The Corsham Area Board was scheduled to meet to discuss community grants, appointments to outside bodies and updates from partners including Wiltshire Police. The board was also expected to watch a video about the Shared Lives Wiltshire scheme.

Area Board Funding

The Corsham Area Board was scheduled to consider grant applications for community projects. A total of £16,731 was available in Community Area Grants, £7,700 for Older & Vulnerable Adults, and £14,169 for Young People.

The following community area grant applications were listed for consideration:

• Leafy Lane Playing Fields Ltd requested £5,000 towards a new floodlit artificial playing pitch at Leafy Lane Playing Fields in Corsham, with the total cost of the project estimated at £1,000,000. According to the project summary, the Football Foundation has pledged £750,000, provided that Leafy Lane Playing Fields Ltd can raise £250,000 in partnership funding. The project is targeting completion in the summer of 2026.
• Box Tennis Working Group requested £5,000 for resurfacing the second of two tennis courts on the Recreation Ground in Box. The project summary stated that one of the courts was resurfaced in January 2025, and that the resurfaced facility is used by the youth club and the local primary school, as well as for tennis and netball.
• Colerne Musical Theatre requested £1,000 for sound equipment. According to the project summary, the group aims to encourage children and young people in the timeless art of pantomime, but the success of their most recent pantomime was marred by the poor state of the sound equipment.
• Rudloe Community Association requested £5,000 for heating for a disabled toilet and baby changing facility, and for blinds throughout the centre.

The following young people grants were listed for consideration:

• The Open Blue Trust requested £1,800 for Corsham Youth.
• The Stay Safe Initiative CIC requested £525 for Boyz 2 Men.
• The Stay Safe Initiative CIC requested £675 for The Digital Empowerment Programme.

Community Engagement and Partnership

The Corsham Community Area Board was scheduled to receive an engagement and partnership update. The report was expected to provide an overview of the strategic work of the Engagement and Partnerships Service, key upcoming engagement work and the role of the service with area boards, a brief overview of the area boards and the approach for 2025-2029, and additional resources for councillors, partners and residents.

The Engagement and Partnerships service aims to connect the community with the council, strengthen joint working, and deliver the council's goals. The service delivers this by:

1. Supports and advises WC services to engage with communities effectively, to gain a better understanding of our residents and partners
2. Acts as a conduit for two-way engagement, offering expertise, tools and local knowledge.
3. Invests in developing strong relationships built on trust, respect and common goals.
4. Develops strategic interventions and acts as a catalyst for projects that directly deliver the council's goals

The desired outcomes from the Engagement and Partnerships service are to:

1. Build strong, informed, resilient and collaborative communities
2. Galvanise support, expertise, and resources to help WC deliver its business plan
3. Reduce future service demand and financial outlay for the council, through increased community capacity and resilience.

The report also noted that the Engagement and Partnerships service work on key strategic organisational objectives at a local level, including:

• Developing renewable energy community profiles through the Future Energy Landscapes (FEL) programme, in partnership with the Climate Team and Centre of Sustainable Energy (CSE).
• Delivering the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector and Wiltshire Council framework.
• Delivering employment opportunities for residents with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), working with the SEND transformation, Wiltshire Employment Support Team (WEST).
• Taking action based on the Wiltshire Youth framework.
• Tackling food insecurity and other cost of living effects.
• Facilitating social value opportunities.

Partner Updates

The Corsham Area Board was scheduled to receive written and verbal updates from partners including Wiltshire Police, town and parish councils.

Wiltshire Police

Wiltshire Police were expected to provide updates on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and road safety.

The update on VAWG included information on:

• The Ending VAWG Coalition Wiltshire (E-VAWG).
• Stalking Awareness Week.
• Stalking training.
• Walk and Talk events.
• Project Vigilant.
• Swindon Safe Spaces.
• Multi-Agency Tasking and Co-ordination (MATAC).

The road safety update included information on:

• The #FATAL5 education campaign.
• The Community Road Safety Team.
• Traffic surveys in Corsham.
• The work of the Roads Policing Unit (RPU).
• Community Speed Enforcement Officers (CSEOs).

The supplement to the agenda included updated information from Wiltshire Police on road safety, including traffic surveys conducted between 1 December 2024 and 22 May 2025, and statistics on tickets issued by the Roads Policing Unit between February and May 2025.

Corsham Town Council

Corsham Town Council's update included information on:

• The installation of bat, bird and dormice boxes at Beechfield, Springfield Rec and Meriton Rec.
• The planting of two new community orchards at the Little Play Park on Katherine Park and at Neston Recreation Ground.
• The creation of 14 allotment plots and a communal orchard on the Park Place housing development.

Forthcoming events:

• Summer Holiday Pokemon Trail
• 13 September Street Fair
• 5 December Christmas Lights Switch On

Appointments

The Corsham Area Board was scheduled to appoint lead members to outside bodies, note the Local Highways and Footpath Improvement Group (LHFIG) Terms of Reference, and consider appointing a lead member to the role of Area Board Environment Lead and Youth Lead.

Other Items

The Corsham Area Board was also scheduled to:

• Receive apologies for absence.
• Approve and sign the minutes of the meetings held on 20 February and 20 May 2025.
• Receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.
• Receive an update from the Chairman on outcomes and actions arising from previous meetings of the Area Board.
• Note information items from Community First, BSW Together (Integrated Care System), Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) and Wiltshire Council Framework, Wiltshire Community Air Network, Understanding Dementia Sessions, Wiltshire AGE UK Newsletter, and Wiltshire Police VAWG Quarterly Update.
• Watch a short video about the Shared Lives Wiltshire service to raise awareness of the service and recruit more carers.
• Receive a report from the Engagement and Partnerships Manager on the strategic and local work they are delivering and additional key resources for councillors, partners and residents.
• Receive an overview from each councillor of their division, and the key challenges and opportunities that they have identified that the Area Board can collectively support.
• Allow residents in the Corsham Area Board community area to ask questions of the Area Board Councillors.