Meeting documents

See above for apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 11 July 2012

The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

Matters arising

Page 3, Item 9 – Local Priorities Budget – Chris Brown asked if funding could be carried over into the next financial year. Christine Gardner said that a decision had been made not to allow this, due to the financial regulations. The Locality Services Manager had advised that the decision could be challenged.

Members said that they did not agree with the current financial convention of not carrying forward delegated budgets from one year to the next. Zoe Dixon said that she would take this back – Action: ZD.

Page 5, Item 11, 2^nd paragraph – members discussed the phrase ‘Buckinghamshire has a very healthy population.’ A member said that although Buckinghamshire had a healthy population overall, it was not very healthy. Another member noted that Buckinghamshire’s population was healthier than the national average, and that Buckinghamshire had been allocated the lowest funding per head for public health.

There were no questions.

Petition re: Northchurch Road, Ashley Green for BCC to make sustainable repairs as soon as possible.

Response attached

Petition re: Northchurch Lane, Ashley Green

Members noted the response to the Petition and agreed the recommendations:

·         Local Area Technician to drive the length of Northchurch Lane during September 2012 to ensure the repair work undertaken in August 2012 is sound.

·         Continue with Scheduled Inspection on or before 28 December 2012 and 6 monthly thereafter in accordance with Buckinghamshire County Council Highway Safety Inspection Policy.

A member noted that Northchurch Lane was on the border with Hertfordshire.

Petition to review Traffic Regulation Orders in Chesham and remove Bank Holiday anomalies

This petition was presented at the meeting. Patricia Birchley said that she had made the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation aware of this.

A member noted that the problem was spread across Chesham.

Ann-Marie Davies, Transport Localities Team Leader

The Local Area Forum received the Report of Ann-Marie Davies, Transport Localities Team Leader.

Ann-Marie Davies told members the following:

·         Works in Red Lion Street, Waterside and The Broadway were now complete, after initial delays.

·         An agreement was now in place with Chartridge Parish Council for them to use their own contractor for clearing grips.

·         A meeting would be held on 23 October 2012 to keep residents of Germain Street informed about developments. Proposals for improving the works had been requested from Jacobs.  An update would be provided at the next meeting. Incidents of pedestrians being brushed by cars had been reported. These should be reported to the Police so that they could be logged.

·         Following the last meeting, and the decision to fund two grit bins, bins had been delivered to Cholesbury and to Chartridge.

·         Four Local priorities schemes were outstanding, and Jonathan Dickens, Local Area Technician, was working hard on these.

Chris Brown (Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council) said that schemes worked well when a project manager was appointed, and when the Local Area Technician made a site visit with a representative from the Parish Council.

The Chairman said that work on the culvert in Chesham Market Square would be taken forward as a priority for Buckinghamshire, and half of the funding had been made available from national funding. Work could start as soon as April 2013. There was currently a one in thirty year chance of flooding in Chesham.

The Chairman also referred to the scheme by Virgin Media to provide superfast fibre-optic broadband. There had been a delay caused by Transport for Buckinghamshire, but Ann-Marie Davies said that this was no longer the case. Kevin Allen (Team Leader for Street Lighting) had spoken to Chiltern District Council that day and a meeting would be held on the following Monday to discuss the finer details. The scheme was supported by the Leader of the County Council and by the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation. Zoe Dixon said that she would take this forward – Action: ZD

Elizabeth Stacey said that she was concerned that this scheme would cost more because Chesham was in a valley. The Chairman said that the Scheme was based on small antennae being fitted to lamp posts.

Fred Wilson (Chiltern District Council) said that the Local Enterprise Partnership was getting very positive support from the Government, and had a slogan of ‘We are open for business.’ It was important that a good broadband system was installed to support this.

The Chairman said that the Leader of the Council had been in touch with Chris Rawson, Economic Development Officer.

A member noted that rural broadband was needed too.

A member referred to an email from Ann-Marie Davies, which said that Parish and Town Councils needed to have obtained agreement from their electorate before submitting bids for the Local Priorities budget. Ann-Marie Davies said that the email had been sent because there had been instances in which a scheme was being implemented but residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

LAF Overview and Scrutiny Review recommendations:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/content/bcc/docs/overview_scrutiny/LAF-Report.pdf

Options on how to use the delegated budget to support the priorities and fund projects in 2013/14 .

Christine Gardner (Localities and Communities Manager) said that this item had come from discussions at previous meetings regarding the local priorities and the delegated funding, and how these were approached.

Chris Brown (Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council) had asked for the Overview and Scrutiny Review recommendations to be used as a back-drop, especially the second recommendation ("That Cabinet agrees a new LAF Terms of Reference refocusing LAFs around their role of ‘influencing, enabling and taking action to address local issues"). The Review Report would be going to Cabinet at Buckinghamshire County Council on 22 October 2012.

Fred Wilson, Chris Brown, the Chairman and Christine Gardner had held a pre-meeting to discuss this further.

Christine Gardner asked for permission to table two documents which had been prepared following the pre-meeting. Members agreed this.

Christine Gardner recommended a change to the agenda format (attached) to make it more inclusive, and an opportunity for Parish Councils to voice their priorities.

A member said that Local Area Forum members had previously been captive to presentations, which were sometimes not very interesting or relevant. The focus of meetings should be the priorities which the Local Area Forum had identified.

Patricia Birchley (Buckinghamshire County Council) said that the Missendens Community Partnership had very strict agenda timings, and that the new template might lengthen meetings due to the new item for Town / Parish updates.

The Chairman suggested that if someone wanted to come and speak to the Local Area Forum (LAF), they would need to show how the LAF could make a difference. Members said that they did not want to be ‘talked at.’

A member said that the new agenda format came nearer to what was required.

Christine Gardner also circulated a matrix showing projects which had been funded by the LAF, separated into priorities. Most projects which had been funded had come about through an ‘ad hoc’ approach (with the exception of the Cholesbury Building Community Capacity project).

For the future, members might want to discuss how funding was allocated, and whether they wanted to be more proactive in meeting objectives and targets.

A member said that a strategic way of working would be excellent, but expressed concern that the LAF meetings were not very well-attended and that those in attendance were not knowledgeable in all areas.

A member said that the LAF would need to decide whether they wanted to fund one or two large projects or many smaller projects. Zoe Dixon said that the advantage of bigger projects was that they gave the opportunity for match funding. Zoe Dixon said that she would provide a list of match funding available – Action: ZD

The Chairman noted that the LAF had to find a balance between the needs of Chesham town and the needs of the villages.

Members agreed that they would like to take a more proactive approach, but cautioned that this should be flexible. It was noted that there might be an issue in an area which was a small issue but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Members received the Report of the Head of Localities and Safer Communities.

Christine Gardner (Localities and Communities Manager) told members that £5380 of funding was still available for allocation for 2012-13. This funding could not be carried over to the next financial year, as members had requested, for the resurfacing of the bridleway that led alongside Old Sax Lane. The scheme in Old Sax Lane would be made a priority for the next financial year.

Christine Gardner recommended that £5000 be given to Chiltern District Council towards a marked crossing point across Chesham Town Centre car park. The remaining £380 of funding could be given to Chesham Town Council towards a grit bin.

Members agreed the recommendations in the report, but said that rather than a crossing point across the car park in Chesham, there should be a dropped crossing followed by a separate walkway. A member said that although the crossing was for Chesham Town, all members could benefit from using it. A member said that the street furniture around Chesham car park needed to be tidied.

Members also said that the location of the grit bin should be chosen, and agreed that it should go in Pheasant Rise, Chesham.

A member said that they were very surprised that bids had been made for funding for grit bins, as grit bins were part of the basic furniture of the roads. The member said that these should be funded centrally, and that Local Area Forum funding should be used for projects more important to local residents. The Chairman said that he agreed with this. Ann-Marie Davies said that it had been identified that some bids which were submitted to Local Area Forums were not appropriate

Patricia Birchley (Buckinghamshire County Council) asked if the Lee Parish Council could obtain funding for a building community capacity project. Chris Brown said that they could ask for funding from the main Building Community Capacity project (contacts were Maggi McKerron or David Gardner).

Members of the Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area Forum agreed that funding from the Local Priorities budget be allocated to the projects listed below.

Information on the need for more foster carers and adoptive parents to come forward to meet the needs of children in care in Buckinghamshire – and what parishes can do to help.

Members noted the information. Leaflets on fostering and adoption would be circulated electronically – Action: HW

23 January 2013, 7:30pm, venue tbc

10 April 2013, 7:30pm

10 July 2013, 7:30pm

9 October 2013, 7:30pm