Meeting documents

To confirm the appointment of the Chairman of the Forum.  

RESOLVED

That CCllr Mary Baldwin be elected Chairman of the Local Area Forum for the ensuing year

Mrs Baldwin in the Chair

The Vice-Chairman to be a District Councillor

RESOLVED:

That DCllr Steve Patrick be appointed Vice Chairman for the ensuing year.

As listed above.

The Chairman asked those who attended the meeting to introduce themselves.  Officers attending were:

·         Ian Reed, Area Co-ordinator, who will be taking over from Madeleine Howe.  Ian’s contact details are:

Tel:  01494 475378

Email:  ireed@buckscc.gov.uk

·         Anne James, Strategic Transport Manager and Joint Lead Officer for the LAF;

·         Gina Bruce, the representative from Adult Social Care.  Gina stated that she would be attending the LAF meetings on a regular basis and was happy to attend Parish Council meetings if invited. 

Members noted that the next local Adult Social Care Surgery will be held on 20 October at the Aylesbury Vale District Council Offices, between 10.00am and 1.00pm, where there will also be representatives from the Police, PCSO and Local Area Technicians, who will give guidance and advice to the public.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 8 September 2008.

The Action Notes of the meeting of the Forum held on 8 September 2008 were agreed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

Item 10 Matters Raised by Aylesbury Town Council

Third bullet point, first line:  delete ‘Bletchley’ and add ‘Aylesbury’

With regard to Item 9 of the Minutes – Key Issues for the Forum – the representative for Bierton was informed that the Petition regarding the Bypass had gone to the Cabinet Member for Transportation.  Anne James agreed to check on the current status of the Petition.

Action:  Anne James

In future 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.

The Chairman asked that Parish Councils notify residents and community groups that they will be able to bring questions to the forum, either by post or in person.

None received

There were no petitions.

Members noted that Petitions would initially be presented to the Forum and would then be presented to the relevant Cabinet Member at the following County Council meeting.  A response would be provided at the Forum meeting.  It was positive to be able to discuss petitions at the LAF meetings and this would give added weight to the issues raised.

Ian Reed referred members to the papers which had been distributed at the last meeting, which laid out the County Council decision and the reasoning behind it, and included the Terms of Reference.

The Forum was invited to NOTE the Report and discuss elements of the Terms of Reference that are open for LAF decision.

The Forum discussed the allocation of representatives in the report and the following was agreed:

·         That the Parish representation be as follows, based on population:

The Chairman suggested three projects which the Forum could work on and asked for one volunteer from the County, District, Town and Parish Councils to sit on task and finish working groups to look at:

·         Britain in Bloom in Aylesbury

·         Queens Park Centre

·         Parking (on and off street)

The timetable for work on each of the issues would be two LAF meetings.

Nigel Brooke also referred to the need to work on Aylesbury Pathfinder and to look at refining the work of the NAG in the Greater Aylesbury area.  The County, District, Town and Parish Councils to work with representatives from the Police.  Mrs Baldwin volunteered as the County Council Member.  The group would be chaired by a District Council representative. Nigel stated that the Terms of Reference will be presented at the next meeting of the LAF.

Action: Nigel Brooke

An email would be sent to all LAF members, asking for volunteers for each of the working groups.  The deadline for response will be two weeks from the date of this meeting.

Action:  Ian Reed

It was noted that the Forum is not a decision-making body and can only make recommendations on its findings.  The strength of the Forum is that it can make comments and recommendations to the County Council on the local issues in its area.

With regard to the Local Delivery Framework, Nigel Brooke agreed to invite John Byrne from AVDC to discuss the process on consultation with regard to the LDF in order for members to look at any aspects they wished to discuss in more detail.

Action: Nigel Brooke/Katy Macdonald re agenda item

Members were informed that the decision on the allocation of the delegated budget would be announced shortly.

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

The next meeting of the Forum will be held on Monday 10 November 2008 at Aylesbury Town Council.  (Addendum: subsequent to this meeting, the venue was changed to The Aston Hall, Civic Centre)

Dates of future meetings:

12 January 2009 (Addendum: subsequent to this meeting, this meeting date was cancelled.)