Agenda item

The Chairman will provide information about:

·       Engagement and Partnership Team Structure

·       Annual Canvass

·       Update on behalf of the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living

·       Building Bridges

·       Temporary Events Notices

·       Post-16 Skills and Participation Offer

·       EV Charging Webinar Feedback

·       Fly-tipping

The Chairman and Members of the Area Board made the following announcements, which were contained in the agenda pack and supplement.

·       Engagement and Partnership Team Structure

·       Annual Canvass

·       Update on behalf of the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living

·       Building Bridges

·       Temporary Events Notices

·       Post-16 Skills and Participation Offer

·       EV Charging Webinar Feedback

In addition, there was discussion in regard to the following Chairman’s Announcements:

·       Fly-tipping

It was recognised that there is a problem within the Chippenham and Villages community with fly-tipping and that previously before Covid a rural parish forum had taken place to drive such concerns. It was stressed that the issue had since got worse and that it would be positive for data to be collected via surveillance inorder to identify fly-tipping hotspots within the community. However permission would have to be granted by the Magistrates Court due to the 2000 Investigatory Powers Act. It was stated that the process of re-assembling the parish forum would help to revive work against fly-tipping. It was also noted that intelligence can also be collected from reports collated from the My Wilts app.

·       Chippenham HIF Bid

In regard to the HIF Bid, it was noted that there was no update to be reported.

·       Chippenham River Festival Booking

The Chairman invited feedback from those who attended the Chippenham River Festival which had taken place in Monkton Park. The following points were raised:

·       It would potentially be positive to link up with other towns to have a larger combined effort to clean up the river whilst sharing the experience with more people.

·       It would be positive for the Environment Agency and Wessex Water to attend the Area Board in order to provide updates regarding the river.

·       Cllr Nic Puntis provided an update from the perspective of being a Wiltshire Council representative on the Flooding Committee, that Salisbury is currently undertaking major infrastructure changes to its river and that Chippenham would be the next area for this.

·       It was stated that the Dragon Boat Race was a positive element of the festival previously with local businesses having sponsored boats.

·       There could potentially be an opportunity to pick out ideas from the Millennium Project to involve in the regeneration of the river.

·       Chippenham has been selected to have a team involved in the Wessex Water Community Connection Project, with Wessex Water set to speak at a community conference as well as sending members to the climate and ecological forum which is held every quarter.

·       Wessex Water have a community fund which is available for applications.

·       It was raised that the water quality within the area is not good, with there having been leeks and sewage discharge.

·       It was suggested that parishes send representatives to the Operational Flood Working Group, which is attended by Wessex Water.

·       Warm Spaces in the Community

The Chairman stated that there had been a lot of discussion regarding the upcoming energy crisis and winter and that work is being done to assemble a schedule to offer safe and warm spaces in Chippenham. It was also stated that a proposal was being taken to Chippenham Town Council to open up its foyer as a warm space. Kate Blackburn added that a lot of work is being conducted on this area countywide with it being a priority for the Council.

In addition to the Chairman’s Announcements, Kate Blackburn (Director of Public Health) was welcome to the Area Board who had been allocated as a member of the extended leadership team to attend meetings.

The Area Board placed on record their gratitude towards the work of Ollie Phipps, Community Engagement Manager, who had left his post as part of the Engagement Team restructure. Following this, the Area Board welcomed and introduced Ros Griffiths as the new Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager for the Chippenham and Villages area, who provided an overview of her role.