Meeting documents

Venue: North Marston Village Hall, MK18 3PN

Contact: Liz Wheaton 

Items
Note No. Item

19.00

1.

Apologies for Absence / Changes in Membership

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Karen Parks, Janet Blake, Pam Pearce, Sue Polhill and Brenda Jennings.

 

There were no changes in membership.

2.

Declarations of Interest

To declare any personal or prejudicial interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Action Notes pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To confirm the notes of the meeting held on 15 December 2010.

Minutes:

The action notes from the meeting held on 15 December 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

 

Matters arising

 

  • A Member asked why the Comprehensive Spending Review was not on the agenda.  The Chairman, Inspector Garside and County Councillor David Rowlands provided budget information at the start of their item.

 

  • Mr Gilbey from Great Horwood, explained that he has finally received a response to his questions about drop-kerbs from Simon Dudley.  Simon is progressing the matter further and either he, or Ann-Marie, will respond to Mr Gilbey with an update as soon as possible.

 

Action: Simon Dudley/Ann-Marie Davies

 

  • A Member asked again for an explanation of the rationale in relation to the works undertaken outside the Co-op store in Winslow High Street.

 

Addendum – Ann-Marie Davies spoke to the Development Control team after the meeting and received the following response from one of the officers.

 

The build out outside the Co-op, along with others along the High Street, form part of the off site roadworks that were identified at the time that the housing site in Verney Road was allocated by the Inspector at the Local Plan Inquiry. The scheme has been the subject of a public consultation and the Town Council have been made aware of the full details of the proposals.  Indeed, as queries have been raised by the Town Council, these have been addressed by this office.  As part of these discussions, amendments requested by the Town Council have been incorporated into the scheme such as the VAS which is to be installed in Buckingham Road.

 

The rationale for the off site works is to calm traffic and this has been explained to the Town Council on a number of occasions.  Along the High Street, the build outs have been provided to emphasise the existing lengths of road where parking is allowed and to deter unauthorised parking adjacent to these areas. There are no further plans other than to complete the works currently under construction.

 

An officer has been out to site recently and discussed the issue of the bollards with Dowdy's supervisor - unbeknown to the officer, they have not as yet ordered the bollards through a misunderstanding on our requirements. The officer has now impressed on them the urgency of resolving this matter and the specification has been agreed (which will match the bollards on the corner of Elmfields Gate - manufactured by Woodscape). The officer has since been on that company’s website and also spoken to them to discuss delivery time, which should be within four weeks. The officer will let Ann-Marie Davies know more information as soon as it is available.

 

  • Teresa Lane, Lead officer from AVDC, clarified one of the points in her notes from the last meeting – "By 2015, AVDC will have to move out of their office site in the High Street……" – this refers to the High Street in Aylesbury.

 

19.05

4.

Chairman's Update

Minutes:

The Chairman read out a summary budget statement on the position from Bucks County Council.  The full statement can be found on the website.

 

Highlights of the 2011/12 County Council budget:

·         Freeze on Council Tax

·         £31.6m more for capital investment on roads, school buildings and property

·         Lollipop ladies (and men) to stay

·         More time to make changes to library and youth services

·         Grant funding for the voluntary sector maintained

·         £250k for Big Society projects

·         Funding for Connexions service maintained

·         Council to save £8.45m through internal efficiencies this year

·         £57m already saved over last four years

·         £56.3m to be saved over next three years.

 

The Chairman went on to update Members on two items and referred Members to information sheets which were placed on their chairs – HS2 and Energy from Waste.

 

Teresa Lane informed Members that AVDC have agreed to put £100,000 into a fighting fund against HS2.  This funding was agreed last week by the full Council.

 

A Member expressed concern that public money has been allocated to this cause since no public enquiry has taken place.  It was felt that the money should not be used to pay legal fees.  The Chairman explained that the issue was debated at length and it was agreed that the funds would be used to pay for research and campaigning to prove there is no business case.  The sum of up to £100,000 has been made available, if required and does not have to be spent.

19.15

5.

Question Time

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.

Minutes:

Question 1 – Energy from Waste

 

A Member asked why Energy from Waste is not an agenda item at this meeting.  Mark Grindall explained that the Chairman provided an update under the agenda item and the latest position is set out in the information sheet which has been circulated to Members at the meeting.  He went on to say that if Members would like a special meeting to discuss this issue, then he would be happy to organise one.  He said that it would be beneficial to have the questions in advance of the meeting so that the right people could be asked to attend the meeting.

 

A Member asked specifically about the scientific evidence which has been used to come to the conclusions they have.  Sir Beville Stanier explained that he is part of the Environment portfolio at AVDC and he has visited the site.  He said that DEFRA would not allow a site to be built which would damage the health of people.  He went on to say that there is a site in Vienna which has been there for 20 years and no-one has suffered.

 

A Member asked for clarification about which gases will not be collected by WRG.  The Member went on to say that there was fall-out from the brick chimneys years ago and a local farmer was unable to keep animals on his land for more than 6 months before they died.

 

A Member asked what contribution WRG will be giving to Bucks County Council for the waste that it will be bringing into the County.  Shouldn’t Bucks County Council have their waste dealt with for free with an additional charge being made to waste which is brought in from outside the County.

 

A Member expressed concern about the current state of the roads and said that the increase in the number of lorries using the roads will only make them worse.

 

A Member asked what constraints have been put on environmental monitoring and they asked to see the relevant technical data for the facility in order to make an informed decision.

 

Mark Grindall agreed to look into setting up an additional meeting to discuss this issue further and he agreed to prepare a short note to circulate to Members shortly and to ask for questions in advance.

 

Action: Mark Grindall

 

Question 2 – Area 12 Speed Limit Review

 

A Member asked what the timescale is for the Area 12 Speed Limit Review.

 

Addendum – Ann-Marie Davies has received the following response from Pat Francis:

 

"I am unable to quote a definite timetable as I don't know yet- there are various tasks (see below) which need to be done before works start on the ground. Several of these tasks can take over a week each to complete,(if doing solely these tasks), and we are also carrying out similar activities for other areas at the same time, so juggling the workload (plus correspondence) .  I have almost completed the Report draft- this is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

19.35

6.

Petitions

None received

Minutes:

There were no petitions presented to the LAF.

19.40

7.

AVDC Update pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Teresa Lane, AVDC Lead Area Officer, will update Members on a number of key developments affecting the area.

 

A briefing note is attached for Members to note.

Minutes:

Teresa Lane asked Members to note the briefing paper attached to the agenda.  The key areas included in the briefing:

 

  • Final AVDC budget for 2011/12.
  • The Vale of Aylesbury Plan
  • Elections on 5 May 2011.

 

Budget

 

AVDC has set a zero per cent rise in its council tax for 2011/12.  This means that local taxpayers will not face any increase on the average £2.53 a week they pay for all the services provided by AVDC.  Teresa explained that the Council has identified £1.8 million in savings across its services with key savings being made through re-structuring some services and changes to the structure of the authority’s senior management team (£650,000) and a further £300,000 by making changes to working practices in the refuse and recycling service.

 

Llew Monger, Winslow Town Council, asked for a breakdown of the current savings from the restructuring and changes to senior management (£650,000).  Teresa said that she would look into this and send the information to him after the meeting.

 

Action: Teresa Lane

 

The Vale of Aylesbury Plan

 

In December, AVDC wrote to all parish and town councils requesting their opinion of their communities "feelings" to development and how they would wish to work with AVDC in the future.  Around one third of councils have come back but Teresa asked that any parish or town councils who had not responded, please could they do so.

 

Elections

 

Elections will take place on Thursday 5 May with polling taking place between 7am and 10pm.  Teresa took Members through the key dates which are as follows:

 

  • Publication of Notice of Election – 21 March
  • Close of nominations – 4 April (noon)
  • Publication of Statement of Persons nominated - 6 April (noon)
  • Last day to register to vote or apply for a postal/proxy vote – 14 April.

 

Teresa explained that the Code of Recommended Practice on Publicity around elections comes into force on 21 March which means that any published quotes in press releases will be attributed to officers and not to Members and the Council has to be particularly sensitive about publicity around this time.

 

The election counts will start on Friday 6 May for the District Council and the referendum (this must start at 4pm across the Country).  The parish count will take place on Saturday morning at the Oculus in Aylesbury.

 

Car parking charges in Winslow

 

Following the Council’s decision to introduce charges to its Greyhound Lane car park, 55 objections have been received together with a petition signed by 2,000 people.  The petition went to Council on 23 February and is now being considered by the Cabinet.  There is no timetable for the final decision.

19.50

8.

Thames Valley Neighbourhood Police Update

Inspector Emma Garside will provide an update for Members.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Inspector Emma Garside.  She started by explaining that Thames Valley Police Authority agreed the policing budget for 2011/12 on 18 February.  The net annual budget has been set at £383.146 million.  Following confirmation this month of next year’s level of Government grant funding, Thames Valley Police Authority’s grant allocation has been reduced by 3.7% for 2011/12, and is anticipated to fall by 11.75% in total over the next four years.  In response to the planned reduction in Government funding until 2014/15, savings in the region of £50 million will need to be made over the next four years.  The majority of these savings will be delivered through collaboration projects, the Local Policing Model re-structure and a programme of reviews into what we do, and how we do it.

 

Thames Valley Police Authority also agreed the Policing Strategy for 2011/14 on 18 February.  The Strategy was developed in response to feedback from consultations and Government directives.  Inspector Garside explained that there are six objectives, which are:

 

  • To cut crimes that are of most concern to the Community;
  • To increase the visible presence of the Police;
  • To protect our Communities from the most serious harm;
  • To improve communication with the public in order to build trust and confidence within our Communities;
  • To tackle bureaucracy and develop the professional skills of all staff;
  • To reduce costs and protect the front line.

 

Inspector Garside went on to say that a new website with a crime mapping device was launched at the beginning of February.  There have been a few problems with getting onto the site but it is a useful way to track crime figures on a month-by-month basis.  Inspector Garside said that if any parishes would like specific data about their area, then her officers would be willing to attend parish meetings.

 

There has been an overall reduction (15%) in crime in the area but Inspector Garside mentioned an incident that happened the day before where a JCB had been stolen.  The offenders were caught and were from Northampton.  There has also been a spate of burglaries in Little Horwood and the offenders were found to be from Bedfordshire.  Inspector Garside said that Bucks does suffer from a high number of cross-border crime.

 

Anti-Social Behaviour and reducing speeding still remain priorities for the area.  Inspector Garside urged Members to reinforce messages through their parish and town councils as a number of people caught speeding are from the local area.

 

A Member asked whether there had been any progress with identifying volunteers to man the Winslow office.  Inspector Garside explained that two people have been identified and are currently receiving the necessary training although there is still some discussion surrounding the remit of their role.

 

A Member thanked Inspector Garside for the very informative ringmaster emails and the Member said that they have forwarded the emails to their wider community.

 

The Chairman thanked Inspector Garside for her update.

20.00

9.

Localities Delegated Budget 2010/11 - Update pdf icon PDF 155 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mark Grindall explained that the remaining budget has now been allocated to Winslow Commerce and Trade (to the amount of £2,096.29).  Teresa Lane went on to say that she is meeting John Knight next week to move things forward and AVDC will be putting £1,000 towards the project.

 

Attached is a report with an appendix detailing further information.

 

Mark went on to say that the framework for report writing has changed over the past few months and the final version will be available in the next few days.  As soon as this has been done, Mark will circulate a revised report.

 

Action: Mark Grindall

 

John Gilbey from Great Horwood expressed thanks on behalf of the parish for the funding they have received.

20.05

10.

Localities Delegated Budget 2011/12 pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Minutes:

Mark Grindall explained that the Localities budget for 2011/12 will be maintained at £20,000.  He said that for 2011/12, there will be a change in the process used to allocate the funds – there will be a move to a more commissioning approach.

 

Mark said that there will a workshop over the coming weeks to look at the current priorities and parish and town councils will be asked to rank the priorities according to importance to them before the workshop.  The aim is for all priorities to be realistic, achievable, within budget and finished within the agreed timescale.

 

A Member asked whether there will be a method to ensure an even distribution of priorities across the area.  Mark responded by explaining that it is not a voting issue.  It is about identifying and ranking the priorities and if parish and town councils want to send more than one representative to the workshop, then they can do so.

 

A Member asked what the rationale was behind changing the way the priorities are ranked.  Mark explained that some priorities are not achievable and need to be revisited whilst others have been achieved and can be taken off the list.

 

Susie Yapp, Lead Area Officer at Bucks County Council, went on to say that the workshop and the identification of priorities provides an opportunity to consider the outcomes and to look at what success looks like.

 

Mark Grindall said that he would circulate the current priorities and rankings to Members after the meeting.

 

Action: Mark Grindall

 

Addendum – below is a link to the Local Area Plan which is available via Bucks County Council’s website.

 

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/content/bcc/docs/our_communities/winslow_local_area_plan.pdf

 

 

Addendum – attached is a report by Mark Grindall detailing the arrangements for the allocation of the funding devolved to the LAF in 2011/12 and a summary of the projects awarded funding during 2010/11.

20.15

11.

Transportation Update pdf icon PDF 225 KB

Ann-Marie Davies and Simon Dudley from Transport for Buckinghamshire will provide Members with an update, including the delegated budget.

 

A report from Transport for Buckinghamshire is attached.

Minutes:

Ann-Marie Davies, from Transport for Buckinghamshire, started by explaining that TfB are currently being reviewed which has resulted in the loss of a number of posts.  She said that the number of Local Area Technician has been reduced by 50% and a number of LATs are having to re-apply for their jobs.  She promised to keep Members updated on further developments in this area.  She asked Members to be mindful of this situation in terms of managing expectations.

 

Ann-Marie reported that all schemes for 2010/11 have now been completed.

 

The transportation delegated budget for 2011/12 has been increased to £36,769.50 (it was £17,815 last year).  Ann-Marie circulated the bids to Members for them to consider in light of the increase in the budget.

 

A Member queried the cost of salt bins (£450).  Ann-Marie explained that it is a one-off purchase which then puts the salt bin on the refilling route and it also includes lifetime maintenance of the bin.

 

A Member felt that the footpath in Winslow should be considered a priority on safety grounds alone.  The Member for Winslow Town Council suggested that part of the payment could be funded by the town council and the remaining amount paid for by the delegated budget and the main highways budget.  Ann-Marie said that she would explore this idea with her colleagues but felt that it may be difficult to get any further funding from the main highways budget at this time.

 

Action: Ann-Marie Davies

 

A Member asked for more information about the scoring used to score the bids.  Ann-Marie explained that all the bids have been scored by Simon Dudley who scores each bid based on various criteria.  She went on to name the areas that attract scoring, such as accessibility, safety, etc.

 

Susie Yapp, Lead Area Officer, went on to say that match-funding should be encouraged to enable the money to go further.  Ann-Marie went on to say that, in the past, they have asked for a contribution towards the cost of a project rather than match-funding, as this can be difficult for the smaller parishes.

 

A Member remarked on the state of the roads on the A421 and said that some of the potholes are dangerous and said that as soon as the holes are filled, they start to deteriorate again.  Ann-Marie responded by saying that she is aware of the potholes in the Pitchcott area and she reminded Members to log any potholes through the Service Information website.

 

A Member asked about traffic management and whether Bucks County Council is funding the zebra crossing project.  Ann-Marie said she would look into this further outside the meeting.

 

Action: Ann-Marie Davies

 

Addendum – since the meeting, Kevin Allen has responded directly to Winslow Town Council with the following response – "The replacement of the existing beacons with LED upgrades has certainly taken place at the correct crossing. I must add though that we do intend replacing the 'full shields' currently in use around each beacon with 'half shields'.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

The BBC's Switchover Help Scheme in Buckinghamshire pdf icon PDF 24 KB

Attached is a paper giving information and contact details for the switchover Help Scheme.

Minutes:

Members were asked to note the report.

 

A Member explained that Community Impact Bucks are also working on the switchover project so parishes will shortly receive information from them.

13.

Date of Next and Future Meetings

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 8 June.

 

Future meeting date:

 

Wednesday 7 September

 

Minutes:

The next meeting is due to take place on Wednesday 8 June 2011.  Venue to be confirmed.