Agenda and minutes

To elect a new Chair for 2019/2020.

The Democratic Services Officer opened the meeting and called for nominations for Chairman for 2019/2020.

Cllr Mike Hewitt, seconded by Cllr Fred Westmoreland, moved that Cllr Rob Yuill be elected as Chairman.

There being no other nominations, it was:

Resolved:

To elect Cllr Rob Yuill as the Chairman for 2019/2020.

Cllr Rob Yuill then took the Chair.

To elect a Vice-Chair for 2019/2020.

Nominations were sought for the position of Vice-Chairman for 2019-2020.

Cllr John Smale, seconded by Cllr Fred Westmoreland moved that Cllr Mike Hewitt be elected as Vice-Chairman.

There being no other nominations, it was:

Resolved:

To elect Cllr Mike Hewitt as Vice-Chairman for 2019-2020.

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Amesbury Area Board.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·         Myra Orr, Chair of Cholderton Parish Meeting

·         Cllr Richard Harris, Shrewton Parish Council and Cllr John Berry

·         Natasha Campbell-Bell, Safe & Well Advisor, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·         Cllr Pauline Church, Wilton and Lower Wylye Valley and Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills and South Wiltshire Recovery

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 21 March 2019.

Resolved:

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 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.

Cllr Darren Henry declared an interest in part of agenda item 15, the Cllr Led Initiative Youth Grant for LYN events. The declaration was for transparency purposes only as the grant had already been awarded under delegated powers. Cllr Henry did not take part in the decision to award the grant.

To consider the Area Board representatives to Outside Bodies and Memberships of Working Groups as detailed in the attached reports.

To appoint representatives to the following Outside Bodies for 2019/2020:

·         Amesbury LYN

·         Amesbury Safe Places and Dementia Action Alliance

o   These now fall under the remit of the Health and Wellbeing Group

·         Amesbury Tenants Panel

o   This now falls under the remit of the Health and Wellbeing Group

·         Stonehenge World Heritage Site Steering Group

To appoint representatives to the following Working Groups for 2019/2020:

·         Amesbury Community Area Transport Group (CATG)

·         LYN Management Group

·         Amesbury Health and Wellbeing Group

To confirm the H&WBG funding allocated for the Older Person’s Champion (£1000) could be used to fund other activities and events that the H&WB group find to be important to them.

The Board considered the Outside Bodies and Working Groups report attached to the agenda.

It was proposed that the Area Board reconstituted the working groups of the Area Board and appointed working group representatives and members to outside bodies as detailed in the report and appendices.

Resolved:

 The Amesbury Area Board agreed to:

a)    Appoint Councillor representatives to Outside Bodies as set out at Appendix A, noting that Amesbury Safe Places & Dementia Action Alliance and Amesbury Tenants Panel now fall under the remit of the Health and Wellbeing Group;

b)   Reconstitute and appoint to the Working Group(s) as set out in Appendix B;

c)    Note the Terms of Reference for the Working Group(s), as set out in Appendix C.

d)    Determined to use the H&WB group funding allocated for the Older Person’s Champion (£1000) to fund other activities and events that the H&WB group find to be important to them.

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

·         Winter Weather preparations –

Wiltshire Council will once again be running the Parish Emergency Assistance Scheme (PEAS) which gives local Town and Parish Councils the opportunity to get hold of vital kit which can be used during adverse weather events. The application form is now available from weather.team@wiltshire.gov.uk. We kindly ask that any requests for equipment are made by the end of August 2019.

The weather team can help you develop plans and also help with the provision of certain items to help make parishes more resilient when extreme weather arrives.

·         Healthier communities –

A new project by Wiltshire Council to help residents on a low income improve their health by becoming more active was launched in May.

Wiltshire Council’s Healthier Communities project will target ten areas across Calne, Chippenham, Salisbury, Trowbridge and Melksham and will provide estate-based sport and physical activity opportunities to residents living in identified locations. Residents from each community will be invited to take part and shape future provision.

·         Highways improvements and traffic survey requests –

Wiltshire Council is changing the way highway improvements and traffic surveys are requested by members of the public and through Town and Parish Councils. The current process requires updating to improve the customer experience and to reduce the steps involved. The proposed new system will foster a closer working relationship with town and parish councils, whilst providing a better and more informed experience for members of the public.

Details and links can be found in the attached agenda report.

·         Global Warming and Climate Change Emergency Task Group

Cllr Graham Wright to update the meeting on the above task group.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·         Winter Weather Provisions

Wiltshire Council would once again be running the Parish Emergency Assistance Scheme (PEAS) which gives local Town and Parish Councils the opportunity to get hold of vital kit which can be used during adverse weather events. The application form was available now from weather.team@wiltshire.gov.uk. Requests for equipment should be made by the end of August 2019.

·         Highways Improvements and Traffic Survey Requests

The Chairman explained that Wiltshire Council was changing the way highway improvements and traffic surveys were to be requested by members of the public and through Town and Parish Councils. The current process required updating to improve the customer experience and to reduce the steps involved. The proposed new system would foster a closer working relationship with town and parish councils, whilst providing a better and more informed experience for members of the public. The Chairman referred the meeting to the agenda pack for further details, links and forms.  

·         Healthier Communities

A new project by Wiltshire Council to help residents on a low income improve their health by becoming more active was launched in May. Wiltshire Council’s Healthier Communities project would target ten areas across Calne, Chippenham, Salisbury, Trowbridge and Melksham and would provide estate-based sport and physical activity opportunities to residents living in identified locations. Residents from each community would be invited to take part and shape future provision.

·         Global Warming and Climate Change Emergency Task Group

Cllr Graham Wright advised the meeting that a task group had been set up to look at global warming and the climate change emergency. Public participation was paramount and the group wanted to know people’s views on how they could change things. The meeting was encouraged to get in touch and take part.

·         Upcoming temporary road closure of the A345

The Chairman announced that from 5 August to 30 August 2019, there would be a part closure of the A345 Countess Road and A345 The Centre, to carry out resurfacing and maintenance. A diversion would be in place, which was shown to the meeting on a slide.

In response to a question from the audience regarding whether these works would coincide with works and road closures in Bulford, it was confirmed that they would be taking place at the same time.

It was conceded that this was not ideal. There may be delays. However the works were necessary and would result in a much better road surface through Amesbury. The works had been scheduled for the school holidays to try to minimise disruption.  

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

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

o   Deputy PCC Jerry Herbert

·         Police

o   Inspector Liz Coles – Wiltshire Police

o   Military Defence Police

·         Fire and Rescue Service

·         Town and Parish Councils

o   Shrewton Parish Council – written report attached

·         Lovells – SFA and Army Rebasing

·         MOD

·         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.

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Jerry Herbert introduced himself to the meeting and thanked the board for having him. The deputy PCC introduced the new Amesbury Police Inspector, Liz Coles and Sgt Lucy Thorne to the meeting. Unfortunately they would need to leave the meeting after their updates as they were attending another area board that evening.

·         Wiltshire Police

Inspector Liz Coles introduced herself and thanked the board for having her. Inspector Coles had been a detective in CID and with the drugs squad, then worked as staff officer for the previous chiefs. Sgt Lucy Thorne also introduced herself. Sgt Thorne had been working for the police in the south of the county for 11 years.

Inspector Coles highlighted the new style report in the agenda. It was not believed that there were any county lines operations running in our area. Burglaries and Community Speedwatch were some of the current priorities.

In response to a question from Cllr Darren Henry regarding Shrewton being used as a rat run it was stated that an additional PCSO had been employed and they were hoping to coordinate with Speedwatch teams. The Dept. PCC had been leading on Speedwatch and had visited the community speedwatch team twice himself in the last 2 weeks.  He was looking at what could be done.

Cllr Fred Westmoreland had read the report with interest. He stated that no anti-social behaviour in Amesbury had been mentioned. However, anecdotal evidence was otherwise, there was a large police presence at night in Amesbury. Who was responsible for policing the night time economy and who should people speak to, to see if there’s anything that could be done regarding the issues experienced?

Inspector Coles responded that on NAFD weekend there had been a specific report of a party that might turn into a rave and this resulted in a large police presence, some of whom were officers policing NAFD. Inspector Coles stated she was happy to meet with Cllr Westmoreland to discuss Anti-Social Behaviour and identify areas that were issues, to see if their resources needed to be retargeted. Inspector Coles would leave some cards at the meeting with her contact details in case anyone wanted to contact her regarding such issues.

In response to a question from the audience regarding when to call 101, when to call 999 and why you have to wait so long to get through to 101. Inspector Coles explained that 101 was not her area, however she knew that they were trying to upskill their call handlers. If for example, someone saw a fight taking place that should be a 999 call. If people were unhappy with the service they received they should report this by emailing her or Sgt Thorne.

·         Town and Parish Councils

·         Shrewton Parish Council - David Hassett of Shrewton PC directed the meeting to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

To receive a presentation from Cllr J P Todd, Chair of Durrington Town Council.

The meeting received a presentation from Cllr John Todd, Chair of Durrington Town Council. Cllr Todd had just started his third year as chairman of the town council. He was very proud of the Town Council and thought they were very proactive.

The play park had been upgraded. The area board, amongst others, had contributed funds to the project, resulting in a great play park. Slides were shown to the meeting of the accessible, safe and fun facilities.

Durrington Village Show and Vintage Vehicle Event had taken place on 13 and 14 July 2019. .It was a great success with about 600 vehicles in attendance and many other fun events taking place.

The Robinson room fat the Town Hall was available to hire, just speak to the Town Council for details.

Cllr Todd was thanked by the Chairman for his update.

Cllr Fred Westmoreland left the meeting at 7.30pm.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has decided to hold a period of further limited consultation prior to publication of its final recommendations. Their proposals involve revised divisions in South and South East Wiltshire. To view the revised divisions or to have your say please visit: https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/14518/. The consultation closes on 29 July 2019.

To receive an update on the above from Cllr Richard Clewer.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England had decided to hold a period of further limited consultation prior to publication of its final recommendations. Their proposals involve revised divisions in South and South East Wiltshire. Cllr Richard Clewer gave an update to the meeting on this.

The proposals from the LGBCE were unexpected and had come about because Furzedown wanted to remain with Winterslow, as a result massive adjustments had been made which would affect some of the current Amesbury Area Divisions. These included splitting Idminston and putting Gomeldon in a separate Division. The Winterbourne division would also be affected with some areas proposed to go to the Southern Area Board. The changes proposed to the Bourne Valley were also contentious.

Wiltshire Council disagreed with the proposals and would oppose them, however the Boundary Commission had the final say, so people needed to look at the proposals and register their views.

To view the revised divisions or to have your say please visit: https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/14518/. The consultation closes on 29 July 2019. Please also let Cllr Clewer or Wiltshire Council know your views. To make a compelling case as many responses as possible would be required.

They are in final stages of this boundary review, the LGBCE would probably come back 1st October with final recommendations, then at that point no one will be able to do anything.

In response to a question from Cllr Hewitt as to whether petitions or emails were more effective it was stated that in his experience letters/emails seemed to have more effect.

The Chair thanked Cllr Clewer for the update. Cllr Clewer apologised as he had to leave the meeting after his presentation. Cllr Clewer left the meeting at 7.40pm.

To receive a presentation from Natasha Campbell-Bell, Safe & Well Advisor, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and rescue Service.

It was announced that the Safe and Well presentation had been cancelled as the presenter was unwell.

People could go to https://www.dwfire.org.uk/safety/safe-and-well-visits/ for details or call 0800 038 2323 to request a visit.

·         To receive an update from Jacqui Abbott, CEM, on the success of Beat the Street.

·         Update on the Provision of Doctors in the Amesbury Area:

o   To receive an update from Tracey Strachan,  Deputy Director of Primary Care for the CCG.

·         To receive an update from Cllr Graham Wright on the Amesbury Health and Wellbeing Group.

The notes of the last Health and Wellbeing Group are attached for information.

·         To consider the following applications for Health and Wellbeing funding:

o   Celebrating Age Wiltshire, £1500.

o   Jan Tidd - Farley’s Malone, £3000.

·         Beat the Street

Jacqui Abbott, Amesbury Community Engagement Manager gave an update to the meeting on the success of Beat the Street.

There had been great participation and it was a really successful scheme. The team were looking at continuing the legacy, wanting people to carry on exercising and would communicate with participants to encourage them to continue.

·         Update on the Provision of Doctors in the Amesbury Area (agenda supplement 3):

An update was received from Tracey Strachan, Deputy Director of Primary Care for the CCG and Dr Celia Grummitt, Cross Plains Health Centre.

It was stated that Army Basing would have an effect. The current GP provision was across 6 practices. These 6 all worked together in the Primary Care network, there were also other practices boarding on impacted area that were affected. They were working with the MOD, Army and hospital trusts on plans. The main movement of people into the area would occur in August and September, once this had happened they could plan services, as they would have had high level information, for example, the number of pregnancies.

The new facility being built at Larkhil and interim arrangements were up and running.

There was huge pressure on resources and massive problems with recruitment, which had come to a head at Cross Plains Health Centre. Cross Plains would be going down to 2 surgeries rather than 3, patients could also choose to register with Tidworth or Lurgershall. The Durrington and Larkhill surgeries would continue, joint working arrangements were in place and they would move into the joint health centre from February next year. The Larkhill build was in progress, with a portacabin  currently in use.

The NHS had invested additional funding for influx of people. Funding for new patients usually comes in retrospectively, however they have ensured that recruitment could go on in advance. There were planning uncertainties as patients may register NHS or may register MOD.

Joint recruitment initiatives were new to the area, there was also a new 10 year plan and they were taking advantage of joined up working.

In response to a question it was stated that there would be no changes to Amesbury. However the Amesbury practices were part of the Primary Care Network mentioned earlier.

All former patients of Cross Plains and Shrewton had been accommodated. The reason that there had been such struggles was because there were no doctors.

In response to another question regarding the ratio of patients to GPs and the time taken to get an appointment, it was stated that some surgeries may have a lower ratio but run a traditional model, meaning it would take longer to get an appointment. Those working on  a more modern model where you are more likely to see a nurse or healthcare assistant would probably give appointments more quickly.

In response to a question where it was stated that it would take 4 days to register at Cross Plains it was stated that they are stretched beyond belief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

a)    Overview and Criteria

The Community Engagement Manager ran through the criteria for grants, which was also details in the agenda pack and encouraged people to contact her regarding grants.

b)   Previous Grants Awarded

Youth Café

The Youth Café had received funding from the Area Board and was currently getting 30 plus attendees. They had 7 volunteers and it was going from strength to strength. They were hoping to have enough volunteers to open another night at another youth club as there was a growing need in the area. They had held their third festival of youth, although attendance wasn’t as good as previous years, lessons had been learnt. They may make the event biannual and/or change the date.

c)    The following applications for Community Area Grant Funding were considered by the board, it was;

Resolved:

·         To grant Berwick St James Chairman, £1306.00, towards a Berwick St James Shipping Container Storage Facility.

·         God Unlimited, £5000.00, towards the expansion of Outdoor Therapy Services 2020.

·         Buzz Action Foundation, £1000.00, towards Roadshow Equipment.

·         Assuon Foundation Trust, £965.00, towards the Amesbury Area Cultural Diversity Education Programme.

The Board noted that the following grants had already been awarded under delegated powers:

·         Figheldean Village Community Events, £967.22, towards Figheldean Fun Day.

·         Langford Parish Hall, £5000.00, improvements to fire escape and main entrance access.

To receive any updates from the Local Youth Network.

To consider the following applications for youth grant funding:

·         The Newbourne Players, £750 towards The Newbourne Players Youth Group.

To note the following application, already awarded under delegated powers:

·         Cllr Led Initiative, Cllr Darren Henry, £1,200.00 towards Amesbury Local Youth Network Co-ordination and Events.

Cllr Darren Henry updated the meeting on the LYN event that had taken place on 1 July. The event was for adult support workers and carers, concentrating on CSE and mental health. It had been a great success.

The board considered the following applications for youth grant funding, it was:

Resolved:

·         To grant The Newbourne Players, £750 towards The Newbourne Players Youth Group.

To board noted the following application, already awarded under delegated powers:

·         Cllr Led Initiative, Cllr Darren Henry, £1,200.00 towards Amesbury Local Youth Network Co-ordination and Events.

To consider an update and recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG) in relation to the funding available towards Local Transport Projects.

The Minutes of the latest CATG meeting will be published as a supplement when available.

Cllr Mike Hewitt gave an update on the CATG.

The minutes were in the agenda pack for information.

Regarding the issues mentioned earlier in the meeting in Bulford, the CATG officers wanted to wait to September until they had numbers of people who had moved in. Cllr Hewitt would ask to get this pushed forward. Bulford PC who were there at the meeting were happy to have this go to CATG.

There was a new procedure for reporting to CATG, this was in the agenda pac and would be added to the OCM website.

Cllr Hewitt thanked Cllr Yuill for chairing the meeting.

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 Thursday 12 September 2019, 7.00pm at Amesbury Library, Smithfield St, Amesbury, Salisbury SP4 7AL.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board would be held on 12 September at 7.00pm at Woodford Village Hall, Middle Woodford SP4 6NR.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.