Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all those present to the board meeting and introduced Caroline Green, the newly appointed Co-ordinator. He highlighted that there would be an increased focus on Health & Wellbeing for the Board in the coming year.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs: Cranmer, Ng and Wood.

Also: A Khan, P Watts, S Garwood and D Skinner.

There were none

21 October 2022

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the last meeting of the board held on 21 October 2021 be confirmed as a true record subject to the inclusion of Cllr Broom, John Ratcliffe and Alexander Barron on the list of those present.

Zebra crossing on Amersham Road, Beaconsfield – Chairman of Highways and Transport Action Group

Cllr Johncock summarised what the petition was about. The petition stated that ‘the existing pedestrian refuge was not secure enough because traffic was heavy on Amersham road and pedestrians/cyclists could get stuck between two lines of traffic. The crossing has not been improved to accommodate the increased foot traffic resulting from the upgrading of the footpath towards Seer Green. The crossing was particularly hazardous for children or pets.

The e-petition had been open from 01/10/2021 until 29/10/2021 and had received 71 signatures.

The matter had already been raised as an issue of concern to Transport for Bucks via the Transport for Action Group and would be discussed further at a forthcoming meeting on 17 February and then reported upon at the next meeting of the Board.

Louise Hurst

A presentation was conducted by Louise Hurst on the matter of public health in the local area. A summary about the health of Beaconsfield was provided and the subsequent health recommendations that had been made. The recommendations made were not intended to be prescriptive, but concentrated on some areas of focus that would be useful for the community to focus on.

It was hoped that some of the areas of focus and recommended initiatives could be funded by the Board.

A number of Members expressed grave concern regarding the number of children living in food poverty in the area, particularly as there were resources in place to assist them. Questions were posed as to what could be done to help to eradicate food poverty. One of the ideas put forward was an initiative to work with supermarkets to distribute food to the needy in the locality.

A tribute was paid to Cllr Bob Kin who had sadly recently passed away, and who had done an enormous amount to alleviate food poverty in Chepping Wye and High Wycombe.

The Board also expressed the view that greater communication between GP surgeries and the community improving the 2- way dialogue would help to increase understanding between the two, and assist with overcoming obstacles.

Funding report – Co-ordinator

Action plan – Chairman/Co-ordinator

Action Groups – Action Group Chairmen
Economic Recovery
Environment
Highways

The Co-ordinator presented the funding report. Members were informed that at the start of the financial year there had been a carryover from last year. These had now been absorbed. The budget for the current year was just under £217,000

Members were informed that the Board had allocated 40% of the budget towards highways and transport schemes making our roads safer for the community.

23% of our budget had gone towards environmental projects, 23% towards environmental projects and 18% towards health and well- being. Any remaining budget would look towards financing any relevant pending applications.

Any applications received between now until the end of March would be included within next year`s budget.

The Co-ordinator also gave mention to the proud of Bucks Awards, stating that the panel had chosen the worthy winners and runners up who would be contacted shortly.  

Consultations

Public questions

Cllr Johncock stated that there were ongoing projects that had been costed, approved and gone forward for design and implementation. Bids would be considered at the meeting on 17 February. At the last meeting the issue of pavement and verge parking arose and what could be done to address the problems that this caused. A plea was made for 3-4 volunteers to assist with the designing of publicity material for distribution in the local area.

In addition, attention was drawn to two consultations currently ongoing one of which was on the Local Plan. It was hoped that the consultations could get greater coverage and reach a greater breadth of the population encompassing different age groups.

Cllr Gemmell also informed Members that the funding application for the B2 project had now been submitted, with a total amount of £6,500 requested. 

No further topics were flagged for consideration that were within the remit of the Board.

7.00 pm Thursday 14^th April 2022

The next meeting was scheduled for 14 April at 7pm