Agenda item

To receive any updates from the following partners:

(a)   Wiltshire Police

(b)  Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

(c)  NHS Wiltshire

(d)  Town and Parish Council Nominated Representatives

(e)  Corsham Community Area Network (CCAN)

(f)   Chamber of Commerce

(g)  Shadow Community Operations Board

(h)  Schools

a)            Wiltshire Police

The Chairman draw attention to the update provided within the agenda pack and welcomed Inspector Dave Hobman to the meeting as the new Sector Inspector for Corsham, Calne and Chippenham.

Inspector Hobman confirmed that crime prevention remained a priority and he wanted to ensure a visible team presence in the community.  There also continued to be an emphasis on a good quality of service.

b)           Fire and Rescue Service

Graham Weller was in attendance on behalf of Mike Franklyn and gave a verbal update from the Chief Fire Officer on the upcoming consultation relating to the proposed amalgamation of Wiltshire and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.

The Briefing included that Wiltshire and Swindon Fire and Rescue Service faced a shortfall of between £3.1m and £3.9m from a £25m budget which would need to be addressed by 2017/18.

The priority of the Rescue Service was to protect frontline services and a business case was currently being developed with Dorset to consider combining the services as a potential cost saving measure.  No decisions would be made until September 2014 once any business case had been considered.

Staff, the public and other key stakeholders were currently being consulted with awareness of the consultation exercise made available via leaflet, questionnaires in libraries and on-line.  Details had also been sent to key groups, including town and parish councils.

The draft business case would be made available online for consultation between 16 June and 24 August and hard copies could also be provided on request. 

Graham Weller was not aware of a completed business case at the time of the presentation but understood the Service was keen to ensure area boards were alerted of the exercise and given the opportunity to receive a full presentation from the Chief Fire Officer should they so desire.

c)            NHS Wiltshire

No update was provided.

d)           Town and Parish Councils

Box Parish Council had held its annual meeting where the Chairman and Vice Chairman had been re-elected. The update included that there had been a recent review of the councils affairs and that war commemoration plans were proceeding well.  All were encouraged to visit the Parish Council website for further details.

Reference was made to the consultation with parishes on proposed boundary changes and the Parish Council would welcome a future meeting of the Board being held in the parish.

Corsham Town Council confirmed that Ruth Hopkinson had been elected as Chairman at their recent annual meeting with Peter Pearson elected as Vice Chairman.  Further news included that the High Street had hit the press recently with filming of Poldark taking place within the High Street. 

Other events of note included Corsham Food Festival on 21 June,  Walking Festival on 28 June and armed forces event on 5 July.

Colerne Parish Council confirmed that the Chairman and Vice Chairman had been re-elected to stand for 2014/15.  Further news included highlighting the armed forces day due to take place on 28 June and the £65k refurbishment of the skatepark and BMX track which the area board were thanked for contributing towards.

e)            Corsham Community Area Network (CCAN)

CCAN drew attention to World War 1 commemorations and confirmed that the Network was hoping to put together a Heritage Lottery Bid to secure funding to produce a lasting legacy from 2014-2018. 

There had been a lot of community interest in the lakes project at Katherine Park with a number of groups involved in a tidy up of the area.

CCAN now had a link to the Corsham cluster of schools and was looking to take forward projects from children and young people in the area.

f)             Corsham Chamber of Commerce

All businesses in Corsham had been asked for their contact details to be included on a comprehensive business register for the Corsham community area.

The Chamber of Commerce and Corsham Town Council would be jointly hosting a business dinner in September 2014.  The first event planning meeting was to be held on 11 June at the Corsham Town Hall and all local businesses were welcome to attend.  It was expected that further details of the business dinner would be available at that time.

Full details of all events being held by the Chamber of Commerce could be found on their website:

http://corshamchamber.wordpress.com/corsham-chamber-events/

g)           Shadow Community Operations Board

The Chairman provided a brief update on the progress of the Campus building which was progressing extremely well.  The Community Centre had now closed but all community groups using the premises had been found alternative venues in the interim period before facilities were available within the new Campus.

h)           Schools

The headteacher from St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School had been appointed as the Chair of Corsham cluster of schools for the ensuing year.  The cluster included Neston, Box and Corsham Comprehensive and all were working collaboratively to implement the new national curriculum from September 2014.

There was to be a singing event taking place on 17 June at the Bath Forum.  Each school choir was invited to perform.

Key projects at present included the commemorations events for the First World War.  Events included artwork created by a pupil at the Corsham Comprehensive to ‘Football Remembers’, a commemorative project launched by the Duke of Cambridge. 

Chloe Lintern was welcomed to the meeting as a member of the UK Youth Parliament and Wiltshire Assembly of Youth.  Chloe confirmed that she represented young people’s views at a national and local level and that the UK Youth Parliament was currently looking into ways of encouraging 16 to 17 years to think about voting.