Meeting documents

To confirm the appointment of the Chairman of the Forum.  

Steve Patrick, District Councillor chaired the meeting for the evening but the confirmation of Chairman for the ensuing year has been deferred to the next meeting.

The Vice-Chairman to be a District Councillor

This item was deferred to the next meeting.

As listed above.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

There were no declarations of interest.

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.

There were no public questions.

A Parish Council representative asked how the Local Area Forums will be publicised. The Senior Local Area Co-ordinator reported that as this was the inaugural meeting of the Local Area Forum, constitutional issues were still being considered. However, future meetings would be advertised through the use of posters, to be put on Town/Parish Council noticeboards as well as notices in local newspapers and community/parish newsletters.

Action: Ian Reed

To note the report that was agreed at County Council on 10 July 2008

This item was discussed in conjunction with item 7.

To consider the terms of reference and membership issues

Steve Orchard, Programme Manager Getting Closer to Communities tabled two reports; the first report provided information on the revised Getting Closer to Communities (GC2C) Strategy, the second report provided information on the proposed terms of reference. During his introduction to the report the following points were noted:-

• This was the first formal meeting of the Greater Aylesbury Local Area Forum since the constitution of the Local Area Forums at Full Council meeting in July 2008.
• An amendment had been made to the resolution at Council to authorise the Deputy Leader to make minor changes to the terms of reference of LAFs/LCPs in the light of the operation of the Forums.
• The County Council, District Councils and Parish Councils have been asked to appoint representatives to attend these meetings. Invitations have also been sent to Bucks Fire and Rescue Service, the Thames Valley Police Authority, the Primary Care Trust and the voluntary sector as partners of the Council.
• Inclusion of appropriate wider groups as Forum Members will need to be the subject of local determination. This is consistent with the principles of GC2C about freedom and flexibility to meet local needs. An inclusive approach will be adopted to build a collective ownership of service delivery.
• There are 3 clear functions of the LAFs/LCPs; setting priorities for the area, empowered decision making with funding, taking action on community issues.
• In the initial phase, the Chairman will be a County Councillor with the Vice-Chairman normally being a District Councillor. The intention is to move to rotating chairs in subsequent phases, for example, where a District Council also devolves functions and budgets to the LAFs/LCPs.

During discussion Parish Councillors asked for clarification on the following points:-

• Membership issues – A representative explained that their Parish was on the edge of the Greater Aylesbury Local Area Forum and that they adjoined two LAFs. There was flexibility for other neighbouring Parish Councils to attend but he was unclear what their member status would be if they were not assigned to that LAF area. He particularly expressed concern about the involvement of Bucks Association of Local Councils (BALC) in membership issues which was set out in the terms of reference.

The representative expressed concern that not all Parish Councils were Members of BALC and therefore they should have no role in this process. A number of other PC representatives agreed with this statement.  It was pointed out that membership issues and the involvement of BALC was a suggestion only and Buckinghamshire County Council has taken no action on this point. He then asked for further clarification on support for LAFs as it was proposed in the terms of reference to ask partners to share the costs of the Forums (e.g officer support, provision of meeting rooms) and he considered that this was not appropriate for Parish Councils who had no mandate to contribute to running costs. In response it was noted that Councils could offer their village halls/meeting rooms free of charge or alternatively  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To confirm the notes of the Workshop Meeting of the Forum held on 14^th July 2008.

The Action Notes of the Workshop Meeting of the Forum held on 14 July 2008 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider Ian Barham’s summary note of issues raised at the last meeting.

Fire and Rescue Service and Local Area Forums

A presentation was given by the Bucks Fire and Rescue Service which can be located via the following link: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000622/M00003303/AI00006293/FirePresentation.pdf

and covered the following issues:-

• Vision
• Organisation
• Understanding community risks
• Pressures and realities
• Proposed objectives
• Potential prevention schemes
• Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP)
• Summary and contacts

Their website can be found at www.bucksfire.gov.uk

During discussion the following points were highlighted:-

• There was a leaflet on home fire safety checks and smoke alarms, which are provided free of charge.
• The poster on inconsiderate parking shows how some fire engines find it difficult to reach their destination because of poor car parking along narrow roads. The Fire Service had no enforcement powers and had to rely on the goodwill of the public. Parish Councils asked for a copy of the poster so that they could add it to their noticeboards.

Action: Parish Councils/Fire Service Partnership Manager

• The consultation on the IRMP was highlighted.

The Forum discussed future items and noted that each LAF would establish a forward plan of items which would assist in the preparation/submission of reports. The Forward Plan would be published on the internet and would be a general forward plan of corporate issues but also include individual issues for each Forum. The following issues were suggested:-

• Planning and licensing and making small environment improvements
• The Waterside development.
• The procedure for petitions - the representative commented that he still had not received a response to their petition on a bypass for Bierton.

Action: Anne Marie Davies

The suggestions above would be added to the Forward Plan.

Action: Katy Macdonald

BritainIn Bloom – Aylesbury Contribution

"Cars For Sale"

The Queens Park Centre

Steve Patrick to introduce.

At the last meeting a workshop session was held to explore how the Forum could operate more effectively to develop joint working. The Chairman introduced three areas which could be considered by the Forum. He suggested these areas as solutions could be found by working together with the resources each partner had to offer. He suggested the following:-

• Queens Park Centre – this is an art centre in Aylesbury which was fundraising for their freehold premises and also had property issues which needed to be resolved.
• Cars for sale – where cars are left on highway verges or roundabouts and are advertised for sale
• Britain in Bloom – the recent award received by Bletchley Town Council was a significant award as it created an environment that boosts the economy and a place where people want to live and work.

During discussion the following points were made:-

• How to prioritise which parts of the voluntary sector are supported.
• Parish Councils had no funding to support it financially but could use their influencing skills.

It was agreed that one item should be focussed on and discussed at a future meeting.

None received

There were no petitions.

The next meeting was provisionally set for Monday 10 November. The Forum is asked to consider this date and to set dates for 2009.

An additional meeting to be organised in October [date now set for 6 October at 7pm at Aylesbury College].

The following meeting will be held on Monday 10 November.