Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Stonehenge Area Board and thanked Phoenix Hall, Netheravon for hosting the meeting.

At the Chairman’s invitation, the Councillors of the Area Board introduced themselves.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Kevin Daley (Till Valley).

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2022 were presented for consideration and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

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:

·       Engagement and Partnerships Team Structure

·       Annual Canvass

·       Post 16 Skills and Participation Offer

·       Update on behalf of the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living (Wiltshire CIL)

Announcements were made as detailed in the agenda.

In addition, the Chairman handed to Graeme Morrison, Strategic Partnership and Partnership Manager to introduce himself. The officer explained that the Community Engagement Manager team had been through a restructure. The Community Engagement Manager (CEM) post had been removed and replaced by the Strategic Engagement and Partnership Manager (SEPM) role. Mr Morrison was the SEPM for the South covering Stonehenge Area Board and 2 other Area Boards. There would also be an Area Board Delivery Officer to help provide support and that post was yet to be appointed to.

Thanks were given to Jacqui Abbott, the previous CEM for Stonehenge Area Board for all her hard work supporting the Board.

Simon Hendey (Director of Housing and Commercial development) was also invited by the Chairman to introduce himself. He would be attending the Board as part of the Leadership Team of the Council and could get first hand knowledge and intelligence which would be fed back to the Council. 

Open Floor session with updates from partners, parishes and free flow discussion.

The Chairman invited partners, parishes and attendees to give updates or ask questions.

·       Wiltshire Police

Inspector Tina Osbourn sent apologies.

·       Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)

Russell Holland, the Deputy PCC, gave an update to the meeting. He was aware that speeding was a big issue for all area boards and stated that the Community Speedwatch offer was being improved, 3 more cameras had been purchased and teams were being trained on their use. The Deputy PCC was keen to encourage people to report any crimes. He was aware of some frustrations regarding the reporting of crime, however the more that was reported the more it would help to plan and target resources.

Hare coursing was a problem in the rural areas, which was usually linked to criminal gangs coming in from out of the area and would get live streamed across the internet for betting purposes. Night vision cameras and very bright torches had been purchased to help combat this problem.

The police station in Salisbury generated discussion, the current site at Bourne Hill was not as good as it needed to be, and work was ongoing to narrow down options for a possible new police station. The options under consideration included what would happen to Amesbury police station.

Electric Scooters were also highlighted as an issue and the Deputy PCC would feed this back to Inspector Tina Osbourn as an operational issue.

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service

Chris Wood, District Commander for South East Wiltshire gave an update to the meeting. The service had been very busy over the summer. There had been a large increase in the number of fires, largely due to the hot, dry weather and fires on Salisbury Plain.

The service were recruiting and anyone interested was encouraged to look at their website, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service | On-call firefighters (dwfire.org.uk).

An open day was due to be held on Saturday 24 September at Salisbury Fire Station, it would be a fun day out for children and there would also be fire safety advice available. A local resident in attendance gave feedback regarding a fire which had taken place in their street and praised the fire service for their quick response. In response to a question on false alarms, it was explained that these were where fire alarms were triggered rather than hoax calls.

·       Cost of Living

The Chairman discussed the cost of living crisis and what could be done to help communities. Leaflets on where to go for help were available at the meeting and are attached to these minutes. Further details can be found on the Wiltshire Council website here: Council tax, benefits and financial support - Wiltshire Council. Netheravon Parish Council had recently held a useful meeting to discuss the issues and thanks were given to the food banks provided by the Trussell Trust, who had seen their usage more than double. It was hoped that parishes could help to compile a warm spaces directory or places where people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

To  receive a presentation from Amy Smith on the Wiltshire Council Shared Lives Service.

Amy Smith, Manager, Respite and Day Services, gave an update to the meeting on the Shared Lives Service.  The Shared Lives Service helped people to live as part of a family, within the carers home, where they receive the support or care that they need.

The service placed adults who have mental health needs or learning disabilities, physical impairments, or are elderly, or those who, for a variety of reasons, cannot manage to live without support. The scheme had existed in Wiltshire for 40 years plus, where care and support for up to three people was provided in the home of the Shared Lives carer.

The scheme provided short term, respite and home from hospital care, as well as long term and sometimes daytime support.

Shared Lives carers were provided with training and support and carefully matched with someone who would suit their circumstances and lifestyle. References and DBS checks would need to be completed in order to ensure suitability. Carers received weekly fees, the rate of which varied depending on the level of care to be provided.

Anyone interested in becoming a Shared Lives Carer was encouraged to contact the team on sharedlives@wiltshire.gov.uk or 01380 826451. Further details were also available online at https://adults.wiltshire.gov.uk/Services/1366/Shared-Lives-Wiltshire.

To receive details regarding the Area Board Recognition and Reward programme. At the December Area Board meeting the Health and Wellbeing Group will recognise those who have who have made outstanding contributions to the community. 

The Stonehenge Area Board Recognition and Reward Programme was announced. At the December Area Board meeting on 15 December, 6.30pm at Antrobus House, the Health and Wellbeing Group wanted to recognise volunteers who had made outstanding contributions to the community. The process for nominating people for awards was detailed:

·       Nominations to be received by 10 November 2022.

·       Area Board Members to review nominations on 14 November.

·       Winners to be contacted W/C 14 November.

·       Presentations at December Area Board.

·       There were 5 categories for the awards:

o   Individual

o   Organisations

o   Young Persons

o   Outstanding Service.

o   Long term achievement awards

·       All nominations were to be sent to Councillor Graham Wright on graham.wright@wiltshire.gov.uk by 10 November.

To receive details of upcoming cluster meetings and clinics.

The Chairman detailed Cluster meeting and Clinics as follows:

Clinics on Line

·       Monday 3 October 2022 - Reward and Recognition

·       Tuesday 8 October - Community help with Cost of Living

Cluster Meetings dates in Person

·       Avon Valley Monday 7 November 8pm Netheravon Working Mens Club

·       Shrewton, Tilshead, Orcheston and Winterbourne Stoke – to be confirmed

·       Durrington Amesbury and Bulford – to be confirmed

·       Cllr Kevin Daleys Area South of the A303 – to be confirmed

To receive updates from Area Board Lead Councillors for each priority (where not covered by other agenda items).

Paths 4 All

Councillor Ian Blair-Pilling as lead on Paths 4 All gave an update to the meeting.

The initiative had been relatively dormant with only sporadic activity.  The aim was to improve the access to and usage of our Rights of Way (RoW) and was created as a bottom-up driven initiative.  The core mechanism was the award of grants in which the money would follow the enthusiasm.  Accordingly, any activity not requiring a grant would not be seen or recorded.

The nature of grants was potentially as wide as people’s imagination. Advice was available from Councillor Blair-Pilling or the SEPM and those who had already made use of the initiative such as Mary Towle.  While there were no set limits, it was preferred to award more smaller grants rather than a few larger grants and they were looking for matching contributions, in either funding or effort.

In the last 12 months £1,203.48 had been awarded towards Paths 4 All grants.

Current residual funds available were:

Community Area Grants - £2,296.52

HWB - £246.00

Youth - £1,000

It was highlighted that grant rule changes meant that unless already committed we could no longer make capital grants to precept raising bodies (i.e. parish councils). 

The authority for such grants currently lay with the SEPM and Councillor Blair-Pilling, (up to £500 per application outside of Area Board meetings) the suggestion was that this was allowed to continue. For audit purposes applicants did need to complete a grant application on the system as normal.

Protect the Environment and Reduce Carbon Footprint

Councillor Rob Yuill, as Area Board lead in this area, gave an update to the meeting.

Councillor Yuill stated that Amesbury Town Council had ordered an electric vehicle to replace a diesel van. Delivery was awaited. An electric vehicle charging point would be installed at the Bowman centre.

When waste bins around the town needed replacing these would be replaced with dual recycling / waste bins to encourage recycling.

The gas boiler at the Bowman Centre was to be replaced with a Hydrogen ready boiler. Heat pump technology was considered and discounted due to the amount of glass panels in the main hall making the technology impractical.  However, the new History Centre was complete and was designed specifically to be heated by air-source heat pump.

To receive an update on the Health and Wellbeing Group.

To consider the following applications for Older and Vulnerable Adults grants:

·       Wiltshire Music Centre, £1,500.00 towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire.

·       Art group, £500.00 towards their art for mental wellbeing for older people project.

·       The Lady Antrobus Trust, £975.00 towards The Hauntings statue being brought to Amesbury.

Further details on the grants can be seen under agenda item 14.   

Councillor Monica Devendran as Chair of the Health and Wellbeing (HWB) group agave an update to the meeting.

·       The HWB group meeting was held on Wednesday 6 September at 2pm at Evergreen court and it was well attended. However, it was felt that more work needed to be undertaken to encourage partners to engage.

·       A round table discussion was held to discuss any ongoing projects and ideas for future projects

·       Coffee and chat mornings were discussed with future dates, venues etc to be confirmed. The next coffee morning would be held on 11 November, 10.30 am at the Holiday Inn in Solstice Park.

·       Christmas Health and Wellbeing Event discussed – there was potential to work with Celebrating Age Wiltshire to deliver an event.

·       Opportunities to promote community transport provision were discussed.

·       "Silver Salisbury" activities were ongoing in Amesbury, Durrington and Shrewton – lots of events were happening. Programme and information available at local libraries, leisure centres and shops and online https://www.silversalisbury.co.uk/.

·       Health and Wellbeing – key objectives:

o   Reduce isolation and loneliness

o   Improve mental health

o   Improve Digital Inclusion

o   Support lunch clubs and other key activities for older people

o   Support volunteering

Councillor Devendran introduced the following applications for Older and Vulnerable Adults Funding:

1.    Wiltshire Music Centre, £1,500.00 towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire.

Rebecca Seymour spoke in support of the application.

After discussion, Councillor Monica Devendran, seconded by Councillor Mark Verbinnen proposed to support the application in full. It was

Resolved:

To grant the Wiltshire Music Centre, £1,500.00 towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire.

Reason:

The application met the grant criteria for 2022/23.

2.    Art Group, £500.00 towards Older People's Art Group.

Alan Wood spoke in support of the application.

After discussion, Councillor Monica Devendran, seconded by Councillor Mark Verbinnen proposed to support the application in full. It was

Resolved:

To grant the Art Group, £500.00 towards Older People's Art Group.

Reason:

The application met the grant criteria for 2022/23.

3.    The application for The Lady Antrobus Trust, £975.00 towards The Hauntings statue being brought to Amesbury had been withdrawn.

To receive an update on youth activities.

To consider the following applications for youth grants:

·       Avon Valley Football Club, £2,000.00 towards Avon Valley Football Club equipment and kit.

·       Amesbury Rugby Club, £5,000.00 towards a youth rugby project.

Grant report with further details under agenda item 14.

Councillor Mark Verbinnen, Area Board Lead Councillor for Young People gave an update on the Local Youth Network.

·       The Local Youth Network meeting took place on Thursday 7 September at 6.30pm

·       There was excellent attendance from youth groups which included 6 young people from 3 different organisations. Pizza was provided for the young people and Councillor Verbinnen was looking to set up a meeting just for the young people.  

·       There was a round table discussion with input from the young people as to what the gaps in provision are. Ideas put forward included parkour, zip wires and more.

·       Updates were received from groups including GUL, AWS, Scouts, Guides, Wessex Circus, Shrewton Youth Club and others.

·       The SEPM was to work with lead councillor to establish work plan for LYN including:

o   Positive activities for young people

o   Improved youth engagement including street-based youth work

o   Improved access to youth provision for young people in rural areas. It was hoped that the rural Youth Outreach Project may be able to help. They had previously undertaken surveys, listening and engagement work in rural areas and the SEPM stated that he would like to support their work further in future by way of a Members Initiative grant.

o   Promote the provision of existing providers

o   Assess and improve provision for young people with special educational needs (SEND)

Councillor Verbinnen introduced the following youth grant applications for consideration:

1.    Avon Valley Football Club, £2,000.00 towards Avon Valley Football Club equipment and kit.

A representative of the club spoke in support of the application.

The Board queried whether the equipment and kit would just be for young people. It was explained that it would mainly be for them but that there could be some crossover with other age groups.

After discussion, Councillor Graham Wright, seconded by Councillor Mark Verbinnen, proposed that the grant be awarded in full, but that £1,000 should come from Health and Wellbeing budget and £1,000 should come from the Youth budget. It was,

Resolved:

To grant Avon Valley Football Club, £2,000.00 towards Avon Valley Football Club equipment and kit. With £1,000 coming from the HWB budget and £1,000 coming from the Youth budget.

Reason

The application met the grants criteria 2022/23.

2.    Amesbury Rugby Club, £5,000.00 towards establishing a Colts team.

Duncan Souster spoke in support of the application.

Members queried whether some of the proposed amount should come from the Community Area Grants budget as some items were considered capital rather than revenue.

Councillor Mark Verbinnen proposed that the grant be awarded in full, with delegation given to the SEPM as to the amounts to be taken from each budget, to ensure that the rules were being followed. This was seconded by Councillor Graham Wright.

After consideration it was,

Resolved:

To grant Amesbury Rugby Club, £5,000.00 towards establishing a Colts team, with delegation given to the SEPM to determine the amounts to be taken from each budget.

Reason

The application met the grants criteria 2022/23.

To consider the update from the Local Highways and Footpaths Improvement Group (LHFIG) and approve any funding recommendations.

The Minutes of the latest LHFIG meeting are attached for information.

The Local Highways and Footpaths Improvements Group was working really well and the following high priority schemes had already received funding approval and were in progress:

·       1-21-10/12 Woodford Valley C42 speed limit assessment

·       1-21-17 Netheravon A345 speed limit assessment

·       Durnford speed limit assessment

·       1-21-13 Great Wishford Village Gates

·       1-21-5 Winterbourne Stoke/Berwick St James B3083 Speed Limit Assessment

·       1-20-15 Durrington 20mph speed limit implementation

·       1-22-1 Orcheston 20mph speed limit assessment

The Chairman stated that the LHFIG had considered further schemes and 9 had been recommended for approval by the board. The Chairman detailed these schemes, see below, amount to be approved from the LHFIG budget in bold.

·       1-21-15 Shrewton London Road street lighting assessment £2,500 (LHFIG £2,500)

·       1-21-21 Bulford dropped kerbs and HFS treatment £9,000 (LHFIG £6,750, Bulford PC £2,250)

·       1-21-16 Shrewton Tanners Lane road markings £1,000 (LHFIG £1,000)

·       1-21-20 Durrington A3028 mini roundabout road markings £500 (LHFIG £500)

·       1-21-22 Woodford Avon Bridge warning signs £1,200 (LHFIG £900, Woodford PC £300 TBC)

·       Batch 001 Waiting Restrictions for 2022/23 - £7,000 (LHFIG £7,000).

·       1-22-1 Stoford C283 village gate and road markings £5,000 (LHFIG £3,750, South Newton & Stoford PC £1,250)

·       1-22-6 Durrington issues approx. value £6,000 (LHFIG £4,500, Durrington TC £1,500)

·       1-22-9 Amesbury Porton Road Speed Limit Assessment £2,500 (LHFIG £1,875, Amesbury TC £625)

The Chairman, seconded by Councillor Ian Blair-Pilling proposed the funding recommendations for approval and it was,

Resolved:

That Stonehenge Area Board:

·       Note the discussions from the Stonehenge LHFIG meeting held on 27 July 2022.

·       Confirm the High Priority Schemes detailed above.

·       Approve the funding recommendations detailed above.

To determine the application for Community Area Grant funding:

·       Figheldean Village Hall, £2,500.00 towards Figheldean Village Hall Heating System Replacement.

At the Chairman’s invitation Councillor Rob Yuill introduced the Community Area Grant applications.

1.    Figheldean Village Hall, £2,500.00 towards Figheldean Village Hall Heating System Replacement.

A representative of Figheldean Village Hall spoke in support of the application.

Councillor Rob Yuill proposed that the grant be awarded in full, this was seconded by Counciillor Graham Wright. After consideration it was,

Resolved:

To award Figheldean Village Hall, £2,500.00 towards Figheldean Village Hall Heating System Replacement.

Reason:

The application met the grants criteria 2022/23.

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 Stonehenge Area Board, to include the ‘Reward and Recognition’ celebrations, will be held at 6.30pm on 15 December 2022 at Antrobus House.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Stonehenge Area Board would be held on 15 December 2022 at 6.30pm at Antrobus Hall. The Chairman reminded attendees that this would be the Reward and Recognition event.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.