MINUTES OF THE TOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF MELKSHAM TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT MELKSHAM TOWN HALL ON MONDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2016 At 7.00PM

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1 MINUTES OF THE TOWN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF MELKSHAM TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT MELKSHAM TOWN HALL ON MONDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2016 At 7.00PM Councillors Present: Miss Pat Aves Mrs Claire Forgacs Mr Simon Hedley (Chair) Mr Geoff Mitcham Mrs Terri Welch Mrs Adrienne Westbrook Mr Richard Wiltshire Also Present: Cllr Andy Hinchliffe, Cllr Jon Hubbard and Cllr Bruce Sanders Officers Present: Miss Miriam Zaccarelli (Deputy Town Clerk); Mrs Jean Harris (Finance Officer) and Mrs Lorraine McRandle (Committee Clerk) Apologies Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hayley Spencer due to illness, for whom Councillor Adrienne Westbrook substituted. 93. Declarations of Interest Councillor Simon Hedley declared an interest in agenda item 9 relating to concessionary parking and sought a Councillor to Chair that part of the meeting. RESOLVED: Councillor Terri Welch agreed to Chair agenda Item 9 regarding concessionary parking. 94. Public Participation (1 member of public present) No member of public wished to speak to an item. (a) Matters arising Page 1 of 5 Therefore, there were no matters arising. 95. Minutes of the previous meeting The minutes dated 25 January 2016 were approved at the Town Council meeting held on 15 February There were no matters arising from the minutes.

2 96. Olympic Challenge Mr Rhys Schell, Melksham Community Engagement Manager, Wiltshire Council attended the meeting to discuss participation in the Olympic Challenge. Mr Schell explained that the Activity Challenge was planned to take place for 8 weeks during June and July and was a way of encouraging people to be more active. People could either sign up as a team, or individually and record their participation during this time in various activities such as walking, rowing or cycling. People will be invited to register in May on line, and the first 1000 to sign up will receive a free pedometer. It was hoped to create a competitive spirit between the 18 community areas if they all entered. RESOLVED: To enter the Town Council as a team, to include Councillors and staff and to encourage others in the community to sign up and join in; and in order to help those who wish to sign up for this challenge, to install a computer in the Town Hall foyer for people to use. 97. Painting 31 Market Place Councillor Bruce Sanders had produced a Notice of Motion regarding the redecoration of 31 Market Place. Councillors Sanders explained that the outside of 31 Market Place was showing signs of deterioration and given that external redecoration works were planned for the Town Hall, Councillor Sanders suggested that the nominated contractor be requested to provide a quote extending the redecoration to encompass 31 Market Place. A concern was raised that the wood in the windows may be rotten, requiring additional remedial work; however, at present there was no money available in the budget for this work to be undertaken. It was also noted some of the window panes may need replacing. RESOLVED: To investigate costs involved in extending the redecoration remit to encompass 31 Market Place and to bring the findings back to a future Policy and Resources meeting. Page 2 of 5

3 98. Poster boards in Bus Shelters Page 3 of 5 Following a request at the Town Development meeting on 25 January 2016 to investigate the costs of erecting notice boards in the various bus shelters around town, the Deputy Town had produced a report with the costs involved. Costs for 20 poster boards ranged from: 1,300 to 2, for A3 boards 1,620 to 3, for A2 boards 2,160 to 4, for A1 boards It was noted that the idea of using these boards was to promote Assembly Hall activities in the first instance. However, additional boards could be erected to promote businesses and thereby generate funding to off-set the initial costs. Estimated income per year from businesses advertising could be as follows: 200 from using A3 boards 300 from using A2 boards 400 from using A1 boards Councillor Hinchcliffe explained that he had sought permission from Wiltshire Council to erect poster boards in their bus shelters and was awaiting to hear if Melksham Without Parish Council were happy for poster boards to be erected on their bus shelters. The Finance Officer explained that money was available in earmarked reserves for this type of project. Discussion ensued on what type of poster board would be most effective and whether it was appropriate to allow Town Council bus shelters to be used for business advertising: RESOLVED: 1. To investigate the costs of purchasing double sided poster boards. 2. To investigate the legality of business advertising within Town Council owned bus shelters and to request that the Deputy Town Clerk produces a report outlining costings associated with managing business advertising, such as officer time in marketing the scheme and producing invoices. 3. To request that the Deputy Town Clerk generates guidelines on what can and cannot be advertised.

4 4. To bring back the above findings and possible guidelines to the next Policy & Resources meeting for further discussion. 99. Landfill Tax Credits Following a resolution reached at the Town Development meeting on 25 January 2016 to investigate applying for Landfill Tax Credits to help fund projects in the King George V Playing Field, the Deputy Town Clerk had produced a report outlining her findings. The Deputy Town Clerk explained the Landfill Communities Fund was managed by Community First and an Expression of Interest can be made to them before April. If the project is eligible for funding, a full application will be invited and to this end she had started to complete an Expression of Interest Form, which required further information. It was noted that a third party contributor was needed to help fund the scheme. Following discussion it was: RESOLVED: That the Deputy Town Clerk complete an Expression of Interest form, with support from Councillor Adrienne Westbrook Concessionary Parking Following a recent Town Council meeting, the Deputy Town Clerk confirmed that two concessionary free parking days were available from Wiltshire Council and had produced a report outlining the main events in Melksham for the forthcoming year for Councillors consideration. The report also included requests for a free parking day from the Party in the Park Committee, the Carnival Committee, Melksham Comic Con and Melksham Christmas Lights Group. Councillor Terri Welch chaired this item and invited Councillors views on the way forward. Following discussion, it was: RESOLVED: To nominate the Christmas Fayre and Lights switch on date of 3 December 2016 as one of the concessionary days and to investigate the costs of having a third concessionary parking day and to bring back the findings to a future meeting for further discussion. Page 4 of 5

5 101. Wiltshire Air Ambulance Mr Kevin Reed, Wiltshire Air Ambulance, had written to the Town Council requesting the use of the Town Hall foyer for a few days in April to display information regarding the relocation of the Air Ambulance Service to Melksham. RESOLVED: To inform Mr Reed, that the Town Council were happy to allow the use of the Town Hall foyer for this purpose Payments for Approval A List of Payments was circulated at the meeting. RESOLVED: To approve the List of Payments Correspondence a) from Rev Barry Blackford regarding the date for the Civic Service Confirmation had been received from Reverend Barry Blackford that he was happy for the Civic Service to move to 5 June in order to help accommodate the celebrations taking place on 12 June with regard to the Queen s 90 th birthday celebrations. It was asked whether the meeting had taken place with the Family of Churches with regard to making the service more inclusive. The Deputy Town Clerk informed Councillors that the meeting had taken place and it had been agreed not to change the format of the service. RESOLVED: To note the information contained within the letter. b) from Lucy Hook regarding the redevelopment of the Central Reservation on the A350 by Asda Correspondence had been received from Ms Lucy Hook following the Town Council s letter to Councillor Philip Whitehead regarding concerns relating to the redesign of the central reservation on the A350. Ms Hook explained that Councillor Whitehead would be happy to meet with the Town Council to discuss their concerns. Councillor Jon Hubbard explained that this project was on hold whilst Wiltshire Council were in discussions with Highways England regarding the funding of this project. Page 5 of 5