Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and paid tribute to Cllr Ron Gaffney, who passed away on 6th November 2023. Cllr Barrett also welcomed Cllr Steven Roy, Cllr Gaffney’s successor, to the Board meeting.

Apologies were received from Anita Cranmer, David Johncock, Nathan Thomas and Andrew Wood.

None declared.

The Chair offered one correction to the minutes, namely that they recorded

Jonathan Waters as attending; Jonathan Waters was absent. This was noted and minutes were agreed.

Public questions, updates of local consultations, petitions, and Buckinghamshire Council Update.

No public questions or petitions. There was a recent Public Consultation which is now closed.

David Skinner, Service Director, gave the Corporate Update. Document is attached for reference; there were no questions.

Jeph Osei-Bonsu (Kwakz)

Jeph (Kwakz) Osei-Bonsu presented on the project so far. The project has been running for about 9 months and functions to help develop young people emotionally, encourage them to make better choices and offers helpful role models, using predominantly music as a tool to achieve this. The Community Church in Wooburn Green has been providing church space twice a week to help with this. Alongside the music, there is safe space to discuss relevant topics, things on the news, etc. Discussion topics have included negative vs positive lifestyles, emotional wellbeing, temptations of gang life, healthy relationships and mental health. Several guest speakers have provided input, including local musicians and entrepreneurs. The local element is key here.

Since 1st June 2023 over 300 attendances have been logged from a group of approximately 56 young people. To counter food poverty, there is provision of a meal for every young person who attends, as well as helping with food preparation and cooking where possible. Since the start of the project over 300 meals have been served, for some it has been their first meal of the day. As the project has grown, chefs have been brought in to help teach how to make healthy meals from basic ingredients. A link has been stablished with Christ Church Community Hub where food packages are collected and taken back to the youth space so that young people can choose, at their discretion, food that they feel their family could use and are able to take that home.

On the music side, over 100 song ideas have been created in the studio, written and performed by the young people, with more than 40 songs near completion; 12 have been mixed, mastered and are ready for release. The aim is to bring this out as an album, a soundtrack of the last 9 months. This will be released on Spotify and other platforms. Those who have attended youth projects, attended university and gone on to have their own careers, such as Ac Money have come to speak to the young people and offer a positive role model to them.

There has been successful partnerships developed with companies such as Focusrite, and Ableton to keep the quality of music to a high standard. 10 laptops have been donated through an American company, as well as a studio in Thame to treat and soundproof to provide the best recording experience. Also, they have partnered with Tesco to provide balanced meals at a discount.

In terms of successes, trust has been built with the young people and conflict reduced. Over 30 young people have engaged consistently in attendance. Young people have taken on volunteer roles to assist staff. Relationships with parents have been developed; some young people not in education, employment or training have returned to school full-time or entered employment full-time.

Challenges have included distance between Wooburn Green and Flackwell Heath; which has been mitigated by people providing lifts. If the project continues, they will look to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Rhiannon Scott & Deb Sanders

Rhiannon Scott gave a presentation on the Mosaic Project from the group (Presentation attached for reference) highlighting the successes of the mosaic projects and workshops across Beaconsfield. There are three mosaics currently displayed, outside the Medical Centre, outside the church at Holstpur and Beaconsfield Library. A number of workshops have been run and attracted a wide cross section of people. The intention of the next project is to create a walking trail across the town starting at the library. While the first three mosaics are quite far apart, the next 4 are planned to link more closely together and facilitate the walking trail. Proposed sites are A kite outside the Train Station; swifts outside the Royal Mail Sorting Office; goldfinches outside Waitrose; angel outside St Michael’s Hall. The Partnership are seeking funding for the project. The Chair thanked Rhiannon for her presentation – there were no questions.

Larisa Townsend & Lenny White

Larisa Townsend, Chair of the Residents Association, presented on behalf of the Residents Association. The group is a registered charity with an executive committee of 7 people, operating with several sub-committees and supported by a large group of volunteers. There are also members in the village who pay a subscription of £5 or £10 per household; this is currently in the process of being updated. The general purpose is to support community life in Flackwell Heath and try to make the village a better place to live. The group usually runs a minimum of 4 events a year and are open to everybody. The big one is Heathfest, a family friendly music festival in July taking place on Carrington Field. Last year, approximately 15,000 people attended. The event seeks to showcase local acts as well as food and drink provided by local businesses. Christmas on the Heath is a free event for all the village, 1st Saturday in December; a free Easter Trail for children, runs in partnership with the two churches, and a ticketed Quiz Night in September with the Community Centre as a fundraiser for them.

There are several sub committees; a Repair Café, set up in September 2023, runs 1st Saturday of the month. To date they have completed 220 repairs and raised £770, donated to Community Pantry. Litter picking sub committee meets on 1st Saturday of every month, about 20 volunteers, who tackle a different section of the village. A Gardening subcommittee, which takes care of planters around the village and keeps Jubilee Garden tidy.

Monthly Food market runs on 3rd Saturday of the month, hosted by one of the local pubs; set up is in the car park, 10-14 stalls, majority local businesses/food producers. Money raised in pitch fees goes back into the community.

Community Grant Scheme offers grants of up to £500 for projects that align with FHRA objectives Community Grant Scheme – Flackwell Heath Residents Association (fhra.co.uk) supported Flackwild Heath; defib for the Miners Club, Speedwatch equipment and a boiler at the Scout Hut.

Information about the Association is given through:

•            Website

•            Instagram

•            Facebook

•            Quarterly email update to Members

•            Monthly article in Village Magazine

•            Presence at monthly market

Chair thanked Larisa for her presentation and suggested a visit to the market to promote the Community Board.

There were no questions.

Caroline Green, Community Board Manager, presented on the funding spend for the 2023/24 year (presentation attached for reference). It was also noted alongside the detail of the presentation that contributory funding this year amounted to £2.42 for every £1.00 awarded by the Community Board.

Cllr Wheelhouse question: Raised a concern about the underspend and asked for a view on why it’s been difficult this year to get out there and allocate funding. Caroline responded that while it is possible to speak to a considerable number of people, it is not possible to force them to apply. Alongside this, it can be difficult to find match funding which can make it tricky for those larger projects. The Chair commented that he is not keen on match funding and worries it puts people off. The other thing is a concern about filling out the funding application form. Considering this, Caroline has visited people and helped them to fill out the form.

Cllr Wheelhouse’s concern raised in the Highways Action Group is that it is taking an age to get the Highways schemes implemented, can the Board exert any pressure to get those moved on? Two projects in Beaconsfield have been approved but are still yet to be implemented. Chair responded that he has contacted the contractors via email, telephone and in person with still no movement; it is very frustrating.

Larisa Townsend question: What is the criteria for what can and can’t be funded? This is due to funding application from the Community Pantry having not gone through. Caroline clarified the amount and responded that the project in question has not actually been turned down; as it was a Cost of Living Project it was referred to Helping Hand in the first instance, but they were unable to assist as they had funded before. The Application is still in process and will be carried over to next financial year.

In relation to the Highways Schemes in particular, David Skinner offered that if he can have a list of the schemes that are ‘stuck,’ he can take those up with the relevant directors.

Highways Update

Catherine Oliver gave the Highways group update. There have been huge delays to all projects, there have been no additions to current projects. Main areas of concern are parking enforcement and pavement parking. In places such as London and Edinburgh, this is now illegal. Enforcement Officers have been issuing Penalty Charge Notices but could do with more of this. Caroline also highlighted if anyone was interested in a school crossing patrol to let her know. Budget constraints going forward were also noted; the new Highways Toolkit was highlighted as the process for Parishes to follow. Cllr Wheelhouse commented that they did manage to get across the line a speed limit in Penn Parish, though the document did come back with a typo requesting 40mph limit rather than 30mph – the whole process was quite clunky. Cllr Mason comment: It is incredibly embarrassing when asking for funding to be matched for projects and then nothing happens; it is concerning when money is asked for up front and then things are not delivered. Cllr Barratt comment: Is it the new contractor? There is something gumming up the system. The Board will take David Skinner up on his kind offer to take these concerns back to Highways.

Proud of Bucks Awards

Priorities

AOB

Proud of Bucks Awards – update from Caroline:  Nominations open from 17th June and close on 19th July; nominees judged between 26th August and 13th September with the aim to hold the Award Ceremony on 29th November – Caroline and Cllr Oliver in discussions about venue. Chair commented on the importance of recognising people and giving awards where due and encouraged the Board to nominate people.

19^th June; 11^th September; Proud of Bucks Awards 29^th November; 12^th February; 24^th April (TBC).

·       Date of Next Meeting: 19th June 2024

Future Meetings:

·       11th September 2024

·       Proud of Bucks Awards 29th November 2024

·       12th February 2025

·       24th April 2025