Agenda and minutes

To welcome those present to the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, explained the procedure for remote meetings and invited the Councillors present to introduce themselves.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

• Dr Richard Hook, Kennet and Avon Medical Partnership

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 29 September 2020.

The minutes of the meeting on 29 September 2020 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.

Cllr Nicholas Fogg MBE declared an interest in agenda item 12, the youth grant applications from Marlborough Town Council as he was a member of the town council. He declared that he would not vote on those items.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

The Chairman made the following announcement:

·       COVID-19

The Chairman gave an update on the new COVID-19 restrictions which would take effect on 5 November 2020 and last until 2 December 2020. It was stated that people should stay at home except for a limited set of reasons. People should also maintain social distancing when out of their homes, wear masks when required and wash their hands regularly.   The Wiltshire Council Wellbeing Hub remained open to anyone that needed additional support. They could be contacted on 0300 003 4576, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Further information could be found at: https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-coronavirus. The latest COVID-19 figures were also given to the meeting. 

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue

·       Town / Parish Councils

o   Marlborough Town Council

·       Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

Sgt Gareth Edwards gave an update to the meeting. Sgt Edwards stated that for the month of October in the whole Marlborough Area there had been 75 crimes and 52 incidents. Priorities for the area were drugs, anti-social behaviour and speeding offences. In relation to drug offences a number of stop searches had been carried out. There had been some anti-social behaviour reported outside The Crown in the high street. Offices had been carrying out speed checks around the area. The crime rate in the area was well below the national average.

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The DWRFS provided a written update that was contained in agenda supplement 1.

·       Town and Parish Councils

o   Marlborough Town Council

Cllr Mark Cooper, Mayor of Marlborough Town Council (MTC) gave an update to the meeting. MTC were preparing for the new lockdown. All MTC buildings would be closed, however services would be maintained and MTC would answer enquiries by telephone and email. Open spaces and playgrounds would stay open. MTC and volunteers would help people shielding or isolating and thanks was given to the volunteers. On Remembrance Day, wreaths could be laid privately. MTC would keep people up to date with developments.

MTC had declared a climate emergency and would form a climate emergency working party. At the previous evenings town council meeting MTC had agreed to support a Transition Marlborough proposal for a community fridge. MTC had received a petition regarding better provision for a pedestrian crossing, for the road from the top of Port Hill to the common which MTC would support. A whole town transport or traffic strategy was required, it was hoped that Wiltshire Council would work with MTC on this and identify funds to make it happen. MTC also had some LYN funding applications later on the agenda and it was hoped that these would be supported.

·       Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan

Cllr Mervyn Hall of MTC gave an update on the MANP. The plan was still in public consultation on the re-designation of the plan area. Once that had been signed off the public consultation on the draft plan itself could begin. It was hoped that this would start at the beginning of December.

To receive an update from Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner, on the current police position, police recruitment and activity linked to COVID-19.

Angus Macpherson, PCC, explained that the election for the new PCC and Deputy PCC had been due to take place in May 2020 but had been postponed until May 2021 due to COVID-19. Therefore, the PCC and the Deputy PCC had been invited to stay on for an extra year. The Police and Crime Plan had been updated and was available at www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk/Police-and-Crime-Plan. The Annual Report was also available at www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk/article/1844/Annual-report.

Details were given regarding ‘Operation Uplift’ and police recruitment. A national announcement by government to increase police officers by 20,000 had been made in 2019. In Wiltshire and Swindon the police force had been at 934 officers, this had been increased and would reach a new figure of 1,050 officers in March 2021. However, it did take time to train the new officers.

An update on policing in the pandemic was given. Wiltshire Police followed the College of Policing Guidance to Engage, Explain and Encourage, only Enforcing as a last resort. This had been working well and there was scrutiny in place to ensure that any Fixed Penalty Notices were issued correctly.

The policing point in Marlborough had been open, although it was unclear whether it would remain open in the new lockdown. The old police station in George Road would be sold and conversations had taken place with Wiltshire Council and MTC regarding possible uses for the site.

In response to questions it was stated that the Rural Crime Team had been reintroduced and that Community Speed Watch was continuing. Training could now take place online and they were committed to recruiting volunteers. There had been some issues with ANPR Speed Indicator Devices and GDPR. However, the police were committed to making the roads safe. If there was a proven need Inspectors could task those policing the roads to go to a particular area to enforce.

The Chairman thanked the PCC for his update.

To receive a presentation on Community Speed Watch from Sarah Holden, Citizens in Policing Supervisor.

Sarah Holden, Citizens in Policing Supervisor, gave a presentation on Community Speed Watch (CSW).

Ms Holden stated that there were 2 CSW teams in the Marlborough Area, one in Marlborough (London Road) and one in East Kennett. There were some other areas awaiting risk assessments in order to start a team. It was stated that:

·       CSW activity had resumed on 6 July 2020 after lock down ended.

·       In the county 86 out of 110 teams had resumed since 6 July 2020.

·       633 sessions had been held across Swindon & Wiltshire.

·       144,721 vehicle had passed during checks.

·       7,215 speeders were recorded.

·       4,432 were sent a letter or had action taken.

Every two weeks tasking was sent out to CPT areas and focused on areas where communities had highlighted issues.

Unfortunately, CSW would be suspended again due to the new lock down. Where teams were unable to go out, the local CPT’s would be encouraged to focus on those areas.

In response to a question it was stated that there had been a team in Aldbourne who had unfortunately resigned. Ms Holden explained that it could be difficult to get teams out there as they were reliant on community volunteers. A traffic survey also had to be undertaken (which could be achieved through CATG), the results of the survey then had to meet national requirements in order for a team to be set up. 

In response to further questions it was explained that there were 66 handheld cameras across Wiltshire, which were often shared between teams, for example East Kennett and Marlborough shared a camera. The cameras were expensive and needed to be calibrated by CSW every 3 years in order to ensure they were accurate. Fyfield and West Overton would be setting up CSW teams and were awaiting training. Once those were set up the CSW would look at how best cameras could be shared.  A device audit had been undertaken in order to facilitate the efficient sharing of cameras. 

Cllr Lisa Farrell of MTC was part of the Marlborough CSW team and stated that MTC wished to purchase a camera. At present the Marlborough CSW team could only look at London Road, however they were awaiting risk assessments on other locations. The team wanted posters and signs to promote CSW. It was stated that signs could be requested through CATG. In October, 3 speeding tickets had been issued for London Road, so the group did have an effect.

In response to a question Ms Holden stated that they did follow up with groups when they stopped doing CSW. Usually it was for personal reasons or due to a lack of support in the community. It was hoped that teams could be reinvigorated.

In response to further questions it was stated that if parishes wished to use Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) that parishes could decide if they wanted to have these and could fund purchasing them, then they could apply for them through CATG. The CSW were happy to then receive data  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive a full presentation on Air Quality from Brett Warren - Senior Environmental Health Officer and Gary Tomsett – Public Protection Team Leader Environmental Control and Protection.

The Chairman invited Brett Warren, Senior Environmental Health Officer and Gary Tomsett, Public Protection Team Leader, Environmental Control and Protection to give a presentation on air quality.

The officer explained that air pollution was transboundary and action to manage and improve air quality in the UK had been driven by both international agreements and EU legislation, as well as national legislation. The Government had been clear that it had no plans to change limit values and targets for air quality following Brexit.

The local air quality management regime in each of the four UK countries required every district and unitary authority to regularly review and assess air quality in their areas.

The aim of the reviews was to identify whether national objectives had been, or would be, achieved at relevant locations, by an applicable date. Wiltshire Council had a statutory duty to declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) and prepare an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) where national objectives were not met or were at risk of not being met.

Wiltshire’s Air Quality Strategy was adopted by full council in 2019 and set out key points that it was hoped could be achieved. One of the main reasons for tackling air quality was health and wellbeing, as the Royal College of Physicians estimated that 40,000 people died due to air pollution in the UK every year.

In Wiltshire problems tended to occur in narrower streets and canyons (where high sided buildings line the street) especially where those streets were on hills and engines were straining. Herd Street in Marlborough was an example.

Techniques currently used to monitor air quality were diffusion tubes and Osiris units (fine particulate monitors). Nitrogen Dioxide trends in Marlborough were shown to the meeting, Herd Street was the current concern. COVID-19 and the lockdowns would affect 2020 air quality figures and all areas should be below the objective.

The Air Quality team was looking at different ways of monitoring air quality and there were many electronic gadgets coming to the market that could be utilised. Citizen science might also be able to used. 

In Herd Street in Marlborough a 29% reduction in Nitrogen Dioxide was required to meet the objective. For Herd Street and other areas that required improvement the Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) looked at how to achieve this:

·       Measures needed to be evidence based and quantified in terms of their impact on the necessary reduction for each pollutant required to meet our objectives.

·       This also required:

o   Identifications of key partners who can contribute to measures – both core and non-core.

o   Modelling of proposed measures and their impact on AQ.

o   Identification and adoption of measures as part of the action plan

o   Monitoring and evaluation of success

Air Quality actions in practice included measures such as:

·       Park & Ride

·       Variable message signing

·       Real time passenger information

·       People Friendly Streets - rat runs removed

·       Reduction in parking

·       Reduction in on street parking

·       Charging points

·       Home vehicle charge infrastructure

·       Public Transport infrastructure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

To receive an update from Cllr James Sheppard on the CATG.

The minutes of the last CATG meeting on 17 September 2020 are attached for information.

Cllr James Sheppard as Chairman of the CATG gave a brief update. The biggest issue encountered was that budget was very small, however Cllr Sheppard recommended that people (via their parishes) still brought their issues to CATG as some schemes could still be carried out and funding could be provided through area board initiatives as well.  

There had not been a meeting of the CATG since 17 September, actions and recommendations from that meeting were approved at the Marlborough Area Board meeting on 29 September. The date of the next remote CATG meeting was 10 December 2020.

To receive any updates from the Health and Wellbeing Group and consider the following application for Health and Wellbeing funding:

·       Carers’ Support Wiltshire, £2500.00, towards counselling for unpaid carers.

Please see the grant report at pages 27-34 of the agenda for further details.

Jill Turner gave an update to the meeting on the Health and Wellbeing group. The health and wellbeing event in the summer which had been planned was cancelled due to CIOVID 19.

The group felt that best way to move forward was to devote attention and funding to support charities and organisations with their work during the pandemic. 

The following application for Health and Wellbeing funding was considered and it was;

Resolved:

·       To grant Carers’ Support Wiltshire, £1,500.00, of the £2,500.00 requested towards counselling for unpaid carers.

·       Reason: The application was part funded in order to allow the project and its positive benefit to careers to continue. However, some Cllrs had concerns regarding the costings of the project and the number of people it would help. It was suggested that the concerns be taken back to the applicant and that they may wish to reapply in the future, including more information addressing Cllr concerns.

To receive any updates from the Local Youth Network (LYN) and for the Area Board to consider the following applications for youth grant funding:

·       Marlborough Town Council, £1478.00, towards their Dark Skies Festival, 2021.

·       Marlborough Town Council, £5000.00, towards Skatepark floodlighting.

Please see the grant report on pages 27-34 of the agenda for further details on the grant applications.

The following applications for Youth grant funding were considered. Representatives of Marlborough Town Council spoke in support of their applications and give brief details regarding the projects. It was;

Resolved:

·       To grant Marlborough Town Council, £1478.00, towards their Dark Skies Festival, 2021.

·       To grant Marlborough Town Council, £5000.00, towards Skatepark floodlighting.

To receive an update from Andrew Jack, Community Engagement Manager (CEM).

There was no update from the Community Engagement Manager.

To consider the following applications for community area grant funding:

·       Kennet Valley School, £5000.00, towards Playground Equipment Upgrade.

·       Mildenhall Parish Council, £754.00, towards Footpath improvements.

·       White Horse Cricket Club, £960.00, towards refurbishment of the Pitch roller.

·       Avebury Community Sports & Social Club, £5000.00, towards a new accessible toilet and kitchen.

·       Area Board Initiative: Cllr Dobson, £1875.00, for a Speed limit review for Frees Avenue.

The board considered the following applications for grant funding. Representatives of the organisations applying for funding had the opportunity to speak in support of their applications and give brief details regarding the projects.

It was;

Resolved:

·       To grant Kennet Valley School, £5000.00, towards Playground Equipment Upgrade.

·       To grant Mildenhall Parish Council, £754.00, towards Footpath improvements.

·       To grant White Horse Cricket Club, £960.00, towards refurbishment of the Pitch roller.

·       To grant Avebury Community Sports & Social Club, £5000.00, towards a new accessible toilet and kitchen, with the condition that if the club closes or there was a change of use of the building the funding would be refunded.

·       To grant the Area Board Initiative: Cllr Dobson, £1875.00, for a Speed limit review for Frees Avenue.

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 Marlborough Area Board will be held on 26 January 2021 at 7.00pm.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and announced that the next meeting of the Marlborough Area Board would be on Tuesday 26 January 2021 at 7.00pm.