Agenda and minutes

Phil welcomed the group. Taking over as chair from David and Jilly before. Pleased that the meeting is able to be held at Furze Down and that some of you were able to have a site tour prior to the meeting starting. Phil covered housekeeping points. Phil introduced himself and Unitary Members.

Ian Whipp – Newton Longville Parish Council

John Gilbey – Great Horwood Parish Council

Jan Roffe – North Marston Parish Council

Roy van de Poll – Winslow Town Council

Action points- Sophia highlighted feedback from Rebecca Mears regarding TVP attendance - In addition to the comments I gave on the night about committing an officer to a meeting or being out on the beat responding to local issues.  The Aylesbury Vale NHPT team have an inordinate amount of local meetings that they are asked to attend with 81 Parish and Town councils.  Even getting to one per year means a substantial amount of time would be spend off the streets.  Insp James Davies has to assess which ones to go to and it is why attending a community board where Parish councils are representing is a positive solution to this challenge.  I would ask for everyone’s support in continuing to use the Community boards as they key route for meeting the police from a councillor perspective in a meeting environment and local issues raised, and communications can then be relayed back to Parish council meetings as we just cannot guarantee to get to them all.

Phil highlighted to continue to share information with Sophia about local engagement opportunities. New PCSO Joshua Walton-Taylor has been appointed.

Minutes agreed from 25^th April 2023.

None

Police Inspector James Davis

Inspector James Davies introduced himself and highlighted his role as Neighbourhood Inspector for the Aylesbury Vale, in charge of local Neighbourhood Teams (PCSO’s) and locally based Police Officers.

Keen to get attendance up at Community Boards. Force is going through a restructure at the moment, local based police Officers will increase in number. Moving from Local Police Areas to a Bucks wide model, benefits of this include working with the Unitary Authority and to move resources around with more ease. Uplift on PCSOs locally, Josh and Izzy, all working out of Buckingham as Winslow station is now closed.

Anti-social behaviour is low in the Winslow and Villages area, this could be down to under reporting though. Aware of a spate of graffiti in Stewkley which has now been dealt with. TVP receive the lowest number of reports of Anti-Social Behaviour reports in the country, again this could be an under-reporting issue. Anti Social Behaviour with no crime element should be dealt with by the Council and Anti Social Behaviour with a crime element or someone is being personally targeted then it is dealt with by the police.

Crime in the area remains quite low, focused on neighbourhood crime at the moment e.g. residential burglary, robbery, theft from the person, theft from or of a motor vehicle with an aim of reducing these crimes.

Since January there have been 7 residential burglaries, 2 robberies, 26 thefts of motor vehicle. 4x4 theft is higher in this area but has tailed off lately with increased patrols.

Working closely with underreporting amongst disability groups, disability crime does take place. Violence Against Women and Girls remains an absolute priority.

Statutory obligations around engaging with community about local crime issues, used to have NAGs and Community Forums however these never really took off so looking for new ways to find out what is important, please share ideas of how to feed back to TVP.

Action: all to contact James via email for any ongoing issues (if unable to get hold of neighbourhood team)

Richard Hamley (Winslow TC) asked what policy with regards to drugs within the rural community. Inspector Davies advised that it depends on the scenario to how it is then prioritised. TVP are keen to know about dealers and specific areas of activity. It is possible to then add extra patrols etc. Everything will get actioned but not always immediately as there may be other priorities at the current time.

Llew Monger (Winslow Lions) asked what’s the points in asking people what are the big issues if you then discount them? More support for other issues if you act on the smaller things. Speeding in the town is still reported, motorbikes particularly on a Sundays. E-Scooters are an increasing problem and no evidence that anything is being done. They are illegal on public highway/footpath if they are private owned e-scooter. Since closure of Winslow police office, police presence on the ground has reduced. It would be important to send out a map of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Colin Bradford

Colin Bradford & Keith Hofgartner (from Men in Sheds) thanked the board for funding they received last year towards a defibrillator.

Colin and Keith delivered a presentation, attached below.

Men in sheds would like support in publicising the group.

A question was asked about the opening hours of the shed. Colin advised that the shed is open on a Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 – 16:00.

Victor Wright

Victor Wright introduced himself along with John Miller and Graham Kilroy. Bletchley Lions Club are working on introducing bleed kits into the area.

41 kits have been installed in Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard. Lions are now looking at expanding into pubs, betting shops, late night restaurants, petrol stations etc in Buckingham and Winslow.

Cost is currently £80 per unit and funding required to do achieve this.

An example was provided of a kit being installed in Bletchley on a Monday and by Thursday the establishment called to ask for another kit as there was stabbing outside the establishment and kit was used.

A question was asked about how the kits are kept replenished. Victor advised that it would be likely that the kit will only be used once and then need replacing entirely, due to hygiene reasons if blood has been present.

Another question was asked about the shelf life of the items within the kit. It was advised that on back of each pack there is an expiry date. When kits are installed, contact details are shared so the organisation (where they are housed) can get in touch if needed. Kits are also checked, where possible, every year.

Llew Monger asked for the costing to be clarify. It was confirmed that each kit costs £96 without VAT, as Bletchley Lions are a registered charity, they get it for £80. 

Wendy Taylor (Soulbury PC) asked if pub watch still live. Cllr Gomm though it wasn’t very active within the board area anymore.

Action: Sophia to share weblink/videos - controlthebleed.org.uk

Vicki Nash Domestic Resource Efficiency Officer, Buckinghamshire Council

Vicki Nash, Buckinghamshire Council

Energy Doctor Service’s idea is to treat the home like a patient. With the cost of living crisis and climate change they are trying to make homes more energy efficient. Levelling up funding is available to those who meet the qualifying criteria - the resident would need to have an income of less than £30,000, have certain qualifying benefits or be disabled, the property needs to have an energy efficiency rating of D-G. Types of things the team can do is help those residents with their bills by making sure they are on the correct energy tariffs, behavioural changes, low energy light bulbs, draft excluder for doors, radiator reflective foil, secondary glazing and chimney balloons.   

Action: All to promote the scheme

Action: Sophia to share link to further information about the scheme - Request a visit from an Energy Doctor | Buckinghamshire Council

Victor Wright (Soulbury PC) asked if Parish Halls would qualify. Vicki will check this and let Victor know if community building qualifies.

Mary Hunt asked if the items are free and if the team can come to community events. Vicki said that the items are free, as the funding comes from the levelling up fund. If time allows someone from the team may be able attend an event.

A question was raised regarding the likelihood of those on an income of under £30,000 knowing what their energy certificate rating is or if they have one, could this then be barrier?

Vicki advised that the Better Housing Better Health scheme are triaging the requests if no Energy Performance Certificate is in place.

It was raised that ‘Parish Online’ gives the ability for Parishes to check Energy Performance Certificate for houses in the area.

Martin Dickman

Martin Dickman, Buckinghamshire Council

Update was included within the agenda pack. Martin Dickman highlighted Bucks Rural Business Grant (link in the report for more information), Bucks Film Office, Local Plan & Local Transport strategy and Boundary review changes.

Llew Monger (Winslow Lions) asked about Play Streets and what an Opportunity Bucks Wards is.

Martin advised that there are 10 areas within the County that are Opportunity Bucks Wards, these are within Aylesbury (3 areas), Chesham (1 area) and High Wycombe (6 areas). More information can be found on the website.

Sophia Comer

Sophia delivered presentation, attached below.

A recommendation report for play equipment in Dunton was circulated to the Community Board for comments. This has now been agreed by Members.

Nick Primmer from Dunton Parish Meeting is in attendance and thanked the Community Board for the support.

Action: all to contact Sophia with suggestions for future agenda items

Action: Sophia to circulate presentation

Phil thanked Sophia for her hard work.

Phil highlighted that the board are working hard in the background this includes a drive on social media, sending a questionnaire to Town/Parish Councils around interaction with the Community Board and a focus on youth and the Youth Ambassador Scheme.

David Goss asked when next year Proud of Bucks awards will be?

Sophia advised that this had not yet been confirmed but will share details of the timeline once it is known.

Action: Sophia to include a Proud of Bucks update at the next meeting in November.

·       Environment – Cllr Chilver

·       Rural Economy Uplift – Cllr Gomm

John Chilver gave update on the Environment Subgroup. The Environment day out took place on 16^th June. The itinerary for the day included meeting at St. Micheals School in Stewkley to look at their forest school (a project that the Community Board provided funding towards),  Stewkley circular walk to look at the wetland project (planning to submit an application to the Community Board), Winslow Fishing Lake (revived a small grant from the Community Board to procure equiptment), Padbury Millenium Wood (who the Community Board supported in funding a project with Greener Padbury). 15 attendees joined in on the day. Welcome suggests for the next day out.

Phil Gomm thanked Hugh Ellerton for his input into the Environment Subgroup.

Action: all to contact Sophia if you wish to join the group

Phil Gomm gave an update on the Rural Economy Uplift Group.

The emphasis is on put a bit more energy into Winslow, brighten up the Town and boost the rural economy in time for the Station opening.

It will involve the villages and bringing people into the Town.

Appetite to input flower planters, market square events and looking at making areas more communal. Have had meetings with Winslow Sports Club and the Winslow Community Bus Team.

Questions to be submitted to winvill@buckinghamshire.gov.uk by Monday 10^th July 2023.

Two questions were submitted by Padbury Parish Council, these have been answered prior to the meeting. 

Q - Will the community board boundaries change following the changes to the voting boundaries for county councillors?  

A - It is currently unknown if the CB boundaries will change now the outcome of the Boundary Review is known.  A review is due to start during the summer with recommendations due February/March 2024.  The review will seek input from Town/Parish’s and VCS 

Q - Our traffic calming application was finalised in February 2022 and is still outstanding, can we please have an update? 

A - As previously discussed, when we met in 2022 after taking over as Community Bard Manager for the area, the traffic calming application will not be able to progress this year due to the TfB contract coming to an end this year. It was advised to try the HS2 funding application and if not successful I would keep the application on hold for next financial year. I have kept the application on hold, this is still the case as Community Boards are awaiting a brochure that is currently being developed with the new contactor. As mentioned in our February Community Board meeting, we will review a highways priority once the new contractor has settled in and we have visibility of the brochure. 

29^th November 2023