Agenda item

To note the remaining budgets and to consider any applications for funding, as detailed in the attached report and summarised below:

 

Remaining Budgets:

 

Community Area Grant	Older & Vulnerable	Young People
£162.50	£543.00	£19,148.00

 

Balance if all grants awarded in full:

 

Community Area Grant	Older & Vulnerable	Young People
£162.50	£43.00	£0.00

 

Area Board Initiatives:

 

Ref/Link	Grant Details	Amount Requested
ABG2089	South West Wiltshire Local Youth Network Steering Committee towards Youth Activities Parish Collaboration Project (from youth budget)	£2,500.00
ABG2090	South West Wiltshire Local Youth Network Steering Committee towards Youth Music Festivals Programme (from youth budget)	£4,648.00
ABG2185	South West Wiltshire Area Board Health And Wellbeing Group towards Health and Wellbeing in South West Wiltshire (from Older & Vulnerable budget)	£500.00

 

Young People Grants:

 

Ref/Link	Grant Details	Amount Requested
ABG2153	Messums Studios towards Clay and Ceramics for Young People	£2,000.00
ABG2180	Seeds4Success towards Open Access Youth Work Opportunities South West Wiltshire	£5,000.00
ABG2181	Seeds4Success towards S4S Leisure Credits Scheme	£5,000.00

 

Further information on the Area Board Grant system can be found here.

 

Local Highway and Footpath Improvements Group (LHFIG)

 

To note the minutes from the LHFIG meetings held on 13 November 2024 and 5 February 2025, as set out in the attached reports (February report to follow in a supplement). There are no funding recommendations to approve from either meeting.

 

Further information on the LHFIG process can be found here.

 

The Area Board noted the budgets remaining for allocation at the meeting and heard from representatives in attendance who gave a brief overview of, and were questioned about, their projects.

 

Area Board Initiatives

 

·       South West Wiltshire Local Youth Network Steering Committee requested £2,500 towards Youth Activities Parish Collaboration Project (from youth budget).

 

Karen Linaker, Strategic Engagement and Partnership manager (SEPM) spoke in support of the project and the Chairman highlighted that a number of parish councils had signed up with match funding. It was hoped that this would help develop the youth offer, improve facilities and provide seed funding.

 

The Chairman proposed to award the grant in full, which was seconded by Cllr Bridget Wayman.

 

Decision:

 

South West Wiltshire Local Youth Network Steering Committee was awarded £2,500 towards Youth Activities Parish Collaboration Project (from youth budget).

 

Reason: The application met the Young People Grant Criteria 2024/25.

 

·       South West Wiltshire Local Youth Network Steering Committee requested £4,648 towards Youth Music Festivals Programme (from youth budget).

 

Karen Linaker (SEPM) spoke in support of the project highlighting that the JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment) data had supported this project, with young people interested in music festivals. It was hoped that 3 would be held in and around Salisbury, South West Wiltshire and Southern Wiltshire.

 

The Chairman proposed to award the grant in full, which was seconded by Cllr Richard Budden.

 

Decision:

 

South West Wiltshire Local Youth Network Steering Committee was awarded £4,648 towards Youth Music Festivals Programme (from youth budget).

 

Reason: The application met the Young People Grant Criteria 2024/25.

 

·       South West Wiltshire Area Board Health and Wellbeing Group requested £500 towards Health and Wellbeing in South West Wiltshire (from Older & Vulnerable budget).

 

Karen Linaker (SEPM) spoke in support of the project.

 

Cllr Richard Budden proposed to award the grant in full, which was seconded by the Chairman.

 

Decision:

 

South West Wiltshire Area Board Health and Wellbeing Group was awarded £500 towards Health and Wellbeing in South West Wiltshire (from Older & Vulnerable budget).

 

Reason: The application met the Older & Vulnerable Grant Criteria 2024/25.

 

Young People’s Grants

 

·       Messums Studios requested £2,000 towards Clay and Ceramics for Young People.

 

Mirka Golden-Hann of Messums Studios, spoke in support of the project. In response to a question regarding access, the representative stated that they would look to see how they could help young people with access issues attend.

 

Cllr George Jeans proposed to award the grant in full, which was seconded by Cllr Richard Budden.

 

Decision:

 

Messums Studios was awarded £2,000 towards Clay and Ceramics for Young People.

 

Reason: The application met the Young People Grant Criteria 2024/25.

 

·       Seeds4Success requested £5,000 towards Open Access Youth Work Opportunities South West Wiltshire.

 

Jaki Farrell of Seeds4Success spoke in support of the project, as did some of the young people in attendance who gave a really good report of the work undertaken by Seeds4Success and how much they enjoyed it.

 

Cllr Bridget Wayman proposed to award the grant in full, which was seconded by Cllr Richard Budden.

 

Decision:

 

Seeds4Success was awarded £5,000 towards Open Access Youth Work Opportunities South West Wiltshire.

 

Reason: The application met the Young People Grant Criteria 2024/25.

 

·       Seeds4Success requested £5,000 towards their leisure credits scheme.

 

Jaki Farrell of Seeds4Success explained the project and spoke in support, as did some of the young people in attendance who highlighted the new opportunities they had via this scheme.

 

The Area Board stated how lucky they were to have an organisation like Seeds4Success working in the area and thanked Jaki.

 

Cllr Pauline Church proposed to award the grant in full, which was seconded by Cllr George Jeans.

 

Decision:

 

Seeds4Success was awarded £5,000 towards their leisure credits scheme.

 

Reason: The application met the Young People Grant Criteria 2024/25.

 

Local Highway and Footpath Improvements Group (LHFIG)

 

Cllr Bridget Wayman, as Chair of the LHFIG, gave an update to the meeting. It was explained that at the November meeting, the group had decided not to allocate further funds, as they had already allocated the whole annual budget, and possibly even be overspent if the Fovant substantive bid went through. It was explained that if the group was allocated the same budget next year by Wiltshire Council, and the overspend was taken off, this would leave approximately £23,000. Which, even when parish contributions were added, was not enough. As there was not another LHFIG meeting until June, it was felt that the list needed to be prioritised, therefore Cllr Wayman would email all the parishes to get their views and a steer as to what should be prioritised. The Highways Officer would also produce some information for them, as safety issues were felt to be the priority, but this needed to be evidence led. It was queried as to whether parishes could be asked to contribute more, and this was a possible option. In addition, there were hints that the whole system may change, where the group may go back to a top 5 or 10 priority list.

 

Cllr Ashley Gray, Stourton with Gasper Parish Council, felt that it was not fair to ask parishes for higher contributions, as some were very small with low populations from which to raise their funds. Furthermore, he was unsure that polling the parishes was the way to move forward and assess priorities.

 

In addition, Cllr Gray sought clarity on a particular LHFIG matter, issue 14-22-17 as this had been due to be discussed at the last 2 meetings and had not been. Cllr Wayman had explained that this was as they had not wanted to allocate funds from next year’s budget.

 

A resident of the parish of Donhead St Andrew highlighted the state of the roads in the parish, which were felt to be very poor, and that they would like safety inspection reports to be undertaken. The Chairman stated that he would be happy to follow this up with the Highways team if the resident emailed him with details.

 

Following the discussion, on the proposal of the Chairman, seconded by Cllr Wayman, it was:

 

Resolved:

 

To note the minutes from the LHFIG meetings held on 13 November 2024 and 5 February 2025.