Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Amesbury Area Board, invited the Cllrs to introduce themselves and ran through the procedure for remote meetings.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·       Vicky O'Brien from Abri

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2020.

The minutes of the meeting on 24 September 2020 were presented for consideration. It was noted that in minute number 43, Kathryn Cook was referred to as a councillor for Amesbury Town Council when in fact she was not, Ms Cook had helped with the Amesbury Community Hub and volunteer response to COVID-19. It was;

Resolved:

To approve the minutes as a correct record subject to the amendment of minute number 43 to remove the reference to Kathryn Cook as an Amesbury Town Councillor.

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:

·       COVID-19.

The Chairman gave the following announcements:

·       COVID-19

The latest case rates and figures regarding COVID-19 were given to the meeting and government advice regarding staying safe was reiterated. It was stated that further information and links to support if required could be found on the Wiltshire Council website www.wiltshire.gov.uk

·       A303

It was noted that A303 Stonehenge tunnel had been given approval and the Chairman referred the meeting to the written update from highways England in agenda supplement 3.

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       MOD/Military Civilian Integration

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       NHS Wiltshire

·       Town and Parish Councils

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

Dean Knight, who was standing in for Liz Coles as the Amesbury Neighbourhood Inspector gave an update to the meeting. It was stated that when you compared October 2019 to October 2020, reported crime in the area was down 16%. COVID-19 patrols were being undertaken in areas where gatherings had occurred, however there had been very few breeches. The public were urged to report any breeches they observed. Proactive drugs work and youth engagement had been taking place and the rural crime team had been revamped resulting in an increase in staff who were working jointly with the MOD. It was hoped that issues such as poaching and hare coursing could be reduced as a result.

In response to questions it was stated that PCSO’s now had the powers to issue parking tickets for cars parked on double yellow lines. Issues regarding parking outside some of the schools would be passed on to the PSCO’s so they could enforce.

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

Matthew Maggs gave an update to the meeting. National Road Safety Week had recently taken place and the DWFRS was targeting schools in order to hopefully reduce fatalities in the future. This was being undertaken via virtual tours and further information could be found in the written report in agenda supplement 3. The DWFRS was providing assistance to the ambulance service by helping to drive ambulances. The DWFRS were still available for home safety checks.

·       MOD/Military Civilian Integration

The Chairman referred the meeting to the written report in agenda supplement 2. Lt Col Nick Turner (Garrison Engagement Officer, Tidworth) was in attendance and stated that he could pass on any questions to Neill Page (DIO Army Basing Programme Delivery Lead). It was stated that Garrison Commander Jamie Balls had now commenced his resettlement and his successor was named as Rupert Whitelegge. There was also a new Chief of Staff, Major Kurt Vines.

New plaques had been installed on the Tedworth Park Heritage Trail which were sponsored by Lovell.

Following reports that the road to Netheravon Airfield Camp was in a bad state of repair it was confirmed that this had been looked in to and works would be undertaken in due course. It was also noted that one of the perimeter fences was not secure and people had been walking their dogs there. Whilst this would be resolved and additional signage put it place, people were reminded that this was still an active airfield and it was not safe to walk there.

Cllr Smale requested an update on the quartering at Netheravon and Cllr Yuill queried whether the pandemic had increased fly tipping on MOD land. Lt Col Turner stated he would follow up on both these issues with Cllrs after the meeting. Cllr Ian Blair Pilling stated that he was present at the meeting as he was standing as the Avon Valley candidate at the election in May and if elected would therefore  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

To discuss how remote meetings are working for all, to share best practise or tips and to gather thoughts for any future agenda items parishes and attendees would like to see.

The Chairman invited those present to feedback on how remote meetings were working for them and to see if there were any suggestions for future agenda items.

David Hassett of Shrewton Parish Council stated that their Zoom meetings were working well, however they were slightly concerned that public attendance was lower than usual.

Cllr Kevin Daley stated that some of his Parish Councils were still holding meetings face to face in a socially distanced way. However, for those that were happening over Zoom they seemed to be going well.

Charles Penn of Winterbourne Parish Council felt their remote meetings were reasonably effective and seemed to be slightly shorter than face to face meetings, however he also felt that public attendance was down.

The Chairman invited anyone with views they would like to share on remote meetings or ideas for future agenda items, to send these to the Democratic Services officer for the meeting, Tara Shannon on tara.shannon@wiltshire.gov.uk.

To receive a presentation on staying safe online from Alan Brown, Stay Safe Online Volunteer from the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust.

The Chairman invited Alan Brown of the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust to give an update to the meeting regarding Staying Safe Online.

The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust was a charity working in partnership with Wiltshire Police and had been operating for around 20 years providing free home security services and more recently online safety advice as well. In order to qualify for support you have to be a resident of Wiltshire or Swindon and over 60, or over 18 and registered disabled.

Some cyber crime statistics were given with over 17 million incidents in the UK in 2017 and over £4.6 billion taken. This involved everything from global organised crime, government entities and lone hackers. The main aim of cyber crime was to get information and money from individuals by means such as phishing, malware, ransomware, fraud and identify theft.

It was stated that individuals should be wary of any unsolicited emails and if unsure do not click on links. Contact the company directly if concerned. Any concerning emails should also be reported to the Police and this could be done via an online form.

Individuals should also always ensure to be use a trusted system, on a secure network and have a firewall installed. So, one should not do anything private on an open network such as the free wi-fi in shops or at airports. All applications and software should be kept up to date. Different passwords should be used for each account and it was best to use 2 step verification. It was also important to keep information backed up.

It was always best to have a healthy dose of scepticism and common sense.

Further information could be found at the following links:

·       https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

·       https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/

·       https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware/home

·       https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

·       https://www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk/

·       https://getsafeonline.org/

To consider any updates and recommendations arising from the Community Area Transport Group (CATG).

The Chairman invited Cllr Mike Hewitt as the Chairman of CATG to give an update. Cllr Hewitt stated that there had been a successful CATG meeting on 30 October 2020 and the minutes of those meetings were attached to the agenda pack.

Several priority items had been completed. It was stated that there was still funding left for CATG and therefore people were encouraged to contact their Parish Council in order to raise any issues to the CATG.

It was;

Resolved:

That Amesbury Area Board approve the minutes of the CATG meeting held on 30 October 2020 and approve the recommendations detailed within those minutes.

To receive an update from Jacqui Abbott, Amesbury Community Engagement Manager.

Jacqui Abbott, Community Engagement Manager (CEM) gave an update to the meeting.

The CEM stated that she had been in touch with many of the COVID-19 support groups in the area and most were still up and running. Although demand was down there were also less volunteers as more people were back at work. Further information and support could be found through the Wiltshire Wellbeing Hub at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-coronavirus or by calling 0300 003 4576 or email wellbeinghub@wiltshire.gov.uk.

A Youth Forum Meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 25 November to network, plan for the future and identify issues for the next year.

It was explained that a Community Status Report was being produced which would come to the Area Board at the January meeting. The CEM was meeting with stakeholders, partners and parishes to identify key issues in the community area.

Organisations were encouraged to apply for grants as there was still funds available at that time. Contact jacqui.abbot@wiltshire.gov.uk for further details. 

To receive any updates on the Amesbury Health and Wellbeing Group and consider any applications for Health and Wellbeing funding.

The notes from the Health and Wellbeing meeting talking place on 17 November 2020 will be published as a supplement prior to the Area Board.

The Chairman handed to Cllr Graham Wright as Chairman of the HWBG to update the meeting. Cllr Wright referred the meeting to agenda supplement 3 which contained the notes of the HWB meeting held on 17 November 2020 and introduced the HWB grant applications. After considering the grant applications which had all been recommended for approval by the HWBG it was;

Resolved:

• To grant Wiltshire Council, £900.00, towards Durrington Tennis Court Safety Measures
• To grant Salisbury older people's champion, £500.00, towards taking afternoon tea to isolated older people
• To grant Farley’s Malone Community, £1500.00, towards a Virtual Christmas Party Celebration and ongoing weekly virtual lunches
• To grant Abri, £300.00, towards their Gardening Outreach Project

Cllr Wright also invited all parishes to apply for HWB grants, including small grants of a few hundred pounds to help people through COVID and the Christmas period. 

To determine the following applications for Community Area Grant funding:

·       Durrington Town Council, £4988.50, towards their Safer Durrington project.

·       Amesbury After School Kids Club, £950.00, towards Amesbury Kids Club Equipment.

To determine the following applications for Youth Grant Funding:

·       Buzz Action Foundation, £3000.00, towards the Element Cafe and Amesbury Youth Cafe COVID project.

Cllr Fred Westmoreland introduced the applications to the Community Area Grant Scheme as detailed in the agenda.

Representatives of the organisations applying for grants spoke in support of their applications.

The board considered the applications for Community Area Grant funding and Youth Grant funding and it was;

Resolved:

Community Area Grants

·       To grant Durrington Town Council, £4988.50, towards their Safer Durrington project.

·       To grant Amesbury After School Kids Club, £950.00, towards Amesbury Kids Club Equipment.

Youth Grants

·       Buzz Action Foundation, £3000.00, towards the Element Cafe and Amesbury Youth Cafe COVID project.

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

The Chairman advised that there was one additional item, published in agenda supplement 1 to consider and discuss the possibility of re-naming the Amesbury Area Board. This had been proposed as some other Area Boards had considered re-naming their boards and in order to be more inclusive of the area represented and as a result of the boundary review changes.

During discussion views stated included that Amesbury Area Board represented the board well. Alternatively, others felt that Stonehenge Area Board may be a good alternative suggestion. It was also suggested that the views of the parishes and residents of the community area should be consulted.

It was determined that the parishes should be consulted, councillors should discuss the matter further and that the issue should be brought back to the next meeting of the area board for further consideration.  

The next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board will be held on 14 January 2021 at 6.30pm.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and announced that the next meeting of the area board would be held on 14 January 2021 at 6.30pm.