Agenda and minutes

Venue: MS Teams Virtual Meeting

Contact: Elaine Hassall (Community Board Co-ordinator)  Rebecca Binstead (Democratic Services Support)

Items
No. Item

1.

Chairman's Welcome and introduction to the Community Board

To be presented by Councillor Ashley Waite, Chairman of the Haddenham and Waddesdon Community Board

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed members and guests to the Haddenham and Waddesdon Community Board.

2.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 7 MB

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 4 November 2021 as an accurate record.

Minutes:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 4th  November 2022 be approved as a correct record.

3.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

None.

4.

Spotlight on local charities and how they link in with their local community pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton

Stephen Green – Trustee

 

Haddenham Village Hall Repair Café

Pete Summerskill and Councillor Greg Smith

 

Haddenham Community Library

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton

 

Stephen Green, Trustee at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, informed the Community Board of the steps the centre had taken to work more closely with the local community. Working with John Knox, Chairman of Quainton Parish Council, the railway centre had developed relationships with other organisations who could benefit from the site. As of this meeting, the café had longer opening times from Monday to Friday, to allow local residents to use the centre as a social meeting point and to reduce isolation. The car park had also been utilised to reduce congestion from a nearby building site, as the café provides food to the builders.

 

It was identified that the centre was aiming to diversify its usage, by working with the Community Board to develop schemes such as a lending library and repair café. Mr Green explained that their volunteers were highly skilled and had agreed to donate an extra day to help these projects. Moreover, the centre had developed a disused railway carriage with the intent of starting a pop-up hairdressers. It was also discussed that the centre was working with bus companies to allow buses to use the car park as a turning point.

 

 

Haddenham Village Hall Repair Café

 

Tim Shaw was in attendance to present an overview of the Haddenham Repair Café. The Community Board were informed of their aim to reduce and mitigate impact of climate change and environmental degradation through education and raising awareness in local community. It was explained that the Repair Café was part of a larger initiative, Zero-Carbon Haddenham, which runs other projects including ReLEAF, whose goal was to double the amount of tree cover in the parish over the next 10 years.

 

It was noted that the Repair Café had the purpose to keep broken items out of landfill, by encouraging repairing rather than replacing. This was to help reduce waste and unnecessary consumption. The café was started in January 2020 however, was shut due to COVID-19. They transferred operations to a virtual café and individuals were able to book repairs through their website. They returned to a physical café towards the end of 2021 and held monthly meetings on the first Saturday of the month. Members noted the aims of the café to increase advertisements, build the volunteer team, invest in a card payment machine for donations, and to become financially self-sustaining. The presentation slides referred to in this meeting would be appended to these minutes.

 

In the discussion that followed, it was suggested that this was an initiative that could be rolled out across the Community Board area, if partners were willing to get involved. Mr Shaw agreed that he would be willing to share the experiences and knowledge of setting up a repair café with other interested parties. Members were informed that the Community Board was working closely with the Waste Prevention Team to provide strategic oversight and to coordinate similar activities across the area. It was suggested that the Community Board  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Review of 2021-22 pdf icon PDF 3 MB

To be presented by Councillor Ashley Waite and Elaine Hassall, Community Board Coordinator

Minutes:

Councillor Ashley Waite, Chair of the Haddenham & Waddesdon Community Board, explained that the aim was to increase the volume, diversity and geography of applications. Elaine Hassall encouraged applicants to gather photographs of the projects once completed, update the Community Board, and to potentially create a launch event with Buckinghamshire Councillors. Overall, 31 projects had been funded within the 2021/22 financial year. The presentation referred to in this meeting would be appended to these minutes. Some points to highlight were:

 

·       The Ashendon's Wild Aylesbury Vale Project to increase biodiversity through tree / shrub planting, bird boxes, and wood piles. Elaine Hassall introduced the concept of an open wildlife garden event, with the emphasis on creating spaces to encourage wildlife through wormeries and compost heaps. Residents and local groups were encouraged to get in contact with the Community Board.

·       Stone Café in the Park which benefitted from a large griddle plate, warmer, shirts, and aprons purchased with help from the Community Board. The commercial equipment helped to deal with the demand.

·       Restoration of Chearsley's Stockwell Pond

6.

New community board projects for 2022

To be presented by Councillor Ashley Waite, Chairman

Minutes:

Councillor Ashley Waite notified the Members of new community board projects for 2022 including:

 

·       The Library of Things. It was noted that the Community Board had been working with the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre in Quainton to provide space for the project. Next steps were to approve the funding application to help with establishment costs and setting up a task and finish group to help with the launch of the project. Emphasis was placed on promotion and advertising to help with the growth plan moving forward, as well as communication with local residents to identify useful items. Members were encouraged to contact Elaine Hassall to get involved.

·       Discussions to establish a pilot programme with schools to get children involved in the work of the Community Board. It was proposed that they devise a project to benefit the surrounding area and possibly attend future Community Board meetings.

·       Community Benches

 

In the discussion that followed, it was confirmed that the software package to be utilised by the Library of Things would enable the library to lend items on behalf of a third party. Concerns were raised about the carbon footprint of the project if residents had to travel to a singular point to collect items. It was explained that the project would start out small until the viability could be assessed however, the benefits of a community pick-up mobile van and a virtual library were noted.

7.

Community Board and Funding update

To be presented by Elaine Hassall, Community Board Coordinator

Minutes:

Elaine Hassall introduced the item and informed Members of the 11 projects that had been supported since the last meeting in November. It was noted that the online funding applications had closed and would likely re-open in April. The following points were highlighted:

 

·       As of this meeting, £55,265 of the budget was remaining to be allocated to complete projects. Deducting applications still being processed, £3,297 of the budget remained. It was proposed that this be allocated to youth and school work.

·       Projects to be deferred to the 2022/23 budget included the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre - Play park and New York Subway Café and the Community Benches.

·       The 2022-23 Transport for Bucks projects awaiting costs to then be circulated to the Community Board including Upper Winchenden traffic calming, which was on hold pending discussion at the Highways Action Group.

·       It was suggested that speed reduction projects be proposed to the Community Board Highways Action Group to help develop applications. These projects usually come with large feasibility study costs and it was important to narrow the scope for a more targeted approach.

8.

Community Matters

An opportunity for residents and members to raise pre-submitted issues and public questions

Minutes:

Councillor Ashley Waite, Chair, informed Members that the Transport Strategy Team were not undertaking work to investigate the feasibility of the route between Long Crendon to Thame. The development and delivery of a route such as this would require external funding and liaison with third party landowners and partners, including the Oxfordshire County Council due to the cross county boarder. Recent information from central government in the form of cycle infrastructure designs had recommended that routes be separated from main roads, high volumes, and speed where possible. The Buckinghamshire Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) was the government endorsed approach to developing walking and cycling networks. This county-wide plan identified priority walking and cycling routes for the council area and identify which routes were prioritised for investment. The LCWIP would engage with community boards to identify key walking and cycling aspirations.

 

Regarding the Burnwood Bus food donations, Member noted that food banks were witnessing a decreasing amount of donations and subsequently stock, despite the rise in demand. Councillor Ashley Waite called for individuals to get in touch to volunteer to collect donations, identify more locations to collect from, and to help promote the project.

9.

Date of next meeting

TBC

Minutes:

TBC