Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: MS Teams Meeting

Contact: Lizzie Wright (Community Board Co-ordinator)  Christina Beevers (Democractic Services Support)

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Chairman's Welcome and Introduction

To be presented by the Chairman

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and asked speakers to introduce themselves and their organisation prior to speaking.

 

2.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from C Jackson, D Phillips and C Rouse.

 

3.

Declarations of interest

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

Minutes:

Representatives of Little Missenden Parish Council (LMPC) declared their interest in item 10, LMPC having submitted a funding application.

 

Cllr M Harker declared an interest under item 10 due to her involvement in The Big Community Takeaway project who had submitted a funding application.

 

4.

Minutes of the last meeting pdf icon PDF 544 KB

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 04 November 2020.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2020 were AGREED as an accurate record.

 

5.

Petitions Received pdf icon PDF 820 KB

·       A355 Speed Limit

·       Magpie Lane Speed Limit

·       Coleshill Weight Restriction

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The following petitions had been submitted for consideration:

 

A355 speed limit

Description: To reduce the speed limit to 40mph

Discussion: It was noted there had been fatalities in the area. This petition was also being discussed by the Beaconsfield and Chepping Wycombe Community Board.

 

RESOLVED: The petition would be taken to the Transport working group for joint discussion with Beaconsfield and Chepping Wycombe CB.

 

Magpie Lane, Coleshill, speed limit

Description: To reduce the speed limit to 30mph.

Discussion: Coleshill Parish Council representatives described the road as a narrow, built up lane that should have never had the speed limit increased. It was noted that the petition had received 330 e-signatures in an area with approximately 440 residents on the electoral roll indicating strong local feeling. An initial report, by Transport for Bucks (TfB) officers, in response to the petition did not support the change. CPC stated they had not been contacted to share vital local knowledge and clarification would be sought as to whether a site visit had been carried out.

 

RESOLVED: The petition would be taken forward with transport officers and TfB.

 

Coleshill Weight Restriction

Description: To introduce a 7.5 ton vehicle weight limit through the village.

Discussion: Historically, issues related to vehicle movements from the reservoir but CPC were now looking ahead to the effects of HS2 construction. It was felt the initial report did not address previous difficulties experienced locally such as significant traffic backlogs caused by oversized vehicles becoming stuck when trying to turn around which caused a wide ranging impact. It was confirmed that such a limit would not restrict emergency services or agricultural movements, but formal signage would give a clear indication to drivers they would struggle to manoeuvre larger vehicles.

 

RESOLVED: Amersham transport working group would discuss the petition further with TfB officers and CPC.

 

6.

Neighbourhood Matters pdf icon PDF 569 KB

Questions from members of the public to be submitted in advance of the meeting to Amersham@Buckinghamshire.gov.uk.

Minutes:

Questions from members of the public were requested in advance of the meeting. Copies of the questions and answers would be appended to these minutes.

 

Mr P Carroll continued to have concerns about the state of the Kind George V Road field.

 

ACTION: To explore the option of a meeting with Cllr C Harriss to address Mr P Carrolls concerns.

 

7.

Update on Lifestyle Centre pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To include presentations from construction contractors, BAM and leisure contractors, Everyone Active.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr B O’ Meara, BAM, gave a presentation on the progress of building works a copy of which would be appended to these minutes.

  • It was confirmed the new building was still on budget. There were some unknown factors with the removal of the old swimming pool which would become clearer as the task progressed.
  • A question was raised about the new sites carbon footprint. It had been stated that the old leisure centre site had accounted for approximately 50% of the old Chiltern District Councils carbon footprint. The target was to make the new building carbon neutral by design, the true impact could not be known until the building was operational.

 

Mr S Salwa, Everyone Active, gave a presentation a copy of which would be appended to these minutes.

  • Staff were looking ahead to the opening of the lifestyle centre with an understanding it would need to be tailored to meet any covid restrictions in place at the time. This could include a VIP day for stakeholders and a family fun day.
  • Everyone Active were keen to see cross party working between the services using the site. They proposed to create a Chiltern Lifestyle Management Group with management representations from all services using the site.
  • Front line NHS workers would be offered one months free membership when sites re-opened.
  • The Lockdown Legends campaign would allow residents to nominate local people who had gone above and beyond during the crisis for the chance to win a years free membership.

 

8.

Update on Parking Implementation pdf icon PDF 661 KB

To be presented by Transport for Bucks.

To include a discussion on draft parking procedures for future review.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

John Pateman, Project Manager, Transport for Bucks (TfB) gave an update on the parking changes being implemented across the Amersham, Chesham Bois and Penn area.

 

The following points were highlighted:

  • The legal orders behind the new parking controls were implemented in December 2020.
  • There had been delays in installing the road markings and signs due to cold weather, increased workload and the need for whole work parties to self-isolate. Work would now be carried out the week beginning 22 February.
  • Some areas would also have residents parking included as per the feedback from the consultation process.
  • Copies of signage had been circulated with the minutes. The plan was to have standard signage and procedures in place that could rolled out across all Community Boards streamlining the process for parking implementation.

 

9.

Update from Sub-Groups pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To include updates on funding allocated in the current financial year and discussion around future projects.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman and Vice Chairman gave a presentation updating on the Community Boards actions since the last meeting, a copy of which would be appended to these minutes. Also see the update report circulated with the agenda.

 

10.

Community Board Funding Applications for Approval pdf icon PDF 553 KB

To be presented by the Chairman.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Fitness Garden

Requested: £4,140 (with £1,440 match funding from Leap).

Description: To offer 2 separate 8 week programmes of Online,

Health, Fitness and Mental Wellbeing support two different groups (young people and carers). A copy of the application was circulated with the agenda.

 

RESOLVED

The request £4,140 for funding to The Fitness Garden was AGREED.

 

Little Chalfont CCTV

Requested: £3,700 (application for match funding made to Heart of Bucks.

Description: CCTV to discourage vandalism and anti-social behaviour (ASB) at Little Chalfont Nature Park and improve the visitor experience.

Discussion: Care would be taken to ensure the cameras themselves were not vulnerable to vandalism. Local councillors had spoken to some groups of young people behind the ASB and had found they wanted their own space within the village; there was a young person’s working group looking at local provision.

 

RESOLVED

The request £3,700 for funding to Little Chalfont CCTV was AGREED.

 

The Big Community Takeaway

Requested: £2,500 (match funding from The Clare Foundation).

Description: To provide one restaurant quality hot meal a week to vulnerable residents.

Discussion: This application was a last minute addition, further information was included as a presentation and would be appended to these minutes.

The service had already been operating in Chesham since April 2020.

 

11.

Any other business

Minutes:

Consultations

http://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/

 

Census Support Service

Support was available to help residents to complete their census forms online or to request a paper copy.

Buckinghamshire Libraries 0300 131 6000

Buckinghamshire Adult Learning 01296 382403

 

Covid-19 rapid testing

Testing was now available for volunteers and those working in the community. www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/coronavirus/bookarapidtest/

 

Trading Standards

Ms P Harper, Trading Standards, wanted to make attendees aware of the support they had available. They could support those targeted by scammers including installing free call blocks on phones and free doorstep cameras. Details would be shared on the Boards social media.

12.

Date of Next Meeting

Thursday 17 June 2021 – 7pm- Venue to be confirmed.

Minutes:

17 June 2021, venue to be confirmed.