Agenda and minutes

Welcome from Cllr David Anthony, Chairman of the Beeches Community Board

The Chairman welcomed the members and guests to the Beeches Community Board meeting

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 30 June 2021 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 30 June 2021 were agreed as an accurate record

None

To receive an update from the Chief Inspector, Rachel Patterson

Deputy Commander Rachael Patterson informed the Members on changes to their

Senior Management Team. DC Patterson had taken over as Deputy Commander for

Chiltern and South Bucks and Emma Burrows had taken over as Superintendent.

Inspector James Ellis updated the Members on Neighbourhood Policing Teams, work

the Thames Valley Police (TVP) were doing on behalf of communities, and identified

shared priorities between TVP and Beeches Community Board. The presentation

slides referred to in the meeting would be appended to these minutes. DC Patterson

welcomed feedback from Members and ideas of what they would like to see in

future TVP updates.

In the discussion that followed the following points were raised:

·         The Police had improved at identifying cases of drug trafficking, which had contributed to the recorded rise year on year. TVP had been targeting drug suppliers to help reduce the wider problem and had a dedicated Stronghold Team that focuses on reviewing the information intelligence of drug activity, hotspot areas, likely users, and dealers. Examples of successful prosecutions could be seen on the TVP social media feeds.

·         TVP prioritise their work according to the Threat, Harm Opportunity and Risk (THOR) Model and they utilised a daily management process to ensure their time was well scrutinised. Comparatively to other Local Policing Areas (LPAs), Chiltern and South Bucks was second in levels of victim satisfaction and had maintained 70% satisfaction and above.

·         The concern raised surrounding drugs had been reflected in the TVP neighbourhood priorities and was often tackled as part of anti-social behaviour. Inspector Ellis directed Members to the Policing Issues Forum to escalate the discussion further.

·         Chris Geen, Team Leader for the Community Safety Team for Buckinghamshire Council and Serious Violence Lead for the Buckinghamshire Partnership, informed Members of the work being undertaken on early intervention initiatives. The Community Board and other partners were noted for their key role in identifying young people and referring them onto the Council or Police to arrange for youth service engagement. Community Board funding was also highlighted as a positive contribution to mentoring services and interventions.

·         The importance of reporting and referring young people was stressed and Members were made aware of a Multi-Agency Child Exploitation Group that  works with young people.

• Issues surrounding Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). Regarding the Farnham area, the Community Safety Team had been working with multiple agencies on enforcement and HMO inspectors had checked licencing compliance. The team had been exploring other avenues such as working with the legal team to look at opportunities for Community Protection Notices (CPNs). It was suggested that Members escalate the issue to the national level.

To receive a presentation from Buckinghamshire Council’s Community Safety Team

The Community Board received a Community Safety update from the Buckinghamshire Council’s Community Safety Team, presented by Chris Geen. Members were informed of the Community Safety Team restructure and Mr Geen referred to a presentation, which would be appended to the minutes.

To receive an update on Council-wide matters of interest from the Director of Education, Simon James

Simon James, Director of Education, was in attendance to present the update. The

following points were highlighted:

·         The main pressure for Children Services was the recruitment of social workers. This was to reduce the reliance on agency staff and improve consistency for children and families.

·         An Ofsted Inspection was expected within the calendar year, to examine safeguarding procedures and Children Services. It was hoped that this would be a good reflection on the reputation of the service and be a positive effect on future staff recruitment.

·         The budget for education and skills was heard, with per pupil funding due to increase for schools to provide greater support and resources to children. There was on-going support over the holidays for families to provide food and activities. Focus had been placed on identifying skills businesses need in the local community and matching them up with individuals. Training had been provided to those seeking work, such as digital skills.

·         Mr James emphasised how grateful children and schools were for the community board funding. The funding had been used to tackle priority areas, such as children’s mental health, to raise awareness and provide more resources.

·         Live consultation was open for the Council’s annual budget for 2022-2023. Mr James encouraged Members to raise awareness and get residents involved. The Community Board was informed of the campaign in connection to adult social care; ‘See Something, Say Something, Do Something’, to raise awareness of reporting abuse or neglect of adults. In regards to the Burnham area, Mr James informed the Board of the sufficiency work to ensure that there were enough school places for local residents. This included a 5-10 year projection to ensure these needs would be met.

a)      Infrastructure & Highways

b)      Supporting Economic Development

c)      Improving Our Environment

d)      Wellbeing

Mr Pearce updated the Community Board on the Infrastructure and Highways action

group, that had met twice since the last meeting. In July, the group had reviewed

funding applications to be funded in this financial year. The applications that were

discussed and the following recommendation by the action group can be viewed in

the reports circulated within the agenda.

For the September meeting, the action group reviewed applications submitted for

the coming financial year through 2022-2023. They also discussed the active travel

strategy, which the action group had agreed to raise with parish councils and

neighbouring community boards.

Cllr George Sandy presented the update for the Supporting Economic Development

Action Group. The group met in September and discussed ways to encourage the

local economy to grow. The area of focus was Burnham high street and the group

identified the parking as a barrier to shoppers. It was suggested that there was a

need for free parking for a short period of time to enable people to shop locally.

Other suggestions included an increase of available cycle racks, an expansion of local

markets, more specialised markets, loyalty cards for local residents, and more CCTV

cameras to prevent anti-social behaviour. The action group also received a

presentation from the managing director of Buckinghamshire Business First, to

consider potential solutions for the business community within the Beeches area.

Members were informed that the action group broadly supported the Net 0 Project,

to improve accessibility for businesses. The group was planning to liaise with the

Burnham Business Association to submit funding applications for relevant projects.

Cllr Dev Dhillon presented an update for the Improving Our Environment action

group. The group met in September and had a number of actions to take forward

including:

·         Investigate appropriate sites for the Jubilee Tree Plantations

·         How to reduce plastic waste

·         Consult all 5 parish councils to install water fountains, similar to the fountain in Black Park

·         Liaise with other Community Boards to gauge interest in solar panels and the possibility of getting a discount from the provider

·         Find land for community gardens

·         To look into a footpath between Taplow train station and the Burnham Parish to encourage walking

The Community Board was informed that the next action group meeting would be

on the 10th November 2021. Cllr Dhillon called for all Members, organisations and

charities to get involved in community projects.

Mr Pearce updated the Members on the Wellbeing Action Group. The group had

met twice since the last Beeches Community Board meeting and had been working

on a few ongoing projects. These include:

·         Outreach work with the Family Support Team to send staff to areas in the Beeches, particularly Burnham, to engage with young people and identify need for a possible youth outreach project.

·         Project for dementia awareness. A virtual dementia tour was to be delivered in Farnham Common with 4 sessions running throughout the day.

·         Intergenerational projects in schools. The group was planning to contact other schools to get involved to bring older and younger people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive any questions from members of the public

There were no questions from the public during this item.

The Community Board noted the annual report from the Council’s Public Health Team. Mr Pearce explained that the report gave a good overview of benchmark figures showing where the Community Board ranks amongst others in Buckinghamshire, particularly for figures such as population, crime, life expectancy, and areas that suffer from deprivation more than others. The recommendations on potential projects the Community Board could consider funding to address any highlighted issues would be circulated amongst members.

Members noted the applications received since the last meeting. This includes the

following:

·         2 projects with Buckinghamshire Mind, which had been discussed in the Wellbeing Action Group and had been approved.

·         4 applications for highways projects, which 2 had been agreed.

·         An application from the Rotary Club of Burnham Beeches for a Christmas parcels project. The Board was in discussion with colleagues within the Community Support Team to explore the possibility of using the household support grant for food-related projects over the winter period.

·         The Board had received an application from a Children’s Respite Charity, which would be circulated to Members.

Overall, the Community Board had allocated about 65 thousand pounds, with over

200 thousand pounds still left in the budget. Mr Pearce informed Members that

organisations had approached the Board with some large-scale projects and

emphasised that there was still funding available to allocate before the end of the

year.

In response to an enquiry into the approved footway extension on Blackpond Lane,

Mr Pearce explained that a purchase order would need to be made for Transport for

Bucks to carry out the work and schedule it in. However, work was likely to be

minimal during the winter period due to bad weather. When the work has been

scheduled, the Parish Council, as applicants, would be kept up-to-date.

Mr Pearce informed Members that this update would be a staple on the agenda, to set out what the Community Board was working on and to pull together the work of the action groups. This would be appended to the agenda for any queries and to keep Members up to date.

Wednesday, 26^th January 2022

Wednesday 26 January 2022 at 6.00pm