Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Chris Furness, Trevor Egleton and Samantha Dilks.

Stoke Poges Parish Council had stated they would not be attending.

Lin Hazell was confirmed as Chairman for the meeting.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

Positive Activities for Young People

Lin Hazell declared a prejudicial interest in this item because she is Chairman of Burnham Upper School and is on the Management Committee of Burnham Youth Club.

To confirm the appointment of the Vice Chairman, who will be a District Councillor.  This item was carried forward from the meeting on 12 August 2009.

This item was deferred to the next meeting because no discussion has taken place with the District Council on who should be nominated for Vice Chairman.

It was agreed that the Chairman would write to the Leader of South Bucks District Council asking him to nominate a District Councillor.  It was also agreed that the District Councillor should be someone who does not represent the Burnham area and preferably one who represents a smaller Parish Council area.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 12 August 2009.

The Action Notes from the meeting held on 12 August 2009 were confirmed as a true record.

Item 5 – Action Notes

Speeding in Hogfair Lane and Lent Rise Lane. Lin Hazell stated she had spoken to officers with regard to speeding issues in these areas.

Marie Hammon reported that Andrew Strathdee, Chairman of the NAG visited the Esso Garage in Burnham with PCSO Dobson.  Both agreed that white lines were needed outside the garage in order to deter vehicles, particularly lorries, from blocking the pathway and causing a hazard to pedestrians.  The Chairman asked that this issue be followed up and Jim Stevens said he hoped this would have been resolved by the next meeting.

Agreed:  Transportation should be contacted in order to arrange for white lines to be painted on the roadway outside the Esso Garage in Burnham.

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, followed by verbal questions.  Please contact Stephen Young on 01296 387543 or email: spyoung@buckscc.gov.uk to submit your question.

There were no questions.

None.  Members noted that any petitions received will go through Full Council and be passed to the relevant cabinet member for a response, which will be brought back to the Local Area Forum.

To discuss and agree extended membership of the Beeches Local Area Forum.

Members received the report of the Locality Services Area Co-ordinator.

Whilst County, District and Parish Councillors are automatically members of the Local Area Forum, members were asked what other organisations they would like to see attending the Forum on a formal or informal basis.

It was agreed that a shortlist of organisations be drawn up and presented to the next meeting.  The list could include, Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Adult Social Care, Youth Service, Housing Associations as well as members of local groups who represent the community.  Whilst some organisations may attend on a regular basis, others would be invited as necessary.  However, it was agreed voting rights would not be considered until a wider discussion was held.

Stephen Young agreed to talk to the Youth Groups about having a person who would represent all the parish areas.

Action:  Stephen Young to draw up a shortlist of organisations to be considered for invitation to the Local Area Forum on a formal or informal basis.  Youth Service to be contacted regarding a representative for the whole Forum area.

It was suggested that a member of the Olympics organising body be invited to give an update on how work was progressing with regard to arrangements in South Bucks.

Action:  Agenda Item

To discuss and confirm voting arrangements for the Beeches Local Area Forum.

Members received the report of the Locality Services Area Coordinator.

The Forum discussed issues surrounding voting on the Forum and agreed that representation should be as equal as possible.  In this connection it was agreed that each Parish Council should have two votes, The District Council would have one voting representative from each of the five parish areas and the three County Councillors would each have a vote.  In the event of a tie the Chairman would have the casting vote.

It was noted that all members of the District and Parish Councils are welcome to attend the meetings, but voting would be restricted as stated above.

It was agreed that the Chairman would write to the Leader of South Bucks District Council, asking for nominations for voting members from the District council, from each of the parish areas.

The Forum agreed voting rights as follows:

Parish Councils – 2 votes per Parish Council.

District Councils – 5 votes, to represent each of the five parish council areas.

County Council – 3 votes.

Chairman to have the casting vote.

Action:  Chairman to write letter

A presentation by Sue Brown, Team Leader, Casualty Reduction, BCC

Members received a presentation from Sue Brown, Team Leader, Casualty Reduction, which gave details of road casualty statistics relating to the Beeches area, South Bucks and the County as a whole.

The following was noted:

• Trends and patterns for collisions are looked at to see whether they can be improved through education or changes in road layouts.
• 2010 targets include reduction of killed/seriously injured (KSI) by 40%; reduction of child KSI by 50%; reduction of slight injuries by 10%. Priorities are set in relation to where the most severe casualties occur.
• Of those KSI in Buckinghamshire in 2008, 20% occurred in South Bucks.  Although the population is small there is heavy traffic in the area and Health Authority Reports may give a distorted view of the high casualty rate in South Bucks.
• Reports are received where there is personal injury, not where it is only damage to vehicles.
• Most collisions are single vehicle crashes of which shunt collision and head on collision are the most common. 
• With regard to child causalities countywide, there were 34 between 1994-98 and in 2008 there were 18.  There were nine child casualties in the Beeches area in 2008, but no deaths between 2007-08 and no deaths to date in 2009.
• There is a human error element in 95% of road casualties and 76% is solely the fault of the road user.  Most common reasons are failure to look properly, failure to judge the path or speed of traffic and carelessness.
• People aged 17-25 make up one third of all road casualties. An event called ‘Safe Drive – Stay Alive’ is being held for secondary schools and Burnham Upper and Burnham Grammar Schools are involved.  A training course entitled ‘Get in Gear’ is also being held and, if successful will be a rolled out as a national event.
• Those people prosecuted for speeding will be offered safety training courses instead of points on their licenses.  However, this will only be offered once.
• Road Safety Officers, in conjunction with the Police have recorded post codes for those speeding to see whether the issue is local or whether it relates to through traffic.
• Road casualty figures need to continue to reduce in the future in order to meet the DfT targets for 2010.

Dev Dhillon asked about a particular area where the wall of a house had been replaced several times because of collisions.  He asked how such an issue can be resolved if there are no indicators because there is no injury.  Sue said the Service places great value on information relating to damage only collisions so that a bigger picture of where problems might be can be built up.

It was suggested that statistical information regarding the main causes of collisions should be included in any future presentation.

Sue stated that she would also be contacting Huntercombe Manor Hospital with regard to working with them on road safety issues and Karen Adamson agreed to provide a contact for the PCT.

Action:  Karen Adamson

With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

A Presentation by Ed Gurney, Transport Policy Officer, Transport for Buckinghamshire.

Members received a presentation from Ed Gurney, Transport Policy Officer, Transport for Buckinghamshire.

The presentation gave an introduction to the Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3) and what Parish Councils are being asked to do as part of the engagement, both now and in the future.  The Plan sets the direction of travel and the strategic viewpoint on the way transportation delivers its services.

LTP3 will commence in 2011 and will allow the local highways authority to be more flexible with regard to the delivery of its plan.  It is a 15 year strategy with a rolling three year implementation plan.

LTP2 received reward funding, but the DfT is now not issuing any grants of this nature.  However, the documentation will be used to apply for bids for funding through other channels in the future.

The LTP areas are based on the 19 LAF areas.  However, some of them are grouped together depending on similarities, such as Winslow and Buckingham which are rural areas.  This enables plans and strategies to be developed in order to meet the needs of local people.

The LTP3 pack has been circulated and Parish Councils are being asked to review the LTP3 objectives to ensure service delivery is moving in the right direction over the next 15 years. Parish Councils are asked to feedback their comments by the end of December 2009 on whether the objectives are steering our work in the right direction.  The new LTP goals have been set by the DfT and are more wide ranging than previously.

The results of this consultation will be grouped together into the LTP areas and a technical assessment will also be carried to assess the deliverability of the requests.  There will be a full formal public consultation in the summer of 2010 on the priorities identified.

Rachel Winfield asked where volunteer transport services would be placed. It was noted that they will be included under the Community Transport on Demand Strategic Option.  However, this survey was also an opportunity to add additional options to ensure any issues are highlighted.  Rachel stated that feedback from Parish Plans as well as district-wide feedback emphasised that access to transport was vital and voluntary transport schemes are critical.

Jim Stevens confirmed the need to address rural accessibility across the entire County.  In this connection, a seminar has been arranged for early December, to which District Council lead officers have been invited.  This will lead to a larger conference in early March were the County Council will be developing thinking about the best way to use the bus subsidy and how best we can use volunteer services such as dial a ride.  Karen Adamson said that Sally Hussey from Bucks Community Action was keen to get rural transport up and running.  Karen was also looking at developing the Good Neighbour Scheme in each of the 19 LAF areas, which would particularly benefit rural areas.

Members expressed concern about the short deadline for response.  Ed Gurney stated that in terms of meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive a report for decision on options for expenditure, within the 2009/2010 financial year.

Members received the report of the Locality Services Area Coordinator which detailed a proposal from Burnham NAG for footpath fencing along Stomp Road, in the amount of £2,112.

The Forum was informed that £8,000 was made available to each LAF for this financial year which needed to be spent by March 2010.  There will be further funding for next year.  The Local Area Coordinator stated that given the timescales for spending this money, he had not been able to source any further bids for local priorities.  However, it would be good to have an impact across the whole area, particularly with regard to giving youth services or clubs the opportunity to have some funding towards what they do. 

However, with regard to funding priorities Stephen stated that the Good Neighbour Scheme covers the entire local area and is looking for funding to start.  Karen Adamson agreed to circulate further details to all members.

Action:  Karen Adamson to circulate details of the Good Neighbour Scheme

Karen informed members that Age Concern had expressed a strong interest in setting up this project.  This is a voluntary scheme, enabling people without transport to access local facilities such as GP surgeries, collecting prescriptions as well as keeping an eye on the more vulnerable people to ensure their needs are met.  Rachael Winfield stated that Age Concern has benefited through the District Council with the provision of funding for a member of staff to support volunteers in the community.  There is a great need for these services.  Karen said that social isolation can have an impact on all ways of life and this scheme will put people in contact with other services too.

Stephen Young expressed the need to work on the Local Area Plan to identify priorities which will enable the Forum to look at how best to spend money in the future.  With regard to the balance of funding for 2009-10, he suggested that if members were in agreement with supporting the Good Neighbour Scheme and further projects for young people, the decision could be delegated to officers to take this forward.  Members agreed that this was the best way forward.

Members of the Beeches Local Area Forum:

AGREED funding of £2,112 from its Local Priorities Budget for 2009/10 for Burnham NAG’s request for footpath fencing along Stomp Road

AGREED that funding should be provided to Age Concern to set up a  Good Neighbour Scheme and for projects for young people, and that the decision on how much funding to give should be delegated to Stephen Young, Locality Services Area Co-ordinator to progress.

Lin Hazell left the room for the next item.

Report from Stephen Young, Locality Services Area Co-ordinator

Members received the report of the Locality Services Area Coordinator, which informed the Forum that four applications were received for funding from the devolved budget of £5,000 for PAYP.

The projects are:

The balance of £1290.50 for this financial year will be used by Youth Services for other activities in the Beeches Local Area.

The applications have already been approved for funding in accordance with the set criteria for PAYP, with the exception of the bid from Mapis Modelling Agency.  Members agreed that the bid should be put forward for approval.

Members of the Beeches Local Area Forum approved PAYP funding of £1,200 towards the Mapis Modelling Agency, fashion course for young women.

Members noted that the Forum would receive information regarding PAYP earlier in the next financial year as well as for the Local Priorities delegated budget.  However, local area planning for priorities would put the LAF in a position to see how they would wish to spend any delegated money in the future.  Stephen Young said he was confident members would be in a position in April/May to be able to consider and outline their local priorities for the next financial year.

Lin Hazell returned to the room.

The following items were put forward for agendas for future meetings:

• LTP3 – Formal consultation in summer 2010
• Adult Social Care
• Transportation Delegated Budget
• Update on arrangements for the Olympics 2012
• Other Delegated Budgets
• Local Priorities
• Local Area Planning Workshop

To be Agreed.

Suggestions for agenda items should be sent to Stephen Young, Locality Services Area Co-ordinator.

The next meeting of the Beeches LAF will take place on Thursday 25 February 2010 at 7.00pm at a venue to be agreed.  (Addendum:  subsequent to the meeting, the date for the next meeting was re-arranged for Wednesday 3 March 2010).