Meeting documents

Welcome to Andrew Garth (Chiltern District Council)

See above.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 29 September 2010

Link to Regulatory and Audit papers giving details of the outcome of the Internal Audit into Local Area Forum governance:

http://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=15794

(see page 40).

The notes of the meeting held on 29 September 2010 were agreed and signed as a correct record, with the following amendment:

·         Page 6, table of agreed funding – Chesham Women’s Friendship Group had requested £2000, and been awarded £1500.

Matters arising

Page 1 – Voting Arrangements - a member of Ashley Green Parish Council said that they had understood that there had been agreement at the meeting of the Forum in June 2010 to trial the ‘Amersham’ model as a voting system until May 2011.

The Chairman said that Chesham Town Council had not been happy with this decision and that at the meeting in September 2010, another decision had been made, to use a system of ‘agreement by consensus.’ This would be reviewed after May 2011.

Page 4 – Defibrillator – A member asked if a defibrillator had been placed in the new theatre in Aylesbury. Action: HW to find out. [Aylesbury Vale District Council has confirmed that there is a defibrillator at the new theatre].

Page 7 – school buses and gritting of roads – A member of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council referred to his previous query about the gritting of roads where school buses travelled. This had been raised before and Chris Schwier had responded. However the responses had not fully answered the member’s queries. The member asked for a definitive response on this. Action: A written response from the Head of Service to be brought to the next meeting – Action: CS [response attached to Minutes]

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.

Good Neighbourhood Scheme (Age Concern)

Judith Vivis (Age Concern) was in attendance at the meeting and asked the Chairman if she could give a brief update on the Good Neighbourhood Scheme.

Judith Vivis had previously attended a meeting of the Local Area Forum in June 2010 to give an update on the Good Neighbourhood Scheme.

The Good Neighbourhood Scheme had received £4000 in funding from the Local Area Forum in 2009/10.

Judith Vivis said that her recent work had included sending out questionnaires to libraries, surgeries, the Town Hall, etc, to find out the needs of residents and to get volunteers for the Scheme. Drop-in sessions had been held once a fortnight. If anyone was interested in being a volunteer, they should let Judith Vivis know.

Query re: speeding on Lye Green Road

A query had been received from a resident via Chesham Town Council, regarding speeding in Lye Green Road in Chesham. PC Keith Flint said that speed limits had changed in various rural areas, and that the Police were carrying out speed enforcement exercises to the current speed limits. PC Flint said that he would obtain a response to the query. Action: KF

Petition received re: speed restrictions in Swan Bottom, requesting:

1. A reduction in the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph
2. Traffic calming measures to encourage and reduce the travelling speed of cars in support of a reduced speed limit of 30mph

A petition had been received re: speed restrictions in Swan Bottom, requesting:

1. A reduction in the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph
2. Traffic calming measures to encourage and reduce the travelling speed of cars in support of a reduced speed limit of 30mph

Patricia Birchley (Buckinghamshire County Council) said that the Petition had also been presented at full Council, and that she supported the requests in the Petition.

Chris Schwier circulated a written response to the Petition (attached).

Chris Schwier said that Swan Bottom had been part of the Area 2 speed limit review, in which speed limits had been reviewed following consultation with residents. Reviews had been carried out in 2005 and in 2008, and as a result a change to speed limits had been made in King’s Ash, but not in Swan Bottom. There were no plans for further reviews.

Written updates were circulated to members about the development of community healthcare services by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

Jane Bramwell, who was a Non-Executive Director of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, gave a brief update about the work but suggested that a representative from the Trust be invited to the next meeting to provide a fuller update.

Jane Bramwell said that until April 2010, the Hospital Trust was based over three hospitals. In April 2010 the Hospital Trust had amalgamated with community health services and the new organisation had called itself Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

The new organisation included Marlow Community Hospital, Thame Community Hospital and Buckingham Community Hospital. The amalgamation would enable a much more person-centred view, with episodes in hospital being ‘one-offs.’

The Trust was hoping to go into residential care homes to provide better care, rather than residents being sent to hospital if they became ill.

PC Kevin Flint

PC Kevin Flint was invited to the meeting.

PC Flint said the following:

·         Regular neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) meetings were held in the Chesham area. There was one NAG for Chesham town and one NAG for the rural areas.

·         Staffing levels were as follows: 1 inspector for the Chiltern District; 2 sergeants for the Chesham area; 4 officers and 9 PCSOs.

·         An assurance had been made that neighbourhood policing would be low down the list of cuts in the Thames Valley, as it was very effective.

Chesham Town NAG

This NAG was split into three areas (Chesham East, Chesham West and Chesham South, which included the town centre).

The priorities of the Town NAG were:

·         Car dealing on streets

·         Parked cars on streets

·         Visibility of cyclists

·         School parking (particularly during drop-off and pick-up times)

·         Enforcement of double yellow lines (although enforcement of these was no longer the responsibility of the Police)

The NAG would be moving its meetings around the area instead of always meeting at the Town Hall.

There had been a recent query about how the Police and PCSOs worked together. PC Flint said that the work of PCSOs was very valuable to the Police.

The Chairman congratulated the PCSOs for their work on diversionary activities for young people in Chesham Town.

Chesham Rural NAG

‘Have your Say’ sessions were held at The Lee Shop every month, 11am to 1pm to listen to the concerns and priorities of local residents. Similar sessions were planned for St Leonards and Cholesbury.

Recent issues discussed at the NAG included:

·         Mini motos using footpaths (some of these had been seized and the problem had since diminished).

·         Signing, speed limits and the condition of the cross-roads at Latimer, which were in poor condition.

·         ‘Horse plaiting’ (horses’ manes being plaited at night for no apparent reason).

Chris Schwier said that the issue of the signs on Stony Lane in Latimer had previously been discussed at length, including the fact that motorists did not stop at the ‘give way’ line.

A large problem was that district sweepers did not clear the type of the stone used. A stop sign had been requested but the criteria for this had not been met.

Patricia Birchley (Buckinghamshire County Council) thanked PC Flint for his very informative e-mails.

A member of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council said that due to the NAG there had been a significant improvement in their knowledge of Police work in their area and of follow-up to incidents. The members thanked the Police for their work.

Phil King, Planning Policy Manager, Chiltern District Council

Phil King (Chiltern District Council) was welcomed to the meeting.

Phil King told members the following:

·         The Core Strategy had been submitted to the Secretary of State for approval in January 2011.

·         The Core Strategy set out plans for the number of houses and their locations in the Chiltern District up to 2026. The target was 2400 homes.

·         1800 of homes would be built in Chesham, Amersham, Little Chalfont and Chalfont St Peter.

·         There would be c.600 new homes in smaller settlements (those with a population of 1000 or more).

·         The Core Strategy included policies to increase affordable housing. 30% of new housing had to be affordable.

·         In rural areas housing provision was set locally, using the ‘rural exceptions’ criteria, which required the housing to be built on the edge of rural settlements. Proposals were taken from Parish Councils for schemes of 100% affordable housing for local people. Winchmore Hill had been the most successful of these. Proposed Government changes supported this approach (the Localism Bill and the ‘Big Society’).

·         The next stage of the Core Strategy would be a meeting with members of the public, developers and the Planning Inspector. Affordable housing would be a key area for discussion.

·         If the Strategy was agreed, it would be adopted in summer 2011.

A member said that the affordable housing scheme in Bellingdon had not been successful. Phil King said that the decision to go ahead with the Scheme had been made by the Planning Committee.

Discussion item - Including sharing of best practice re: local community emergency plans

Jane Bramwell gave an update on CHAV (Chesham Action Volunteers).

A training day for CHAV had been held on 11 December 2010, run by City University. The day had consisted of mock scenarios, and the phone had rung constantly. 40 fictional Adult Social Care cases were also provided, and these had to be prioritised.

The training day had been very informative.

Seven days after the training it had snowed heavily, and CHAV had been activated from 18 December until 22 December 2010, 10am to 4pm. Between 15 and 20 substantive calls had been received and the 4x4 drivers had been utilised.

Calls had been taken from the Football Club, but by the third day it had been agreed that the calls could be diverted to a mobile phone so that volunteers did not have to remain at the Football Club.

A particularly concerning call had been received late on the final day via Paradigm housing regarding 9-10 older people in the Missenden area who had not been able to leave their houses for 10 days. Action had been taken through BCC, and the Samaritans had visited the older people concerned.

This had showed that the needs addressed by CHAV were also found in other areas of the County. The CHAV model could be replicated in these other areas, particularly in the rural areas, where residents could be more isolated. The key to the scheme was having a comprehensive list of volunteers and of drivers.

Kerry Stevens (Head of Service Provision, Adult Social Care) said that support services such as CHAV were vital from an Adult Social Care perspective.

The Chairman thanked Jane Bramwell for the work carried out by CHAV during the severe weather.

A member asked how members of the Community could assist Social Care given that the names of Social Care clients were confidential.

Kerry Stevens said that if Social Care services were unable to reach clients during severe weather, he would make a decision regarding the severity of the situation, and if necessary, data protection rules could be over-ridden if a client’s welfare was at risk. However a named contact in each Community was key to ensuring that the system worked.

A member of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council said that the WI had been very active in their Parish during the severe weather. Kerry Stevens said that BCC could support the WI in this respect.

Christine Gardner (Localities and Communities Manager – Chiltern) told members that she had sent an e-mail to Town and Parish Councils asking them to compile a local community scheme which could be activated during severe weather. A toolkit had also been sent. Christine Gardner asked those Councils which had not responded to forward her this information, particularly the contact details of one person in each area who would be responsible for the Scheme.

Karen Adamson, Community Development Worker, Adults and Family Wellbeing

Karen Adamson told members that the Adult Social Care (ASC) surgeries had now been running for almost three years.

Recent venues had included Chesham Library and Waitrose, alongside Police and Transport Surgeries.

Adult Social Care surgeries had also been held at GP surgeries during the flu vaccination times.

Adult Social Care surgeries gave advice on Social Care services to anyone over the age of 18. The most common issue was people not realising that they could refer themselves to Social Care.

So far surgeries had been held in Chesham Town as there was a larger footfall there. However Karen Adamson said that she was very happy to come to rural areas if a surgery could be organised around another event.

Karen Adamson asked for suggestions of venues which were popular and accessible to everyone. Members were asked to email any venue suggestions to Helen Wailling, as well as the names of any organisations which Karen could contact. Karen Adamson’s phone number: 01296 383847.

A member asked if the mobile library had been used as a venue. Karen Adamson said that it had been used once, but that there were currently changes being proposed to mobile libraries.

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

The Forum received the Report of Jim Stevens, Head of Transport.

Chris Schwier also told members that on 17 February 2011 the County Council budgets for 2011 would be agreed by Cabinet, and that this could mean that the funding available for 2011/12 could change. The Local Area Forum would be notified of any changes.

2010/11 Schemes

Chris Schwier (Team Leader, Transport Localities, Chiltern and South Bucks) told members that one of the agreed schemes for 2010/11 had been a traffic-calming measure in Germain Street, Chesham. The original estimated cost had been £35 000 (the Local Area Forum had contributed £30 000).

However the estimated cost had now risen to £61 000 due to the fact that the road would need to be repaired following the work on the traffic-calming scheme, as the road was in a bad condition. There had also been a change in the lighting required. Chris Schwier was trying to obtain the extra funding for the scheme from a number of other budgets. There was also the option for the Local Area Forum to use some of its 2011/12 delegated budget for this purpose. If the extra funding was not obtained and the scheme in Germain Street could not go forward, the original £30 000 which the Forum had agreed would be able to be carried over into 2011/12 and re-allocated by the Forum.

A member requested a breakdown of the additional costs of the scheme, and questioned the need for repair of the road. Chris Schwier said that he had tried to avoid the need for the road being repaired, but that this was not possible. The road would not have been repaired if the traffic- calming scheme had not been proposed.

Members agreed that they did not feel happy making a decision about the extra funding until additional information was provided – Action: additional information to come to the next meeting - CS

2011/12 Schemes

Chris Schwier referred members to the list of schemes for which bids had been made for funding in 2011/12 (page 11 of the agenda papers).

Members discussed the bids. The total budget available was £34 441. However the estimated total cost of the bids came to £88 066, so not all the bids would be able to be funded.

The following comments were made about the bids:

Bid for replacement of finger post signs in the Broadway / Market Square, Chesham

A member said that there was not sufficient detail about this bid. Chris Schwier said that he would bring further information to the next meeting and that a decision on this bid would be deferred until the further information was provided.

Bid for salt bins in Chesham

This was a bid for 3 salt bins. The sites for the bins would need to be approved by Transport for Buckinghamshire.

Bid for re-surfacing of carriageway at Hawridge Lane, Chartridge and on The Warren

Members did not agree these schemes as they both had very high estimated costs which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Christine Gardner, Localities and Communities Manager - Chiltern

The Local Area Forum received the Report of Rebecca Carley.

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

The Forum received the Report of Jim Stevens, Head of Transport.

A member referred to the information about local farmers on page 20, and said that their Parish Council had submitted the name of three farmers to Transport for Buckinghamshire but that these farmers had not been contacted during the snow. The member also said that some farmers had been told they could not help to clear snow due to a lack of insurance.

Chris Schwier said that he would take these comments back and would clarify the situation regarding insurance, including the type of insurance required.

The Chairman referred members to the Consultation on the Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3) and said that the Green Lanes Policy should be looked at.

Closing date = 4 February 2011

The Forum noted this report.

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/about_your_council/bucksdebate_feedback.page

The Forum noted these results.

The Forum noted the reports.

A member who was assisting with the Census asked Councillors to encourage their residents to complete the Census as the Census results influenced the funding which Buckinghamshire would receive.

13 April 2011, 7:30pm, Memorial Hall, Two Dells Lane, Ashley Green, HP5 3PN

13 April 2011, 7:30pm, Memorial Hall, Two Dells Lane, Ashley Green, HP5 3PN

AOB

Christine Gardner asked members to pick up a poster about the community car scheme being run in conjunction with Community Impact Bucks, and encouraged people to volunteer.

Royal Wedding Street Parties

The Chairman gave members some information about street parties for the Royal Wedding:

·         Chiltern District Council and the other District Councils were working with Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) to try to set in place a mechanism to support community requests for street parties on the day of the Royal Wedding (29 April 2011).

·         Major routes and key network routes, and certainly A and B roads were not likely to be permitted to close.

·         Cul-de-sacs and closes would be most appropriate.

·         Any requests for road closures in Chiltern should be directed to Chiltern District Council who would liaise with BCC and the Safety Advisory Group.

·         The responsibility and costs for public liability insurance and traffic management would be down to the event organiser.

·         Licensing could apply if alcohol was sold.