Agenda and minutes

Contact: Harry Thomas / Craig Saunders 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Introduction and Apologies pdf icon PDF 366 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed opened the first official meeting of the Winslow and Villages Community Board and explained the virtual meeting rules to ensure the smooth running of the meeting.

 

Members heard apologies from Marco Dias

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 435 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:-

 

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2020 be agreed as a correct record

3.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were none.

4.

Chairman’s Welcome

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a brief overview of the evening’s objectives.

5.

Update from the Leader

Minutes:

Members watched a brief video from Leader of the Council, Martin Tett, as part of the official launch of the Community Boards. The video outlined the purpose and intention of the Community Board initiative by Buckinghamshire Council. Martin explained that each Board would reflect the character of its own area of Buckinghamshire, and facilitate an environment in which Parish and Town Councils together with external partners, could work collectively with residents to tackle challenges, develop and realise local projects, and build a more cohesive community.

6.

Thames Valley Police

Minutes:

Members received a presentation by Police Sergeant David Kuttner of the Thames Valley Police Aylesbury Vale Rural Neighbourhood team, outlining the work of Thames Valley Police in the local area. Sergeant Kuttner informed Members that the Winslow and Villages team consisted of 1 PC and 1 PCSO based out of the Winslow Police Base working in a shift pattern, in addition to Response Officers in Buckingham and Aylesbury who are available 24/7 for emergencies across the Vale. Another PCSO would be joining the team in November.

 

The presentation outlined the challenges faced by Thames Valley Police during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had impacted services such as Community Speedwatch, which had to be suspended indefinitely owing to safety concerns. Parishes were still able to request a 7 day Speed Survey by contacting Transport for Bucks, to gather evidence for future action to take place where speeding was an issue. Adstock Parish Council also made an offer to share a movable VAS with other interested Parish Councils.

 

Sergeant Kuttner gave Members an overview of the impactive crime rates in the local area, including burglaries, anti-social behaviour, fraud and drugs. Police were also responding to reported breaches of COVID-19 social distancing rules. Members were informed that since the end of lockdown, the overall number of reported breaches had decreased, however as the rules continued to change, this was an area of future concern. Members of the public were encouraged to adhere to the rule of 6 and follow the latest Government advice.

 

Thames valley Police would look to prioritise reduction of impactive crime in the local area, though Members and attendees were encouraged to give their feedback to help shape Policing priorities in the local area moving forward.

 

Members sought further information and were informed that the most common examples of fraud that occur in the Winslow and Villages area are spam emails and text messages attempting to extort money from recipients, or exploit vulnerable people for fiscal gain. Sergeant Kuttner also informed the board that most anti-social behaviour and drug offences were committed by residents of the Winslow and Villages area, and not by individuals coming from outside.

 

It was explained to Members that whilst the exact figures were not able to be determined at this stage, Thames Valley Police had noticed a significant drop in the number of burglaries over the last few months, but that reports of domestic incidents and Catalytic Converter thefts had increased.

 

Finally, Sergeant Kuttner expressed his intention to consult with his Inspector internally to increase Police presence in Winslow itself as a deterrent to crime, and had been encouraging more PCSOs to work from the Winslow Police Base as a means to this end. Members’ attention was drawn to the addition of a new PCSO to the team in November as a further step to increasing the interchange of Officers in the area.

 

Members thanked Sergeant Kuttner for his presentation and the hard work of his team. It was hoped that a fruitful partnership could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Bucks Business First

Minutes:

Philippa Batting, Managing Director of Bucks Business First, was invited to outline the work undertaken by her team of 63 to support 13,000 businesses of all sizes during the recent months. Bucks Business First provided advice and support to local businesses to partner with the most appropriate of the 700 subsidised schemes supporting businesses nationwide. This covered a wide range of areas including investment procurement, growth and innovation. Members were informed that such were the circumstances, Bucks Business First had distributed just shy of £7,000,000 in grant funding over the last six months alone.

 

Philippa explained that whilst the COVID-19 pandemic continued to alter the rules and restrictions in place for business operations, Bucks Business First was able to provide ongoing support and guidance to local business owners, particularly as the Winter season approached. Bucks Business First had also facilitated business networks within local areas, with groups of businesses able to tackle common challenges together.

 

Bucks Business First would continue to offer support to businesses as the Government’s Furlough Scheme came to an end on 31st October, businesses dealing with job losses, those facing redundancy, reduced public spending, and the impact that the pandemic has had on the mental health of the workforce. Members were also informed of the support available to retrain those who have transferrable skills and working to pair them with employers with applicable vacancies.

 

Philippa informed Members that Bucks Business First’s Enterprise Coordinators had been working with schools inspiring students to consider their career paths. A virtual “skills show” entitled Isolation Inspiration would take place in November to promote this work and showcase the various vacancies and apprenticeships available.

 

The Community Board was identified as a valuable future partner and Members were encouraged to signpost any of the remaining 21,000 businesses not currently associated with Buckinghamshire Business First across Buckinghamshire to seek help from them should they need it. Philippa also requested that should the Council or the local Parish and Town Councils have space which could be utilised by local businesses as a socially distant meeting space to contact Bucks Business First.

8.

Funding Overview pdf icon PDF 332 KB

Minutes:

Members heard a brief update from the Community Board Coordinator Leone Dale following up on information circulated ahead of the meeting, regarding the opening of the Health and Wellbeing and Community Area Priorities funding streams which were accepting online applications. Leone also updated Members on the Local Infrastructure Fund total, which had been revised upwards from £186,000 to £217,629. This funding stream had only just opened, and related projects would be allocated by 31st March 2021.

 

Leone reminded attendees of the type of projects supported under each of the three funding streams, and stressed that they must relate to one or more of the Board’s

four priority areas agreed at the previous meeting, namely:

 

1.    Health and Wellbeing

2.    Transport and Road Safety

3.    Environment

4.    COVID-19 Response and Recovery

 

Members were informed of the process that should be followed when applying for Community Board funding and were encouraged to contact Leone who would assist with any queries and support applicants through the initial stages of their submission.

Leone agreed to discuss the application made by Winslow Town Council to the Board for local infrastructure funding further outside the meeting, and would consider feedback relating to the securing of funding for larger infrastructure projects taking in excess of a year to complete.

 

The Chairman stressed that projects with match funding would be prioritised for consideration and approval by the Board. Those with transport related project ideas were encouraged to complete the online application form by the 31st October 2020 deadline to secure funding from next year’s budget.

9.

Feedback on Action Plan pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Minutes:

The Chairman drew Members’ attention to the Community Board action plan document, which gave a high-level overview of what the Board’s focus would be over the coming months as well as being an easy guide to the key elements of the Board. Attendees were invited to give feedback to Leone Dale on the draft document, which could be altered and revised in line with their views as work got underway.

10.

Working Groups Update

Minutes:

The Chairman invited leaders of the Sub-Groups that had met to provide an update on their work to the Board. The groups that had met so far were:

 

·         Roads and Highways

·         Public and Community Transport

 

In addition, the following groups had also been agreed at the previous meeting:

 

·         HS2/East-West Rail Joint Working Group

·         Youth

·         Health

 

The Chairman informed Members that for the Youth Sub-Group, the Sir Thomas Fremantle School were exploring the idea of recruiting some 6th Formers to join the Community Board to take the lead on key issues for young people in the Winslow and Villages area.

 

Veronica Corben expressed disappointment at the lack of interest in her Health Sub-Group, especially in the light of the recent pandemic. She hoped that this would improve moving forward, and encouraged anyone interested to contact Leone, who was exploring possible external partners to consult regarding health-related work.

Members then heard updated from the following Sub-Group Chairmen:

 

Sir Beville Stanier Bt – Roads and Highways

 

Councillor Stanier informed Members that a preliminary meeting of the Roads and Highways Sub-Group had taken place to identify priority areas for future projects.

 

The meeting decided on the following areas:

 

·         Speedwatch/Speeding

·         Repairs and improvements to pavements

·         Parking enforcement

·         Residential area speed limits

·         Impact of development on roads and traffic

 

Anyone interested in making a suggestion for future projects within these areas or joining the Sub-Group was encouraged to contact Leone. The next meeting of the Sub-Group was on 25th November.

 

Trish Cawte - Public and Community Transport

 

Trish informed Members that the Public and Community Transport Sub-Group had established three primary objectives as follows:

 

·         Conduct a review of existing services

·         Conduct a survey of local villages to gauge public interest and ideas for future public transport requirements/projects

·         Develop a network of community busses

 

Trish suggested that options for the network could include a new bus purchased and shared between villages or a possible extension of the existing Winslow District Community Bus service if more drivers could be sourced. The Sub-Group was open to new Members and those with other ideas to carry forward. The next meeting of the Sub-Group was on 15th October.

 

The Chairman then invited the Vice-Chairman, Councillor John Chilver, to give an update on the upcoming meeting of the HS2/East-West Rail Joint Working Group on 6th October. John informed the Board that the meeting was being conducted jointly with the Buckingham, Winslow and Villages and Haddenham and Waddeston Community Boards. Representatives from Buckinghamshire Council would be in attendance as well as representatives from HS2, East-West Rail and Thames Valley Police. The Sub-Group was intended to meet monthly, and provided an opportunity to raise concerns regarding issues such as construction related traffic and environmental impact. Anyone interested in joining the Joint Working Group was encouraged to contact Leone.

 

Members expressed their sincere hope that the Group would establish a fixed point of contact with the represented bodies to improve future communications with the Parish/Town Councils, and provide a more effective platform to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Neighbourhood Issues

Minutes:

The Chairman invited John Gilbey from Great Horwood Parish Council to present a petition, which would be submitted to Buckinghamshire Council for consideration. John informed Members that the petition requested that a 30mph speed limit be introduced along the full length of Nash Road, Great Horwood, thereby extending the existing 30mph zone to the end of the village. This petition had been created in addition to previous concerns that had been raised about traffic speed on the road. John expressed his interest in working with the Roads and Highways Sub-Group on this issue, as they had made speeding issues one of their priorities.

 

Councillor John Chilver updated Members regarding the two recent planning consultations launched by the Government. Buckinghamshire Council’s response to the first consultation, “Changes to the Current Planning System” had now been made available for Town and Parish Councils to view. Parish and Town Councils submitting responses were encouraged to do so before the consultation closed on 1st October 2020. The second consultation on the white paper entitled “Planning for the Future” was running until 29th October. Buckinghamshire Council’s statement on this had not yet been made available, but would be available to view in the Cabinet papers, where it was due for consideration at the meeting on 13th October.

 

Councillor Monger expressed disappointment at the small window of opportunity afforded to Parish/Town Councils to respond to Buckinghamshire Council’s statement on the first consultation. It was hoped that with the white paper consultation, the regularity of Parish/Town Council meetings could be considered when requesting responses. Councillor Monger was encouraged to contact the Cabinet Member for Planning & Enforcement with his concerns.

 

Councillor Chilver also made Members aware that the Customer and Digital team had produced information concerning website accessibility, which would be passed to Leone and distributed with the minutes.

12.

Suggestions for Future Meeting Items

Minutes:

Roy Van de Poll of Winslow Town Council expressed his disappointment with the lack of progress in upgrading the facilities at the Winslow surgery. He requested that an item be considered to discuss potential avenues forward with this, and that appropriate Officers and representatives from a Clinical Commissioning Group be present at the next meeting of the Board. Leone suggested that he consult with Veronica Corben on this further as part of the Health Sub-Group.

13.

Time and Date of Next Meeting

14.

Introduction and Apologies

15.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 435 KB

Minutes:

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2020.

16.

Declarations of Interest

Members to declare any interests.

17.

Chairman’s Welcome

18.

Update from the Leader

19.

Thames Valley Police

David Kuttner

20.

Bucks Business First

Philippa Batting

21.

Funding Overview pdf icon PDF 332 KB

Leone Dale

22.

Feedback on Action Plan pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Leone Dale

23.

Working Groups Update

Chairman and Sub-Group Leads

24.

Neighbourhood Issues

Chairman

25.

AOB

26.

Time and Date of Next Meeting