Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Amesbury Area Board and thanked them for attending.

At the Chairman’s invitation, the Councillors introduced themselves.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·       Cllr Darren Henry

·       Wing Commander Vincent Thomas

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2019.

The minutes were presented for consideration and it was;

Resolved:

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the following announcements through the Chairman (written briefing notes are available in the full agenda pack, or online):

·       Wiltshire Family and Community Learning

Wiltshire Family and Community Learning includes a range of community-based and outreach learning opportunities. Courses are funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Learners must be 19+, have been resident in UK/EU for three or more years, have less than five GCSEs grades A-C and/or be a service family and/or in receipt of benefits.

Please call us on 01225 770478 to find out more about our service. Or email: familyandcommunitylearning@wiltshire.gov.uk

·       Flood Resilience in Your Local Area

Communities may be interested in holding a workshop to enable any towns and parishes within your area the opportunity to sit down and work through drafting up a flood plan for their community along with a colleague from the Environment Agency.

Communities can find out if they are at risk of flooding here: https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk.

For more information please contact Renate Malton, Flood Resilience Officer on renate.malton@wiltshire.gov.uk.

·       Motiv8 Children and Young People’s Service

Motiv8 provide support services in Wiltshire for children and young people, up to their 18th birthday, with problematic substance use, and for children, young people and families affected by parental substance use.  Its primary objective is to improve the health, welfare and life chances of those vulnerable to, or experiencing, substance misuse. For more information email: info@dhimotiv8.org.uk or call: 0800 1696136.

·       Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

The Community Area Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) works to collaboratively set local area priorities, by combining service led data with local insight and opinion. This acts as a catalyst for community led action that helps meet local need and supports the delivery of the Wiltshire Council Business Plan. Through working with the area boards, Wiltshire Council is able to encourage and support communities to take action to sustainably meet their needs.

Amesbury Area Board is aiming to hold its JSNA ‘Our Community Matters’ event at the March meeting, on 19 March at Antrobus House.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·       Wiltshire Family and Community Learning

Wiltshire Family and Community Learning included a range of community-based and outreach learning opportunities. Courses were funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Learners had to be 19+, have been resident in UK/EU for three or more years, have less than five GCSEs grades A-C and/or be a service family and/or in receipt of benefits.

Call on 01225 770478 to find out more about the service. Or email: familyandcommunitylearning@wiltshire.gov.uk.

·       Flood Resilience in Your Local Area

Communities may be interested in holding a workshop to enable any towns and parishes within the area the opportunity to sit down and work through drafting up a flood plan for their community along with a colleague from the Environment Agency.

Communities could find out if they were at risk of flooding here: https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk.

For more information please contact Renate Malton, Flood Resilience Officer on renate.malton@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Cllr Hewitt, as a member of the Flood Working Group stated that most Amesbury Area parishes had a flood plan or were drawing one up. However, it was important that these were kept up to date, so parishes may wish to contact the Flood Resilience Officer to discuss.

·       Motiv8 Children and Young People’s Service

Motiv8 provided support services in Wiltshire for children and young people, up to their 18th birthday, with problematic substance use. They also supported children, young people and families affected by parental substance use.  Its primary objective was to improve the health, welfare and life chances of those vulnerable to, or experiencing, substance misuse. For more information email: info@dhimotiv8.org.uk or call: 0800 1696136.

·       Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

The Community Area Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) worked to collaboratively set local area priorities, by combining service led data with local insight and opinion. This would act as a catalyst for community led action that helped meet local need and supported the delivery of the Wiltshire Council Business Plan. Through working with the area boards, Wiltshire Council was able to encourage and support communities to take action to sustainably meet their needs.

Amesbury Area Board was aiming to hold its JSNA ‘Our Community Matters’ event at the March meeting, on 19 March at Antrobus House. This would be a ticketed event, although tickets were free, the meeting was encouraged to attend.

To receive updates from the Town and Parish Council Representatives, and from other partner organisations.

·       Police

·       Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

·       Fire and Rescue Service

·       Town and Parish Councils

·       A303 update

·       NHS Wiltshire CCG

·       HealthWatch Wiltshire

The Chairman referred to the updates set out in the agenda and invited further updates from Town/Parish Councils and other Partners.

·       Police

Sergeant Thorne gave an update and referred the meeting to the written report in agenda supplement 1. In particular to the award for excellence in partnership working that PC Lucy Wileman won. Withshire Police had been through a restructure and reintroduced the neighbourhood structure. This meant there would be a dedicated officer for where you live and a slight increase in staff for the team. PC Lucy Wileman covered Amesbury Town and PC Juliet Cox covered Amesbury Rural, Bulford and Larkhill. There would be the same PCSO’s across the area. These changes should mean that people had a better point of contact.

Amesbury Police had been busy with proactive operations, including some successful rural crime operations, including preventing hare coursing. If residents saw any hare coursing they were encouraged to inform the police.

There had been a drink drive campaign over the festive period with an increase is arrests from previous years. It was thought this was due to the police being more proactive. Again, residents were encouraged to report drink drivers.

As reported by Spire FM a drugs warrant had been served in Amesbury the day before and a quantity of drugs were found. Enquiries were ongoing. This formed part of their continuous, robust action on anyone dealing drugs. If residents suspected drug activity they could call 101 to report it.

In response to questions it was stated that the police work with the Military Defence Police to prevent people abusing Salisbury Plain and protected byways.

·       Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

A video was shown to the meeting regarding the OPCC precept consultation. The increase for a band D property would be £1 a month, taking the annual cost to £218 per year for an average property. There was a you tube video you could watch here: https://youtu.be/SnokAmvcZo8 and people could comment on the proposals here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8NQQJFW. The deadline to comment was midday on 31 January 2020.

·       Fire and Rescue Service

Matthew Maggs (Station Manager South East Wiltshire) was in attendance, he referred the meeting to the written report and invited questions.

Cllr Mike Hewitt thanked the Fire and Rescue service for a successful event that had taken place recently. This was a flooding exercise in Salisbury to rehearse actions to take in the event of a flood and how to put the flood barriers up. The Fire Service, Police, Highways Agency, Environment Agency and Army had all worked together and it was a good event.  

In response to a question from the Chairman it was stated that “Other Emergencies” attended by the Fire Service consisted of activities such as assisting the ambulance service, forced entry and bariatrics.

There was a recruitment drive on for all Wiltshire stations, looking for on call fire fighters. It was particularly difficult to find people during the day. It was hoped that companies that would let their employees  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive any updates and consider any applications for youth grant funding.

·       Able Hands Together, £5,000.00 towards building a new bridge at their farm based education service.

·       Evergreen Café, £2,500.00, towards their young people cookery group.

Cllr Fred Westmoreland introduced the grants. Jacqui Abbott, Community Engagement Manager explained that Able Hands Together were applying for two grants. One was a youth grant and the other a community area grant. It was decided to consider both their grant applications at the same time rather than under their separate agenda items. A representative of Able Hands Together spoke in support of their application. It was;

Resolved;

·       To grant Able Hands Together, £5,000.00, from the Community Area Grant fund towards building a barn for their community farm. This was to be awarded once the following conditions were met:

o   That a business plan was supplied;

o   Evidence of ownership of the land / buildings or a lease on the land / buildings should be provided;

o   Planning permission documents for the barn conversion / change of use etc should also be supplied.

·       To defer the Youth Grant from Able Hands Together, for £5,000.00, towards building a new bridge at their farm-based education service.

REASON: This was so that the conditions of the Community Area Grant could be met and to ensure that the project was a success before further funds were awarded.

·       To grant Evergreen Café, £2,500.00, towards their young people cookery group.

The board noted that grants were not usually awarded if the applicant was not present. However, they were all familiar with the success of this project and were aware that the applicant for the Evergreen Café grant was unable to attend. Therefore, on this occasion an exception was made.

To receive a presentation from Tracy Carter, Interim Waste Management and Carbon Reduction Lead Officer, Wiltshire Council, on upcoming changes to the way waste and recycling is collected in Wiltshire, including collection day changes.

It was explained by the Chairman that agenda items 10 and 11 would be heard prior to items 8 and 9.

Tracy Carter, Interim Waste Management and Carbon reduction Lead Officer, Wiltshire Council, gave a presentation on upcoming changes to the way waste and recycling was collected in Wiltshire.

Wiltshire Council was changing the way they collected waste, moving to co-mingled collection for recycling, this system had been proven to be successful in many areas of the country. Collections would still be fortnightly, although as a consequence of the changes, some collection days would change. Residents would be notified by post several weeks in advance of any changes to collection days. Once residents had received this letter they would also be able to view changes online and print a calendar if they wished.

Under the new system, glass and textiles would still go in the black box. Anything else recyclable could go in the blue lidded bin. Examples of items that could go in the blue lidded bin were plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays, cardboard boxes, food and drink cartons, paper, food and drink cans, aerosols and foil.

It was requested that people wash and squash items if possible. Washing the items helped to maintain the quality of the materials and squashing them simply meant you could fit more in the bin.

The black box would still be used for glass. The reason glass would still be kept separate was that the re-processors liked to have it separate to prevent glass shards getting into other recycling. The collection vehicles had a separate pod for glass. Textiles could also be put in the black box however these must be bagged up and the bag tied. Unfortunately, duvet’s and sleeping bags could not be recycled.

The Council did not make a profit from recycling, however money raised from recycling helped to offset the cost of collecting waste.

Hopefully the proposed changes would make it easier for residents to recycle and should therefore increase recycling rates. The changes would also mean that one type of vehicle could collect all types of waste and recycling. This meant that Wiltshire Council could get rid of about 38 vehicles from the road, which in itself would help to reduce carbon emissions and costs. The changes meant that collection times may also change. It was requested that residents put their bins out by 7.00am on the day of collection. 

A new materials recovery facility was being built in Calne, which would sort the mixed recycling.

Residents could sign up for email alerts from the waste service at   http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/rubbish-and-recycling-collection-changes in order to be kept up to date with developments.  You could also register to get a larger bin or an extra bin at this address.

If parishes and community groups required advice or help regarding spreading the news about the changes they were welcome to email: wasteandrecycling@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Details were given regarding the End Destination Charter, which was a voluntary scheme developed by the Resource Association to promote  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive an update from Cllr Graham Wright on the Climate Emergency Workshop held at the last Amesbury Area Board meeting in November.

Cllr Graham Wright gave an update on the Climate Emergency Workshop held at the last Amesbury Area Board meeting in November.

Cllr Wright thanked people for attending the event. After seeing the feedback from the meeting Cllr Wright had been greatly encouraged.

A summary of feedback responses was given. These were provided in full in the agenda. There were 10 top carbon issues for individuals and it was hoped that these could be considered 2 at a time in more detail over the years area board meetings.

It was reported that Berwick St James were installing air pumps and heat pumps and being proactive as a village which was and very encouraging. 

Town and Parish Councils were requested to consider what actions they would take to tackle the climate emergency.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Wright for his presentation and for the good Area Board meeting.

To include updates from:

·       Guy Benson – Wiltshire Council Military Civilian Integration Lead

·       Wiltshire Council Highways

·       DIO Army Basing – Neill Page

·       Cllr Wright - Communities Together

Guy Benson – Wiltshire Council Military Civilian Integration Lead

Guy Benson, Wiltshire Council Military Civilian Integration (MCI) Lead introduced himself and stated that Wiltshire Council was the only council in the UK to have an MCI lead.

The 75^th Anniversary of VE day would fall on 8 May 2020 and to mark this the Early May Bank Holiday was being moved from Monday 4 May to Friday 8 May.   Wiltshire Council would hold a service at County Hall on 5 May 2020, with a bugle and piper. All were welcome to attend. Attendees would have the opportunity to form the shape of the number 75 outside County Hall and this would be recorded by a drone. Footage would be released on social media on 8 May 2020. The 8 May would also see Royal British Legion services at various church locations.

Wiltshire Council was to hold an MCI conference at the Tidworth Garrison Theatre. The date was hoped to be 4 June 2020; however this was to be confirmed.  The theme of the conference would be “What does good MCI look like?” and would cover MCI from a Wiltshire Council perspective, Military perspective, Town/Parish Council perspective and a Garrison perspective. Examples of good MCI would be looked at as well as development of MCI and future initiatives of MCI. The aim was to enhance MCI opportunities for our communities.

Mr Benson wanted to raise awareness of the Armed Forces Covenant. The Armed Forces Covenant was a promise by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, were treated fairly. Wiltshire Council was a member of the Armed Forces Covenant Partnership Board. Members of this South West partnership consisted of 7 partner local authorities, the Army, Royal Navy, RAF and the Wessex Reserve Forces' & Cadets' Association. The aim was to be people centric, support delivery of the covenant, improve outcomes and to meet and reduce needs. The Board met bi-annually or more if required. Current priorities included policy alignment, JSNA, outreach, funding, education, strengthening links with partners planning. There was mobile outreach including an outreach vehicle that could be used in different location to spread the word and help people. This was run by Forces Connect South West. More information could be found here: https://www.forcesconnectsouthwest.org.uk/. There was also Armed Forces Covenant grant money available.

Wiltshire Council Highways

Allan Creedy, Head of Sustainable Transport, Wiltshire Council and Parvis Khansari – Director, Highways and Waste, Wiltshire Council were in attendance along with Neill Page, DIO Army Basing.

It was suggested that Cllr Graham Wright ask questions of the above regarding Army Basing and resultant highways issues which he had been alerted to by residents.

Q) Cllr Wright asked how you cross the A345 when going from Durrington to Larkhill as a child?

A) Neill Page stated that from a MOD perspective a planning application was put in, in August. As a result of comments received, a revised planning application was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive a presentation by General Eeles on the Royal Artillery Museum Project.

The Chairman introduced General Eeles who was to give a presentation on the Royal Artillery (RA) Museum Project.

The RA Collection (established 1778) embodied the stories of the Regiment, their men and women, and the evolution of artillery technology. It was one of the most important collections in the British Army and was one of only three Army collections designated by Arts Council England for its national importance. The collection was currently in storage or out on loan. A home was needed for the collection and the museum would add to the tourism offer of the area once complete.

Proposed themes for the museum included the Evolution of Artillery, the Royal Regiment of Artillery and Army on the Salisbury Plain.

It was hoped the project would be delivered quickly and would have a new approach. Including:

·       It must deliver a financially sustainable business which can secure the future of the RA Collection;

·       The initial capital build must be financially realistic – i.e. deliverable by the Regiment with limited external support.

·       The site must be available, have easy access to the A303, utilities connections, and be outside the “red flag” area.

·       The site must be free of designated archaeological and ecological assets.

·       Subsequent development should be delivered as funds permit but must not be a prerequisite for financial sustainability.

It had been hard to find a site; however, the Army had made a positive decision on Avon Camp West in summer 2019. The Regiment had also made a positive decision and commitment of funding. SWLEP support had been re-confirmed. The Initial Capital Project site layout and building design had been confirmed. However, enhanced programme funding had not yet been addressed. The initial cost of the project was around £8 million.

The project was based around a cost-efficient steel frame building which would house a large proportion of the collection. There would be a two-year construction and preparation period. The building would contain large exhibition spaces, galleries, a medal room as well as conference/meeting rooms and space for corporate or regimental dinners surrounded by iconic equipment. There would be stimulating science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and history education offer. The would also be emphasis on activities and immersive interpretation, to include:

·       WW1 Trench Experience.

·       Contemporary Forward Operating Base.

·       Armoured vehicle rides and artillery firing (blank).

·       Gunner themed Children’s Play Area.

·       Arena for re-enactments, displays and 2 or 3 major events (e.g. Artilleryfest).

There would also be:

·       RSA training support function.

·       Future capability displays – industry linked.

·       Workshop for restoration and conservation of artefacts.

·       Gallery and cafe with spectacular views over Salisbury Plain.

·       Possibly other Larkhill Garrison amenities.

The building was designed to reduce its visual impact on the site. Slides were shown with plans and designs. There was a viewing platform for 360-degree views of Salisbury plain.

Projected visitor numbers were explained, and benefits of the projected were detailed, to include:

·       Local employment – build period, permanent and seasonal

·       Volunteering opportunities

·       Outreach programmes for isolated populations

·       Local economy spend: pub, B  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

There has not been a CATG meeting since the last Area Board in November.

The next CATG will be held on 14 February 2020, 10.00am at the Redworth Centre.

There had not been a CATG meeting since the last Area Board meeting. The next CATG meeting would be held on 14 February 2020, 10.00am at the Redworth Centre.

To receive any updates from the HWBG.

Upcoming HWBG meetings:

·       Tuesday 4 February

·       Monday 11 May

·       Tuesday 4 August

·       Monday 9 November 

All will be held at Evergreen Court, Archers Way from 10am until 11.30am.

Cllr Graham Wright gave an update to the meeting on the Health and Wellbeing Group. There had been a successful event at Christmas where 30 older people were taken to Stonehenge. There were local schools singing and a semi-professional choir who gave a great performance.  Presents were handed out by Father Christmas. Cllr Wright thanked the Stonehenge Visitor Centre for their hospitality, which included complimentary mince pies, mulled wine and a free viewing of their new exhibition.

Upcoming Health and Wellbeing meetings would be held on:

·       Tuesday 4 February

·       Monday 11 May

·       Tuesday 4 August

·       Monday 9 November

All HWBG meetings would be held at Evergreen Court, Archers Way from 10am until 11.30am.

There was still Health and Wellbeing funding available so grant applications were encouraged.

To determine the following applications for Community Area Grant funding:

·       Smiley Face Nursery, £5,000 towards new preschool toilets.

·       Woodford Parish Council, £1,450.00 towards a Speed Indicator Device for Middle Woodford.

·       Winterbourne Parish Council, £ £1199.80, towards information dissemination across the Winterbournes.

·       Able Hands Together, £5,000.00, towards building a barn for their community farm.

Representatives of organisations applying for grants spoke in support of their applications. The Able Hands Together grant was considered earlier in the meeting.

The applications to the community area grant fund were considered and it was;

Resolved:

·       To grant Smiley Face Nursery, £5,000 towards new preschool toilets.

·       To grant Woodford Parish Council, £1,450.00 towards a Speed Indicator Device for Middle Woodford.

·       To grant Winterbourne Parish Council, £ £1199.80, towards information dissemination across the Winterbournes

·       To grant Newbourne Players, £4,000.00, Theatre lighting refurbishments and safety update. (Additional grant published in agenda supplement 1).

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 Amesbury Area Board will be held on 19 March 2020 at Antrobus House and will be the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

The next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board would be held on 19 March 2020 at Antrobus House and would be the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.