Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution (part 3, paragraph 4.8), the Chairman announced that he would vacate the Chair for item 2 as he was seeking re-election to the position of Chairman. Councillor Mark Connolly took the chair for this item. 

Councillor Connolly invited nominations for the position of Chairman of the Tidworth Area Board for the forthcoming year 2011-12.

Decision

Councillor Chris Williams was appointed as Chairman of the Tidworth Area Board for the forthcoming year 2011/12.

Councillor Williams in the Chair

The Chairman, Councillor Williams invited nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Tidworth Area Board for the forthcoming year 2011-12.

Decision

Councillor Mark Connolly was appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Tidworth Area Board for the forthcoming year 2011/12.

The nominations to Outside Bodies would be carried over for 2011/12 as per the table attached to the agenda.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·       Mike Franklin – Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service

·       Michael Meade – St James Church Magazine

There were none.

Decision

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 16^th May 2011 and the extraordinary meeting held on 6^th June 2011, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To discuss any matters arising from the minutes of the previous two meetings.

The Chairman announced that following the Extraordinary Board meeting held on Monday 6^th June 2011, where the Board discussed the proposals for a waste transfer site at Castledown Business Park, a group had formed called ‘No2Waste’. This group had produced a petition against the proposed site, the petition contained over 1,000 signatures. Councillor Williams accepted the petition on behalf of the Board and informed them that it would be logged with Democratic Services who would then pass the information to the relevant officer or committee for consideration.

Mary Cullen, Community Area Manager gave the following updates:

·         Speed guns - Four additional speed guns had been purchased which should help to alleviate pressure when guns are out of action for calibration. In addition to this, four more would soon be on order, to help give adequate cover across the county. There would be 26 guns across 46 Community Speed Watch groups.

• Request for a 20mph speed limit in Haxton and Fittleton – The review of C class roads would take place in 2013/14. There is likely to be a trial of 20 mph speed limits in five locations across the county. However the results are unlikely to be published for at least 12 months.

Councillor Mark Connolly added that in addition to the review on C class roads, Area Boards would be involved at looking at the speed limits on these C class roads. Further information on this would follow when available.

To receive Chairman’s Announcements including:

• Queen Elizabeth II – Playing Fields Challenge
• Core Strategy Exhibition 20^th July 2011
• Award received by Lydia Baos
• Update on Community Asset Transfer
• Youth Initiatives Funding

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields Challenge

Two fields in Ludgershall owned by Wiltshire Council had been identified; however it was felt that only one of these (a large open field opposite Empress Way) was really suitable. Ludgershall Town Council had been approached; and they had confirmed that they did not have an interest in the site, therefore the Area Board decided to put this forward for consideration as a suitable venue. Town or parish councils could also nominate their own land directly.

Core Strategy Exhibition 20^th July 2011

An exhibition on the Core Strategy Consultation and the Draft Waste Site Development Plan had been scheduled for Wednesday 20^th July 2 – 8pm at the Memorial Hall in Ludgershall. This would be the public’s opportunity to input into the consultation, the Chairman urged anyone interested to go along.

Award Received by Lydia Baos

The ‘Skills for Health’ project supported by Tidworth Area Board last year, had recently won an award for reducing health inequalities in community areas, coming first out of 12 nominations in that category. The Chairman congratulated Lydia Baos and her team for receiving the award.

Update on Community Asset Transfer

The Community Asset Transfer of the Rose Garden to Ludgershall Town Council was now complete. The transfer of land on St Andrews Road to the MOD was still in progress and would be completed shortly.

Youth Initiatives Funding

An allocation of £5,024 youth initiative budget had been allocated for 2011/12 however with the roll over from the previous year, this would total £6,228 for youth projects this financial year.

The Board was proposing to hold a participatory budget event in November 2011, where they would invite bids of up to £1,000 for youth projects. For more information and to submit proposals, contact Mary Cullen, Community Area Manager.

Current consultations running on the Consultation Portal webpage include:

·       Wiltshire Core Strategy - Consultation Paper (attached)

• Wiltshire Volunteering Strategy 2011 – 14
• Proposed Submission Draft Waste Sites Allocations DPD

For full details on all of the consultations currently running, click on the link:

http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

The Chairman informed people that if they wished to feed in to any of the consultations running, they could do so by going on line or by visiting a local library.

To take part on line, click on the link: http://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/portal

Councillor John Brady, Cabinet Representative for Finance, Performance and Risk, will give a brief overview of that area of responsibility.  The Chairman will then invite questions from the public.

(Note: Written questions may be submitted in advance – please email to lisa.moore@wiltshire.gov.uk by Wednesday 13 July)

Councillor John Brady, Cabinet Representative for Finance Performance and Risk, gave a brief outline of this area of responsibility.

The council had been hit with facing some very large cuts of about £41 million over the next four years. The council expected to achieve £100 million of reoccurring savings over the four years, this divided by four years equated to £25 million a year. This would be achieved mainly through reshaping services, procurement and management restructure.

Pressure comes from Adult Social Care, as the amount of money that the council aims to invest over the next few years was quite high. This was not an area where you could predict the budget for the amount of people who would need care or who may go into hospital and require care.

A question was raised from a young person in the room who asked if it was fair that youth service would be cut by £600k the following year. Councillor Brady explained that it was a case of working more efficiently to provide the same service for less.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Brady for attending.

To inform the Board of the new strategy which will affect youth services in the area.

Officer: Kevin Sweeney, Area Manager (North and East).

To receive a presentation on the programme to improve services to support older people and vulnerable people in their homes.

Officers: Nicola Gregson – Head of Service, and John Salen, Project Manager.

The Board received a presentation from Nicola Gregson (Head of Commissioning: Care, Support and Accommodation).

The Council has been working with the NHS and residents of Wiltshire on a major review of the services that are available to older and vulnerable people living in the county. This is called ‘Help to live at Home’. The review aims to improve the experiences of vulnerable adults and carers who require support, whilst ensuring that the changes are sustainable in the future. Some of the points covered were:

·       There are 17,000 people in the Tidworth and Ludgershall Community Areas aged 85 or over.

• Bringing together a variety of separate services into one so that a single service is able to meet a wider range of needs.  The sort of services included are personal care in the home, housing support and other services that support people in their homes.
• Ensuring these services focus on helping people learn or re-learn skills they may have lost as a result of illness, or another event that has resulted in them losing confidence and needing some help.
• Making even better use of the wide range of community services that there are in Wiltshire.
• Making sure these services are focused on doing what people want and helping people to live independent and fulfilling lives.
• Supporting sheltered accommodation schemes.

As a result of this review –

• Services to older and vulnerable people in Wiltshire will be improved with more people able to access help to help themselves through the provision of information, advice and support from within the wider community and less people dependent upon help from the Council.
• More people will be able to remain in their own homes with an improved quality of life.
• Less people will require help for long periods of time – more people will be helped to become independent more quickly.
• People who need support will receive it at whatever time of the day or night.
• People will receive the right help, at the right time, in the right place.

Questions and comments were then taken from the room, these included:

·       How will the new services and providers be monitored? Answer: There would be a contract management team to monitor them.

·       How do you assess the need of the elderly and not so elderly, as some people exaggerate their need, when the reality is that they are not in need at all. Answer: The assessments carried out are very rigorous, as they need to establish a critical or a substantial need.

·       Would the new services be means tested? Answer: The services would be funded by the Council, but then means tested. People who fall outside the criteria could purchase the equipment independently.

The Chairman noted that some people had heard that a care home in Ludgershall called Bartlett House would close in the future and that there would be 40 new beds within the community area. He asked Nicola to confirm whether the Board would be approached to discuss the proposed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To receive an update on the various changes to waste and recycling collections for the area.

Officer: Vicki White, Waste Project Officer

The Chairman noted that on the first day of the Unitary Council, the Tidworth Area Board members had put in a bid for the introduction of a kerb side collection service

Martin Litherland, Head of Waste Collection gave a presentation to the Board on the changes to the waste and recycling collections for the area.

As a result of Wiltshire Council becoming a Unitary Authority in April 2009, there have been four different waste and recycling collection services available to residents, depending on where you lived. This costed different amounts, had differing recycling levels and was not a fair service for residents.

From October the council would be rolling out service changes so that everyone received the same level of service, beginning with fortnightly plastic bottles and cardboard recycling collections using blue-lidded bins.

In late February 2012, the council would roll out fortnightly non-chargeable garden waste collections, using green lidded bins, for the north, east and south of the county. Residents will need to opt in to receive the service, ideally by 30th September, and should complete the opt-in form online at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/waste if possible. Alternatively residents can complete the FREEPOST form found in the latest edition of Your Wiltshire magazine, or in the "Coming Soon" leaflet which has been sent out in the post to all residents from week commencing 4th July. If residents already have a garden waste bin, they do not need to re-apply, and their collections will carry on as usual.

Questions and comments were taken from the room, these included:

·       In Amesbury all of the plastic bottles and cardboard go into one bin, can these separated? Answer: Currently Salisbury has a blue bin collection which goes to Thorney Down for separation, so it is possible to separate the materials.

·       Can you leave the lids on the plastic bottles? Answer: Yes you can wash, squash and put the lid back on.

·       The initial booklet which had been circulated needs to be updated as it did not include things like light bulbs. Answer: The internet is the easiest place to find the most up to date information, as it is easier to update it than printed literature.

·       A refuse lorry visits us once a month for residents to recycle cardboard. This stops in September and the blue bin will not be in place until ____, so what has been put in place to bridge the gap? Answer: It has been a difficult balance to achieve, in providing the best service available for the budget we have. If there has been a mismatch of timings this can be looked into.

·       Within the garrison, Hills provide the recycling collection service, where the tins, bottles and paper is mixed together in a box ready for collection, how will this be replaced. Answer: The black box will continue, the contents of this are separated out at the kerbside by the collection team and loaded onto the recycling truck into different compartments.

·       Is a second black box available from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To receive an update from Enford Parish Councillor and CSW team member Norman Beardsley.

To receive any updates from the room. Written updates from the following are attached:

·       Fire and Rescue

·       NHS

·       Police

The Board will consider the attached report on this project.

Cllr Chris Williams

To consider the following motion, which would permit the use of up to £500 of Area Board funds in cases of urgency:

To agree that in respect of urgent matters and exceptional circumstances that may arise from time to time between meetings of the Area Board, the Tidworth Community Area Manager, in consultation with the Councillors of the Tidworth Area Board, be granted delegated authority to approve expenditure not exceeding £500 from the budget delegated to the Area Board. A report explaining any such decision and the reasons why it was considered to be urgent shall be reported to the next ordinary meeting of the Area Board to ensure that such decisions are subject to public examination.

Cllr Chris Williams

To receive an update from the last meeting of the Community Area Transport Group (CATG), including an update on the priorities for 2011/12.

The Area Board will be asked to formally endorse the priorities identified by the CATG for 2011/12.

Cllr Mark Connolly

To determine any applications for Community Area Grants and the first tranche of TCAP core funding.

Officer: Mary Cullen, Community Area Manager

Grant application packs for the Community Area Grants Scheme are available from the Community Area Manager or electronically at:

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityandliving/areaboards/areaboardscommunitygrantsscheme.htm.