Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade
Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Area Joint Strategic Priorities
Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Area Joint Strategic Assessment
Cllr Allison Bucknell
Chair of Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Area Board
Since the last Community Area Joint Strategic Assessments (CA JSAs), we have worked to improve outcomes for our communities and there are many examples of great locally led projects that have made our community area a better place to live, work and visit. Through the Area Boards there is a growing level of community involvement in decision making and the information presented here will allow us to go further to ensuring that we focus on creating healthy and vibrant communities. As well as the challenges we face there are many opportunities for us to make our community stronger.
This new assessment allows us both to focus on the future and to reflect on all we have already achieved.
Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade
Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade community area hosts a wide range of communities from Hook with a few dwellings to the four major settlements including the two market towns of Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade, as well as Purton and Lyneham. The community area is mainly rural, although easy access to the M4 provides direct links to both Bristol and London. The nearby town of Swindon is the real economic generator for the area.
The community area covers 154 square kilometres. The larger settlements act almost as dormitory suburbs of Swindon, which is situated just six miles to the east and is a 15 minute car journey from the main settlements.
The landscape of the north is dominated by scores of lakes and the area has now become a recognised wildlife area and water park in the form of the Cotswold Water Park which borders the Cotswolds Area Of Natural Beauty (AONB). In the south around Lyneham a broad escarpment provides almost the last outcrop of the Marlborough Downs while Broad Town partly lies within the Wessex AONB.
Our Community Area JSA for 2016
What we’ve changed since 2013/14
Children and Young People
A youth themed Area Board meeting was held at Lyneham Primary School in July 2016. Funding and officer support was then offered to all schools in the community area, encouraging them to take part in the Healthy Schools programme. Over 70 sixth form students at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy have become Dementia Friends. Community grant funding has been awarded to to a wide range of projects that help to address local priorities, including a filming project to improve self-image and mental health in young women at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy. A new Duke of Edinburgh Open Award Scheme has received Area Board community grant funding. Street based issues work is ongoing by Connecting Youth in Cricklade, in partnership with Cricklade Town Council. To combat youth unemployment the Wiltshire Council apprenticeships scheme has been promoted. Business advice has been given to young people by connecting with experts at the Manor House Enterprise Centre. Digi-champions in Cricklade have opened up their service to support young people seeking employment, for example by providing help with CV writing.
Community Safety
The Safer and Supportive Communities scheme (formerly Safe Places) was launched in Royal Wootton Bassett. Fifteen local businesses on the High Street are now Safe Places for vulnerable people when they need support, with good reports back from the scheme. In Case of Emergency cards and supporting information have been distributed to vulnerable people through the leisure centres, libraries, Town Council and surgeries.
The leisure offer in Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade has continued to expand, with grants for community clubs new and established, such as Cricklade Cricket Club. Purton hosted the Fun in the Sun programme providing summer activities for 5-13s living in rural areas and Royal Wootton Bassett the first tennis camp at RWBSA.
Street based youth work was undertaken with local police community support officers and a winter youth group project set up in Lyneham to provide contact with young people over the winter months, putting on activities and providing support. Connecting Youth and Motiv8 were commissioned to do issues based work with young people around substance misuse.
Economy
The community wanted to maximise opportunities generated by the redevelopment of RAF Lyneham. Close partnership working is taking place with the REME museum and the Crowns Café, with plans for an Area Board meeting at the museum after its opening in Spring 2017. Regular events are held at the Manor House Enterprise Centre to boost local businesses and provide networking and learning opportunities.
Environment
Area Board funding was awarded to Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre to provide an education room to increase their outreach capacity near Cricklade. The Purton footpath maintenance working group has been supported with grant funding and a flora and fauna project in Cricklade at Dance Common. Formal support has been provided from the Area Board towards the proposed Royal Wootton Bassett-Swindon cycle path, to reduce traffic and use of cars in the community area by commuters.
Health & Wellbeing
Ellen Blacker was appointed as Older People and Carer’s Champion with 91 clients supported from May to October 2016. A local Health and Wellbeing Board has been established in partnership with the GP surgeries. Older people's events have been held to promote the facilities and health services which are available, such as our health trainer.
A Caring about Dementia steering group has been accredited with the Dementia Action Alliance for their work to make the community area dementia friendly. The 3Ms memory café has been supported with a community grant and relaunched in Lyneham. Many local businesses are working to become dementia friendly and key public facing staff at the library and leisure centres have become Dementia Friends.
Community
Encouraging community cohesion was a priority and grant funding has been awarded towards community projects, including Pip’s Café in Purton. Nine litter picking events were held in to commemorate the Queen’s 90th birthday, including a turnout of almost 100 people in Cricklade. A Volunteering Fair was held to establish local needs and create a database of opportunity, then linked to corporate volunteering via the Swindon Involve scheme and the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme’s bank of young volunteers.
Cllr Allison Bucknell
Chair of Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Area Board
Since the last Community Area Joint Strategic Assessments (CA JSAs), we have worked to improve outcomes for our communities and there are many examples of great locally led projects that have made our community area a better place to live, work and visit. Through the Area Boards there is a growing level of community involvement in decision making and the information presented here will allow us to go further to ensuring that we focus on creating healthy and vibrant communities. As well as the challenges we face there are many opportunities for us to make our community stronger.
This new assessment allows us both to focus on the future and to reflect on all we have already achieved.
Download the Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Community Area Joint Strategic Assessment via the button below
To find out how Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Community Area compares to other Community Areas on a specific theme please visit the relevant Key indicator page.
Additional population, deprivation and life expectancy data can be found in the Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade Your Community Data pack (click here to view the PDF).
Download the Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Community Area Joint Strategic Priorities via the button below
At a Community Event in Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade, residents voted on which issues to prioritise locally. The full range of issues that could be voted on, as well as those selected as local priorities can be found on a summary slide, accessed by the button below. The items shown in red are those that have been selected by the local community as priorities in Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Community Area.