Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Community Board welcomed everyone to the meeting, and gave an overview of the aims and purposes of the community Board.

The Chairman also briefly updated Members on a few key developments since the previous meeting. These were as follows:

·         The Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) had been adopted on at the meeting of Full Council on 15th September and would form the basis for planning decisions made within the plan area. It would be replaced by the Buckinghamshire Local Plan, which was scheduled for adoption in 2025.

·         Buckinghamshire Council would be part of the Regional Green Zone event at the upcoming COP26 conference in Glasgow. Buckinghamshire’s ‘Transportation’ theme would take place on 10th November. A link to view the event would be posted on the Council’s website in due course.

·         Winslow Town Centre Development and Regeneration presentation would take place at the February meeting of the Community Board.

·         Work was taking place to ensure that the funding application form for the Community Board was a saveable document in future.

Members heard apologies from Hugh Ellerton (Granborough Parish Council), and Cllr Ian Macpherson.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th July 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

There were none.

Martin Dickman, Service Director, Neighbourhood Services

Martin Dickman (Service Director, Communities - Neighbourhood Services) introduced himself and gave a presentation to the Community Board concerning the ‘Big Bucks Tidy Up’, which formed part of Buckinghamshire Council’s Public Realm Recovery Project. A copy of the presentation would be appended to the Minutes of the meeting. Attendees noted the following key points:

·         Phase one of the ‘Big Bucks Tidy Up’ began in May 2021, primarily focusing on the larger towns in Buckinghamshire as part of the Great British Spring Clean.

·         Additional funding had been received from the Council to diversify and expand the services offered across the county.

·         Over 100 litter-picking kits had been provided to the various volunteering groups that had helped assist the project since its inception.

·         Phase two would commence in November 2021 and would shift focus away from larger towns and engage local residents and Community Boards on the priorities in their areas.

·         Services offered included: Litter Picking, Street Sweeping, Street Nameplate Cleaning, Road Island Cleaning and the ‘Adopt a Patch Initiative’ in conjunction with the Country Parks Team.

Anyone wanting to raise awareness of an issue in their area was encouraged to fill in the form circulated by Leone Dale following the meeting by 18th October so that resources could be allocated and prioritised in advance of the beginning of phase two.

Martin agreed to contact Ian Whipp (Newton Longville) following the meeting to discuss options to dissuade use of a fly tipping hotspot that had been identified between Newton Longville and Stewkley. Martin encouraged Ian to highlight it as a key issue on the form to be circulated by Leone.

Martin also confirmed to attendees that he would be open to discussing a review to explore the possibility of enhancing waste facilities in the north of the county as a means to reduce incentives to fly tip or dump.

Martin reminded attendees that June 2022 would mark Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and a cross-council steering group had been formed to maximise opportunities for residents to celebrate the occasion. Community Boards were being encouraged to consider hosting events and activities that could bring communities together in this aim following the pandemic. This included a county-wide tree planting initiative that would form part of the Council’s target to plant 500,000 new trees over the next ten years. The Woodland Trust’s offer of free trees was being promoted as part of this effort. A link to further information and guidance regarding the Jubilee celebrations could be found on the Council’s website. Ideas included: community lunches, street parties, exhibitions, library events and tree-planting.

Finally, attendees were encouraged to participate in a number of ongoing consultations on the Citizens Space. These included the following:

·         Community Safety Survey 2021

·         Buckinghamshire Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services Survey

·         Countywide Public Consultation - Parking, Movement and Speed Orders

·         Council Budget 2022-23 Consultation

The Citizens Space could be accessed via the following link: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/

Police Sergeant David Kuttner, Aylesbury Vale Rural Neighbourhood Team

Police Sergeant David Kuttner gave an update to the Community Board on the work of Thames Valley Police (TVP) since the last meeting. Members noted the following key points:

·         Aylesbury Vale had seen a 14% decrease in residential burglaries, 21% increase in robberies, 39% increase in theft from motor vehicle offences and a 2% decrease in theft of motor vehicle offences.

·         The Winslow and Villages area specifically had seen an 11% decrease in residential burglaries, 100% decrease in robbery offences, 10% decrease in theft from vehicle offences, and no change in theft of motor vehicle offences.

·         There had been a spike in thefts in the rural community across Aylesbury Vale in July/August 2021, though this had been disrupted following the seizure of suspected stolen vehicles from Chiltern and South Buckinghamshire area. TVP had seen no related crimes since this action had been taken.

·         TVP was establishing a dedicated rural crime team which will deal with rural crime issues and threats across the force.

·         TVP was continuing to discourage anti-social behaviour, drug use and graffiti through patrolling in known hotspot areas.

·         Operation Arctic would be in effect over the winter months to pre-emptively raise awareness of higher rates of dwelling burglaries over the winter months. TVP would hold crime prevention surgeries, carry out environmental audits with the council and patrol areas identified as hotspots.

·         The future priorities for TVP would be tackling rural crime and anti-social behaviour.

Sgt Kuttner informed attendees that reports of fraudulent activity and scams are passed to a central team which then refers those incidents to local fraud prevention teams within TVP who can reach out to those affected and offer prevention advice and support should those people choose to accept it.

Diane Arnold and Wendy Hughes, Patient Support Service

Wendy Hughes gave a verbal update to Members concerning her work in the Patient Support Service. The following key points were noted:

·         The Service was employed by the North Buckinghamshire Primary Care Network and supported patients registered with the GP practices in that area (Norden House, Whitchurch, Wing, Edlesborough, Pitstone, Ashcroft and Waddesdon).

·         The team consisted of eight people (seven social prescribers and one telephone befriending coordinator)

·         The primary functions of the Service were to act as a bridge between the local primary care services and the public, and to signpost vulnerable people to a link worker who could work closely with them on an holistic approach to improve their health and wellbeing in areas that mattered most to them. Most referrals came from GPS, although anyone could refer someone whom they felt would benefit from their support.

·         Support could vary widely from helping someone with physical impairments to mental health issues or loneliness.

·         The telephone befriending service ensured that those who wanted to, could have a regular conversation with someone as frequently as they would like. For some clients, this made up the majority of the social interaction they had.

Wendy confirmed that the Patient Support Service only covered people registered with North Buckinghamshire GP practices, and did not cover those who were registered with GPs outside Buckinghamshire despite living in the County.

The Patient Support Service also supported carers, especially those working with patients who were unable to give their consent to help due to their conditions.

Anyone wishing to contact the Service could do so through option 6 on the telephone to Norden House Surgery.

Leone Dale gave Members an overview of the Funding Summary Report circulated in the agenda reports pack prior to the meeting. The report detailed the current spending of the Community Board on funding applications to date, informed Members of the budget remaining in the various funding streams and highlighted projects being considered for funding at a later date.

The following key points were highlighted by Leone:

·         The Community Board had so far allocated £13,349 to funding applications

·         The total remaining budget stood at £459,205

·         The total cost of the applications currently under consideration for funding stood at £162,691

Leone also confirmed that following positive feedback from Members of the Community Board, the following applications would be approved following the meeting:

·         Padbury Park Refurbishment (£8,000) – Application from Padbury Parish Council

·         Stewkley Food Hub (£500) – Application from St Michael’s and All Angels Parish Church

·         Gang Mowers for Sports Field Maintenance (£6,000) – Application from Newton Longville Parish Council

Leone informed Members that the Community Board would hold three formal meetings per year in addition to a Community Board event which would be communicated to Members in due course.

Phil Gomm wished to extend the thanks of the Stoke Hammond Community Centre to the Community Board for the improved access that they now had following the approval of their funding application for improvements to the driveway.

John Chilver reminded attendees that there was no guarantee that unspent funding would be carried over into next year’s budget, as had been the case due to the Covid-19 disruption last year. Anyone with an idea for funding was encouraged to contact Leone for further information.

·        Economic Recovery

·        Environment

·        Health and Wellbeing

·        Highways

·         HS2/EWR

Members heard updates from the Sub-Group Chairmen on their work since the previous meeting.

David Goss – Economic Recovery

David explained that the group had heard a presentation from Phillipa Batting (Bucks Business First). The presentation highlighted to Members the challenges faced by local businesses in the aftermath of the previous pandemic lockdowns and identified areas in which they could support and be supported in the recovery of the local economy both in the Community Board area and Buckinghamshire as a whole.

Members had also heard a presentation from Donna Wilkinson regarding the ‘Welcome Back’ fund from Buckinghamshire Council. This project provided grants to help rejuvenate local communities with cleaning, seating, and greening projects as well as Christmas events. David requested that attendees of the Community Board meeting promote awareness of this fund within their local communities to ensure that as many people as possible had the opportunity to benefit.

Anyone with an interest in attending the next meeting of the Sub-Group at 7pm on 16th November 2021 was encouraged to contact either David or Leone for further information.

John Chilver – Environment

The previous meeting of the Environment Sub-Group had discussed the ‘Big Bucks Tidy Up’ and ‘The Queen’s Green Canopy’ projects, and had agreed an allocation of £10,000 for the Wilder Aylesbury Vale Grants programme which provide £500 small grants for projects across the Vale.

A sub-group focusing on the availability of green spaces in Winslow had also been established in response to the issues raised by the resident’s group at the previous formal meeting of the Community Board.

The next meeting of the Environment Sub-Group would take place at 7pm, on 17th November 2021. Anyone interested in attending was encouraged to contact Leone.

Phil Gomm – Health and Wellbeing

The Sub-Group would be launching a joint launch event called ‘Let’s get Active!’ with the Haddenham & Waddesdon and Wing & Ivinghoe boards at Waddesdon Manor next Easter. The event would focus on various activities to promote healthy living including walking and cycling.

Additionally, the Sub-Group had requested funding for small-grants from the Internal Funding Panel for litter-picking groups, and the erection of sheds on allotments. There were also ongoing discussions with the Diocese and local farmers about the possibility of using some of their land for new allotment space, given the shortage that existed across the Community Board area.

Local cycling groups and litter picking groups from the Haddenham and Waddesdon area as well as the Chiltern Society Rights of Way Ramblers were due to attend a future Sub-Group meeting to inspire new groups and pass on their knowledge to their counterparts in the Winslow and Villages area.

The next meeting of the Sub-Group was to be confirmed but this would be communicated to Members in due course by Leone.

Billy Stanier – Highways and Transport

Billy informed members that the Sub-Group intended to form a task and finish group concerning community busses to ensure that the services in rural areas remained comprehensive and effective.

The Sub-Group also expressed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8b

·        Consultations

·        Public questions

·         Combatting litter

Leone confirmed that the Public Health Profiles (PHP) for the Winslow and Villages area had been received. These would be circulated following the meeting, appended to the Minutes and published online at the Community Boards webpage. The PHP gave an overview of the health statistics in the Community Board area and gave some recommendations for improvement. Phil Gomm confirmed that these would also be examined and discussed in a future meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Sub-Group.

Roy van de Poll suggested that a future meeting could discuss the introduction of a ‘no cold-calling’ zone in the Community Board area. The idea did not currently have support from TVP, but it was hoped that further exploring the idea with them could open up avenues to introduce such a zone, and protect residents from the malpractice of rogue-traders and scammers.

Billy Stanier informed Members that he was a Member of the Joint Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards Committee and would be happy to liaise with relevant officers there to include Trading Standards in the discussion if it would be helpful.

Thursday 24^th February 2022

24th February 2022 at 6.30pm