Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024.

The minutes of the last meeting were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024 as a true and correct record.

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

Note: Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling has declared for clarity and transparency that due to his role as Cabinet Member for Communities and Area Boards, he has made a personal decision to abstain from any votes for funding applications considered by the Stonehenge Area Board.

Cllr Monica Devendran declared an Other Registerable Interest (ORI) in agenda item 12, the Community Area Grants. In particular the grant from Amesbury Men’s Shed, as she was a patron for the group. As such she declared that she would not take part in the debate or the vote for that item, and would withdraw from the meeting in her capacity as a Cllr for that grant.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling’s standing declaration of interest as noted on the agenda was confirmed. Due to his role as Cabinet Member for Communities and Area Boards, he had made a personal decision to abstain from any votes for funding applications considered by the Stonehenge Area Board.

The Chairman will give any updates on outcomes and actions arising from previous meetings of the Area Board.

The Chairman gave the following announcements:

·       An ‘Ask the Leader’ event would be taking place at Antrobus House in Amesbury on Monday 2 December from 6pm to 7.30pm. At these events people could ask questions directly of the Leader of Wiltshire Council on the issues that mattered to them and could share local concerns. Further details could be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/news/residents-encouraged-to-ask-the-leader-at-event-in-amesbury.

·       The Chairman noted with sadness the passing of Cllr Graham Jenkins MBE, former Chairman of Bulford Parish Council. The Chairman gave condolences and sympathy to his family and friends. Cllr Mark Verbinnen stated that Cllr Jenkins was the Chairman of Bulford Parish Council until recently and had been very active in Bulford, he would be sadly missed. His funeral was very well attended, including by some Members of the Area Board and the Church was full.

The Board is asked to note the following Information items:

·       Community First updates

·       Update from BSW Together (Integrated Care System)

·       Vaccine Confidence Training Sessions info

·       Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Site: https://www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org/

·       Wiltshire Council Information Items:

o   Cost of Living update

o   Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4) Wiltshire Local Transport Plan - Wiltshire Council, consultation open from 28 November 2024 to 24 January 2025

o   Wiltshire Council Consultation Portal

The Chairman referred the meeting to the information items contained in the agenda pack and gave extra details on some items:

·       Community First updates (pages 41 – 53) – It was noted that Community First was a charity based in Devizes who supported people, places and communities across Wiltshire and Swindon.

·       Update from BSW Together (Integrated Care System) (pages 55 – 56) – It was explained that BSW Together stood for Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Together and was an integrated care system (ICS) made up of the NHS and local authority organisations working together.

·       Vaccine Confidence Training Sessions info (page 57)

·       Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Site (website link): https://www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org/  

·       Wiltshire Council Information Items:

o   Cost of Living update (pages 59 – 60) – Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling highlighted the Household Support Fund, which was administered by Wiltshire Council using money provided by central government and did a lot of good. In relation to the winter fuel payments which had now been stopped by the government, people were encouraged to get anyone they thought might be eligible for pension credit to apply for it. Anyone in receipt of pension credit would still receive the winter fuel payments. Furthermore, using some of the funds provided by central government, Wiltshire Council would identify about 1,000 people, who were 80 or over, with disabilities or health issues and a low income, in order to provide them with a payment of £300. These were likely some of the ones who should be in receipt of pension credit, which is why people were being encouraged to apply for it, following this the council would identify those in need of additional payments. Providing this extra funding to the ones chosen would cost a third of a million pounds. It was noted that the removal of the winter fuel allowance had removed £28 million from the Wiltshire Economy. 

o   Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4) Further information could be found via this link https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/2676/Wiltshire-Local-Transport-Plan, the Chairman announced that the consultation regarding this was open from 28 November 2024 to 24 January 2025 and could be accessed via the link above. An additional briefing note on this is appended to these minutes.

o   Wiltshire Council Consultation Portal – the consultation portal was available here: https://consult.wiltshire.gov.uk/kse/

To receive updates from the following, with a chance to give feedback or ask questions:

·       Wiltshire Police Chief Constable – Catherine Roper

·       Amesbury Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) – Acting Inspector Caroline Ralph

Acting Inspector Caroline Ralph, Amesbury Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) gave an update to the meeting. It was explained that Caroline was covering for Inspector Ricky Lee, who had been moved to another post. In January a new inspector would be appointed for the area, so she would go back to being a Sergeant. The Amesbury NPT team was listed on the slides for this item which were included within the agenda pack.

Local priorities for the area were detailed, these included:

·       Theft from motor vehicles, which was mainly where work vehicles were targeted with tools being stolen. There had been an ongoing series of these thefts, and it was thought that a gang had been operating, as many of these thefts had a specific modus operandi (MO) and the gang were good at it. There had been cross county collaboration with other forces from Hampshire, Dorset and Avon & Somerset to tackle this as Wiltshire was not the only area being targeted. 3 people from out of the area had been arrested who were thought to be the main perpetrators and the thefts with the specific MO had stopped. The team had also provided crime prevention advice. 

·       Retail crime was another priority, where the team were working with businesses to tackle shoplifting. The team wanted to encourage businesses to report these crimes, and were giving prevention advice, such as relocating tills, getting CCTV and helping to identify repeat offenders. Some larger towns had the ShopWatch scheme, and setting this up in other areas was being looked at.

·       Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) was a priority, there had been an increase in ASB in Durrington, Larkhill and Bulford, mainly perpetrated by young people. Some of this was thought to be linked to the community tensions related to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). The police were working hard to reduce tensions and increase community cohesion.

·       Rural Crime was another focus for the team, including hare coursing and poaching. The NPT was working with the rural crime team to combat this and to increase visibility and patrol areas. Likewise, the teams were working to support those affected.

·       Vulnerable checks were also a priority ensuring that the most vulnerable got supported.

The Acting Inspector explained that the ARAP scheme and Op Lazurite (discussed at previous Area Boards) was a government led scheme for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles and may include an offer of relocation to the UK for those deemed eligible by the Ministry of Defence and who are deemed suitable for relocation by the Home Office. Starting around October/November 2023, some Afghans were relocated to Larkhill, with around 260 Entitled Person’s (EP’s) being relocated there so far. Also, around 150 had been relocated in service accommodation in Bulford and Durrington. The relocations in these areas were temporary, and the majority of EP’s would be moved to other locations in the future. However, they would be present for a while and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

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

Verbal Updates

To receive any verbal updates from representatives, including:

·       MOD Boscombe Down – Kev Taylor

·       Town and Parish Councils

·       Open Floor – a chance for attendees to ask questions of the Area Board.

·       MOD Boscombe Down – Kev Taylor

Mr Taylor had no specific updates regarding Boscombe Down, so invited questions. The Chairman stated that Amesbury Town Council had been actively canvassing to adopt the MOD Boscombe Down sports field and queried if there had been any progress on that. Mr Taylor highlighted that the field was owned by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). The Chairman requested if possible that a response be expedited, as there was lots of support for Amesbury Town Council taking on the sports field. In response to further questions, it was confirmed that the main gate construction had been approved and funded and that the permitter fence was being updated.

·       Town and Parish Councils

The Chairman of Durrington Town Council gave a brief update stating that Durrington Town Council wanted to thank the Area Board for the youth pop up events which had been organised there recently. Durrington now had a Community Speed Watch (CSW) team of 10 people, and there were 6 or 7 sites where they undertook speed checks. It was going well and there had been good enforcement from the police, so thanks were given to the CSW team and the police.

Shrewton Parish Council also thanked the Area Board for the youth pop up events which had taken place there. They raised the fact that the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel was not now going to be built, highlighted the amount of traffic that travelled through Shrewton, and queried what Wiltshire Council was doing to encourage a solution. Members stated that they sympathised and highlighted that at least the planning for the tunnel had taken place and that if the funding was available plans could be reactivated. Furthermore, Cllr Kevin Daley had met with the Corporate Director Place and explained that the Highways team were awaiting government announcements on road infrastructure, until those announcements were given there was not much that could be done. In addition, many of the roads were owned by National Highways and not Wiltshire Council which complicated matters. There was some confidence that the scheme would come back at some point. The Corporate Director Place would keep him up to date.

·       Open Floor

There were no questions or comments from attendees.

To receive an update on youth activities and the Local Youth Network, and to consider any applications for youth grants.

Remaining youth grant budget:

Remaining youth grant budget if all youth grants awarded in full:

Young People Grants:

For more information on the grants, please see the grant report at item 12.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen, as lead Member for youth, gave an update. He thanked those who had mentioned the youth pop up events, which had been great successes in Durrington and Shrewton, with the Durrington events in particular being very well attended. The Area Board had been working in partnership with Wiltshire Youth For Christ (YFC) on the events. There had also been an additional successful youth fair held in Durrington to help with inclusion. The Local Youth Network (LYN) had met at the new cricket club in Shrewton which was a great new facility. The event was well attended, and youth issues were discussed. In addition, the group had reviewed the youth grant applications.

Youth Grants

Cllr Verbinnen then went on to introduce youth grants, it was noted that in the agenda the remaining Youth Budget was stated as £16,008.92.

However, due to the lack of available funds in the Community Area Grant budget, and the amount of Community Area Grant applications received, the grant from God Unlimited (GUL) Outdoor Therapy towards GUL riverside classroom installation  for £5,000, (ABG1889) which had been awarded at the previous meeting on 26 September 2024 from the Community Area Grant budget, would be moved so that it came from the Youth Budget, as it met the criteria for both types of grant. This left the amount of funds remaining in the youth budget as £11,008.92.

Furthermore, the grant application from Stand Against Racism and Inequality, towards anti-hate support for young people targeting Afghan entitled people (ABG2065) who had been requesting £4,910.81 had been withdrawn following agenda publication. Members stated that this had been about a particular project at Avon Valley Academy, which without predetermining the application, the Board were supportive of. As it transpired, the group had found the funding from elsewhere within Wiltshire Council. So, despite the application being withdrawn, the project would still happen.

In addition, the grant from the 1st Amesbury Scout Group, who were requesting £5,000 towards Scout Hut Kitchen Refurbishment (ABG2068) which was listed on the agenda as a Community Area Grant, would be taken as a Youth Grant due to the lack of funds remaining in the Community Area Grant budget, and it met the criteria for both types of grant. 

Due to the lack of funds remaining, the Area Board heard from all the youth grant applicants in attendance who gave a brief overview of and were questioned about their project, prior to making any decisions.

The Board then indicated if there were supportive of the grant, following which funding amounts were decided and voted upon. The Board were supportive of all the youth grants, so, as a solution, it was decided to take an equal percentage from the amount requested from each of them. 

·       Buzz Action Foundation, requested £3,000 towards The Elements Café.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen proposed to award £2,540 of the £3,000 requested which was seconded by Cllr Graham Wright.

Decision:

Buzz Action Foundation was awarded £2,540 towards The Elements Café.

Reason – The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To receive an update on the Health and Wellbeing group and consider any applications for Older and Vulnerable Adults grants.

Delegated Funding

The Board is asked to note the following funding award made under the Delegated Funding Process, by the Strategic Engagement & Partnership Manager, between meetings due to matters of urgency:

·       ABG2016, Stonehenge Area Board Initiative, towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire Christmas Concert (Older & Vulnerable budget) - £786.50

For more information on the grant, please see the grant report at item 12.

Remaining Older & Vulnerable grant budget:

Cllr Monica Devendran, as lead Member for improving the health and wellbeing of our community, and Chair of the Health and Wellbeing (HWB) Group gave a brief update to the meeting.

Under this priority some of the main aims were to deal with loneliness, isolation and mental health.

Upcoming events were detailed:

·       Monday 9 December 2025 – Celebrating Age Wiltshire Christmas Concert at Antrobus House – This event had been held in previous years and had been very successful, the upcoming concert was already fully booked.

·       Health and Wellbeing Event – Friday 7 March 2025 – Antrobus House – further information on this would be disseminated soon.

·       The next HWB Group meeting – Tuesday 21 January, probably at the Cheerful Cuppa, Netheravon. Again, further details would be available soon.

Older People & Vulnerable Adults Grants

Cllr Devendran advised that there had been no applications to this meeting for Older & Vulnerable Adults funding. However, she drew attention to a grant already awarded under the Delegated Funding Process by the Strategic Engagement & Partnership Manager (SPEM), between meetings due to matters of urgency. Cllr Devendran proposed that the Board note the grant, this was seconded by Cllr Graham Wright.

Decision:

To note the following grant awarded under the Delegated Funding Process by the Strategic Engagement & Partnership Manager, between meetings due to matters of urgency:

·       ABG2016, Stonehenge Area Board Initiative, towards Celebrating Age Wiltshire Christmas Concert (Older & Vulnerable budget) - £786.50.

Following this award there was £1,009.50 left in the Older & Vulnerable grant budget.

To receive updates from lead councillors for the local Area Board priorities (where not covered by other agenda items):

The Stonehenge Area Board priorities are:

·       Environment – Cllr Kevin Daley and Cllr Rob Yuill

·       Community Engagement – Cllrs Graham Wright and Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling.

·       Youth Engagement – Cllr Mark Verbinnen (covered earlier under Youth Updates)

·       Improving the health and wellbeing of our community– Cllr Monica Devendran and Cllr Graham Wright (covered earlier under the HWB Group)

Updates were given on the Area Board priorities:

·       Environment – Cllr Kevin Daley and Cllr Rob Yuill

Both Cllrs had attended an Area Board Environment Leads meeting, which had been interesting and showcased what some other community areas were doing in this arena. Cllr Yuill had also attended training on Carbon Literacy which was very interesting. The Chairman stated that Members were still considering meaningful achievable contributions which could be made in this area and wanted to involve town and parish councils as well. The hope was that Stonehenge Area Board could model what some other Area Boards and councils were doing, such as planting wildflowers on verges or areas of green space.

·       Community Engagement – Cllr Graham Wright and Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling gave further details regarding Op Lazurite, which had been discussed earlier in the meeting. It was highlighted that the Entitled Persons were in the area temporarily and that numbers would shrink in the next 8 months or so. However, at present there were reasonably high numbers of people in the community who had come from troubled places. This was not something that Wiltshire Council could address on their own. They needed to make sure that issues were dealt with in the right place at the right level. Every Friday morning the relevant agencies, such as Wiltshire Council, the MOD, police, the Department for Work and Pensions et cetera had a call to make sure that any issues were being addressed. For example, schools in the area may require more funding. Earlier in the meeting the police had discussed aspects where they had been involved, however, they only got involved when there were tensions. The message that he wanted to give was that for the majority, there were no issues, and that all the headteachers with Afghan children in their schools had enthusiasm and that there was a lot of good coming from this. In relation to Avon Valley Academy, there was a real admiration for what the school were doing as they had engaged in a very positive way. They wanted to bring people together and details had been given earlier regarding the youth pop up events and the youth fair where youth organisations and young people had been brought together. The effort was made to extend the invitation to Afghan young people who took that up showing that integration worked when it was done positively. They would continue to look for further opportunities to do this.

In other community engagement news, there would be a Stonehenge Area Board Community SpeedWatch (CSW) Recognition Award event held on 7 February 2025 at Durrington Village Hall to thank the CSW teams for all their hard work. All CSW teams and parish councils would be invited. In addition, at the event would be a roads update, including which roads Wiltshire Council was planning to resurface in the area and an update on the Netheravon speed limit reduction trial.

·       Youth Engagement – Cllr Mark Verbinnen

This was covered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To note the minutes and consider any recommendations arising from the last LHFIG meeting held on 2 October 2024, as set out in the attached report.

Recommendations (amounts to be approved in bold text):

·       1-21-5 B3083 BSTJ & WSPC amendments to warning signing £1,300 (LHFIG £975. WSPC £375)

·       1-24-16 Amesbury Holders Rd H- Bar marking £600 (LHFIG £300. ATC £300)

Further information on the LHFIG process can be found here.

Cllr Rob Yuill, as Chairman of the LHFIG, gave an update on the LHFIG. Detailed notes from the meeting could be found in the agenda pack. Cllr Yuill highlighted that whilst details were given in items at the LHFIG meeting it was very useful to go and see the locations as well. Cllrs Yuill and Blair-Pilling had gone to visit several locations, and it was different when you saw the locations in real life. It helped to see what the problems were, and also to see that sometimes what people wanted was not really feasible. The funding recommendations made by the LHFIG were detailed on the agenda. On the proposal of Cllr Yuill, seconded by Cllr Mark Verbinnen, it was resolved to make the following decision.

Decision:

·       To note the discussions from the Stonehenge LHFIG meeting on 3 July 2024.

·       To approve the funding recommendations as follows:

o   1-21-5 B3083 BSTJ & WSPC amendments to warning signing £975

o   1-24-16 Amesbury Holders Rd H- Bar marking £300

To determine the applications for Community Area Grant funding.

Remaining Community Area Grant budget:

Remaining budget if all Community Area Grants awarded in full:

Community Area Grants:

Further information on the Area Board Grant system can be found here.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen as lead Member for grants introduced the item. He noted that on the agenda it stated that there was £3,023.22 remaining in the Community Area Grant budget. However, due to moving the GUL grant awarded at the last meeting from the Community Area Grant budget to the Youth Budget (as described under Youth Updates), there was now £8,023.22 left in the Community Area Grant Budget. However, due to the amount of Community Area Grant applications, if all were granted in full, the budget would still be overspent.

As a result, due to the lack of funds remaining, the Area Board heard from all the Community Area Grant applicants in attendance who gave a brief overview of and were questioned about their project, prior to making any decisions.

Cllr Monica Devendran did not take part in the debate or decision on the grant from Amesbury Men’s Shed due to her interest which was declared earlier in the meeting.

The Board indicated if there were supportive of each grant, following which funding amounts were decided and voted upon.

The Board were supportive of all the Community Area Grants, so, as a solution, it was decided to award all the grants, but at lesser amounts than those requested.

Community Area Grants:

·       Amesbury Men’s Shed requested £5,000.00 towards Men’s Shed voluntary help.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen proposed to grant £2,000 of the £5,000 requested, due to the lack of funds remaining in the budget. This was seconded by Cllr Graham Wright.

Decision:

Amesbury Men’s Shed was awarded £2,000 towards Men’s Shed Voluntary Help.

Reason – the application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2024/25 and there were not enough funds remaining to award in full.

·       Figheldean Working Men’s Club requested £5,000 towards Figheldean Working Men’s Club Heating System.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen proposed to grant £3,000 of the £5,000 requested, due to the lack of funds remaining in the budget. This was seconded by Cllr Graham Wright.

Decision:

Figheldean Working Men’s Club was awarded £3,000 towards Figheldean Working Men’s Club Heating System.

Reason – the application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2024/25 and there were not enough funds remaining to award in full.

·       Shrewton United Football Club requested £5,000 towards Shrewton United Football Club Project 2024.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen proposed to grant £2,000 of the £5,000 requested, due to the lack of funds remaining in the budget. This was seconded by Cllr Graham Wright.

Decision:

Shrewton United Football Club was awarded £2,000 towards Shrewton United Football Club Project 2024.

Reason – the application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2024/25 and there were not enough funds remaining to award in full.

·       Stonehenge Disc Golf Club requested £2,000 towards Stonehenge Disc Golf Course Extension and Improvements.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen proposed to grant £1,000 of the £2,000 requested, due to the lack of funds remaining in the budget. This was seconded by Cllr Graham Wright.

Decision:

Stonehenge Disc Golf Club was awarded £1,000 towards Stonehenge Disc Golf Course Extension and Improvements.

Reason – the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

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

There were no urgent items.

The Chairman announced the dates of the next area boards, thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.