Meeting documents

See above

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 23 June 2010

The notes of the meeting held on 23 June 2010 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

Matters arising

Voting Arrangements

The Chairman reported that Chesham Town Council was not happy with the trial voting system of one vote per organisation. The Chairman suggested reverting to the consensus model, in which agreement would be reached through consensus where possible. Any issues which could not be agreed in this way would be referred back to the Head of Service. The Chairman noted that the Local Area Forum was an advisory body only, which made recommendations to the Head of Service, rather than decisions.

The Chairman also said that Chesham Town Council had raised concerns that the Forum was operating without a proper mandate and, at worst, ultra vires and illegally. The Chairman said that the Head of Legal and Democratic Services had been consulted on this and had said categorically that the Forum was acting neither ultra vires nor illegally. A full response would be provided to Chesham Town Council by Council officers when an internal audit of Local Area Forum governance had been completed. The Chairman of Regulatory and Audit Committee would also be responding on this issue.

A member of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council said that a consensus system would require clarity over representation at the Forum.

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.  Please contact Helen Wailling on 01296 383614 or hwailling@buckscc.gov.uk to submit your question.

There were no questions.

Patricia Birchley said that 130 residents had submitted a petition regarding speeding in Chartridge Lane near Swan Bottom.

However Alison Derrick said that the petition had not been received. Chris Schwier said that he would look into the issue of speeding on Chartridge Lane for the next meeting – ACTION: CS.

Bucks Fire and Rescue Service

South Central Ambulance Trust  - re: Community Responders

Alison Derrick told members that one of the local priorities identified for the Chesham and Chiltern Villages area was in regard to emergency services. Emergency service representatives had therefore been invited to attend the meeting.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS)

Danny Whitelock (Station Manager, Chesham Fire Station) and Neil Purvis (Watch Manager, Chesham Fire Station) were welcomed to the meeting.

Danny Whitelock told members that he had been Station Manager at Chesham for one year, and that Neil Purvis had been at Chesham Fire Station for many years and was the longest-serving fireman on the pump in the country.

Danny Whitelock then distributed some slides (attached) and said the following:

·         BFRS carried out home safety checks free of charge, which included fitting of smoke alarms, planning an escape route and checking wiring. Broken smoke alarms could also be replaced.

·         BFRS worked in partnership with a number of other agencies and organisations to deliver home safety checks.

·         BFRS also visited schools to provide information about prevention of fires.

·         Emergency resilience planning included contingency plans for situations such as the sewers bursting in Chesham.

·         Part time fire-fighters were much harder to recruit than full-time fire-fighters.

·         The main priorities for BFRS were making residents safer and providing value for money.

·         Other initiatives included checking electric blankets (this was being carried out the following weekend at Gerrards Cross Fire Station).

A member noted that as BFRS visited people in their homes, they were able to provide useful information to Adult Social Care and a range of other services, about vulnerable people in need. The County Council and District Councils were very grateful for the work carried out by BFRS. Danny Whitelock said that he could forward the checklist which was used when visiting someone at home.

A member asked why emergency response vehicles sometimes came from Tring Fire Station. Danny Whitelock said that they worked very closely with the fire service in Hertfordshire. There was never any query regarding county borders, except occasionally for incidents on the motorway. The reason that Tring Fire Station was sometimes used was due to the pattern of pumps and stations in use.

Danny Whitelock also said that a button system was now used in vehicles instead of radio intercoms. Vehicles were also provided with pictures of roads with house names marked on them. As information was given to the 999 operator, this was immediately passed to the vehicle.

A member asked about the maintenance of fire hydrants. Danny Whitelock said that a hydrant officer and two hydrant technicians were based at Amersham Fire Station. All hydrants were marked on the mobile data terminals which were carried. Issues occurred when a lorry or car parked over a hydrant so that it could not be accessed, or when residents removed the hydrant plate from their front wall or hedge.

A member of Chartridge Parish Council asked if a map of the hydrants in Bellingdon could be included in their village newsletter. Danny Whitelock suggested that a picture of a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Shaun Pope, Transport Policy Officer

Duncan Laird, Transport Policy Officer

Duncan Laird, Transport Policy Officer, was welcomed to the meeting.

Duncan Laird said the following:

·         Much of the previous legislation re: flood management had been drawn up in the 1930s and 1940s, and responsibilities of the various agencies involved had not been defined.

·         A Flood and Water Management Bill had been published in 2009, based on lessons learned from the 2007 floods. The Bill had transferred responsibility for strategic flood management to upper tier authorities (the County Council). The Bill had become an Act in April 2010, and had multi-party support. Implementation of the Act would be phased over twelve months.

·         Funding for the new responsibilities on Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) would be announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review in October. The Government expected the equivalent of three to seven full-time staff to implement the requirements.

·         Some funding had been granted in advance for areas in England which had been identified as being most susceptible to surface water flooding. This funding was for developing a Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP). Two of these areas were in Buckinghamshire (High Wycombe and Chesham). In Chesham 4400 properties had been identified as being at risk.

·         The SWMP would have three elements: data collection (historical data and modelling data), actions to mitigate risk (with community involvement) and delivery of the actions (this was likely to be in partnership and with the community).

·         Currently data collection was being planned, and advice on how to involve local communities in developing the Plan was sought, as well as the role the Local Area Forum could play.

A member asked at what point surface water flooding (water running off from non-permeable areas) became river flooding, if it drained into a river. Duncan Laird said that he had raised this with the Environment Agency as it was not clearly defined.

Chris Schwier said that recent flooding issues in Chesham had been due to run-off from the hills, not from the river.

A member asked if the funding for the SWMP in Chesham was ring-fenced. Duncan Laird said that originally it had been ring-fenced nationally, but that the ring-fencing had then been removed. BCC had decided to ring-fence the funding locally for Chesham and High Wycombe.

A member said that there was also surface water flooding in Chalfont St Peter. Duncan Laird said that Chalfont St Peter had been placed 436^th on the list of areas nationally and had not qualified for the SWMP funding.

A member said that residents in Chesham would not welcome consultation on this issue, and that those who were expert in the field should go ahead and carry out the required work. Alison Derrick said that she and Chris Schwier both had information from work carried out with communities in 2001, which could be used.

The member suggested that the funding could be spent without going through the planning stage with communities.

The Chairman suggested that consultation be carried out through the Local Area Forum, Chesham Town Council and CHAPS.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Local Priorities budget - agreed bids

Local Priorities budget - additional bids

Alison Derrick said that the first report contained confirmation of the bids for which funding which had been previously agreed.

Guidance was being sought from members regarding the bid from the Faith Café. Feedback received by e-mail had indicated a small majority in favour of the £750 being granted to the Faith Café. However other Local Area Forums in the area had not granted any funding to the Café. Alison Derrick asked members if they still wished to give funding. Members agreed that they would not give any funding to the Faith Café.

Alison Derrick said that this therefore meant that there was some funding left for allocation. Two bids had been received (page 23), from the Chesham Women’s Friendship Group and from the Pond Park Community Association.

A member noted that funding in general would be very tight in coming months, and asked if the Local Priorities funding could be held back by the LAF for the future. Alison Derrick said that this was not possible as the funding had to be allocated by November 2010, otherwise it would revert to the budget-holder. Christine Gardner said that the activities funded also had to take place by the end of the current financial year.

A member asked how the two bids had been received. Alison Derrick said that the Chesham Women’s Friendship Group had contacted her through Alison Pirouet (Chesham Town Councillor) and through David Gardner (Chiltern District Council Community Projects & Revitalisation Officer).

Patricia Birchley said that a problem in rural areas was a lack of buses in the evening for young people travelling in and out of Chesham.

It was noted that the Forum had agreed £2000 of funding at the last meeting for a community car scheme. The Chairman also said that a mini-bus with an ‘any driver’ policy was available from Chesham Youth Club.

A member asked how many members were in the Chesham Women’s Friendship Group. Alison Derrick said that membership was stated as 140 women per month.

Kerry Stevens said that a clear process and timescale was needed for the allocation of the remaining funding.

A member said that currently the process seemed to be ‘first come, first served,’ and that in the future a weighting system should be used for the priorities.

The Local Area Forum agreed the following funding:

Alison Derrick informed members that £1200 of the funding now remained. There had been two further bids received shortly before the meeting, from the Chesham Town area. Alison Derrick said that if there were any further bids, these should be sent to her as soon as possible.

Christine Gardner noted that information on the funding was on the BCC website and in VCS newsletters, with an application from.

Chris Schwier (Team Leader, Transport Localities, Chiltern and South Bucks)

encouraged members to look at the new Service Information Centre on the BCC Website, which showed roadworks, programmes of work, grass-cutting etc.

http://www.transportforbucks.net/Transport-and-roads.aspx

The Service Information Centre would also contain information about winter maintenance. The winter maintenance period would start on 18 October 2010.

A review of winter maintenance had been undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and this report would be circulated once it had been signed.

Salt stocks would be slightly higher than in the previous year, and pre-wetted salt would be used this year, which would mean a 30% reduction in the amount of salt used.

There would be a new snow route. A winter maintenance leaflet would be circulated later in the year. This had been delayed as a report regarding public liability was awaited from the Department for Transport.

A member of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council said that they had previously expressed concern to Tim Fowler (Group Manager, Operational Delivery) about the technical assessment of the roads for salting. However they had not received any response.

Chris Schwier said that three additional roads had been brought forward in the local area and had been re-assessed. There was still an issue over the definition of a school bus (BCC defined this as a bus over 16 seats in size). The member of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council asked for a response to be sent to the Parish regarding their previous query. Action: CS to chase

A member said that after the previous winter there had been general acceptance that an exit route should be ensured for each community if severe weather occurred again. However there had been no further reference to this. Chris Schwier said that Appendix K had shown routes through the rural areas.

Chris Schwier also said that local farmers could use their farm machinery for clearing snow, but not for salting the roads. This was because red diesel could only be used on the roads for emergencies, and road salting did not come under this heading. The intention was that farmers would be contacted to agree the clearing of specific roads, and that some compensation would be given.

Patricia Birchley said that residents in rural areas needed to be informed which roads were being salted during severe weather, for example by e-mail.

Patricia Birchley also referred to a farmer who was employed by Hertfordshire County Council to carry out snow-ploughing, and asked if he could be used in the same way in Buckinghamshire. Chris Schwier said that BCC had its own arrangements for snowploughing through the Ringway Jacobs contract.

Chris Schwier also said that BCC salted a higher percentage of roads than neighbouring authorities.

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/content/bcc/docs/our_communities/CCV_local_area_plan.pdf

The Forum noted the Report.

The Forum noted the Report.

The Forum noted the Report.

The Chairman reported that an expert in developing emergency plans was working with Chesham Action Volunteers (CHAV). A trial would be held at Chesham Football ground, and volunteers were being recruited.

Kerry Stevens said that with the support of CHAV, Adult Social Care Social Workers would have even better cover than in the previous year.

Alison Derrick distributed a brochure which had been produced by the BCC Resilience Team.

2 February 2011, 7:30pm, venue tbc

2 February 2011, 7:30pm, venue tbc

Alison Derrick

The Chairman told members that this was Alison Derrick’s last meeting as she would be leaving BCC in November 2010. Members expressed regret that Alison was leaving. The Chairman thanked Alison for her hard work for the Forum and in the local area, and said that Alison would be a hard act to follow. The Chairman presented Alison with flowers and champagne and wished her the very best for the future.