised that people aged 60-69 were automatically sent a screening kit and an invitation to take part in a bowel cancer screening programme.

Request for dog fouling stickers to be placed on lampposts

Stephen Matthews, Cleansing Technician, had obtained some stickers from the Environmental Health department and would be erecting these on lampposts around the Community Area.

Request for statistics relating to dog fouling fines and prosecutions

Stephen Matthews had stated that Wiltshire Council had only issued one Fixed Penalty Notice in relation to dog fouling, which was pending prosecution.

Formation of Health Care Working Group

In response to priorities identified in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, the TCAP Health and Social Care Forum was extending its membership to form a working group with key partners from the health care industry.

Decision

The minutes of the meetings held on Monday 17 May and Tuesday 18 May 2010 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any updates from partners.

The Chairman invited representatives from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service to provide an update on the Ludgershall Fire Cadets group.

The Fire Cadets group had been running successfully in the local area for many years and was well attended and valued by local people. However, due to financial constraints, The Fire and Rescue Service had recently announced that, with regret, it would be closing the local Fire Cadets group.

There was strong support locally for the Fire Cadets group to continue and interim funding arrangements were being sought to help with this. The Chairman recommended that a comprehensive financial plan be put together with details of the levels of funding required, and the councillors would consider this at the next meeting and determine whether any funding support could be given by the Area Board.

A partner update report had been received from Wiltshire Police and was available in the agenda at page 27. Inspector Martyn Sweett, Area Commander, also reported that recent statistics had shown a 17.7% reduction in crime in the area compared to the previous year. The following comments were made by members of the public:

·         Excessive speeding on Bulford Road in Tidworth was causing problems and anxiety for local residents and it was requested that the camera van had a presence in the area of the same level as the Collingbournes. It was agreed that this would be raised as a formal issue.

·         Any schemes completed using the Community Payback scheme should involve the offender completing their service in the area where they committed the crime.

·         It was acknowledged that a similar Community Payback scheme had been successfully utilised in the past to paint the churchyard fence.

Col Paddy Tabor provided an update from the Garrison and stated that it had been a quiet period over the past couple of months, with some regiments returning from Afghanistan. A Polo event had been held recently which had been a great success.

David Wildman of the Chamber of Commerce stated that work was continuing on the local economy and on the Castledown Business Centre. Alistair Cunningham, Service Director for Economy and Enterprise, added that the Regional Development Agency owned the freehold of the Castledown site and that discussions were currently taking place regarding how best to retain the site as a local facility for Wiltshire.

The Chairman opened the floor to further comments from partners and the following comments were made:

·         The Clarence reporting service appeared to have deteriorated lately with incidents not being responded to within satisfactory timescales. The Chairman recommended that the local councillor be contacted in these instances to strengthen the need for action. He suggested that the particular issue relating to a sign near the Ram pub be raised as an issue on the online issues system.

·         The A345 was due to be resurfaced and had been prepared in readiness for this, but had since been left and as in an unsafe condition. The works needed to be completed urgently and this should also be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider local schemes to go forward for reductions in street lighting.

Councillor Mark Connolly provided an update on the initiative to reduce unnecessary street lighting and illuminated signs at night time. The Area Board had been allocated the sum of £5,000 to progress schemes in the Community Area that could benefit from reduced lighting.

Councillor Connolly announced that two schemes had been identified, including a scheme in Chute and a scheme at the top of Station Road in Tidworth. Councillor Connolly proposed that both schemes be taken forward for further investigation and cost analysis to see if they could both be completed within the allocated budget.

One resident expressed concern that to switch off the lights on Station Road may result in an increase in traffic accidents, however Councillor Connolly stated that the proposal was to dim the lights, not to switch them off completely.

Decision

The Area Board agreed to progress the two schemes in Chute and Tidworth for further investigation under the schemes to reduce unnecessary street lighting.

To receive a presentation regarding the new waste and recycling collection proposals from Andy Conn, Head of Waste Management.

Andy Conn, Waste Services Manager, provided an overview of the new proposals for waste and recycling collection. At present, there were different services across different parts of the county, which all needed to be brought in line.

Under the new proposal the fortnightly collection of household rubbish and the alternating fortnightly collection of black recycling boxes would continue. These services would be complemented by a new fortnightly kerbside collection of plastic bottles and cardboard and a non-chargeable fortnightly kerbside collection of garden waste.  The latter would replace the current charged collection.

The public consultation was now open and would run until Friday 20 August 2010. Views and comments could be submitted online or in writing using the consultation leaflet.

Following the presentation, comments were made as follows:

·         One resident enquired as to the method of collecting the cardboard and plastic bottles and how they would be stored on the kerbside. Andy stated that this was yet to be determined but that strong collapsible hessian bags were being considered, along with wheelie bins.

·         In response to a query regarding the incineration of waste, Andy commented that some waste (50,000 tonnes per year commencing June 2009) was sent for incineration at present to the Lakeside Energy from Waste incinerator, at Colnbrook near Slough.  There were advantages to this such as heat generation and reductions in landfill. 

·         The large vehicles used to collect waste and recycling were very large and heavy and sometimes struggled to manoeuvre around narrow roads and lanes. Andy provided assurance that the same size of vehicle would be used under the new proposals; not larger ones. The Council had also built up an auxiliary fleet of smaller vehicles for use in areas with restricted access.

·         Some concern was expressed that the workshops were only being held in major urban areas across the county and not in the smaller towns or the parishes. Andy stated that they were using as many consultation methods as possible, including visiting all 18 Area Boards to give a presentation and distribute consultation leaflets.

·         In response to a question regarding what happened with recyclables once collected, Andy stated that unfortunately some materials usually had to be exported for reprocessing because of the reduction in UK manufacturing industry. Where possible, however, materials were recycled locally for example garden waste and textiles, both of which were recycled within Wiltshire.

·         A comment was raised about the need for more education and Andy confirmed that this was a main priority. Work was being done with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and there was also a local littering campaign.

The Chairman thanked Andy for his presentation and encouraged people to respond to the consultation and take away leaflets to distribute in their areas.

To receive information on the launch of ‘Community Payback’ and to consider projects to be completed using the scheme.

Cheryle Davies, Community Payback Manager for Wiltshire Probation Trust and Tracy Geiran, Project Co-ordinator, provided information on the launch of the Community Payback scheme.

Community Payback was a scheme whereby offenders undertook unpaid work in the community by way of Orders imposed by the Courts. Local examples of similar work that had been carried out by offenders included clearing footpaths in Shrewton and Tidworth, and rebuilding a dry stone wall in Chippenham.

The Community Payback scheme had successfully obtained a Performance Reward Grant of £73,000 which had enabled the purchase of three utility units, two graffiti removal machines and various gardening and outdoor equipment. The purchase of this equipment provided more scope to allow the offenders to work on schemes in more rural and remote areas, which was something that had not always been possible in the past.

Ideas for local schemes and projects that could be completed under the Community Payback scheme were now being sought and anybody with ideas or suggestions should contact Tracy Geiran, who was the single point of contact for this project.

An update from the Community Area Manager regarding issues raised.

Val Powley, Community Area Manager, provided an update on local issues that had been raised.

A few highways related issues had been raised, including concerns about speeding and a request for a new pedestrian crossing. Val reported that work was underway to try and resolve these issues, but stated that Community Speedwatch, a community-based initiative to combat speeding, could only be set up where there was support from local volunteers to take it forward.

Val encouraged local people and communities to submit any issues they may have via the Community Issues system.

To receive an update from the Tidworth Community Area Partnership, including the work of the Thematic Groups, and to consider a request for the first tranche of funding.

Tony Pickernell, Tidworth Community Area Partnership (TCAP) Coordinator, provided an update on the Partnership’s activities since the last meeting. This included the following:

·         Tony was currently in the process of visiting each parish and town council in the Community Area to talk about the work of TCAP and explain how they could become more involved.

·         An event hosted by Hampshire Council regarding funding sources had proved to be very informative.

·         A ‘Blue Light Day’ was being held at Tidworth Leisure Centre on 26 August.

·         Also being held was a concert at the theatre in Tidworth to raise funds for allocation to small local projects and events.

·         A Christmas pantomime for local schools was being organised.

·         A band workshop had been successfully held with over 200 local children in attendance.

·         The thematic groups of TCAP were mostly up and running and working well, and work was underway to re-establish the remaining groups which had lapsed.

Col. Paddy Tabor of TCAP announced that the Partnership had formally submitted a request for its first tranche of funding. The Chairman explained that the Partnership was entitled to 20% of the Area Board’s funding budget, and the first tranche of this equated to £5,000.

Decision

Tidworth Community Area Partnership was awarded its first tranche of core funding for 2010/11 of £5,000.

The Chairman commented that it was good to see such an active Community Area Partnership and encouraged people to become involved.

To consider any requests for funding from the Area Board’s allocated youth budget.

Wendy Higginson, Youth Development Coordinator for Tidworth and Ludgershall Youth Development Centre, had submitted a request for £500 funding from the Area Board’s allocated youth budget. This funding would be used to assist with youth activities, including any transport costs, throughout the summer holiday period.

Decision

Tidworth and Ludgershall Youth Development Centres were awarded £500 towards transport costs related to its summer activities programme.

To determine applications for funding from:

1.    Zouch School

2.    King George’s Field Management Committee

Grant application packs are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically by clicking on this link.

Consideration was given to two applications for funding from the Community Area Grant Scheme.

1.    Zouch School

An application had been received from Zouch School seeking £3,500 towards the cost of piloting a project to help with the integration of army families with the local community. This application had been deferred from the meeting on 17 May 2010 pending clarification of some of the project expenditure.

Alex Grant, representing the school, stated that the lottery funding of £10,000 had been lost since the last meeting, resulting in the project having to be scaled back.

The Chairman commented that, with the loss of the lottery funding, the councillors would need to see the revised income and expenditure of the project before any funding could be released.

Decision

The application from Zouch School was approved by the Area Board, with the amount of grant towards the costs of its integration project with army families and the local community, to be decided in the light of the revised project plan and income and expenditure figures. Conditions were agreed that a satisfactory revised financial plan of the project be submitted to the Community Area Manager prior to the release of the funding and that the school should contact Tidworth Community Area Partnership to seek assistance in linking with the local community.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2010/11 and would address important work being carried out in the county on Military Civilian Integration.

Note: Since the meeting, confirmation was received from the Deputy Head of Zouch School that the lottery funding under ‘Awards for All’ had been refused because the school was ineligible as its annual income was too high for that scheme. The school has since withdrawn its application to give time to re-plan the project and seek alternative funding to replace the lottery funding.

2.    King George’s Field Management Committee, Chute

An application had been received from King George’s Field Management Committee seeking £924 towards the purchase of a lawn tractor/mower.

Decision

King George’s Field Management Committee was awarded £924 towards the purchase of a lawn tractor/mower.

Reason

The application met the Community Area Grant Criteria for 2010/11 and would enable the field to continue to provide good facilities for local people of all ages.

To note the appointments to outside bodies which were made by the Area Board for 2009/10 and to note that these appointments will continue for 2010/11.

Councillors noted that the appointments to outside bodies made in 2009/10 would continue in 2010/11.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board will be on Monday 20 September 2010, 7.00 pm at Castle Primary School in Ludgershall.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and encouraged the completion of the evaluation forms.

The next meeting of the Tidworth Area Board would be held on Monday 20 September 2010, 7.00 pm at Castle Primary School in Ludgershall.