Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all to the Haddenham and Waddesdon Community Board meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Buckinghamshire Councillors Phil Gomm, Jilly Jordan, Susan Lewin, Iain Macpherson and Michael Rand, Parish Councillors Ken Birkby, Fiona Payne, Jon Mole and Barbara Kolbert.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27^th September 2022 were approved as a correct record.

Councillor Ashley Waite declared a personal interest in item 6, Spotlight on local charities, as consultant of the Bernwode Community Bus.

Councillor Paul Irwin declared a personal interest in item 6, Spotlight on local charities, as trustee of the Bernwode Community Bus.

Councillor Gregory Smith declared a personal interest In item 6, Haddenham Zero Carbon Haddenham – EV Car Club project, as Chair of the Zero Carbon Haddenham Group.

To be presented by Stuart Grosse, Group Commander Response South.

Group Commander Stuart Grosse, Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, gave a presentation, appended to the minutes.

Group Commander Stuart Grosse made the following points in the presentation:

· Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority is made up of five councillors from Milton Keynes and twelve from Buckinghamshire. The Chair of the Fire Authority is Simon Rouse and the Chief Fire Officer is Jason Thelwell.

· The four community safety priorities are Safer Homes, Safer Neighbourhoods, Safer Roads and Safer Environment.

· The wholetime service delivery area for the Haddenham and Waddesdon Community Board Area is Aylesbury Fire Station.

· The majority of the finances for the service were from council tax and the remainder from business rates, revenue support grant and other specific grants.

· The community safety priorities for the Aylesbury service delivery area were Reduction in accidental dwelling fires, reduction in secondary fires, road safety and community engagement.

· The summer pressures included the highest temperatures and dry weather declaring two major incidents at Kiddi Caru Nursery in Milton Keynes and the other at Whitehouse Farm in Wooburn Green, High Wycombe.

· Future issues that may be a concern included HS2, climate change, development within Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and the Fire Reform White Paper.

A question was asked by a member of how the fire service would look like in the future and it seemed that discussions were currently being had that the future would be very much like the medical services, concentrating on more community engagement, safeguarding and working more within the community.

The Chairman thanked Group Commander Stuart Grosse for attending and providing a very informative presentation and suggested that any information and messages could be circulated through existing channels such as the Community Group Facebook page and through Parish and Town Councils.

·       Haddenham Zero Carbon Haddenham – EV Car Club project

·       Update on Bernwode Community Bus (Bernie Bus projects)

Haddenham Zero Carbon Haddenham – EV Car Club project

Haddenham Parish Councillor, Alan Thawley, along with Ross and Rebecca Batting, Directors of 3B Vehicle Hire, gave a presentation to the Community Board on the EV Car Club Project, appended to the minutes. Haddenham had declared a Climate emergency with a 2030 net zero target for the whole community. Cutting transport emissions through adoption of EVs was a key part of the plan and a car club was a good way to introduce people to EVs.

Over the last two years, an initial survey was completed to gauge interest, decide on a model, bring on partners such as 3B and get agreement for chargers and installation. Zero-Carbon Haddenham is a four-way partnership; Xero Carbon Haddenham, Parish Council/Village Hall, 3B Vehicle Hire and Thame Green Living.

The points raised by the Community Board Members included:

·       The car club would be non-profit making project for the near future but was not far off from paying for itself to run. The first year of the scheme would cover all costs.

·       It was interesting to see that 50% of users were regular users and to date, 35 bookings had been made since the start of the scheme, in December 2022.

·       Many other Parish and Town Councils had expressed an interest to expand the car club.

·       Visibility for the car club was most important in the community to make everyone be aware of the facility available.

·       The use of the cars was available for all to use via the 3B Vehicle Hire website, there was no fees to sign up to the car club.

·       The promotional material would be circulated to Community Board Members.

The Chairman thanked all for the presentation and for assisting all present to understand the way the car club worked.

Update on Bernwode Community Bus (Bernie Bus projects)

The Chairman, Councillor Ashley Waite, gave a presentation to the Community Board about all the minibuses acquired by the Bernie Bus Projects, appended to the minutes.

The project was launched in 2018 in Waddesdon, originally with a 16-seater minibus to serve the old people’s groups in Waddesdon and Quainton. This has increased with the addition of Bernie, a 16-seater, Bella, another 16-seater and Bernadette, a wheelchair friendly car that can take three passengers plus a driver and a wheelchair. The vehicles are used by elderly day centres, sports clubs, Brownies, Wedding and other party groups and many other local groups.

Bernie was also running a Foodbank Collection Box, collecting every first Saturday of the month from 26 drop off points across the area. This has become key in helping people gain access to food. In December 2022, the 5000 Can Challenge was achieved with 8293 cans collected. The challenge was achieved by schools, pubs, gyms and events.

There are also the Bernie’s Eco Warriors, a number of schools and litter picking groups, keeping the local area clean and tidy. Bernie transports the volunteers safely and gets rid of the bags afterwards.

Bernie’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To be presented by Elaine Hassall, Community Board Manager.

The Community Board Manager introduced the Community Board area to all present and highlighted some of the exciting things achieved such as the 27 projects that had been funded to a value of £120,000, the playgrounds in Chearsley, Cuddington and Grendon Underwood had been refurbished, three health and wellbeing events had been launched in Haddenham, Berryfields and Waddesdon and community fridges and larders had been created in Grendon Underwood and Waddesdon. These were just a few of the projects.

The Chair reported that the Library of Things had taken longer than expected but was now ready, a request for volunteers would be sent round. It would be very helpful if the library could be filled with items that the community could borrow, use and return. Items such as fold up chairs, tables, gazebos, DIY equipment and other things that could be reused.

The following events were coming up:

Health and Wellbeing Fayre – Wednesday 22 February 2023 – 1-6pm at Roman Park Hall in Berryfields.

Quainton Showcase – Saturday 11 March 2023 – 2-4pm at Quainton Memorial Hall.

The finances were highlighted and that the Community Board had received £138,639.00 for 2022/23 budget allocation. Of that, £120,186 had been allocated to projects and £140,945.13 had been received through contributory funding resulting in total funds of £263, 302.00, amounting in contributing funding of £1.15 that was secured for every pound of CB investment.

A list of projects that the monies was spent on was shared with the Members, as part of the presentation.

There needed to be a more collaborate approach for the future where the Community Board Manager be involved from an early stage to assist and plan and evenly spread the funding. It was requested that could communities that had received no funding be targeted and assisted to generate activity.

The Chair asked the Community Board what else could be done. The Cost-of-Living update would be appended to the minutes.

The Community Board Manager reminded all about the Proud of Bucks Award and informed them that 17 nominations had been received. These would be judged, and the announcement would be made in Spring 2023.

Buckinghamshire Council update provided by Lloyd Jeffries, Service Director Resources, Business Operations.

The Service Director for Resources, Business Operations, Buckinghamshire Council, Lloyd Jeffries, provided an update from the Council, note appended to minutes.

The four main points that were highlighted were:

·       A local Heritage List had been created which identified locally significant heritage sites. These sites had been nominated by local communities and council staff and had been evaluated by the council’s Heritage Team. The list would be recognised and considered in future planning applications, helping to protect local heritage assets for future generations to enjoy. The list of nominated sites can be seen at the link: Buckinghamshire Local Heritage List website.

·       On-Street Charge Points Scheme – After successfully securing £407K from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, the Council will be installing 128 new parking bays in 16 of its car parks across the county, by April 2023. Other places were being looked in to install more EV parking bays, especially within Town and Parish Council car parks. Further information about Buckinghamshire Council’s 5-year Action plan was available at Buckinghamshire Council’s 5-year Action Plan.

·       Local Plan Update – Over 700 sites had been submitted for consideration as land for possible future development within Buckinghamshire. An interactive map was available on the Council website showing the Brownfield sites Brownfield CFS 2021-22 (arcgis.com). Each of the sites were now being evaluated against the criteria of suitability for their chosen use, availability and deliverability over the plan period to 2040. They were currently setting the overarching vision and objectives for the Local Plan. The team were working on a forthcoming public consultation which would enable people to comment and give feedback on the draft Vision and Objectives.

·       Visitor Economy Survey – A new Tourism Survey had been launched by the Council, which would help to shape the future of Buckinghamshire’s visitor economy sector. The Council was looking for input from residents, businesses and key stakeholders, which would help identify new opportunities and to support the future growth of the visitor economy across Buckinghamshire. Buckinghamshire residents, business owners and other tourism stakeholders can complete the survey here.

To be presented by Elaine Hassall, Community Board Manager.

The Community Board Manager reminded all that it had to be a joint effort and if anyone felt that a specialist group needed to be put together to understand and focus on, then it could be put together.

Topics suggested for future considerations included:

Planning

Road Safety

Walking Infrastructure Plan – Autumn meeting

Thames Valley Police

Thursday 8^th June 2023 at 6.30 pm

The date of next meeting was noted as being on Thursday 8 June at 6.30pm on Microsoft Teams.