Agenda item

To note the written updates attached to the agenda and to receive any verbal updates from representatives present.

 

a)    Local Youth Network (LYN)

(LYN funding to be considered under item 12)

 

b)    Salisbury City Council (SCC)

c)     Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

d)    Police

e)    Fire

f)      Salisbury BID

g)    Community Engagement Manager

h)    Community Campus

i)       Air Quality Group

(AQG funding to be considered under item 12)

 

 

Note: Speakers are reminded that they each have a 3 minutes slot, unless they have previously discussed alternative arrangements with the Chairman.

Local Youth Network (LYN)

The Board noted the report by Winnie Manning, Community Youth Officer and received an update from Kirstie Stage, Chair of the LYN Management Group (LYNMG). One member of the group had recently left to attend university. To fill that vacancy a new member had been recruited from Sarum Academy.

 

The LYNMG had met to consider two youth grants, as detailed in the report, along with the request to transfer some of the youth’s Capital budget for revenue, held for Community Area Grants.

 

Salisbury City Council (SCC)

Deputy Leader, Cllr Mike Osment gave an update to the Board which included:

 

·       Leader of SCC, Cllr Andrew Roberts had presented their proposals for the Community Boundary Review to merge Laverstock & Ford into Salisbury, at the consultation meeting held earlier that week. A further consultation event would take place on Wednesday 18 May in Laverstock.

·       WC had proposed a number of assets as part of an Asset Transfer which were being considered. Further meetings were planned, with a decision expected in July 2016.

·       The scaffolding had started to be taken down from the Guild Hall, works were on budget.

·       Works at Victoria Park were complete and on budget.

·       Cllr Derek Brown would be made Mayor of Salisbury on Saturday 14 May 2016.

·       Foodie Friday would visit the market square that week, full details were available on the website.

 

 

Laverstock and Ford Parish Council

No update was given.

 

Police

Inspector Dave Minty explained that until a final decision had been made on 17 May 2016, he was unable to provide full details of the New Policing Model. It was hoped that information would be available by the next meeting where he agreed to provide a full update.

 

The Police attended a recent incident in the market square where a man had taken an overdose of an illegal substance.

 

The Police had assisted during the recent Cycle Wiltshire event which it was felt went really well. Current work was ongoing to tackle graffiti.

 

Questions:

·       What was being done to target car broken in to at hotel car parks?

Answer: We had not been aware of people specifically being targeted at hotels; however there was a trend of car windows being smashed in cars parked in isolated dog walking spots, so the message was to take your belongings with you and not leave anything valuable on display. There was also a small group targeting tools in vans.

·       What was happening with Culver Street Car Park? Answer: There had been issues there; the Police was working with the Council to tackle this. Dave agreed to ask the Officer dealing with the issue to brief the Cllrs involved.

 

Fire

Salisbury District Commander; Louis Minchella circulated an update at the meeting and asked the Board what type of information they would like to see in future updates from him.

 

The Dorset and Wiltshire merger had now taken place; the only change noticeable to the public would be the rebranding of the vehicles and clothing, to read Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service. New retained Fire Fighters were sought, Louis urged anyone interested to look online.

 

There had been an increase in thatch fires recently due to the cold snap, people in houses with thatched roofs were urged to seek advice from the website.

 

A new tranche of the Salamander Course would run in August, and community work in schools was ongoing. A free home safe and wellbeing visit could be booked online by visiting the website.

 

Suggestions put forward for inclusion in future updates included:

 

·       Cllr MD - Reasons for false alarms to see if there was anything that could be done to limit them.

·       Cllr RR - Carbon monoxide – formal apprenticeships

·       Cllr RC - Parking on Ashley Green

 

Salisbury BID

Business Manager; Steve Godwin gave an update to the Board. A marketing drive was underway after businesses had commented that they felt there was not enough marketing. This initiative had already seen an increase in footfall to the city. 20 retailers were monitoring their income to see if the marketing was having an impact on sales.

 

There were 175 independent shops in Salisbury. These businesses needed support to keep them going.

 

Events:

·        A recent motorcycle event saw 7,000 bikers come in to the city, this was a real spectacle.

·       The Fisherton Festival had drawn in an extra 11,000 visitors to the city on that day.

 

The BID supports the Community Safety Partnership in the City, which runs the CCTV, Pubwatch and Shopwatch schemes. Each pub and shop in the scheme is alerted when a person on the ‘banned list’ is in the city.

 

The BID cleaning and handyman service now had a vehicle and two operatives. Their work had had a huge impact on St Thomas’ Square. The BID was working on a charter with a preferred supplier who could come to the city 6 days a week to collect waste after 6pm, which would drastically reduce the amount of companies and times waste collection was occurring in the city at present. A further update on this would be available at the next Area Board.

 

Questions:

·       Was there a way to deal with trolleys dumped in the river, as the supermarkets seemed not to bother with them? Answer: Trolley-wise would go and pick them up, but as they are not local they were hard to get hold of. Steve noted that people could ring the BID who would arrange to have the trolley removed.

 

Cllr Douglas thanked Steve Godwin for his excellent work with the BID

 

Community Engagement Manager

Karen Linaker gave an update on the following:

 

·       The Wiltshire Cycle race event saw an extra 78 members of the public joining in the family events than the previous year.

 

·       Road to Rio – Big Pledge was an initiative where people could take part as a team or as an individual in this 8 week activity challenge from 4 June – 29 July to get active and achieve a goal. Achievement would be logged per community area, so people could help Salisbury to be the most active community area in Wiltshire.

To register: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/bigpledge  

 

·       The Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre (HWC) was now up and running, with an official opening event planned for October. The facility offered  a suite of community rooms available for use.

 

·       Communities were busy planning street parties for the Queen’s 90th birthday. Karen had been informed of 7 parties so far, she urged others interested in holding a similar event to get in touch with her.

 

·       The Child Wellbeing Group was due to meet in June. The Obesity strategy would also be available for consultation shortly.

 

Questions & Comments:

·       Cllr Rogers noted that there was now a community mini bus based at the HWC centre for use. This could be booked by community groups.

·       It was important to ensure that all of the staff at the centre were welcoming to a vast range of community groups which may use it.

·       The reception area was not ideal for people meeting with the Citizen Advice staff, as their conversation should be private. Answer: There were 3 private rooms available for this type of meeting.

Air Quality Group

In addition to the written update attached to the agenda, Cllr Clewer gave an update and asked the Board to consider the recommendation for funding as detailed in the written paper. Progress was being made on the online app, which could be used to monitor air quality, river quality and traffic flow.

 

Decision

The Salisbury Area Board approved £1,100 of funding to go towards the tree planting at Skewbridge.