Friday 13 September 2013

I mentioned last week that we had a familiarisation visit planned for the peer review team, who will be with us week commencing 23 September, to assess how we’re doing things and to advise where we can do things better. The team arrived early on Tuesday morning at County Hall for a tour of the building to see the open plan working environment, the library and the atrium. The building definitely has that wow factor and is quite unlike other local authority buildings. I was pleased that the fencing and hoardings had by pure coincidence been taken down from the front of the old County Hall building, revealing the refurbishment and renovation works – which I have to say from the outside the building looks great and I’m looking forward to seeing the inside very soon.

We took the team on a coach tour to showcase the county; its geography, communities and challenges. We visited the Monkton Park offices to discuss and demonstrate how we are sharing buildings and resources with the police and the integration of Chippenham Police Station in these offices. This arrangement is still unique nationally and generated a lot of interest from the reviewers. We also visited the new business incubation units at Ludgershall where a number of start up businesses met the team to hear how we are actively supporting ex army personnel to make the transition into the civilian workplace and retain their skills in Wiltshire.  Brigadier Piers Hankinson of 43 Brigade at Tidworth Barracks hosted lunch for the team and representatives from the Wiltshire 100 businesses. He provided a good overview of the military in the county and the challenges and opportunities that this brings. By 2020 we will have the largest army settlement in the country based in Wiltshire and this will mean a programme of integration and providing the infrastructure to support this growth around Salisbury Plain.

In the afternoon we visited Salisbury to highlight the regeneration work taking place in the Market Place; which although the work is not complete, what has been done looks fantastic and there is huge potential for this space to be used to boost the local economy and deliver events and entertainment making it a better offer for visitors to the city. We have a good working relationship with the city council and this was evident to the reviewers. Our journey back to Trowbridge went past the Stonehenge and the new visitor centre, which is still under construction. Visitor numbers to the stones has increased by almost 30 per cent following last year’s Olympic Torch events; the iconic shots of Michael Johnson running with the Torch around the monument, being broadcast worldwide have clearly had an impact!

I would just like to say a huge thank you to all those involved with the familiarisation visit. The review team was impressed and found the day extremely useful providing a perspective on the county, its geography and challenges. I’m looking forward to their visit in two weeks as it’s good to have an external opinion on our work and what more we can do to work with our partners and communities.

On Tuesday evening, following the day with the peer review team, I attended Chippenham area board, not as leader of the council, but as the local member representing the views of the local people that I represent. The well publicised matter of a skatepark for the town was on the agenda. This matter has been discussed and debated for many years and has generated a lot of interest and polarised views. The issue has been where to locate the park; I have supported and promoted Monkton Park; a large, open community space, as an obvious location. I am pleased to say that following a good discussion, the decision was made that the area board would support a skatepark located in Monkton Park, as part of the planning process.

As a local member, I also attended a planning meeting this week to discuss plans for solar panels to be located on land in my local ward. Solar energy is highly topical and again there are mixed views on this. The challenge is balancing this with the impact on local communities. In my view we need to consider modern methods to generate energy and solar farms are my preferred option and one that has less impact on the local landscape and communities.  But, we must make sure that they are sited in areas that do not have a negative impact on our beautiful countryside.  As a local council we have to promote energy efficiency and support local initiatives, wherever possible. I think we have the balance right on this matter but it will get tougher as the expectation for generating natural energy grows.

And finally, I chaired the first Health and Well Being board at Salisbury Hospital yesterday.  The Board is made up of representatives from the new Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which replaces the old PCT, NHS Wiltshire and England, the council, Police and Crime Commissioner, Healthwatch (the patients voice) and the local hospitals. This new Board recognises the benefits of working closely together and we discussed and agreed a joint strategy that promotes health and well being; based on public feedback and opinion. It’s focus will be to help people live healthier and more independently for longer, look at early intervention to prevent ill health, safeguard those who are most vulnerable and ensure that children get the best start in life, eat well, get enough exercise and have positive emotional well being. This is a great start and we agreed to publish our plan and priorities in a user friendly, easy to read version.

Next week I’m looking forward to recognising the exceptional work of those delivering adults care services and welcoming everyone to the Adult Care Awards ceremony in the atrium at County Hall. More about the winners next week. And, we will also be hosting a ministerial visit; Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice Damian Green is visiting Monkton Park in Chippenham on Wednesday 18 September to see firsthand how we are working with Wiltshire Police in a shared building.

Have a great weekend,

Jane