Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all attendees to the first meeting of the Community Board following the local elections in May and invited all Buckinghamshire Councillors to introduce themselves. The Chairman announced that Cllr P Fealey had been appointed Vice-Chairman of the Community Board.

The Chairman wanted the tone of the meeting to be informal so first name usage was encouraged however Cllr prefixes would be reflected in future minutes of the meetings.

An apology was read out by Mr M Dias, Localism Manager, on behalf of the previous Chairman, Mr C Clare. The apology read: "I apologise for making an incorrect statement at the last meeting on 23 February: I was indeed aware that Cllr J Harvey had written to the Board on behalf of AVALC and was due to attend. However, I forgot this point during the meeting.”

Apologies were received from Mr C Clare. Cllr A Macpherson would arrive later in the meeting.

To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

There were none.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2021 were AGREED as an accurate record.

An update was given to the Community Board on homelessness as this had been requested at the last meeting. The Housing Team were happy to attend a future Community Board or Action Group meeting to explore homelessness further. There was also a brief update on Covid-19 and the vaccination programme.

Marco Dias, Localism Manager, presented an update from the Thames Valley Police (TVP). The update included the number of reports of anti-social behaviour, burglaries and theft from motor vehicles over the past six month. The Buckingham and Villages Neighbourhood team was going to focus on anti-social behaviour and burglaries as priorities over the next few months.

TVP were not in attendance but had offered to answer questions raised at the meeting. The Chairman asked for questions and the following points were raised:-

·         Parishes were concerned with vehicles speeding in the villages. Also the neighbourhood police team did not have a direct contact to Thames Valley Roads Policing teams which needed further investigation.

·         Clarity on the Parish Councils placing of ’20 is plenty’ stickers within view of the highways in 30mph zones.

·         Consideration of a 40mph zone being introduced on the Radclive Road between the roundabout and the bypass.

·         Whether there had been an increase in the reporting of edible drug usage in the Community Board area.

These points would be referred to TVP for their response.

Action: Mr M Dias

Cllr R Stuchbury asked for an update on a 20 is plenty campaign application on Lacehill. It would be checked whether the application had been submitted and, if it had, the application’s current status.

Action: Mr M Dias

The Community Board noted the update and would invite TVP to a future meeting.

End of year review with the Chairman.

A presentation was given regarding the work of the Community Board during 2020/21. During the year the Community Board priorities had been:-

·         Covid-19 Support and Economic Recovery

·         Road Safety & Cycles

·         Green Space and Communities

·         Youth

Four Community Board meetings had taken place and five work groups had been established. 17 projects had been funded which amounted to around £40,000 being allocated which was 16% of the budget. The rest of the budget for 2020/21 had been carried over to 2021/22.

Some successful work from the Community Board last year included:-

·         Supporting local voluntary organisations in response to Covid-19.

·         Responding to flooding over the Christmas period.

·         Partial funding a project entitled ‘Sexual Assault and Abuse Support Service- Crisis Councillor’ to enable victims of abuse to receive support. This was in response to an increase in referrals following the lockdowns.

·         Establishing relationships between the Board and the community (e.g. Parishes and voluntary sector organisations).

·         Contributing toward cross-board work (HS2/East-West Rail Working Group).

The Chairman thanked all those that had participated in the Board’s working groups. 

The Chairman added that the Section 19 Flood Investigation was still ongoing and would provide findings that the Community Board would review in future. All those impacted by the flooding were encouraged to submit their experiences into the investigation if they had not done so already. Cllr T Lightfoot updated that she had met with the River Thame Conservation Group and they had advised that specialist equipment may assist in Tingewick due to the number of listed buildings that had been impacted by flooding. The mobile flood van would be visiting Buckingham during the Summer and it would be investigated whether the van could visit other villages in north Buckinghamshire.

Action: Mr M Dias

Cllr R Sloan raised the issue of historic flooding in Twyford and it was suggested that the local Councillors discuss this outside the Community Board.

·         Supporting Buckinghamshire priorities at a local level, key focus areas for 2021/22: Economic Recovery, Environment and Climate Change.

·         Update on Action Groups

There would be four Action Groups for the upcoming year and would be chaired as follows:-

·         Improving the Environment – Cllr A Osibogun

·         Transport and Highways – Cllr C Cornell

·         Supporting Economic Recovery – Cllr W Whyte

·         Youth – Cllr P Fealey

The Environment Action Group would consider any recommendations from the Section 19 Flood report once it was published. There was the possibility that future projects to assist with flooding may be funded through separate Council budgets or grants. £204,487 budget had been carried over from last year which meant that the total budget for 2021/22 was £434,687 (this included the carry over). There was no option to roll over any budget into 2022/23 so these monies had to be allocated by 31 March 2022. There was overall agreement that health initiatives would be welcomed in future applications.

To be presented by the Marco Dias, Localism Manager.

The Community Board received a report which outlined an overview of the budget, a summary of funding applications and their status. Applications for Community Board funding had currently been closed but were scheduled to reopen on Wednesday 30 June. The application website would also contain the funding criteria for 2021/22 however the Community Board Coordinator could always be the first pointy of contact to discuss potential projects and how requirements could be met. The Community Board could also work on joint-funding projects with Parishes, voluntary sector organisations and the university.

Agreeing funding electronically had worked well in the last year to allow for rapid responses so this would continue. The Community Board would be emailed monthly (or as needed if time sensitive) to seek views on suitable applications received. There was also a small scale, flexible grants pot of up to £3,000 to fund small projects more swiftly. In response to Cllr R Stuchbury’s question, Mr M Dias confirmed that applications would take between 4-6 weeks to be considered upon submission to allow due diligence checks, explore collaborative working possibilities and avoid any duplication.

Mr R Edwards provided feedback on his organisation having to spend on their project in order to claim the funds back through the Community Board application process. Mr M Dias confirmed that funds were normally paid in arrears so that evidence of the project’s delivery could be seen. Flexibility was possible for smaller organisations or those with significant cash flow issues through payments in advance or split payments (e.g. quarterly). Cllr L O’Donoghue suggested circulating the funding criteria to all Parish and Town Council Clerks so that the message could be spread further.

Action: Mr M Dias

The Chairman encouraged attendees to share the funding process locally and encouraged them to look at the website when it is live: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/community-and-safety/improving-your-local-community/apply-community-board-funding/

Opportunity for Residents and Members to raise issues and public questions.

One question had been submitted prior to the meeting:-

a)      Community Board Coordinator Cover (Jacky Dale-Evans, Maids Moreton PC Clerk) – There was an attempt to recruit during the Coordinator’s maternity leave however an appointment was not able to be made. In the short term, the role was being covered within the team whilst long term options were being considered.

A Council update on home to school transport would be circulated in the minutes.

Action: Mr C Ward

October TBC

The next Community Board meeting would be in October.

The Action Groups would have dates circulated soon and it was hoped the Youth Action Group would meet before the Summer holidays commenced.