Meeting documents

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

There were no declarations of interest.

of the meeting held on 27 January 2011

The Action Notes of the meeting held on 27 January 2011 were agreed.

There will be a 20 minute period for public questions. Members of the public are encouraged to submit their questions in advance of the meeting to facilitate a full answer on the day of the meeting. Questions sent in advance will be dealt with first and verbal questions after.

A Member queried whether the agenda could be expanded to look at other areas. In response it was noted that Members had agreed that the objective of the Forum was to advise the County Council on how to spend the local area devolved budgets. Any other issues could be raised at the Town Council meeting.

Officers to consider how to publicise this meeting.

Action: Stephen Young

A Member asked for clarification on Local Community Partnerships (LCP). In High Wycombe the Forum was referred to as a LCP. Generally in other areas they are called Local Area Forums.

There were no petitions.

The Delegated Budget Funding for 2011/12 has been increased from £25,141.69 to £50,283.38 and the Forum is being asked to consider their delegated budgets.

Si Khan Transport Localities Team Leader (South) reported that the delegated budget funding for 2011/12 had been increased from £25,141.69 to £50,283.38. This was due to higher than predicted allocations from Government and subsequent approval by full Council for the Transport Capital Programme. A list of schemes was tabled which had been scored according to the criteria set out in the Appendix to the report, the highest score first.

The scheme with the highest score was Broad Lane/A40 – construction of a bus bay and a footway for passengers to link to a proposed central pedestrian refuge to assist pedestrians crossing the A40. The cost given for this scheme was approximately £45,000 based on an estimate given by Ringway Jacobs in 2009. This may increase once detailed costing had been undertaken. Si Khan suggested that Members agree a second priority scheme just in case there was any money left over.

Members noted that there was a potential £10,000 Section 106 monies available for this Scheme. This was for a specific minor scheme agreed by the developer which included give way signs and was not included in the £45,000. It was important however, to ensure that there was synergy between the two schemes.

A Member referred to a petition which had been presented to the Town Hall from the residents in Wattleton Road because of the speed of traffic and school children crossing the road. A suggestion had been made to extend the bollards right down the road just below Old Lodge Drive. This would need to be discussed at the next Town Council meeting. Other funding could be used to deal with this, particularly if it was a safety issue.

Members agreed that Broad Lane was a priority and that this should be taken back for further costing. An email would be sent out at the end of May with this information.

Action: Si Khan/Clare Gray

To discuss use of the Local Priority Budget.

Stephen Young, Locality Manager presented the report which described the arrangements for the allocation of funding devolved to Forums. He made reference to paragraph 5 of the report which outlined the criteria for the budget and also to paragraph 13 which showed the schemes funded previously.

Reference was made to the extract from the Minutes of the Finance and General Works Committee meeting on 24 March 2011. It was resolved at that meeting that the following category 1 and 2 items be submitted for costing to the Forum.

Category 1

·         Provide pump priming funding to maintain the youth service at the Curzon Centre, on a one-off basis

·         Re-arrange the football pitches at Wooburn Green Lane Sports Field so that a three-quarter size pitch could be accommodated in the reclaimed area, or two 5 a side pitches if possible.

Category 2

·         Improve appearance of Town Hall Green

·         Smarten the small garden area – Town Hall Drive

·         Determine a replacement site for the Garvin Avenue play area.

Stephen Young reported that the Category 1 items would fall under the Strategic Plan for the Town Centre. As the Forum was meeting only twice a year it would be helpful to agree in principle the scheme Members wanted to support.

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·         Detailed proposals would need to be drawn up as to how the funding will be specifically used for the Curzon Centre. A question was asked about how this would link in with the current proposals from the County Council. The Council was encouraging the voluntary and community sector to take over the management and provision of community based open access youth activities. One of the areas of support identified in the consultation on youth services was the provision of sufficient transition funding. A Member commented that the County Council were looking at how much money each Committee had in reserve. A Member asked what impact would funding from the Localities Budget have on the transitional funding received? Stephen Young reported that the Local Priorities budget was separate to any pump priming given to Management Committees.

·         A proposal was made to share the funding between the two items under Category 1 which was debated. A Member commented that as the business case for the Curzon Centre was still being developed further clarity was required on funding for this area. Meanwhile the other proposal for the football pitches should be developed particularly as it may generate other forms of seed funding.

The Forum agreed that authority should be delegated to the Chairman, in consultation with the Town Council and the Locality Manager to move forward on these proposals as set out above.

Si Khan, Transport Localities Team Leader presented the update report from Transport for Buckinghamshire.

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·         Land adjacent 4 Woodside Close Beaconsfield – A Member commented that the previous application had been turned down as there was not sufficient visibility splays and turning. The decision had now changed so that they can now achieve the required visibility splays onto Woodside Road but he was not clear what had made the difference. Si Khan would investigate this issue and report back.

Action: Si Khan

[Post meeting note from Si Khan:-

The applicants obtained a highway boundary plan from Bucks and then put it onto a topographic plan which means that it is extremely accurate. This resulted in the required 'Y' distance splay only being obstructed by boundary vegetation which was overhanging the highway. Maintenance trimmed back this vegetation last year, which I have photos to show, and obviously the Highway Authority has recommended a condition for the visibility which will need to achieved and maintained i.e. the applicants need to ensure the vegetation is regularly trimmed back from overhanging the highway.

The other issue was turning and the applicants have submitted a swept path analysis to show that a panel van can turn, park and manoeuvre within the existing private access drive. Currently a large goods vehicles cannot access the drive and so this is an existing situation so an objection could not be sustained. However, the applicants have provided evidence to show a panel van can turn which satisfies the Highway Authority. Obviously the construction of the dwelling has involved construction traffic but any damage caused is a civil issue with the owners of the private drive.

I should also note that this second application is only for 1 dwelling, whereas the previous application was for 2 dwellings involving double the amount of vehicle movements. ]

·         With reference to the Service Information Centre, a Member referred to the Highways on Call Scheme where there was a card to report problems which was excellent. They suggested that there should be more publicity for the SIC. Si Khan reported that the SIC had been advertised through the website, through Forums and Parishes. Training was offered to all Parish and Town Clerks.

[Post Meeting Note from Si Khan:-

It’s a good idea and one we discussed when we launched the SIC,. We do need to do constant promotion to ensure the SIC is used as a first port of call for everything transport related but sending out a card to each household it the county is extremely expensive which is why we haven't done it yet. I think a card etc would be very useful though and will see if we can get one produced like the old HOC to put into libraries etc. Thank you for the suggestion]

·         Any questions about defective street lights etc could be raised at the half hour session before the Forum when the Local Area Technician would be present.

·         The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To be agreed

Wednesday 30 November 2011 at 7pm (6.30pm for Local Area Technician enquiries)