Agenda and minutes
Venue: Via MS Teams - Virtual. View directions
Contact: Ross Tackley (Community Board Manager). Clare Gray (Democratic Services Support)
Media
No. | Item | |
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Chairman's Welcome Minutes: The Chairman welcomed attendees to the meeting. The Chairman highlighted the attendance of Kevin Goad, Director of Highways and Technical Services at Buckinghamshire Council. Kevin was the Community Board’s new corporate director who replaced Steve Bambrick. The focus of this meeting was the environment. |
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Cllr Mike Stannard, Cllr Ruth Fowler and Vicki Mistry from Sustainable Chesham. |
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Declarations of Interest Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Minutes of last meeting PDF 152 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held 28th July were agreed as an accurate record. |
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Chiltern Conservation Board PDF 2 MB Speaker - Steph Horn Minutes: Steph Horn from Chiltern Conservation Board gave a presentation on the Chess Smarter Water Catchment project. The slides were appended to these minutes.
The following points were highlighted:
Further information on the project and catchment area could be found at: https://chesssmarterwatercatchment.org/ A grant of up to £5,000 was available to improve the area in the Chess catchment:
A member of the Board highlighted the flow of the river, it was advised work was underway with partners to achieve a better flow. There was a government initiative relating to chalk streams and ways to abstract water lower down the river to protect biodiversity.
The issue of sewage in the river was highlighted and what steps the water companies were taking to address this. It was advised Thames Water had an environmental project researching this issue. It was anticipated further information would be available in November regarding Chesham sewage treatment works. |
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Speakers – Trevor Brawn/ Vicki Mistry Minutes: Trevor Brawn from Sustainable Chesham provided an update on projects and initiatives, further information was appended to these minutes.
The following points were highlighted:
The Chair commended the wide range of projects Sustainable Chesham had successfully achieved and highlighted these initiatives were also relevant to the villages surrounding Chesham.
A member of the Board queried if safer cycling around St Marys Way, Chesham ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Formal Community Board updates Funding Summary
Minutes: Ross Tackley, Community Board Manager provided an update on funding and community projects.
The Community Board had an annual budget of £111,000 with £21,000 spent on projects. A further £45,000 had been allocated to projects in the pipeline. The projects funded by the Board were listed on the slides appended to these minutes.
It was highlighted there were 88 Ukrainian guests in the Chesham Board area with 40 sponsor host families. After a six month stay with hosts guests were required to move in with new sponsors or into privately rented accommodation. There was a request for any residents who could be re-matched with Ukrainian guests to contact either Ross Tackley or Ryan Robinson. It was noted the re-matched process would not require a visa application as many guests were settled and working in the area.
The Opportunity Bucks programme was a local response to the governments national levelling up campaign to promote better opportunities for all residents. The programme would encourage ward partnerships and involve key stakeholders in the community. There would be a tour of the Chesham ward and town centre on 24th January 2023.
Buckinghamshire Council would run a welcoming spaces initiative this winter to provide warm spaces for residents in libraries and council offices. Members were advised to contact Ross Tackley with any suggestions of venues and a toolkit would be provided.
A member of the Board queried if ancillary building or annexes would attract council tax if they host Ukrainian guests. It was confirmed these properties would not be subject to additional council tax charges if they applied through the Ukraine scheme. |
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Consultations, Public Questions, Petitions New Service Director (Kevin Goad) Buckinghamshire Council Updates Save Leather Lane – questions on report
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman highlighted no public questions had been received and there were currently no Buckinghamshire Council public consultations for Chesham.
A Member of the Board advised Chesham Town Council would launch a consultation on the environment, sustainability, heritage assets and use of public spaces linked with the neighbourhood plan.
The Chairman welcomed the Service Director for Highways and Technical Services Kevin Goad. It was highlighted Buckinghamshire had a new maintenance contract with Balfour Beatty and design and traffic modelling contract with Atkins starting in April 2023. Kevin would visit Chesham and the surrounding villages for a walkabout to find out highways issues affecting the area.
Representatives from Save Leather Lane provided an update on the campaign. There had been key collaboration between local residents, councillors and community groups to support the cause to protect the trees and bats in Leather Lane. There were ongoing bat surveys which helped the campaign and ecological argument for saving the trees. Leather Lane was a key connector of 7km of green space in the Chiltern ANOB with much of the surrounding area already decimated by HS2. It was hoped the campaign would achieve charitable status in the near future. Local residents were educated on bat conservation and bat walks had proved popular. |
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Board Discussion and Action Points Minutes: Ross Tackley, Community Board Manager provided an update on action points. The emergency preparedness of the ward had been assessed and the community resilience team would hold a workshop in November. The team would explain the process in emergencies such as flooding and natural disasters. Discussions were underway with Parish Councils to formulate community emergency plans and toolkits would be provided.
There would be a Thames Valley Police Neighbourhood policy forum meeting at Chesham Town Hall on 3rd November. Residents were encouraged to attend and complete a county wide survey which closed on 30th October.
It was advised a schedule 17 application for Leather Lane would be submitted in the new year. This would allow further time to consider the design and construction of HS2 in this area.
Visit Chesham had captured drone footage and gathered local information on Chesham and the surrounding villages which would be available on their website.
A member of the Board highlighted the application for construction of the Bowood Lane overbridge had been submitted by HS2 to Buckinghamshire Council. The Council had rejected the application citing environmental considerations. HS2 had appealed the decision and the planning inspector would assess the application. The Lee Parish Council and Wendover and Chiltern Conservation Board submitted representations to Buckinghamshire Council. There were concerns if the appeal was successful for HS2 the implications this could have on the Leather Lane overbridge.
Ross Tackley, Community Board Manager would send monthly updates on the Board and projects. Further applications for funding would be welcomed and there would be a greater focus on reaching out to Ukrainian guests.
A member of the Board highlighted the repairs to local roads was unsatisfactory making certain routes unsafe for cyclists due to potholes. It was confirmed there was a dedicated team responsible for ensuring repairs to roads were co-ordinated and to a quality standard. The approach to dealing with road defects would be changed going forward. |
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Date and theme of next meeting
Minutes: Thursday 26th January 6pm |