Meeting documents

Tim Butcher was confirmed as Chairman for the ensuing year.

Linda Smith was confirmed as Vice Chairman for the ensuing year.

None.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

Item 10: Other Delegated Budgets

Linda Smith declared a personal interest because she is a member of Chalfont St Peter Parish Council and a member of the Heritage Group.

To discuss and agree the Terms of Reference for the Local Area Forum

The Forum is a meeting of local Parish, County and District Councillors working for the good of the community to take issues forward.  Its main priority is to distribute money delegated by the County Council for the benefit of the community.

Members of the Forum agreed to invite voluntary organisations to attend the meetings and become members of the Forum but they would not have voting rights.

Members discussed the number of voting representatives which each Parish Council should have.  It was noted that if a representative could not attend a meeting, a deputy could be appointed.  Several suggestions were made with regard to voting, such as more than one representative for the larger Parish Council, or representation based on population per Parish. Members agreed that it should be one voting representative per Parish Council.  However, it was noted that any member of the Parish Councils can attend the meetings, but only the named representative can vote.

Meetings are open to the press and members of the public and there will be a 20 minute session at the beginning of the meetings to take questions from the public.  Petitions can also be presented, which will be passed to the relevant Parish, District or County Council to be dealt with.  A response to any petitions should be provided by the next meeting of the Forum.

Chris Schwier, Transportation Local Co-ordinator and Tony Broderick, Local Area Technician will be on hand from 6.30pm prior to each meeting to discuss any issues in relation to road maintenance.

All members of the Forum can ask for items to be placed on the agenda and the agenda and papers will be issued in advance of each meeting.  However, there may be occasions when papers are tabled at the meeting.  Posters advertising the meetings will be sent to Parish Clerks with a request they be put into the Parish magazines.  The dates will also be put into the Local Area Newsletter.

The Chairman asked whether the meetings would be advertised in the press.  It was noted that this is costly and it not particularly successful.  However, press releases could be sent out.

Members NOTED:

i           The purpose of the Local Area Forums

ii          The proposed constitution for the Local Area Forum.

Members AGREED:

• that in future, nominated representatives from Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles, Little Chalfont and Seer Green Parish Councils should meet as a fully constituted Local Area Forum (LAF)

• to invite voluntary organisations to attend the meetings and become members of the forum but they would not have voting rights.

Briefing Paper from Ed Gurney, Transport Policy Officer, Transport for Buckinghamshire

Sean Rooney presented the briefing paper on the Local Transport Plan3 (LTP3).

LTP2 finishes in 2011 and all Parish Councils will be sent a pack on LTP3 requesting comments on transport matters.  A Transport Symposium will also be held and Carole Burslem agreed to send out details on the date, time and venue.  The Symposium supports officers in identifying and prioritising issues in each area and Local Area Forums are an important part of the consultation process.

Action: Carole Burslem

Although the LTP3 objectives reflect government regulations, members expressed concern that improving the state of the roads was not set down as one of the objectives.  Chris Schwier stated that whilst it is not written down as an objective, road maintenance is one of the primary functions of the Authority, but he urged members to feed back their issues through the consultation document.  Concern was also expressed that whilst this is a Transport Plan, transport does not appear in the objectives.  It was suggested that Enhance and Improve Local Transport should be added.

Sean Rooney said this was a strategic document and members’ concerns would be fed into each of these objectives.  He too urged members to attend the Transport Symposium.  The Plan was about building on what is already in place.  The outcomes of the Aylesbury Symposium indicated emphasis on the rural transport and growth agenda.  Therefore, policies will have to be developed that can deliver on these issues.  Maintenance will feed into each of these issues.

The Chairman stated that the message from the Forum is that there should be more emphasis on maintenance than objectives.

Presented by Chris Schwier, Transport Localities Team Leader.

Chris Schwier presented the report on behalf of the Head of Transport for Buckinghamshire.

Chris informed the Forum that the budget for the area for next year is £29,471.86.  Members were asked to submit bids by 30 November 2009 so that they can be scored and brought to the next meeting for the LAF to decide which bids should go forward.  The allocation method was contained in the report.

Members were asked to note that under the Criteria for the Bids, paragraph d) should read ‘Individual scheme bids must not exceed for LAF/LCP budget allocation unless part funding arrangements are agreed.’

Martin Tett asked about the weighted formula mentioned in the report and it was agreed to answer his question outside of the meeting.  He also asked why Aylesbury Vale seemed to be receiving more money than other District Councils.  Members were informed that LAFs received money according to their need and, in fact, some LAF areas in Aylesbury Vale received less money that this area.  Weighting was based on customer satisfaction, net worth and length of roads.  The County Council wanted to put money where it was most wanted.  In the past the north of the county has not benefited because of the larger Districts in the south. It was noted that additional one off funding was provided for 2010/11 so that District areas in the south of the county will receive £125,000 funding.  However, the figures have already been calculated for 2011/12 and are likely to be less than for the previous year.

With regard to bids for funding, Sean Rooney stated that the bids submitted are scored against a matrix and the views of the community need to be evidenced.  Chris Schwier and officers from Transport for Buckinghamshire will do this as well as provide costings for each bid.  They will then come back to the Forum for members to recommend which bids should go forward, subject to approval by the Head of Service. 

Parish Councils were asked to send in their bids as soon as possible.

The Chairman expressed concern regarding the weighting procedure and asked how much officers’ time was taken up in assessing the bids rather than doing the work.  There is a requirement to submit evidence of consultation to ensure that residents were aware of and were in agreement with the work being planned.

The Forum NOTED:

§         The process for submitting projects for possible funding in 2010/11 through the highways/transport delegated budget.

§         The delegated budget for highways/transport projects in the Chalfonts Local Area Forum for 2010/11 will be£29,471.86.

§         This process adopts the principles of participatory budgeting which is being developed across the Authority.

The Forum AGREED to submit bids for schemes to Chris Schwier, Transport Localities Team Leader by the 30 November 2009.

All bids received will be evaluated and costed by Transport for Buckinghamshire and a full report presented to the Chalfonts LAF in January/February 2010 to enable the LAF to decide which schemesshould be implemented in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Presented by Chris Schwier, Transport Localities Team Leader

Chris Schwier reported that the Local County Council members met with the Local Area Technicians to agree work to be done under the Patching Programme, which had now been completed. Members of the Forum were asked to contact their local County Councillor if there were any further areas that needed repairs.  Because of new ways of working, through Transport for Buckinghamshire, more work was delivered for the same amount of money than was delivered under the previous contract arrangements.

The Forum noted that whilst the We’re Working on It Project has now been completed, normal maintenance work will continue.

The Community gangs will be coming into the area every four weeks now, instead of six weeks and the parish clerks should be receiving electronic reports on the work done and the programme will continue until 2010/11.  However, concern was that this was not being sent through to the Parish Clerks and Chris Schwier agreed to follow this up.

Action:  Chris Schwier

Discussion took place with            regard to signing and lining.  Members noted that this work was paid for from a separate budget, but Chris Schwier was happy to take back any issues to officers.  It was reiterated that Chris and the Local Area Technician will be available to speak to members half an hour before the LAF meetings are due to begin. Although there is one LAT for the area, Chris stated that Little Chalfont PC had a different LAT (Colin Jenkins) because, historically, the Parish comes under the umbrella of Amersham.  Chris agreed to act as co-ordinator for the LATs.

The forum NOTED:

§         The principles of the ‘We’re Working On It’ project.

§         The 2009/10 programme timescales.

§         Members of the Chalfont LAF are invited to identify suitable works to be considered for the Local Community gangs as part of the project during 2009/10 and liaise with the County Council Local Member and Local Area Technician on the specific details.

§         Members of the Chalfont LAF will be encouraged to identify priorities for the plane and patch gangs later this financial year to assist the County Council Local Member and Local Area Technician determine the works programme for 2010/11.

The report will be tabled at the meeting by Carole Burslem, Locality Services Area Coordinator.

Members were informed that £5,000 had been devolved to each Local Area Forum to be used for positive activities for young people, and a report was tabled, giving details of the recommendations for acceptance, which included:

The bid for Leisure Card Membership to Chalfont Leisure Centre for approximately 15 young people from Little Chalfont had not been recommended for funding, but members agreed that there was no rationale for refusal and they wished to offer funding for this activity too, provided it was for those people in Little Chalfont for whom it was intended.  Carole Burslem agreed to take this forward for recommendation.

All the proposals were agreed subject to feedback being received with regard the outcome of the schemes and the take up on each of the activities.

Members noted that the project for Winslow Youth Centre was not part of this proposal and should be deleted from the report.

Action:  Carole Burslem

Report from Carole Burslem, Local Area Co-ordinator

Carole Burslem presented the report.  Members were informed that the Local Priorities devolved budget amounted to £8,000 and were asked to support the recommended proposals. 

Concern was expressed that in some cases the Parish Councils were not aware that these bids had been put forward.  It was agreed that in future Parish Councils would be informed of any proposals.

It was noted that the bid from the Chalfont St Giles Revitalisation Group for benches, was part of a larger scheme covering the River Misbourne, which would amount to approximately £80,000.  Detailed plans will be produced which will be presented to the Parish Council.

Members agreed that the budget should be shared across all the proposals on a pro rata basis, with the exception of the following, who were awarded the full amount of their bids:

Little Chalfont Westwood Park Floodlights         £1000

Chalfont St Giles Bowls Club                                £150

A copy of the sheet containing the pro rata share of the Budget is attached to the minutes (appendix 1).

The Local Area Forum agreed funding of £8,000 from its Local Priorities Budget 2009/10 for the proposals described in the report, subject to the conditions outlined.

With regard to planning issues and items for future meetings, members were informed that information from needs assessments, Service Excellence Reports and Town Health checks would be used to feed into forward planning for issues to come to the Local Area Forums.  It was proposed that a workshop will be held in January in order that issues can be prioritised. 

It was agreed that Carole Burslem would contact all Parish Councils setting out what information was required.

Action:  Carole Burslem

To record any items which Members may wish to bring to the attention of the Local Area Forum

This will be populated from the outcomes from the Planning workshop.

There will be a 20 minute period for public questions, and each speaker will have a maximum of three minutes to speak.

Members of the public are encouraged to submit their questions in advance of the meeting to facilities 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 questions.

To receive petitions addressed to County, District or Parish Councils

None.

To be Advised.

The next meeting of the Chalfonts Local Area Forum will be held on Wednesday 10 February 2010 at a venue to be agreed. (Addendum: subsequent to the meeting, the Main Hall, Chalfonts Community College was confirmed as the venue for the next meeting)