Agenda and draft minutes

Cllr Peter Martin

Cllr Peter Martin welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Peter highlighted that Paige Hall a Proud of Bucks Award Winner had recently passed away. Paige was young with a young child. The board would like to write a note of sympathy to the family.

Action: It was agreed that the board would write a note – KH/PM

There was also an incident in Great Missenden with a motorcyclist who sadly passed away. The board passed on their condolences.

Cllr Peter Martin

Cllr Jane Macbean, Vanessa Martin, John Cadman, Robert Gibson, Carol Eadon, Jill Stiel, John Gladwin, Rob Shed, Anne Hewitt, Diane Camier, Sgt Roy Evans.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members agreed the notes as correct (subject to the amendment of a few errors).

Action: Amended and republished.

·       Buckinghamshire Council Updates – Lindsey Vallis, Service Director for Transport Services

·       Bus Updates – 41 route Lindsey Vallis, Service Director for Transport Services

·       TVP Update – Katrina Holyoake on behalf of Sgt Roy Evans, Thames Valley Police

·       Adult Learning Update – Teresa Meredith, Skills Manager - Digital Inclusion Sessions

·       Proud Of Bucks – Katrina Holyoake, Community Board Manager

·       Questions - (Members of the public have been invited to submit questions in advance of the meeting to missendenscb@buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Buckinghamshire Council Updates – Lindsey Vallis, Service Director for Transport Services, gave a brief overview of the information published in the agenda pack. Lindsey highlighted the Council’s housing strategy and made note that fostering remains a high priority. More information about the libraries consultation will be shared when available.

Cllr Jonathan Waters highlighted leisure centre opening time changes in response to user feedback as an example of how local consultation can support with positive change.

Bus Updates – Lindsey Vallis, Service Director for Transport Services, shared an update, as requested at the previous board meeting regarding bus route 41. Buckinghamshire Council have been subsiding route 41 as a route that supports the community- this has been reviewed recently. There have been complaints about bus 41 using Amersham High Street and the aim was to achieve two-way journeys. There are currently 240 users per week on average (Great Missenden to and from Amersham), this has increased since the subsidy. Transport Services aspire to get a further terminus on Amersham on the Hill. From September 2024 route 41 will go through Hyde Heath (41S already does this). A larger number of residents should benefit from this. Route 41 isn’t yet commercially sustainable, the council are committed to the subsidy to further support this. This information is not yet in the public domain, Carousel expect changes to be added on their website in the next few weeks, it will then be publicised by Buckinghamshire Council.

Action: Lindsey Vallis to request information about numbers to make the route sustainable and share with the board

Action: Lindsey Vallis to share copy of the changes for the board to share.

Cllr Peter Martin noted that Arriva have pulled out of a couple of depots as services are not commercially viable. Carousel are trying hard to maintain to Arriva’s services which is positive.

Thames Valley Police Update – Katrina Holyoake delivered a short update on behalf of Sgt Roy Evans, Thames Valley Police.

A video presentation was also shared and can be viewed here.

The main updates highlighted in the video can be found on the appended presentation.

Buckinghamshire Adult Learning (BAL) Update – Teresa Meredith, Skills Manager at Buckinghamshire Council, spoke about the Digital Inclusion sessions to upskill residents on digital skills. BAL are funded by Central Government and are part of Buckinghamshire Council. BAL have received an excellent rating by Ofsted.

The BAL main centres are in High Wycombe (Sands), Aylesbury (Quarrendon) and Chesham. BAL are expanding to offer digital skills sessions in Libraries for anyone over 19, this includes Great Missenden Library. No appointment is needed, each session is 2 hours. Both Libraries and the Community Board are promoting, and Teresa welcomes local partners to also share.

Barbara noted that the Prestwood Village Association website and Facebook pages had also promoted.

Teresa highlighted that digital drop in sessions are targeted at people who haven’t used technology and would like to learn a range of skills including banking safely, using parking apps,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·       Dementia Awareness Training and follow up projects – Katrina Holyoake

·       HS2 Road Safety Fund application – Katrina Holyoake

As per slides in the pack Katrina Holyoake gave some feedback on Community Board projects and priorities.

Dementia Awareness Training:

The feedback has been positive. Cllr Jonathan Waters highlighted the experience being very interesting with control for everyday tasks being taken away from those undertaking the experience. Thames Valley Police fed back positively about how the training would support them in different scenarios. Other individuals noted that the training supported with understanding of how they can help. Everyone took something positive away.

Cllr Peter Martin noted the demographic of a higher older population than the average in Buckinghamshire.

Mike Etkind noted that John Hampden surgery is Dementia Friendly and that the PCN (Primary Care Network) is looking at developing a fragility service.

Following a petition heard at the Missenden’s Community Board a HS2 Road Safety Fund application has been submitted with Great Missenden Parish Council and Misbourne School.

Question: Barbara- asked for the latest update on the reduction of the speed limited on the A4128?

Answer: Cllr Peter Martin advised he is having a meeting with Buckinghamshire Council’s Road Safety Officer next week. Peter also noted that South Heath have also applied to HS2 Road Safety fund.

Cllr Peter Martin fed back that the Prestwood Planters project has been very positive. PM highlighted that this was a simple project with a big impact. It shows what can be delivered with some thought.

Question: Barbara - Is Prestwood Colts hut open to the public?

Action: Katrina to check on the future plan and feedback, as it is not currently open to the public.

Action: Katrina to speak with Barbara regarding Youth Engagement as part of NGAGE.

·       Budget overview and new priorities 24/25 - Katrina Holyoake

·       Workshop Activity 24/25 - Katrina Holyoake Projects, Partners and Opportunities

Katrina Holyoake shared the priorities for 2024/25 (as per the slides). To help address the priorities board members were asked to review each priority and think about the specific issues/opportunities that link to them.

Cllr Peter Martin shared that the next stage is to collate the feedback and look at what is feasible for the board to take forward. Across the community board there is a wide range of partners and expertise who can support.

Peter Healy highlighted that Holmer Green Village Society was really interested in collaborative working to solve problems together.

Action: Katrina to share feedback from the session with the board members.

·       Thursday 6^th November 2024

Thursday 6^th November 2024, to include Proud of Bucks. The venue will be confirmed.