Agenda item

To receive updates from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

·       B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG

·       Town / Parish Councils

o   Marlborough Town Council

·       Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan

·       Climate Action Marlborough

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

Inspector Tina Osborn was in attendance and gave an update to the meeting on crime figures and planned projects for the area. There had been a slight rise in overall crime figures for the area with 43 crimes reported. With regards to burglaries there was no pattern to them, so intelligence gathering and prevention work was underway. Incidents (rather than crimes) reported to Police had reduced. The force had been concentrating on speed enforcement at various sites including Community Speed Watch (CSW) sites and CSW teams would be kept up to date with enforcement activities. School engagement had been another priority as restrictions were being relaxed. There had been some concerns on social media around dog thefts, however so far there had been no reports to the police during 2021 of dog thefts in Wiltshire. The Inspector reminded everyone to be vigilant and to keep dogs securely. Suspicious activity should be reported to 101 and crimes in progress to 999. In response to questions it was stated that it was expected that crime figures may increase slightly as lock down was relaxed and as the evenings got lighter. It was explained that the Police Constables in Marlborough also covered Pewsey, and they were supported by PSCO’s who also covered both areas.

·       Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Dave Adamson of the DWFRS gave an update to the meeting and highlighted his written report in the agenda. The service had recently been inspected by the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services and received a positive report. The fire service were still assisting the ambulance service by driving ambulances, were helping out at the mass vaccination centre in Salisbury and helping to respond to category 1 cardiac arrests when necessary. A consultation was underway on the DWFRS Community Safety Plan and people could comment on this at www.dwfire.org.uk/draft-community-safety-plan-2021-24-consultation up to 13 May. There had been 20 call outs from 12 January to 8 March, which was less than usual due to the lock down.

·       Healthwatch Wiltshire

Joanna Wittels of Healthwatch Wiltshire gave an update to the meeting. She highlighted the written report in the pack, and stated that they had received 319 feedback comments from 1 – 28 February 2021 and these were broken down into the following areas:

o   189 COVID vaccinations

o   45 GPs

o   26 Dentists

o   21 Mental Health

o   15 Adult Care

o   12 Hospital

Healthwatch volunteers were busy undertaking forums and webinars and their website was busy, receiving high volumes of traffic. A survey had been undertaken on healthcare services and the report for that would be available soon. It was highlighted that the mental health forum met monthly and that a survey on autism had been launched.

·       B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG

The Chairman stated that there was a written report in the agenda pack.

·       Town / Parish Councils

o   Marlborough Town Council

The MTC Mayor, Cllr Mark Cooper gave an update to the meeting.

MTC were drawing up a plan to work within the government’s road map out of lock down and booking were cautiously being taken at their venues. Thanks were given to all volunteers who had helped the community during COVID. There was a consultation on the common which was underway and could be found on the MTC website, regarding rugby on the common.

At the last full MTC meeting £100,000 of section 106 money was allocated towards a 3G pitch for Marlborough. £10,000 of s106 money was also made to Marlborough Tennis. It was hoped that people would let MTC know other sports or recreational items that s106 monies could go towards.

Regarding devolution of services, MTC were waiting for an update from Wiltshire Council.

Cllr Stewart Dobson highlighted that the Marlborough Town Clerk, Shelley Parker was leaving soon and wanted to send thanks from the Area Board for her commitment to Marlborough and to wish her luck for the future. These comments were echoed by the Mayor.

·       Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan

Cllr Mervyn Hall gave an update to the meeting. The regulation 14 consultation had now been completed and the documents regarding this were being prepared to go to Wiltshire Council. This would be followed by regulation 15 which would be Wiltshire Councils comments and regulation 16 which was Wiltshire Councils consultation on the neighbourhood plan. It had been hoped that the referendum would take place with the local elections on 6 May however it was understood that there was a queue of 9 Neighbourhood plans in the pipeline so this was unlikely. This would have a financial impact on MTC as the percentage of CIL money would increase to 25% if the plan was adopted.  

·       Climate Action Marlborough

MTC Cllr Susie Price gave an update to the meeting. Following MTC’s declaration of a climate emergency a working party had been created to action the declaration, Cllr Price chaired the group. A handful of meetings with community groups like Transition Marlborough and ARC had taken place to put together priorities for the next term. It was requested that if there were groups or individuals interested in this that they let the assistant town clerk know (Claire, email: charris@marlborough-tc.gov.uk). It was clarified that Climate action Marlborough was an umbrella group to bring all interested parties together and that they were not officially affiliated with Climate Action Wiltshire although would be interested in inviting them as a guest to the group.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their updates.