Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Amesbury Area Board and thanked Antrobus House for hosting the meeting.

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

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from:

• Carol Slater – Chairman of Shrewton Parish Council

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 1^st October 2015.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 1st Oct 2015 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.

The Chairman will introduce the announcements and invite any questions.

·       Army Re-basing

·       NHS Health Checks

·       Health & Wellbeing

·       Community Transport South Wiltshire

The Chairman referred to the announcements included in the agenda pack.

•        Army Re-basing Briefing

•        NHS Health Checks

•        Health & Wellbeing

•        Community Transport  South Wiltshire

•        Extra care in Amesbury

Station Commander Group Captain Lyons will inform the Area Board what happens at Boscombe Down and discuss any opportunities to engage with the community.

Group Captain Tom Lyons gave a presentation on the activities and opportunities at MOD Boscombe Down. An overview was given of the organisation’s set up and the different units that it comprises. Group Captain Tom Lyons considered that running projects like the test pilot school and a host of others played a vital role in directly supporting front line military activity.

Cllr Mike Hewitt questioned QinetiQ’s involvement with MOD Boscombe Down and whether it was in contact with the Amesbury Town Council.  Group Captain Tom Lyons responded that though MOD Boscombe Down was in a partnership arrangement with QinetiQ the latter’s operations and activities were independent; he would therefore pose the question to the appropriate channels and convey a response.

The Chairman referred members to the written updates included in the agenda pack.

Update from the Police

Sector Commander Christian Lange gave a general overview of policing in the Amesbury area.  He noted that there appeared to be an increase in violent crimes and vehicle thefts within the area and that the police were closely monitoring the situation.  With almost £17m lost in the current policing budget and the reduction in the number officers from 1200 to 1000, Sector Commander Lange advised that there was going to be a significant change in neighbourhood policing. A new model of neighbourhood policing, currently being trailed in Trowbridge, would be rolled out in Amesbury from about June 2016. Given all the above, the reduction in the size and numbers of neighbourhood teams and partner agencies working with the police to protect vulnerable people in the area was also a major source of concern.

Cllr John Noeken raised questions about the preparedness of the police in handling the extra 7000 soldiers being deployed into the area as part of the government’s army rebasing project and proceeded to thank the police for their work with school traffic. 

Amesbury Fire Service

Cllr Ian West commented on a recent fire incident at Shrewton and the timely response of fire brigades and response teams deployed to the scene. Councillor Noeken noted that with the anticipated increase in population and households especially in light of the army rebasing project, it was important to question whether the Amesbury fire brigade was well resourced to deliver the service expected by the public. Members felt it would be helpful for the Area Board and parish councils to engage with the Amesbury Fire Brigade to explore what assistance could be offered.

Town and Parish Councils

There were no updates from the town and parish councils.

To receive an update from the LYN and consider the following applications for youth grant funding:

·       Avon Valley College- £4,500 to set up a Wheelchair Basketball club;

·       Avon Valley College- £450 for a FA Football Leaders Course;

·       Bourne Valley Explorer Scouts- £4,026.25 for Scout Jamboree in Roihu;

·       Durrington Town Council- £12,158 for a youth club.

To determine an application for £6,934 to procure positive activities for young people through ‘SPLASH’.

Becky Lock, Youth Worker from Durrington Town Council, will advise on the application process for funding to support positive activities for young people.

Gemma  Howell, Community Youth Officer, will explain the purpose of the LYN Management Group and wider Local Youth Network.

Jenny Bowley, Community Youth Worker, referred to the reports and grant applications in the agenda pack.

The Area Board considered recommendations from the Local Youth Network and applications for youth funding.

Members’ comments regarding these applications were that given the limited resources available there was the need for the Area Board to seek other sources of grants and funding for continued support of projects. Members considered it important that grant applications from villages were not forgotten as large numbers of youth lived in these areas as well.

Resolved:

To defer the award of £4,500 to Avon Valley College as per the LYN management group recommendation.

To grant Avon Valley College £450 towards the football leaders course as per the LYN management group recommendation.

To refuse the award of £4,026.25 to Bourne Valley Explorer Scouts as per the LYN management group recommendation.

To grant Durrington town Council £12,158 as per the LYN management group recommendation.

A presentation was given by Miss Gemma Howell on the role of Community Youth Workers highlighting some of the positive activities that had been organised for the youth. She also gave an overview of how the grants application process worked. Becky Lock from Durrington Town Council,  agreed by talking the meeting through her experiences of applying for youth grant funding to support young people from Durrington.

The Chairman thanked Gemma and her team for all the hard work being done noting that there are more young people participating in activities organised. Councillors also commended the Police for organising activities that engaged young people notably the ‘Bluez ‘N’ Zuz’ disco which clocked a record 144 young people from Amesbury. Sponsorship and funding was being sourcedfrom local businesses to support these activities

Janet Tidd coordinator for the Good Neighbour Scheme applauded all that was being done for young people however raised concerns about what provision there was in the budget for older and vulnerable adults.  Dave Roberts, CEM noted that most projects ongoing were revenue based and would not be considered as a new project qualifying for funding and that the Area Board would positively consider any grant application that was capital based.

 The need to be more creative in sourcing funding was discussed including the prospects of collaborating with town and parish councils on funding issues.

To discuss and consider recommendations arising from the Amesbury Children and Young People Conference on 12 November 2015.

A report is attached for information.

Jenny Bowley referred to the report in the agenda pack highlighting the outcomes of the Youth Conference mainly as:

 -Mental health issues for youth accessing levels of care and the role the Area Board could play to help.

-Transport problems with bus passes and getting more volunteer drivers.

Dave Roberts announced that a transport work committee was being set up to help the problem of getting people from the more remote areas into the youth café and clubs.

Councillor Fred Westmoreland observed that Wiltshire had a lot more vulnerable families closer to the threshold household income of £17K – which indicated poverty; councillors and officers had to be aware of this to target funding and activities very carefully.

Previously Area Boards delegated authority to Community Area Managers& Community Youth Officers to determine funding in exceptional circumstances. Should Boards wish to continue a similar arrangement, previously agreed wording should be updated to reflect the new role of Community Engagement Manager and maturity of the LYN & CYO role.

The proposed wording of the updated resolution is attached to this agenda for the Area Board to consider.

The Area Board considered a resolution delegating authority to the Community Youth Officer to grant funding to support positive activities for young people and to the Community Engagement Manager to grant funding to support community projects.

Resolved:

That in respect of urgent matters that may arise, the Community Youth

Officer, in agreement with the Chairman and Vice- Chairman of the Area

Board, may authorise expenditure to support youth projects from the

youth budget of up to £5,000 in total between meetings of an Area Board. 

That in respect of urgent matters that may arise, the Community Engagement Manager, in agreement with the Chairman and Vice- Chairman of the Area Board, may authorise expenditure to support community projects from the delegated budget of up to £5000 in total between meetings of an Area Board. 

To receive updates from any working groups.

Speed Indication Devizes (SIDs)

 Cllr Graham Wright gave an update on SIDs informing the meeting that two devices had been applied for and he was seeking joint Parish applications to reduce training costs.

There were no updates from other parish councils.  The Chairman noted the attendance of parish representatives at the meeting.

To consider an update and recommendations from the Community Area Transport Group meeting on 12 November 2015 (CATG) in relation to the funding available towards Local Transport Projects.

The notes of the latest CATG meeting are attached for information.

The Chairman referred members to the written updates included in the agenda pack.

Cllr Mike Hewitt noted that there were no recommendations to vote on. The biggest challenge facing CATG was with contractors not meeting timescales. 

Cllr John Noeken thanked CATG for work done on the Church of England School scheme.

To determine the following applications for Community Area Grant funding:

·       Girl Guiding Wiltshire South Berwick Management Committee- £5,000 towards a multi-purpose building;

·       Woodford Village Hall- £5,000 towards a storeroom extension;

·       Bourne Valley Explorer Scouts- £1,000 to provide shelters;

·       Amesbury Juniors Football Club- £996 for training equipment;

·       Woodford Parish Council- £5,000 for new play equipment for Middle Woodford play area.

To consider a Councillor-led initiative for £1,000 to enable volunteers to undertake MiDAS minibus training.

The Area Board considered applications for community grant funding to support positive activities in the community and agreed the resolution detailed below.

Resolved:

-To grant Girl Guiding Wiltshire South Berwick Management Committee  £5,000 towards a multi-purpose building;

-To Grant Woodford Village Hall  £5,000 towards a storeroom extension

-To grant Bourne Valley Explorer Scouts £1000 to provide shelters

-To grant Amesbury Juniors Football Club  £996 for training equipment

-To grant Woodford Parish Council £5,000 for new play equipment for Middle Woodford play area.

-To grant the Councillor-led initiative for £1,000 to enable volunteers to undertake MIDAS minibus training.

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

Good Neighbourhood Co-ordinator

The Area Board was advised that current contractors have been given their notice of redundancies and the contract will be ending as of 1^st April 2016 with Wiltshire Council then delegating the funding for the scheme to Area Boards to manage. Cllr Mike Hewitt raised the need to make interim arrangements to bridge the gap between when the current contractors finish and when the new scheme begins.

Cllr John Noeken proposed that the next ABC meeting for Councillors be used to discuss this in detail.

Proposals on the future of the Good Neighbourhood Scheme coordinator would be sought and considered at the next area board meeting.

Other

Cllr Graham Wright also informed the meeting about a need for permanent signage at various locations to raise awareness of thefts in the area.

The issue regarding the lack of leaders for ex-offenders working in the communities was also raised noting that the service had been stopped because of the lack of leaders.

The next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board will be held on 28 January 2016 at Antorbus House.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Amesbury Area Board would be held

on 28 January at 7pm at Antrobus House.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.