PRESENT:     Councillor A R Green (in the Chair)

The Chairman welcomed Members and Officers present.

12.     APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Ditta, D J Hayday, M Hussein JP, P Morris, Mrs J A White and M Yasin.

13.     MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 20 JANUARY 2004

14.     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

     There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman, with the approval of the Committee, invited Mr Charles Meakings, Head of Strategic Development, to give his presentation on Urgent Agenda Item 12.1 as the first item of business.

In response to a query concerning the scope of the High Wycombe Town Masterplan, it was explained that whilst communities such as Bourne End and Hazlemere were included, plans did not currently include public meetings in these areas. The Chairman acknowledged the difficulty of establishing the genuine, grassroots viewpoint as opposed to that put forward by specific interest groups and he urged Members to engage as widely as possible within their communities. Once consultations were complete, Members would need to balance the inputs from all sectors in the formulation of the long term plan for the future.

The Chairman thanked Mr Meakings for his presentation and looked forward to receiving progress reports in due course.

16.     HIGH WYCOMBE TOWN COMMITTEE SUB GROUP - MINUTES

The Chairman thanked the members of the Sub Group for the work undertaken by them.

17.     UPDATE REPORTS

Members discussed the Update Reports presented.

On the long standing issue of roosting pigeons, Members agreed on the dangers posed to public health and discussed various options for reducing numbers humanely, including use of contraceptive feed. The example of Manchester was cited, where the problem was thought to be contained and which possibly offered options worthy of investigation.

With regard to the depositing of chewing gum on pavements, it was agreed that this form of anti social behaviour was a national problem. Difficulties of enforcement caused Bye Law action to be largely ineffective and a national education programme was seen as desirable to tackle the issue. In the meantime, the Community Voice newspaper was suggested as a medium through which attention could be drawn to the high cost to the community of cleaning the pavements to remove chewing gum.

18.     YOUTH ISSUES

The Committee discussed the Summary presented by Mr David Picken, Head of Community Services, of work undertaken in recent months on Youth issues.

The current situation with regard to the Green Street School site was queried and it was confirmed that Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) was continuing to consult local community groups on the future use of the area.

The Local Equipped Teenage Areas (LETAs) and Neighbourhood Equipped Teenage Areas (NETAs) were also discussed, and attention was drawn to Bowerdean, which had no open playing area. The Chairman advised that consultations had revealed that young people tended to call for use of buildings rather than open spaces. However, the capital cost of new buildings was prohibitively high and greater use of existing buildings such as schools and halls was being promoted.

On the issue of Community Wardens, the Committee was  advised that a request had just been received from Thames Valley Police for match funding for the provision of police Community Support Officers. A similar approach had been made to all local authorities in the Thames Valley region. The matter was under discussion and, if the proposals offered potential, Members’ approval to proceed would be sought.

It was noted that Mr Picken was shortly to retire and Members were pleased to take the opportunity to thank Mr Picken formally for his long service to the Council in various roles and attendance at various committees over the years.

The Committee received a report outlining the background to the renewal of the market contract, which would expire in 2005. During discussions, concern was expressed that potential traders were being deterred from applying for a market stall because the application procedures were unclear. It was agreed that ways to make the application process clearer merited investigation.

In response to complaints that stalls were being erected earlier and were being dismantled later than was formerly the case, it was explained that the current practice had become necessary because cars parked illegally overnight in the High Street would otherwise prevent access to the stall sites. Arrangements for setting up the stalls were negotiated by the traders with Buckinghamshire County Council as the Highways Authority. The Committee considered that the Officers should be asked to review the current setting up / removal times.

It was proposed that a Sub-Group should be constituted to look at every aspect of the market’s operation and examine how best to draft the new contract effective from 2005. It was agreed that the Lead Officer would circulate proposals for the Sub Group’s constitution.

The Committee discussed the report submitted, which outlined options for further Pedestrianisation. There was general agreement that the present arrangements allowing mixed vehicular access to the High Street at particular times and on particular days was unsatisfactory and that abuse of the regulations was common. Increasing incidents of moving traffic attempting to manoeuvre into and park within active ‘pedestrian’ zones posed a high risk to public safety and also presented public disorder issues. Moving traffic did not come within the remit of Parking Wardens and the police no longer had powers to deal with parked cars, with the result that enforcement of the existing regulations had become ineffective.

It was considered that many abuses of the access and parking restrictions would have been captured by the CCTV cameras. However, follow-up action against the culprits did not appear always to take place.

There was agreement with the proposal that pedestrianisation should be extended to become a full time feature, covering 24 hours, seven days per week, with vehicular access for general traffic being limited to trade deliveries outside a core period between 10:00am and 5:00pm. It was considered that this would not affect businesses adversely as restrictions covering the times of deliveries had been in force for some time.

The problems caused by the lack of a dedicated taxi queuing area in the Frogmoor area were raised and it was suggested that these could be remedied if the two public parking/unloading bays were to revert to a taxi rank during the evening.

The inclusion of cyclists in any pedestrianisation scheme was queried. It was considered that, despite the need to encourage this mode of transport, cycling in the High Street could put walkers and shoppers at risk. One Member recalled that signs requesting cyclists to dismount used to be posted in the area and it was thought that consideration could be given to resuming this practice.

RESOLVED: That the following recommendations be put to Cabinet:

(I) That Pedestrianisation of the High Street be extended to 24 hours daily with access for general traffic limited to delivery vehicles only outside the hours from 10.00am to 5.00pm;

The Committee received a verbal update on the progress of the High Wycombe Town Centre Redevelopment, which included issues relating to land acquisition, proposed Bus Depot, current property negotiations and anticipated slippage.

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme as submitted be received.

___________________

CHAIRMAN

The following officers were in attendance at the meeting:-

Mr J B Piddington               Chief Financial Officer

Mr M Fish                Principal Engineer

Miss M Griffiths               Senior Valuer

Mrs K Khanna               Assistant Solicitor

Mr P Marston-Weston          Head of Leisure Services

Mr C Meakings               Head of Strategic Development

Mr D Picken               Head of Community Services

Mr R G Key               Principal Administrator, Committee Services Section

Mrs D Davis               Democratic Services Officer