Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the forthcoming year.

Resolved:

To appoint Cllr Jerry Kunkler as Chairman of Pewsey Area Board for the forthcoming Year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the forthcoming year.

Resolved:

To appoint Cllr Paul Oatway QPM as Vice-Chairman of Pewsey Area Board for the forthcoming Year.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, substituted by Cllr Chris Williams

Craig Haskell

Dawn Wilson – PCAP

Caroline Dalrymple

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, in particular the Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson and introduced the Area Board Members.

The Chairman also welcomed Peter Deck BEM (former Chairman of Pewsey Parish Council), who was awarded a BEM in the New Years Honours List for services to the community in Pewsey.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2022.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following clarification in relation to the attendance list and minute 11 – CATG Update:

·       Mr Mac McLean was speaking as a member of the public and not representing North Newnton Parish Council as he had resigned as a member of the Parish Council on 24 February 2022.

·       The part of the footway project under consideration is confirmed as Phase 2B – the completion of the existing path on Rushall Rd from the roundabout (Phase 2A) to a point by the former Reeder’s Garage.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman will make the following announcements:

·       Great British Spring Clean

·       Reminder of Platinum Jubilee Plans

·       Taxi Driver Recruitment Press Release

The Chairman drew attention to the following announcements which were noted by the Area Board:

·       Great British Spring Clean

·       Reminder of Platinum Jubilee Plans

·       Taxi Driver Recruitment Press Release

To appoint representatives to outside bodies, to reconstitute and appoint Working Groups for the year 2022/23.

The Area Board received a report requesting appointments of Councillor representatives to outside bodies, the reconstitution of and appointment to non-priority working groups for the Year 2022/23.

Resolved:

1.    To make appointments to outside bodies for 2022/23 as detailed below:

2.    To reconstitute and re-appoint Cllr Jerry Kunkler to the Local Highway and Footpath Improvements Group (LHFIG).

3.    To note the LHFIG Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix C  

To receive an update from the Community Engagement Manager and for the Area Board to agree its priorities going forward.

The Community Engagement Manager (CEM) presented the annual review of local priorities report, provided an update on the review of Area Boards (including updates to the Area Board Grant funding criteria), and referred to the recent publication of the Area Board Handbook 2022.

The CEM explained that the report had been prepared in consultation with the Area Board Councillors and celebrates the success so far and supports the Area Board in setting its priorities for the coming year.  He summarised the progress made during the current year, the challenges and impact of Covid-19, and the key achievements for the following four priorities:

1.    Positive Activities for Young People

2.    Climate Change

3.    Health and Wellbeing

4.    Transport and Access

The Area Board were reminded that the current priorities were selected less than a year ago, with progress in some areas being limited. The CEM suggested that the Area Board may wish to continue focussing on the current priorities in order to deliver positive outcomes for the Pewsey area. The potential priorities for 2022/23 included the following, with each priority supported by an Area Board Councillor, who would oversee its delivery and provide progress reports to future Area Board meetings:

1.    Support the provision of positive activities for young people

2.    Protect the environment and reduce carbon footprint

3.    To improve bus services and access

4.    Health and Wellbeing

Resolved:

1.    To acknowledge the progress update from the 2021/22 local priorities work.

2.    To approve the priorities listed below to focus on in the coming year.

a.    Support the provision of positive activities for young people – Cllr Jerry Kunkler

b.    Protect the environment and reduce carbon footprint – Cllr Jerry Kunkler

c.    To improve bus services and access – Cllr Paul Oatway

d.    Health and Wellbeing – Cllr Stuart Wheeler

3.    To appoint a councillor lead for each of the selected priorities, as detailed in 2 above.

4.    To appoint any required working groups in relation to each priority where a suitable existing externally operated groups is not already in place.

To receive an update report on the Project.

The Community Engagement Manager (CEM) presented the Rural Youth Project Year 1 report and reported on the progress of the project since July 2021, proposals for Year 2 of the project and consideration of funding issues and development of the project.

The Area Board was informed that the project was to provide expertise locally to help build a sustainable offer to young people in the Pewsey area and four other rural areas. The consultation and research phase commenced in August 2021 until February 2022, with a delivery phase currently being entered into. The Area Board had provided grant funding of £5,000 towards year 2 of the project. The report detailed seven deliverable outcomes proposed by the CEM for the Area Board to agree.

Resolved:

1.    That the report and presentation be noted.

2.    That the Area Board agrees the deliverables identified in paragraph 6 of the report to be the basis of Community First’s work if funding is agreed.

To receive a presentation on the PCCA current activities.

The Chairman reported that the representative from Positive Community Action was unable to attend this meeting and that the presentation on the organisation’s activities would be deferred to the next Area Board meeting in September 2022.

To receive any updates from partner organisations:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       Health

·       Older People’s Champion and Health & Wellbeing

·       Pewsey Community Area Partnership

·       Parish Councils

(a)           Wiltshire Police

The Area Board received a written and verbal update from Insp Al Lumley, Wiltshire Police, which included detail about the Community Policing Team, Wiltshire Police performance to March 2022, hate crime overview and local priorities and updates in relation to the Pewsey area. 

Insp Lumley, along with PCSO Jon Mills and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Philip Wilkinson responded to questions about the provision of PCSO’s dedicated to the Pewsey area. Insp Lumley confirmed his comment at the previous Area Board meeting that the number of PCSO’s is not increasing and there were no dedicated units for Pewsey. Peter Deck expressed surprise that in recent years the Police precept had been increased to support the appointment of additional Police officers, although he felt this was not materialising on the ground.  The PCC confirmed that the Wiltshire Police was recruiting new officers and the force would be increasing from 940 to 1100 officers. This would result in additional officers supporting Neighbourhood Teams, including the team in Pewsey within ten months time, cyber crime teams and traffic police. 

The PCC also responded to claims that the public’s faith in the Police was at it’s lowest. He commented on the work being undertaken by the Police, with new training programmes, improvements to IT, and making sure very high professional standards are in place. The PCC confirmed that he was working with Chief Constable to address these issues.

The Area Board noted that recruitment to the Police force in Wiltshire was not an issue, as 200 applicants recently applied for 20 positions. The force was actively considering the blend of new recruits which included the recruitment of ex-military.

The PCC spoke on operations undertaken by the Police and encouraged the public to continue reporting any suspicious activity to the neighbourhood team or Crimestoppers to enhance the collection of intelligence to enable a coordinated approach to tackling crime in the South West.

(b)           Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The Area Board received a written update from Simon Todd, District Commander for East Wiltshire, which included detail about the Community Safety Plan, reducing the level of risk and harm from fire, interaction between the Protection Team and Local authorities, on call recruitment and recent news about first national biker down safety campaign, bonfires and garden safety, support for Ukraine, water safety and support for Pride.

Cllr Oatway, as Vice-Chair of the Fire Authority, highlighted the developing crisis across the fire service in relation to finances. He explained that the Fire Service were unable to raise their level of precept to cover increasing costs and this would have a dramatic impact on the service within the next 3 years. He referred to the outstanding work undertaken by the Fire Service, in particular, the speedy response (6 minutes from receiving the first call out to arriving on scene) to a fire at Woodborough CE VA Primary School towards the end of 2021.   

(c)           Health

The written report was noted. 

(d)           Older People’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Area Board considered three applications for Community Area Grant funding and one for a Youth Grant funding.  The Chairman invited a representative of each applicant to give a brief overview of their project to the Area Board.

Resolved:

1.    To approve the following three applications for Community Area Grants.

a.    Stanton St Bernard Millennium Committee - £850 towards Exhibition Stands

b.    Chirton and Conock Parish Council - £500 towards Defibrillator for Conock village

c.    Woodborough Parish Rooms Management Committee - £2000 towards their Maintenance Project

2.    To approve the following Youth Grant :

a.    Youth Adventure Trust - £2192.05 towards supporting disadvantaged young people in Pewsey

To consider recommendations arising from the LHFIGs meeting held on 4 May 2022.

The Community Engagement Manager reported that Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet, at its meeting on 26 February 2022, had approved proposals to expand the remit of Community Area Transport Groups, along with increases in funding, and rename them as Local Highway and Footpath Improvements Group (LHFIG).

The Area Board received the notes of the first LHFIG meeting held on 4 May 2022, with the recommendations being presented by Colin Gale.

Resolved:

1.    To close Issue 5999, Rushall Pewsey Road Freight Study

2.    To add Issue (with funding) 10-22-4 Burbage Horse Warning Signs, £500 to the Priority Schemes List

3.    To allocate funding to Issue 10-21-2 Woodborough Footway, £1,600 on the Priority Schemes List

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

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Pewsey Area Board is scheduled for 19 September 2022, 7pm at a venue to be decided.

The next meeting of the Pewsey Area Board was scheduled for Monday 19 September 2022, 7pm at a venue to be decided.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.