Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Present:

Mike Etkind

Robert Gibson

Ed House (Little Kingshill Baptist Church)

Martin Hadfield (Little Kingshill Baptist Church)

Simon Jones

Vanessa Martin GMPC

Barbara Rowett

Rob Shed (Holmer Green Sports Association)

Sue Wingrove

Joan Veysey

Officers:

Elaina Quesada

Amy Jenner

Krissie Hutton

Apologies were received from:

Christopher Black 

John Cadman 

Carole Eaden

Anne Hewett

Simon Laurie 

Jill Stiel 

Colin Veysey 

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2022.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2022 were agreed as a true record.

An update was given in respect of Frith Hill and slides shown (attached). The hedging had been cut back improving the width of the footpath following an incident when a child was hit by a passing vehicle’s wing mirror. The footway still needed to be sided out, the work of which was due to be carried out the day before this meeting. However, the work was not carried out and the Chairman stated he would chase the contractor to find out the reasons why and when they were likely to be onsite to carry out the works.

a)        Awards already approved.

b)        Potential Funding – short presentations from Martin Hadfield (Little Missendens Baptist Church and Rob Shed (Holmer Green Sports Association).

Awards already approved

Grants under the Small Grants Scheme had been approved to:

·      Little Missenden PC for installation costs for a bench which had been bought by the local WI

·      Great Missenden PC for a speed survey on the Wycombe Road between Lodge Lane and Hildreths Garden Centre

·      Radio Presenter Training for a group of young people

·      Little Kingshill Baptist Church Furniture

The following were in various stages of development and it was anticipated that these schemes would be supported:

·      Changes to the Colts pavilion (application submitted, not circulated)

·      HG Schools Firework event (application submitted, not circulated)

·      Holmer Green Sports Association artificial pitch (application submitted, not circulated)

·      Make Lunch Club (application circulated to Cllrs for approval)

·      Community Fridge

·      Prestwood Community Centre environmental upgrades

·      New equipment for Prestwood Common (GMPC)

·      Bike racks in Prestwood

·      Christmas events – Prestwood, Great Missenden & Holmer Green

·      Walking app

·      Grow Cook Eat

·      Little Kingshill Baptist Church Community Building

·      Youth Survey – support for outcomes

·      Bike racks in Holmer Green

Potential Funding – presentation from Martin Hatfield (Kingshill Baptist Church) and Rob Shed (Holmer Green Sports Association)

Martin Hatfield, of Kingshill Baptist Church explained that the church hall was now not fit for purpose, modern of flexible to meet their growing needs. There was a proposal to replace the hall which had received planning permission in April 2020 and since then the church was pursuing funding to enable the project to happen. It was noted that the architect’s plans included solar panels and an Air Source Heat Pump would also be fitted, ensuring that the hall could be self-sufficient in terms of power generation.

Martin Hatfield explained that this new, more modern and flexible hall would benefit the wider community as well as the church community. The Kingshill Kitchen coffee shop would have a place in the new building, as it does in the current building.

The total projected estimates were £428,000 which included pledges of £185,000, due in the next 12 months and £63,000 due in the next 12-48 months. Gift Aid would amount to £30,000. There were 3 options available with projected shortfalls included.

In response to questions the following was noted:

·      An allowance/contingency had been made in respect of higher inflation. One builder had already been approached and a meeting with a second builder was to be held two days after this meeting to get initial costs. It was noted that some building costs were beginning to fall.

·      A separate funding team were looking at what grants were available, although not for the solar panels which would be taken back and looked into. A recent significant donation had been received recently meaning that work could start on the project.

·      A Mum’s and toddlers group was held every week on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis as was a once a month Coffee and Cake event (which was held by the church), which was also run on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis. The latter event was held for the more vulnerable in the community and the church offered lifts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

a)        Radio training

b)        Prestwood Voice, Prestwood Choice

Radio training

Liz Charleston reported that training had been delivered by Gemma-Leigh James and Sarah Parfitt which had proved a success for young people.

Councillor Harker reported that the radio interview went really well. They talked through a lot and listeners came back with positive feedback. Wycombe Sound was a young person’s station. The training that was set up was amazing. There was much excitement to take project forward as it brings people together and gives opportunities.

Youth Survey: video presentation.

https://youtu.be/94WVVIQK-lw

Research milestones October 2022:

·           78 initial survey responses

·           Interviews with community members and young people

·           Promoting the research on local radio

·           Engaging with young people across the area at local groups

·           Training for young people for research and radio presenting

·           Focus groups analysing the initial survey results

It was noted that work was ongoing to engage with the local schools within the Community Board area and that there were positive outcomes being seen.

Prestwood Voice, Prestwood Choice

Short term plans with some projects were identified, some of which were already underway and being developed.

Short term projects included:

·         Community Fridge

·         Play equipment and development of ‘activity’ facilities on the common

·         Walking app

·         Assistance with development of separate spaces for community use (community hall, scout hut, Colts pavilion)

·         Support for events

·         Space for community allotment – Grow Cook Eat type project

·         Bike racks

There was a long-term aspiration from the community to look at improving facilities. Meetings have been conducted with some great contributions. Still more to be done!

It was noted that more work was being undertaken in respect of the Walking App.

It was agreed that updates would be sent to the Parish Council for inclusion in their own newsletter as it would then reach more residents who would be kept informed.

In response to a question about whether the new Pick-Me-Up service could be expanded into the Prestwood area, the Chairman reported that the service was being funded by the Department of Transport who had approved the routes. The term was initially for 3 years, after which the routes would be looked at again, and the Chairman assured the Community Board that he would ensure that Prestwood would be at the top of the list for route extension.

Chiltern and South Bucks Policing Issues Forum

Robert Gibson reported that the next Chiltern & S Bucks Policing Issues Forum meeting would take place in Chesham Town Hall on Thursday 3rd November. The survey of residents' concerns is now available at www.csb-forum.org/oct22-survey. It was requested that the Board members help by taking the survey and passing around their networks. 

Action: Krissie Hutton agreed to look through the survey to see it was suitable for publication on the Bucks Council’s social media networks.

a)        Buckinghamshire Council update

b)        Consultations

c)        Questions (submitted in advance)

Buckinghamshire Council Updates

The Council’s updates are appended to these Minutes.

The Chairman reported that Misbourne School sports hall had opened last week. It was noted that the hall was not just for the school but would benefit the community also. However, there were issues around parking/traffic around the school which will be looked at.

It was agreed that Liz Charleston would publish the link to the Council’s current budget consultation. (See link below):

https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/corporate-services/budget-2023-24/

Elaina Quesada, Service Director of Adult Social Care, introduced herself and explained that she was the Community Board’s adopted service director. She wished to draw the Board’s attention to Helping Hands (link below to the relevant page on the website) which was a Council run service to cover food and other essentials costs at this time of need. Board members were encouraged to point anyone they might know who would benefit from this service to the website.

https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/cost-of-living/

There were community hubs open which were welcome, warm spaces, serving tea and coffee for anyone to access. Currently these were mainly located in libraries but other venues were being looked at.

Adult Social Care

Elaina reported that the government had initiates social care reforms for October 2023 which centred around the creation of a cap for lifetime care costs and a reduction in the levels of savings people could have which, in turn, meant the council would support the costs of adult social care for a big proportion of Buckinghamshire residents. In practical terms, this meant that more residents would contact the council and the council would have a higher demand to undertaken social care and financial assessments.

A key focus of this could be about improving advice and information and simplify the messages to residents.

The council would also be disseminating some wider communications about the social care reforms to residents in the next three months.

The Chairman stated that this was likely to cost the authority particularly if no funding from central government was forthcoming. Elaina Quesada stated that financial planning was already underway.

Messaging was being worked on, particularly as there were three different websites to cover, which included Care Advice Bucks, Family information Service (which lists local offers for mainly young people, some with Special Educational Needs). Lessons would be taken from other Local Authorities.

The Chairman thanked Elaina Quesada for her input.

It was noted that there was ongoing support for the Ukrainian visitors of which the Council was support 700 families currently. It was hoped that help would be provided to enable these families to gain places to live, employment and/or training. It was noted that Bucks was the authority with the second largest contingent of Ukrainian families being helped across the UK.

The Chairman mentioned that many people had experienced issues with the bin collections following the introduction of a new contractor. Residents were encouraged to report missing bins online. However, it was noted that the number of missed bins was decreasing which meant that the issues were being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Thursday 26 January 2023 at 7.00pm.

Thursday 26 January 2023 at 7.00pm