Agenda item

To receive updates from the Town and Parish Council Representatives, and from other partner organisations.

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

o   Deputy PCC Jerry Herbert

·         Police

o   Inspector Liz Coles – Wiltshire Police

o   Military Defence Police

·         Fire and Rescue Service

·         Town and Parish Councils

o   Shrewton Parish Council – written report attached

·         Lovells – SFA and Army Rebasing

·         MOD

·         NHS Wiltshire CCG

·         HealthWatch Wiltshire

The Chairman referred to the updates set out in the agenda and invited further updates from Town/Parish Councils and other Partners.

·         Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Jerry Herbert introduced himself to the meeting and thanked the board for having him. The deputy PCC introduced the new Amesbury Police Inspector, Liz Coles and Sgt Lucy Thorne to the meeting. Unfortunately they would need to leave the meeting after their updates as they were attending another area board that evening.

·         Wiltshire Police

Inspector Liz Coles introduced herself and thanked the board for having her. Inspector Coles had been a detective in CID and with the drugs squad, then worked as staff officer for the previous chiefs. Sgt Lucy Thorne also introduced herself. Sgt Thorne had been working for the police in the south of the county for 11 years.

Inspector Coles highlighted the new style report in the agenda. It was not believed that there were any county lines operations running in our area. Burglaries and Community Speedwatch were some of the current priorities.

In response to a question from Cllr Darren Henry regarding Shrewton being used as a rat run it was stated that an additional PCSO had been employed and they were hoping to coordinate with Speedwatch teams. The Dept. PCC had been leading on Speedwatch and had visited the community speedwatch team twice himself in the last 2 weeks.  He was looking at what could be done.

Cllr Fred Westmoreland had read the report with interest. He stated that no anti-social behaviour in Amesbury had been mentioned. However, anecdotal evidence was otherwise, there was a large police presence at night in Amesbury. Who was responsible for policing the night time economy and who should people speak to, to see if there’s anything that could be done regarding the issues experienced?

Inspector Coles responded that on NAFD weekend there had been a specific report of a party that might turn into a rave and this resulted in a large police presence, some of whom were officers policing NAFD. Inspector Coles stated she was happy to meet with Cllr Westmoreland to discuss Anti-Social Behaviour and identify areas that were issues, to see if their resources needed to be retargeted. Inspector Coles would leave some cards at the meeting with her contact details in case anyone wanted to contact her regarding such issues.

In response to a question from the audience regarding when to call 101, when to call 999 and why you have to wait so long to get through to 101. Inspector Coles explained that 101 was not her area, however she knew that they were trying to upskill their call handlers. If for example, someone saw a fight taking place that should be a 999 call. If people were unhappy with the service they received they should report this by emailing her or Sgt Thorne.

·         Town and Parish Councils

·         Shrewton Parish Council - David Hassett of Shrewton PC directed the meeting to the agenda report and added further details. The village hall was a fantastic asset, but had become a bit neglected. Now however, they had great volunteers to help out and keep the hall up and running.  Thanks was given to the Dept. PCC and Inspector Coles. He was glad they have Shrewton issues on their radar and was also grateful for new signage and road markings.

·         Amesbury Town Council – The Redworth centre (which was an annexe of Amesbury Leisure Centre) had been on decline but had now been refurbished and was looking really good. The children attending the kids club there had tidied up the outside area at the back so that they could use it. The official opening was soon to take place.

·         Lovells – SFA and Army Rebasing

Neill Page the MOD project director for Army Basing Programme works gave an update to the meeting. The meeting was directed to his written update in the agenda pack. Around 500 families had already moved in. About 2000 individual soldiers were moving into barracks.

Medical and Dental centres were issues of local interest. There was an interim combined facility at Larkhill which would be in place until the new facility opened in 2020, another one would be opening in Bulford, in mid-2020. Civilians and MOD personnel could register there.

A lot of highways work was being undertaken. Highways works at Bulford should be complete by early September. Tidworth highways works had been delayed for variety of reasons (including WC planning delays and highways approvals). Also, cycleways and footpaths were being delayed around Bulford and Larkhill as a result. These involved separate planning application to the roadworks. In response to a question as to whether the Parish Council would be consulted it was stated that was up to WC planning.

Cllr Graham Wright stated that St Michaels School had opened on schedule and now children were trying to cross the A345. They could not cross there, as there were no signs that the crossing existed. Someone might get hurt or killed trying to cross before the signs etc. were implemented. Therefore, he and Durrington Town Council would be objecting to the planning applications. Cllr Wright was hopeful that this could be resolved quickly and did not want friction with army rebasing. However, Cllr Wright wanted it on record that he thought this was dangerous and that you could not cross from Durringon to Larkhill safely in the busy time.

Neill Page responded that the current planning application referred to section 73 variations which related to timing, not planning applications for the crossing itself. So Durrington Town Council may want to object to the later application that would be submitted in August. There was a fine balance to be struck between getting through planning and getting things done.

Cllr Wright felt there was a perception that Army Rebasing was not that worried about members of the public. The Chairman stated that these type of issues had come up at various different meetings. They seemed to go around in circles. In this example, planning for the crossing hadn’t even gone in yet. Surely it should be planned from the start and planning submitted well in advance? The local community impression was that they are getting pushed to one side, decisions were taken at a high level and those not at that level do not hear about things until it’s too late.

The Chairman proposed that the Amesbury Area Board should write a letter to involved parties to make sure that things move forward and communication was improved. Cllr John Smale proposed that the board included Wiltshire Council on that list as they were also at fault for not keeping people informed. Neill Page resonded that the letter needed to go to Wiltshire Council rather than Lovells or the MOD as they were the technical authority. Cllr Richard Clewer, Deputy Leader of the Council, who was also in attendance at the meeting, stated that there needed to be an update and Wiltshire Council needed to act as a facilitator, more communication would be helpful, he would point this out to officers.

Bulford Parish Council had not received the latest planning consultation,  there were problems with pedestrian safety. They requested that this be implemented as soon as possible. Neill Page explained that they needed to do analysis, to see what people do and to put the crossing where it’s needed. Cllr Hewitt stated on behalf of CATG that they were taking this as a request and the highways officer would look at where the crossings were needed. They had to do the survey first to see where the new inhabitants of the houses crossed the roads.

The Chairman thanked Neill Page for his update.

·         Lovells

Nicola Schneider of Lovells gave an update to the meeting. Bulford SFA was now complete with all homes handed over to DIO. 84 were soon to be occupied. Peripheral works regarding highways, green space etc were still being completed. The Lurgershall site was to be completed by the end of August, with the aim to complete off site works within 8 weeks of handing over last homes. However, residual work would continue. At the Larkhill site they had delivered 11 completed homes and occupations were starting in a few weeks.

Cllr Fred Westmoreland requested that the area board members be able to visit the sites to see what they looked like, this had been mentioned at previous area board meetings. Lovells explained that there had been site tours in May for the local area councillors. Cllr Wright stated that Lovells had done a brilliant job. The site visit showed quality houses being delivered sensibly. Cllr Yuill stated that he did not know about the site visit and did not believe the area board was invited. It had been the area boards suggestion to visit the sites.  Neill Page explained that only councillors with sites in their division were invited. Cllr Westmoreland was very unhappy with communication, feeling that it was not good enough. As an ex member of the Army he found this very upsetting. The Lovells representative would take back the strong feeling and look at organising another visit.

·         MOD

Lt Col Jamie Balls gave an update to the meeting. As garrison commander he was happy to receive letters from anyone and bat on their behalf. His responsibility was “business as usual” rather than Army Rebasing, which was Neill Page and his teams responsibility. However, business as usual involved an awful lot! He was happy to welcome Inspector Coles to the area and she was a brilliant police officer. They were looking at how the Military Defence Police might be re-established in the area. Regarding Health and Wellbeing issues, they working hard on the routine provision of dental facilities. School funding was in place and had been aligned to the schools. Sporting facilities were being implemented, everyone in the community was welcome to use them.

All service men paid Council Tax and they were trying to make sure that the right people are on the right electoral role.

The household cavalry were coming in, so you may get more VIP visitors coming in by helicopter as they visit the household cavalry. UK resilience plans were in place for whatever may happen later in the year.

Every months he meets with Jacqui Abbott the Community Engagement Manager.

Lt Col Balls was thanked by the Chair.