Meeting documents

It was agreed that Aylesbury Vale District Council will be asked to propose a Vice-Chairman in time for the next meeting.

A Member asked whether the Vice-Chairman could be a parish councillor.  Steve Orchard responded by saying that the terms of reference agreed at Full Council, stated that the Vice-Chairman would be a District Councillor.  He went on to say that this is a holding situation and once all 19 local forums have been set up, then it would be possible to review the situation again.

Apologies were received from Andrew Pain (Whitchurch Parish Council), Lindsay Rowlands (AVDC), David Rowlands (Bucks County Council) and Ann-Marie Davies (Officer, Bucks County Council).

There were no changes in Membership.

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on Tuesday 16 September 2008.

Karen Adamson from Adult Social Care reported that the recent surgeries had been very successful with 43 referrals in total and 2 referrals to Bucks Carers.  During February and March the mobile library service will be used to take the surgeries to the rural communities.

John Gilbey from Great Horwood Parish Council commented that he had emailed Sgt Jones after the last meeting and had yet to receive a reply.  Wendy Taylor advised John to speak to her at the end of the meeting.

It was noted that the East/West rail presentation by Patrick O’Sullivan had been well received.  Llew Monger from Winslow Town Council pointed out that regional funding was appropriate and that funding should not be dependant on a local roof tax.

The notes of the meeting held on Tuesday 16 September 2008 were confirmed, subject to clarification regarding the regional tariffs for East/West rail.

Claire Childs

Members received a presentation from Claire Childs from the Fire and Rescue Service.  A copy of the main points from the presentation can be located via the following link:

http://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.asp?ID=5457

She covered the following issues during her presentation:

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

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

There is also a leaflet to be used for cars which are parked inappropriately making it difficult for emergency vehicles to pass.  These must not to be placed under the windscreen of cars but must be placed on the car in a small pouch (to avoid flyposting) or put through the doors if it is local parking in a street.  The pouches and leaflets are available from Claire Childs and they should be used in conjunction with BFRS.

Claire Childs is the BFRS contact for Aylesbury Vale and her contact details are 01296 744475 (cchilds@bucksfire.gov.uk).

PCSO Wendy Taylor

Wendy Taylor provided an update for Members.  The work of the NAG centres around the following issues:

• Speeding
• Anti-Social behaviour
• Farm theft – they are producing a brochure and "Crime Stoppers" have offered their support to it.  Philip Gomme is working closely with parishes to get the names of people with big farms.

Wendy went on to explain that she is working on a youth event which is due to take place on Saturday 25 April 2009 from 11am-6pm at the Winslow Centre. The event will promote activities already taking place in the area, volunteering opportunities for young people and careers advice and information.  The idea has come through the Neighbourhood Action Group and all the members were very supportive of the idea.

Wendy asked members for assistance with regards to manpower on the day and to let her know if anyone had any contacts with specific skills (such as carpentry, beauty/hair therapists, sports people – ie. sports coaches).

She explained that local schools will be asked to enter a competition to design a poster for the event and the winning poster would be used to promote the event.

There will be an open meeting on Tuesday 6th January at 7.30pm in Winslow - venue to be confirmed.

Andy Clarke

Andy Clarke, Group Manager for Transport Services, explained that the County Council do not operate any of the bus services.  They have now been de-regulated and are run by commercial businesses, such as Arriva.  He explained that the County Council is working hard to promote the use of public transport through informative leaflets, websites, branding on buses and promotions on buses.  He said that they do co-ordinate with the Districts, for example by offering free bus services to the over 60s and the Dial-a-Ride scheme.

A member requested that the names of voluntary schemes be included in the booklet.  Andy explained that his team works with Bucks Community Action (BCA) to get information onto the website and generic information will be included in the booklet.

He went on to explain that BCA have appointed a new member of their team who is looking specifically at transport in rural areas.  It is widely acknowledged that in the smaller, rural areas transport does not operate on a daily basis and it does not get people where they want to go.

Members were asked to inform either the Chairman or Freda Ackroyd of any problem areas and they would feed it back to the Passenger Transport team.  It was recognised that there are problems with some bus routes and there are concerns for the elderly people who rely on good transport links.

During discussion, the following questions and issues were raised:

A member asked whether the Passenger Transport team monitors the usage of the bus routes and, in particular whether anything could be done to improve the 66 service in terms of connecting with the trains coming in from London.  Andy responded by saying that the Transport team do not carry any statutory powers and they rely on the bus operators regarding their timetables.  He said he would look into the 66 service and see whether it can be more integrated with the train service.

Action: Andy Clarke

A member commented that in Aylesbury Vale there was a leaflet outlining all the bus services but there was not one for Buckingham.  Andy explained that a Buckingham one was produced in 2007 and he is hopeful that there will be a revised version of the Buckingham one next year.

A member asked about the tender process and what the criteria were for selecting the bus service operators.  Andy explained that the successful firm tends to be the cheapest and, therefore, the most financially viable.

A member expressed concern about the fact that the cheapest may not always be the best for the County.  Andy responded by saying that they are always looking to achieve best value and a number of factors are taken into account when selecting the firms.  He went on to say that his team spends a considerable amount of time on the tendering process.

A member commented that if the speed limit for buses were to be reduced to 20/25 mph throughout the villages it would have an enormous environmental  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Nic Brennan, the Extended Services Co-ordinator for Buckingham, explained that he covers the Buckingham, Winslow and Waddesdon areas and he has been in the post since the beginning of September.  He said that he has visited 26 schools since he started and had some concerns about what he found.  He explained that the development of Extended Services in Schools is the key driver in the government’s "Every Child Matters" initiative.  The core offering is as follows:

• Quality childcare and a varied menu of activities
• Parenting Support
• Swift and Easy Access
• Community Access.

The role of the co-ordinator is to oversee the development of Extended Services in their area and to facilitate the partnership working of schools, external agencies and partners in undertaking community consultation and needs analysis before supporting the implementation of projects and activities.

Nic said that there is a lot of work to be done over the next 18 months and he said that childcare is a major issue which is linked to transport.  He said that if adequate transport is not provided, the children will not be able to take part in activities provided.  One of the major challenges will be to ensure that extended services are accessible to all.

Nic explained that there is a budget of £1 million, which has been ring-fenced, to develop activities for all ages.  Sustainability of the activity will be key when the applications are reviewed.  Nic asked members to email him with any ideas they may have for Extending Services.

His email address is nmbrennan@buckscc.gov.uk

The Chairman thanked Nic for his informative presentation.

None received

None were received.

·         Plane and patch sites for 09/10

·         Winter salting routes for this winter

·         Parish Gang report sheets

·         Delegated Budget

Simon Dudley provided members with a transportation update.

• Plane and patch sites for 2009/10

Simon explained that they have been guaranteed funding (£4 million) for the next 2 years to carry out the above work which will include footpath work this time.  He went on to say that as of 1 April 2009, there will be a new tendering and procurement process in place so he stressed the importance of getting the programme up and running before this date.

He asked members to let the Chairman know by the end of January.

• Winter salting routes for Winter 2009

Simon said that the salting routes remain the same this year which fits in with the Fire Authorities strategy.  He provided members with copies of the "Safer Winter Driving" leaflet and explained that each parish should receive a few copies of the leaflet.  The budget has remained the same this year, therefore the routes will not be reviewed again until next year.

• Delegated Budget

Simon reported that Ann-Marie Davies has received 4 bids to date.  There is a budget of £15k and the forum will need to decide how to spend this when it meets in March.  The deadline for submitting a bid application is the end of December.  Applications should be sent to Ann-Marie Davies.

A report by John Bryne is attached for Members to consider.

Members were asked to note the Growth agenda report by John Bryne.  Winslow Town Council wished to note that they object very strongly to the proposed growth strategy.  They expressed concern over the fact that there had been no consultation on the proposed strategy in terms of how it would affect the rural areas.  When the proposal was first muted, it mentioned 185 additional houses would be built in the Winslow area.  This has now risen to 220 houses.  Winslow was then compared to Haddenham which will have the same number of new homes but it has better infrastructure to support such growth including a railway station, access to the motorway, a doctors’ surgery for example.

Steve Orchard listed the important published dates leading up to the final decision.

• 10 March 2009 – deadline for writing to the Cabinet Member with views on the growth agenda
• By 18 March 2009, report on Cabinet decision (this would be in time for the Winslow LAF meeting that day if feedback was required).

The Chairman encouraged members to approach AVDC and attend the planned open meetings and voice their concerns.

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.

Members were asked to note the Winslow Area Newsletter and the deadline for the next issue is 15 January.  The content of the newsletter is available via the website and all parish clerks receive copies as well as all libraries and all public places.  Members can request further copies via Freda Ackroyd.

A member expressed concern over the item entitled "Winslow Green plans outlined" and wished to have their objection noted.  They felt that the plans were being strongly opposed and this should have been reflected in the newsletter.  It was pointed out to the member that the item was included in the newsletter as factual information only and was written from a neutral standpoint.

The Chairman read out the following statement from Aylesbury Vale District Council.

At this point in time the District Council is still planning to move its Winslow Area Office (customer services) operation to Winslow Library. We have obtained permission from our Corporate Team for funding for implementation of the scheme on an "Invest to Save" basis and we are currently liaising with our property people in order to draw up a design and detailed costings. We are hoping to implement the scheme in Spring 2009. Details will be published, once a final project plan has been prepared.

• Delegated budget (Ann-Marie Davies)

Members suggested that the following items should be included in the agenda for the next meeting.

• The rest of the District Spatial Plan
• Delegated budget
• An update on the Youth event by Wendy Taylor
• Funding from the EU.

The proposed date of the next meeting is Wednesday 18th March at 7.00pm.  Venue to be confirmed.

The next meeting is due to take place on 18 March 2009 at 7pm.  The venue will be Winslow Combined School.

The other dates for 2009 are as follows:

15 July – Winslow Centre

30 September – venue to be confirmed.