Meeting documents
Venue: North Marston Village Hall, MK18 3PN
Contact: Liz Wheaton
Note | No. | Item |
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19.00 |
Confirmation of Chairman Minutes: Resolved that David Rowlands, Netta Glover and Brenda Jennings be appointed Chairmen on a rotational basis.
David Rowlands in the Chair for this meeting.
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Appointment of Vice-Chairman Minutes: The Chairman explained that John Cartwirght, Leader of Aylesbury Vale District Council, had suggested that District Councillor Susan Renshell be appointed as Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.
Resolved that Susan Renshell be appointed Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.
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Apologies for Absence / Changes in Membership Minutes: Apologies were received from Karen Adamson, Ashley Bond, Ann-Marie Davies, Kirsty Herbert and Mark Grindall.
Councillor Llew Monger confirmed his attendance at the meeting in his capacity as an Aylesbury Vale District Councillor. The nominated representative for Winslow Town Council is Councillor Trish Cawte. |
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Declarations of Interest To declare any personal or prejudicial interests Minutes: District Councillor Llew Monger declared that he is on the Planning Committee at AVDC but did not speak on the EfW issue at the last meeting.
There were no other declarations of interest. |
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To confirm the notes of the meeting held on Wednesday 2 March 2011. Additional documents: Minutes: The action notes of the meeting held on Wednesday 2 March 2011 were agreed as a correct record.
Matters arising
"Should LAF members still wish to hold a special meeting to consider planning matters then this may be arranged. Such a meeting would be held in mid May 2011 at a venue to be advised. It would be preferred that questions for that meeting were submitted in advance through me. Please advise me in due course if you would still like to hold a meeting. Providing there are sufficient interested parties to do so in the light of the above information, I will make the necessary arrangements."
Addendum – attached is a breakdown of the current savings from AVDC.
Action: Mark Grindall
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19.10 |
Chairman's Update Minutes: The Chairman asked Members to note the new Cabinet portfolio responsibilities at Bucks County Council. He explained that two new Cabinet posts have been created under the new Leader – Finance and Resources and Community Engagement. The Chairman read out a statement made by Martin Tett who said that the new major priority for Bucks County Council will be repairing the roads across the County. The budget has been set at £25 million over the next 2 years. Each Member is meeting with officers from Transport for Buckinghamshire to prioritise and agree the roads which need to be repaired in their area. The road improvement programme will be approved by Members over the coming weeks.
A Member of the public asked for confirmation about where the extra funding was coming from as they felt it was coming from the Sustainability budget. The Members stated that this contravened the LTP3 plan. The Chairman agreed to circulate further details on where the extra money for the road repair programme was coming from in due course.
Action: Chairman
The Chairman also agreed to let Members of the LAF know which roads he has identified so that they could feed into the process.
Action: Chairman
A Member of the public commented that you need to be on a bicycle or walk around to see the "real" state of the roads. The Chairman acknowledged this point. |
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19.15 |
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: John Gilbey, Great Horwood Parish Council, asked whether there were any plans to update the LAF terms of reference. Rebecca Carley, Localities Team Leader, responded by saying that there is a review of the operational process of LAFs scheduled to take place later this year and the terms of reference will be considered as part of this review.
A Member expressed concern over the lack of communication between parishes and town councils and the County Council. The member felt that the communications needed to be much clearer and the process needs to be better managed.
A Member commented that it is very encouraging to see a new cabinet position for Community Engagement. |
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Petitions None received Minutes: There were no petitions. |
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19.35 |
Buckinghamshire County Council is the Planning Authority for minerals and waste matters.
WRG have submitted an application to its Development Control Committee for planning consent for an Energy from Waste plant at Calvert. The application has been validated and has been sent to statutory consultees for consultation. A link to the application s set out below.
The statutory period for responses to the consultation, ends on Friday 8th April, but in practice the Council’s Development Control Committee will consider responses from individual residents ( and Parish Councils) beyond this statutory period. It is very unlikely that the application will be considered by the Council’s Development Control Committee before the Autumn of 2011, the earliest possible meeting where this may be discussed is the 13th September 2011, and therefore responses to the consultation can continue to be sent in to the County Council's Planning Development Control Team over the spring and summer months to allow full consideration to be given to them in the report to Committee.
It is therefore recommended that LAFs concentrate their efforts in providing comments on the planning application. Minutes: The Chairman started by explaining that the deadline for the consultation period on the planning application has been extended. The earliest that the County Council’s Development Control Committee will consider the application is 13 September 2011.
Llew Monger, AVDC Councillor, put forward a proposal for the LAF to object to the planning application for an EfW facility at Lower Greatmoor Farm. The proposal is attached.
During discussion, the following main points were made.
Llew Monger put forward his reasons as to why the LAF should object to the planning application. He said that there is a requirement to demonstrate that there is a need and the applicant has not demonstrated a need. There is no evidence to show that Bucks County Council has tried to improve its recycling rate and the proposal does not conform to the County Council’s proximity policy. The footprint for the site is the size of four football pitches and will be visible for miles around. Transportation to and from the site will have a huge environmental impact. Mr Monger also pointed out that the output from the chimney, with a prevailing wind, would blow it straight towards Winslow.
The Chairman asked whether any Members had seen an incinerator as Members from both Bucks County Council and AVDC have visited a number of incinerators around the Country. The Chairman explained that the final decision will rest with the Cabinet Member for the Environment once it has gone to the Development Control Committee.
A Member asked why the LAF cannot put in an objection as the LAF represents a number of parishes.
The Chairman explained that it is not part of the remit of the LAF to collectively put in a representation to the County Council regarding a planning application. County Councillor Netta Glover went on to say that parish and town councils should submit their own responses to the application and encouraged them ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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19.50 |
Teresa Lane, Lead Area Officer for AVDC, will provide Members with an update on local issues.
Report attached. Minutes: Teresa Lane, Lead Officer from AVDC, asked Members to note the briefing paper attached to the agenda. The key areas included:
Elections 2011
Teresa reported the results of the recent District Council elections as follows:
Conservative: 37 Liberal Democrat: 17 Labour: 2 UKIP: 2 Independent: 1
The turnout for the election was 45.49% compared to 39.5% in 2007.
Teresa agreed to circulate further details on the portfolio responsibilities and the contact details of the Members.
Action: Teresa Lane
High Speed 2
A detailed update has been sent to all parishes in the last two weeks. The consultation will finish on 29 July. A submission has been made to the Transport Select Committee from the 51M group. This document will be made available on the AVDC website shortly. A separate submission has also been made by the Bucks authorities to the Transport Select Committee specifically on the environment question asked by the Transport Select Committee. AVDC is now preparing its response to the consultation, which is scheduled for Cabinet and Council meetings in July. A copy will be sent to all parishes.
Car parking in the Vale update
A new pay-and-display car park is scheduled to open in late September on the site of the former Civic Centre. This is a temporary car park as it is a prime site for retail.
After representations from Winslow Town Council and local residents, AVDC has reviewed parking charges in Greyhound Lane car park. Residents living in the High Street (between Elmfields gate and Sheep Street) have been offered a reduced-cost permit to park there of just £52 a year.
Aylesbury Waitrose
Construction on the new Waitrose store is due to start in mid-June and is scheduled to open in September 2012.
The Vale of Aylesbury Plan – update
Teresa urged Members to respond if they haven’t done so already. The AVDC planning team are working with parishes who have come back to them and advised how they want to be involved with the Vale of Aylesbury Plan.
In July, an AVDC Cabinet report will set out in more detail what the Council will be doing next with the Vale of Aylesbury Plan. It will be available on AVDC’s website from the beginning of July 2011.
Teresa also updated Members on the work currently being undertaken to help promote Winslow. John Knight has been working with an officer at AVDC to prepare a leaflet which has been circulated to a number of people for their approval.
She went on to say that AVDC has offered the Farmers Market in Winslow another 6 months, rent free.
A Member commented on the state of the roads and said that some of the local roads are only cleaned once a year. Teresa responded by saying that the Street Cleaning contract is currently being reviewed so she would take this back to the ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |
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20.00 |
Thames Valley Neighbourhood Police Update Inspector Emma Garside will provide Members with an update on police activity in the area. Minutes: The Chairman welcomed Inspector Emma Garside. She started by explaining that there are some changes to report in the policing structure. A number of reviews have taken place and the spotlight is now on neighbourhood policing with a view to reducing the number of areas and bringing them into line with the Local Area Forum areas. This would not result in a reduction in the number of officers. Inspector Garside went on to say that some Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) are very effective whilst others are seen as a duplication of existing meetings. She said that this review provides an opportunity to do things differently. She said that she would update Members again at the next meeting.
Inspector Garside also said that a review into shift patterns is also underway but she was already looking into this and had made some changes which have been in place for sometime now. She went on to say that all officers remain in post and there are plans to increase the number of Special Constables. In terms of the Winslow Office, the two volunteers have been trained and there are now plans to increase the security measures in the office so that the volunteers can then start work. Their responsibilities will include taking messages for officers and providing general information to members of the public.
Inspector Garside then provided Members with an update on criminal activity in the area. In Winslow, Swanbourne and Buckingham there have been a few incidences of someone spraying the word "Joker" in paint causing criminal damage. The police are progressing with the names of people who have been passed onto them. There has been a spate of dwelling burglaries in Oving and Pitchcott – someone has been arrested and is now in prison.
Speed Watch is still a priority in the area and there are enforcement teams rotating around the area.
Thames Valley Police are launching ‘Police Tractor’, a new vehicle to help reduce agricultural crime. A John Deere tractor, which has the same colours and markings as a police car will be taken to major rural events in the Thames Valley in a bid to reduce crime. The tractor will be fitted with various security devices. A DVD has also been produced – free copies are available to parishes. The tractor will be present at a number of County Shows over the coming months.
Inspector Garside said that her team have been working closely with the Community Safety Team in AVDC to advise people on measures they should take to prevent their 4x4 vehicle being stolen.
The local PCSOs have received training in the digital switchover scheme as Inspector Garside said that she wanted her officers to be engaged in this.
The member for North Marston parish council congratulated Inspector Garside’s team and said that their increased visibility in the local area is much appreciated.
The Chairman thanked Inspector Garside for her update.
Bucks & Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue
The Chairman provided Members with a ... view the full minutes text for item 11. |
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20.10 |
Local Priorities Mark Grindall, Localities Manager, will lead this session. Minutes: Rebecca Carley from the Localities team provided Members with an update on the local priorities, in Mark Grindall’s absence. She started by confirming that the priorities refresh workshop has been scheduled to take place on Wednesday 20 July. Mark had initially asked for Members to return their list of priorities by 18 July but Rebecca asked Members to return them by 8 July in order for them to be compiled and circulated before the meeting on 20 July.
Rebecca went on to clarify that the aim of the workshop is to collectively look at the priorities, rank them and then to agree the next steps.
The Chairman thanked Rebecca for her update. |
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20.30 |
Transport for Buckinghamshire Update Ann-Marie Davies and Simon Dudley, from Transport for Buckinghamshire, will provide Members with a general update.
Report attached. Minutes: Simon Dudley, from Transport for Buckinghamshire, started by circulating the updated delegated budget report to Members. He explained that the recent change in Leadership and Members of the Cabinet has seen the expected increase in delegated budget re-allocated which means that the amount available to the LAF is £17,815. Members discussed the proposed schemes and agreed the following schemes.
Total - £17,700
Simon went on to say that the Winter Maintenance Programme is being reviewed and the team have been asked to look for efficiency savings. The routes are being looked at and risk assessments carried out at the moment so Simon asked Members for any comments by early July.
Action: Members
Simon said that the team have had 2 weeks to score over 300 projects across the County. By the end of the Autumn, there will be a 2 year programme in place. The new leader of the Council, Martin Tett, has made road maintenance a priority and has allocated a budget of £25 million over the next 2 years. Each Member has put forward a list of top roads in their areas, which does not include footpaths, but is not restricted to main roads. Simon asked Member to send any questions directly to him.
Action: Members |
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20.40 |
GP-Led Commissioning Susie Yapp, Lead Area Officer from Bucks County Council, will provide Members with an update. Additional documents: Minutes: Susie Yapp, Lead Area Officer from Bucks County Council, started by explaining that much is still under debate in terms of the major changes in the health service. She then took Members through her presentation and made the following main points.
Susie concluded by saying that there is a real opportunity for the LAF to become a champion in health issues for the local area.
It was agreed to revisit this issue again at the next meeting. |
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20.45 |
Open Forum Minutes: A Member reported that Community Impact Bucks had arranged a lunch for the residents of Great Horwood to discuss the forthcoming digital switchover. |
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For further information, please visit the BALC website - www.bucksalc.gov.uk
This is to advise members that the new Local Transport Plan 3 has been adopted and is now in place until March 2016. This strategy document is supported by a rolling annual Implementation Plan. The Strategy, Supporting Strategies and Implementation Plan can be viewed on the following weblink, www.transportforbucks.net/Strategy/LTP3.aspx
Please note that reference copies are available at your local library but if you want a hard copy there will be a charge of £25 for printing and administrative costs. Copies can be requested via email at transportps@buckscc.gov.uk '
Members are asked to note the reports attached.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman asked Members to note the information items. |
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21.00 |
Date of Next Meeting The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 7 September 2011. Venue to be confirmed. Minutes: The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 7 September 2011. Venue to be confirmed. |