Agenda and minutes

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

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Tim Elliott (Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service) and Inspector James Brain (Wiltshire Police).

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2021 were presented for consideration and it was;

Resolved

To approve the minutes as a correct record.

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

Councillor Gavin Grant declared that he is the Chair of Trustees for HEALS of Malmesbury, however this was a non-pecuniary interest.

To receive the following announcements through the Chair:

·       The 2023 Boundary Review

·       Covid-19 Booking Vaccines

·       Climate Strategy and Natural Environment Consultations

·       Ash Dieback

The chairman gave the following updates:

·       The 2023 Boundary Review

Last month the Boundary Commission for England published its initial proposals for new constituency boundaries, with the proposals and maps for the nine English regions published on their website. Though the consultation window has now closed, area specific information can be found on the linked website within the agenda pack by entering a post code or region. This can be used to view the current constituency and local authority boundaries as well as the proposals for the new constituency boundaries.

·       Covid-19 Booking Vaccines

The Chairman reminded those in attendance not to forget to book their Covid-19 vaccine. Those looking to book an appointment should use the National Booking Service, which is available online or for those who do not have internet access, appointments can be booked by calling 119. The web link for booking an appointment can be found within the agenda pack.

·       Wiltshire Council Draft Climate Strategy Consultation

Consultations on both the draft Wiltshire Climate Strategy and Our Natural Environment Plan started on 1 September and run until 23.59 on 17 October 2021.Information about both consultations are available through the links in the agenda supplement and comments can also be submitted through the two online surveys that are included.

·       Ash Dieback

The announcement was introduced by Community Engagement Manager, Alexa Davies, which was then followed by a video covering the issues of Ash Dieback. A link to the video can be found in the agenda pack as part of the attached Ash Dieback report.

Following the announcement there was time for the following question and point to be raised:

It was questioned whether it would be possible for the Ash Dieback video to be shared with councillors, so that they would be able to share with landowners in their unitary divisions.

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

·       Healthwatch

·       Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership (MVCAP)

·       Riverside Centre

·       Health & Wellbeing Champion

·       Town and Parish Councils

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

The Area Board noted a written update attached to the agenda.

·       Police and Crime Commissioner

The Area Board received a verbal update from newly elected Police and Crime commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Philip Wilkinson. The PCC introduced himself to the Area Board and outlined the following:

·       The PCC outlined that he would like to provide a change of approach to the PCC plan and aims to ask people what they think should be provided.

·       Having spoken to the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police and the Executive Leadership team, the PCC is keen to conduct office on a variety of activities, such as conflict prevention, youth engagement schemes as well as crime prevention and apprehension.

·       The PCC wants to focus on the delivery of a better service, which could include functional crime areas such as rural crime, drugs and county lines, speed enforcement.

·       Regarding speed enforcement, the PCC noted that speedwatch teams do not feel supported and understands frustrations that they might have. There will be a dedicated speedwatch team going forward who will have three officers to support speedwatch teams. Additionally, a moveable camera has been purchased which has the same function as a fixed one and would have connection to the Crown Prosecution Service and would be able to issue summons and fines. It is hoped that the income from this scheme will be self-financing and allow for more cameras to be bought.

·       There is a view to link all speedwatch teams county-wide in an attempt to identify hotspots and to consequently be able to prioritise more effectively against persistent offenders.

Following the verbal update there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

·       Richard Moody of Oaksey Parish Council raised the point that the speedwatch team in Oaksey have given up due to intimidation and rude gestures. People need to be motivated and reassured to go out and work for the village. – Philip Wilkinson reassured Mr Moody that he is trying his best and that speeding has been one of the first issues that he has addressed. There is the vision to set up a collation centre for the data produced by speedwatch cameras, allowing the police to identify hotspots and therefore to take the newly purchased camera to these locations.

·       Ellen Blacker also reinforced that other counties such as Gloucestershire Police are now using the data provided by speedwatch devices and sought clarity as to when Wiltshire would be doing the same. – The PCC stated that he is trying to address the speed enforcement problem holistically whilst trying to maximise the best use of resources. The use of identifying hotspots for use of the new camera was reinforced.

·       It was stated that the Area Board previously invested significantly in speedwatch cameras. Though it is acknowledged that the evidence produced from these cameras cannot be used in a court of law, they could be used to highlight where the repeat offenders are and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive an update on the Malmesbury Area Board Action Plan, having previously agreed upon priorities during the 8 June 2021 meeting.

The Area Board received an update on the Malmesbury Area Board Action Plan, having previously agreed upon priorities during the 8 June 2021 meeting. The Malmesbury Councillors provided individual updates for their respective lead areas:

Councillor Gavin Grant – Positive Activities for Younger People

• The Malmesbury Local Youth Network has been working to bring together partner organisations and has encouraged the active involvement of Malmesbury Secondary School as well as the young people who attend.
• Partnership working with Malmesbury Town Council has been first class and the Area Board broke new ground by completing a youth survey,which will be repeated. A special Area Board was held with the Malmesbury Secondary School Council, to discuss the responses of the youth survey and the priorities that they had chosen.

Councillor Martin Smith – Green Issues

• A couple of items are in their early stages, specifically the adopt a street initiative and the setting up of a community fridge.
• Help is needed to look at the installation of electrical charging points for the district, with their being a number of possible solutions but these need to be best suited for each area.
• The walking and cycling network has undergone improvement, with work from the Malmesbury Climate Action Network.
• The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Canopy Scheme was promoted and anyone willing to help should get in touch.

Councillor Chuck Berry – Loneliness and Isolation

• A network has started to be worked on to facilitate the bringing together of people to partake in activities.

Councillor Elizabeth Threlfall – Highway Safety

• Work started this evening with the questions and thoughts that were posed to the new Police and Crime Commissioner. There is a real importance of drawing the PCC’s focus to road safety and use of cameras.
• There is an overlap with the Green Issues priority by the means of improving the Malmesbury area cycle routes.

Councillor Gavin Grant – Recovery of the Local Economy

• The town team has invited senior Wiltshire Council Officer, Victoria Moloney to a meeting, who has promised an action plan for how the £450,000 Welcome Back Fund can be used.
• The town team has produced the Explore Malmesbury app, which is developing all of the time.
• The importance of Christmas for retail and hospitality businesses was cited.

• The Malmesbury Area Board have previously funded an expanded guide to Malmesbury, a new iteration will be available soon.

To receive a presentation from a Highways Officer in regard to the Highways 5-year Work Plan.

The Area Board received a presentation regarding the Highways 5-year Work Plan from Highways Principal Technical Officer, Diane Ware. The presentation covered the following points:

·       Diane provided her email address(diane.ware@wiltshire.gov.uk)for if any attendees wanted to get in touch with her regarding the current proposed plan. It was stated that this is the first revision and pre-plan to inform what the Council is thinking of doing over the next 5 years. The plan will be authorised in April.

·       Previously funds had been allocated based upon the length of the roads in question, however there was a discrepancy with this with traffic flows and geology not being the same for all. Therefore, over the next 5 years funding will be allocating to roads dependent on condition as with the need to be Carbon neutral by 2023, roads cannot be left to need a full reconstruction.

·       Diane Ware outlined some of the preventative treatments that are used on roads, in order to make carbon savings and ultimately prevent road surfaces from needing major intervention work.

·       Last year the whole road network was covered by a laser machine, which means that each road has a score which can be looked up and prioritised to be worked on.

·       A graph was provided to show that currently on average 31.90% of Wiltshire’s A,B,C roads need work; Malmesbury’s roads were scored 32.99%.

·       It was also acknowledged that the budget for this work has been cut by 6 million pounds, therefore cuts have been made.

·       The proposed spend level for Malmesbury was outlined as being 3.67 million pounds over a 5-year period, with the average spend for other community areas being 3.3 million pounds.

Following the presentation there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

·       The Area Board have spoken to cabinet about a way of allocating CIL money more effectively, to attempt to control that money for Highways locally. It would be appreciated to have Diane’s feedback on how this money should be spent on projects around the Highways area and CATG.

·       It was questioned where the funding stream for the plan would come from. It was clarified that the work would be completely government funded with money being received for potholes as well as a capital maintenance fund. The pothole funding would be spent specifically on potholes.

·       It was questioned why the proposed Malmesbury annual spend would be much smaller for 2022/2023. It was clarified that this would be decided by the jobs that were prioritised to be completed, for example surface dressing a road would cost significantly less than deep building a road.

Resolved

The Area Board agreed to note the contents of the presentation and the report provided by Highways. Additionally it was agreed that the report included in the agenda pack would be taken to the Malmesbury Community Area Transport Group (CATG) for further comment before returning back to the Area Board next year for approval.

To consider the notes and actions log of the previous meeting of the Community Area Transport Group on 7 September 2021.

Councillor Elizabeth Threlfall introduced the minutes and recommendations from the CATG meeting held on 7 September 2021. Councillor Threlfall updated that the Malmesbury CATG have reviewed the priorities that were listed with Steve Hind (Highways Principal Engineer) in order to produce a shorter list of priorities. The list would be more coherent and allow items to move forward.

Resolved

The minutes and recommendations of the Community Area Transport Group meeting held on 7 September 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider applications for funding for Community Area Grants.

·       Parochial Church Council Garsdon - £5,000 towards the Garsdon Church Appeal.

·       RENEWmalmesbury CIC - £5,000 towards Renew Malmesbury creating a retail shop and environment hub.

To note that the following Youth Grants have now been approved by the Malmesbury councillors under delegated authority.

·        The Last Baguette ?Theatre Company (£1,200) for theatre workshops to create a short performance during Malmesbury Carnival

·       The Rise Trust (£5,000) for ongoing RISE youth outreach work

·       HEALS of Malmesbury (£2,207) towards the HEALS Summer Programme 2021

The Area Board considered the followingas detailed in the reports attached to the agenda.

Community Area Grants

1)    Parochial Church Council Garsdon - £5,000 towards the Garsdon Church Appeal.

Resolved

Parochial Church Council Garsdon was awarded £2,500 towards the Garsdon Church Appeal.

2)    RENEWmalmesbury CIC - £5,000 towards Renew Malmesbury creating a retail shop and environment hub.

Resolved

RENEWmalmesbury CIC was awarded £2,500 towards Renew Malmesbury creating a retail shop and environment hub. An additional proposal was accepted to support RENEWmalmesbury with its bid to create a retail shop and environment by lobbying the Wiltshire Council Cabinet and the executive such as Sam Fox and Victoria Moloney for any support they could offer with government schemes. Additionally, to seek an active contribution for the project from Wiltshire Council to match the Area Board funding.

Delegated Authority

The Area Board noted that the following Youth Grants have now been approved by the Malmesbury councillors under delegated authority:

• The Last Baguette Theatre Company £1,200 for theatre workshops to create a short performance during Malmesbury Carnival.
• The Rise Trust £5,000) for ongoing RISE youth outreach work.
• HEALS of Malmesbury £2,207 towards the HEALS Summer Programme 2021.

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

Gordon Sim spoken on behalf of the Wiltshire Climate Alliance, regarding climate concerns and what steps the Council was going to take, as well as whether there was the funding or timescale to implement the proposed plan. Councillor Martin Smith updated that currently the Wiltshire Climate Strategy and Our Natural Environment Plan are open for consultation which should be used, with Councillors also having been given a briefing presentation. Councillor Smith suggested that Mr Sim provide feedback for these consultations via the links in Chairman’s Announcement part of the agenda.

Councillor Gavin Grant added that unfortunately the Malmesbury Area Board weren’t able to have a climate emergency themed meeting due to Covid, however the Area Board is working with the climate crisis in mind, such as RENEWmalmesbury grant and the safe cycling network. It was also acknowledged that it would be timely for the Area Board to reinstate its sustainability feature in order to initiate positive work at ground level.

The next meeting of the Malmesbury Area Board will be held on 30 November 2021.

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 30 November at 7.00pm.