Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone present to his home division and Sherston Village Hall. He introduced and thanked the support team for Malmesbury Area Board meetings; David Ashdown (Technical Support Officer), Barbara Gray (Events and Sponsorship Manager) and Linnet Tomes (Marketing Officer). The top table of Councillors and officers then introduced themselves. 

Apologies for absence were received from Paul Baker (Chamber of Commerce), Bill Blake (Malmesbury Town Council), Julia Bowen, Peter Campaigne (Norton and Foxley Parish Council), Terry Fraser (Crudwell Parish Council), Peter Gilchriest (Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership), Frances Goldstone (Malmesbury River Valleys Trust), Patrick Goldstone (Malmesbury Town Council), Sid Jevons (Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership), Terry Mockler (Hankerton Parish Council), Graham Morris (Sherston Parish Council), Bob Tallon (Brokenborough Parish Council), John Tremayne (Easton Grey Parish Council) and Jen Woodcock.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2011 were approved and signed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman drew attention to the written announcements included in the agenda pack. In addition, information was provided about Wiltshire’s new ‘Warm and Well’ free home insulation scheme and a household survey.

The new ‘Warm and Well’ scheme was open to all home owners and private tenants and enabled residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes through installing loft and cavity wall insulation. To access the scheme, please freephone 0800 512012 or go to http://www.warmandwell.co.uk.

Wiltshire Council and its partners were undertaking a large random survey to Wiltshire residents called ‘What matters to you’ in order to understand local people’s priorities and needs. The survey was going to 20,000 Wiltshire households and many residents could expect to receive or have received surveys through their doors or via email. Surveys were also available to take away at the meeting, through reception in main offices, leisure centres and libraries and online. This was the preferred method of completion as it did not cost Wiltshire Council and saved postage charges: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/whatmatterstoyou.

Approximately sixty surveys were distributed on the evening and people were encouraged to complete them or give them to a friend or neighbour.      

Presentations were given by the groups of young people who had received funding at the participative budgeting event in May 2011.

Malmesbury Bridging Project Group had been awarded £1,009 for a group of local 13-19 year olds with disabilities or special needs to visit Oakwood theme park in July 2011. The group showed photos of their visit and explained they had enjoyed the new experiences, their confidence had increased and their communication skills had improved. 

A Young People’s Film Project Group had been awarded £1,500 to run and promote film nights for 13-19 year olds. Forty people had attended the first showing of Planet of the Apes. The group of young people were working to improve publicity for a Christmas film showing. 

Sherston Craft Group had been awarded £620 for a visit and transport to Gifford’s Circus in December. They had had an excellent time and brought along examples of their craft work inspired by the visit. This included needlework, puppets and paintings. All work had been displayed at Sherston Art Festival, at which some members of the group were awarded prizes for their efforts.   

Somewhere In Between, a local Christian Union, had been awarded £1,236 for group members to attend lessons at a snowboard and ski centre and complete a recreational certificate. They had produced a DVD of their visit and invited Area Board members to a special showing. The group thanked the Area Board and the volunteers involved for their trip.  

A Malmesbury skating group had been awarded £713 for a trip to Truro Plaza with adult accompaniment to camp and take part in a different skating experience. Photographs of the visit and a DVD about the group’s experience were available to view on YouTube and would be brought to the next Area Board meeting.  

The meeting received feedback from the recent survey of Area Boards. Overall, respondents from Malmesbury were satisfied with the Area Board. The meetings were considered as accessible to all, useful and informative and the process of solving local issues was rated highly. However, there remained a few areas for the Area Board to improve, in particular consultation with parish councils and consideration of the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

Those at the meeting were then asked to take part in a workshop to provide ideas for the future improvement of Malmesbury Area Board. The meeting was split into five smaller groups who looked at the issues and came up with ideas for changes, as below:

·       How we should consult with parish councils about issues referred to the area board – the area board should report an issue when it was received to the parish council concerned in order to give them a chance to address it in the first instance.

·       How we should increase your opportunity to have your say – venues should be easily accessible and meetings could alternate between having a town and a village focus.

·       Topics on the area board agenda – should have more parish council input.

·       Issues the area board should consult with the community widely for – speeding in small villages. A presentation on the community speed watch scheme would be useful.

·       Further powers the area board should have – an increased highways budget.

·       How we could improve publicity/information about the area board meetings – increased email contacts.

·       Additional information on the Malmesbury Area Board website – the website ought to stand alone and function more as a community network.

·       How Wiltshire councillors could become more involved in resolving issues – the experiences of the group had all been very positive already.

·       How should the area board consider the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people – first identify their needs by speaking to relevant people and organisations.      

The responses to the workshop would be looked into further and brought back to the January Area Board meeting.    

Consideration was given to the one application made to the Community Area Grants Scheme.

Decision

Lea Community with Lea Baby and Toddler Group were awarded £4,653 towards imaginative play equipment suitable for 3-7 year olds, conditional on the balance of funding being in place.

Reason

The application meets the 2011/12 grant criteria and it would help to improve community facilities.  

The Area Board were asked by the Community Area Manager to agree those community issues to be closed and/or sent to the Community Area Transport Group.

Decision

The Area Board would close the following issues:

Issue 1493 - a highways issue concerning Abbey Road, Malmesbury - should be resolved following resurfacing works. 

Issue 1613 - pedestrian safety in Sherston - was being addressed by the Community Area Transport Group.

Issue 1835 - concerning HGV on minor roads in the Dauntsey area - had been raised with the haulier and a compromise reached.

Issue 1974 - community payback request from Sherston Village Hall - had been referred to the community payback team.

Decision

The Area Board would refer eight issues to the Malmesbury Community Area Transport Group, as per the report included in the agenda pack (Issues 1608, 1624, 1809, 1863, 1893, 1948, 1955 and 1509).

Councillor Killane noted the town centre now had an excellent road surface with improved speed bumps, as discussed at the Area Board. He thanked Adrian Hampton, Head of Local Highways and Streetscene, and his team for their hard work. 

The Area Board were then invited to close six schemes that had been considered by the group.

Decision

The Area Board would close the following issues:

The kerb and footway at Swann Close, Crudwell (1) had been completed.

Traffic calming/footway at Tetbury Lane, Crudwell (2 & 3) had been completed.

Improvements to the A429 zebra crossing near the Primary Health Care Centre, Malmesbury (19) had been completed.

Traffic calming at Park Road, Malmesbury (17) - options had been considered, but this issue was not a priority for the Community Area Transport Group. The local school may want to consider the issue when developing their travel plan.

The purchase of land to accommodate a footpath was not cost effective to provide a footway to enable access to the road into Lea village from The Crescent, B4042 (28).

Church Path, Oaksey (32) – the issue was not appropriate for the Community Area Transport Group.

The Area Board were then invited to fund one other project, between The Green, from opposite Olivemead Lane, to Sedgemoor, Dauntsey, to enhance pedestrian safety (21). It was confirmed the parish council were supportive of the project. 

Decision

Malmesbury Area Board would allocate £1,058 to complete a scheme to enhance pedestrian safety between The Green and Sedgemoor in Dauntsey.     

Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership reported they had made good progress against their annual work plan and sought Malmesbury Area Board’s approval to the release of their second tranche of funding.

Decision

Malmesbury Area Board would release the second and final tranche of core funding, £4,059, to Malmesbury and the Villages Community Area Partnership covering the financial year 2011/12.    

Councillor Thomson asked if anyone at the meeting had any concerns or questions that had not already been addressed. A question was raised about 20 mph speed limits after hearing about the success of a pilot scheme in Somerset. A Malmesbury group had been established as part of the national ‘20’s Plenty for Us’ scheme.

Councillor Sturgis pointed out that the outcome of the schemes was complicated and in some cases the schemes had led to more accidents taking place outside the limit.   

Decision

Martin Rose, Principal Highway Engineer, would provide information about 20 mph speed limit schemes at a future Area Board meeting.

The Chairman decided not to evaluate the meeting in light of the time. He thanked everyone who was able to attend.