Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, Councillor Matthew Walsh, welcomed everyone to the meeting. 

The Chairman announced that Councillor Carl Etholen would continue as Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

Apologies for absence were received from Buckinghamshire Councillors Robert Carrington, Melanie Smith, Shade Adoh [and Darren Hayday]; Councillor Catherine Campbell, Princes Risborough Town Council; Councillor Simon Cope, West Wycombe Parish Council (PC); Councillor James Cripps, Great and Little Kimble PC; Councillor Stan Jones, Hughenden PC [and Councillor Wendy Monroe-West, Downley PC and Hilda Stearn, Hughenden Street Association].

Councillor Steve Broadbent declared he was a member of the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership Board.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022.

It was noted that under the list of members present, it should read ‘Cllr J Cripps (Great and Little Kimble Parish Council’).

Resolved:  The minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022 were agreed as an accurate record subject to the amendment mentioned above.

An overview and update on the Marketing and Promotion ‘Local’ project.

To be presented by Lucy Dowson.

Lucy Dowson, Tourism Development Manager, Visit Buckinghamshire, provided a presentation, appended to the minutes.  Lucy explained that the aim of the project was to boost the visitor economy in Buckinghamshire through promotion and working in partnership with local organisations and businesses by providing business support and advice to help businesses grow, thus increasing jobs.  Raising the profile of Buckinghamshire would encourage people to visit, stay longer and spend more.  The Visit Buckinghamshire website received over 30,000 visits per month and provided businesses the opportunity to promote themselves locally, nationally and internationally.   The majority of the web page visits were to the ‘What’s On’ page; there was also an active social media presence and access to an online booking system.

The North West Chilterns Visitor Economy Project provided enhanced marketing and promotional support for the area via the Visit Bucks channels.  The project started at the beginning of May 2022 with a team of two working one day a week.  To date, the team had engaged with 40 businesses and provided various types of support and a considerable amount of marketing.

There were challenges for businesses as footfall had reduced since the pandemic and there were concerns about the cost of living effect on businesses; there were also difficulties in finding staff which was hampering recovery.

The project would continue until October 2022 and aimed to address the lack of manpower and provide support.  A fly drop was being carried out to businesses to raise awareness, along with engagement on social media to signpost businesses to Visit Bucks.  There was also a networking event on 15 September 2022 at Orchard View Farm, Aylesbury from 5.30-7.30 pm.

The Chairman thanked Lucy for her presentation.

·       Priorities 2022/23: To approve priorities for this year.

Ø  Community Resilience

Ø  Economic Regeneration

Ø  Environmental & Climate Change

Ø  Transport & Road Issues

·         To provide an update on the key activities of the action groups.

To be presented by the Chairman, Councillor Matthew Walsh.

The Chairman emphasised that the action groups were a massive part of the success of the Community Board and thanked the Chairs of the four groups.  The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Action Group chairs met with Sophie Payne, Community Board Lead Officer, and Jackie Binning, Community Board Manager, each month to discuss the applications/progress.  The Chairman highlighted some of the achievements of each group and confirmed that the priorities would remain the same as last year.  The following key points were raised:

• Councillor Steve Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport, BC, requested that the EV charger scheme be promoted by the Community Board, Parish Councils and Town Council.
• Councillor David Carroll stressed the importance of the parish councils being involved with the action groups; Jackie Binning agreed to make further contact with each of the parish and town councils.

Action:  Jackie Binning

·       Funding applications – to provide an update on applications received and the 2022/23 budget (included in the agenda pack).

·       Small Grants procedure – to provide a summary of this new procedure (included in the agenda pack).

·       Community Board Action Plan2022/23 – attached for information only (included in the agenda pack).

To be presented by Jackie Binning, Community Board Manager.

Funding Update

Jackie Binning, Community Board Manager, provided a presentation appended to the minutes and advised the CB of the current budget position and applications received as of 18 July 2022.  Jackie stated that the CB was able to carry forward £37,500 for the Highway Scheme Project Initiation Documents (PIDs) which had been submitted; if approved, the remaining budget would be £60,080.

Resolved:  The Community Board members agreed to carry forward £37,500 for the Highways Schemes.

It was highlighted that a PID had been submitted in the previous year and that a feasibility study had been carried out.  In response to a query on whether it would still stand, Councillor Broadbent explained that all the schemes and feasibility studies would remain on the books and the new contractor would review all the PIDs.  A Transport for Bucks (TfB) stakeholder conference was being held in October 2022 and a full update would be provided to CBs at the appropriate time.  The Chairman stated he would raise the issue with the Cabinet Member for Communities. 

Action:  The Chairman

Small grants’ procedure

The small grants procedure covered projects up to £1,000 and adhered to similar criteria and policies as other funding applications.  Approval was carried out by email and there was a quicker turnaround provided the correct information was provided.  The Chairman was keen to distribute the funding as widely as possible and asked the CB members to pass on Jackie’s details to any interested parties (Jackie.binning@buckinghamshire.gov.uk, 07816 118011).

In response to a query on whether there was a limit to the amount of funding used under the small grants procedure; the Chairman advised that he wanted to see grass root schemes supported and that the number of applications would be monitored.  Jackie stated she would find out if it was possible for an organisation to submit more than one application under the small grants’ procedure.

Action:  Jackie Binning

Community Board Action Plan

Jackie highlighted that the action plan on the North West Chilterns website was a live document and was updated regularly.

·       Former Molins site, Haw Lane, Saunderton: to present the issues with HGV’s transporting chalk and concrete demotion/excavation material from the site location - to be presented by Sharon Henson (Parish Clerk) and Cllr Vicki Smith.

·       Petition – Safety Crossing, Naphill: to present Buckinghamshire Council’s report to this petition (included in the agenda pack) and the Community Board’s response - to be presented by Jim Stevens.

·       Buckinghamshire Council Update: to be presented by Sophie Payne, Service Director, Culture, Sport and Leisure, Buckinghamshire Council (included in the agenda pack).

·       Question Time: to respond to questions received – to be presented by the Chairman.

·       For Information Purposes:  Live countywide and local Consultations, go to Your Voice Bucks website Your Voice Bucks - Citizen Space – to be presented by Jackie Binning.

Former Molins site, Haw Lane, Saunderton

Sharon Henson, clerk, and Councillor Vicki Smith, West Wycombe PC, raised the issue regarding the volume of traffic passing through West Wycombe High Street, much of which was related to the former Molins site demolition works.  There had been concern that lorries were frequently overloaded and uncovered, however, this situation had improved recently.  Lorries were often driving too fast and had been seen mounting pavements and residents along the Bradenham Road had been affected by chalk dust.  The Molins site application was dated 2008; the figures and policies were out of date and the PC had been unaware of the impact it would have on the area.  The PC had been told that no planning breaches had occurred even though the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) stated that there would be a maximum of 12 arrivals/departures per hour.  However, the volume of traffic was considerably higher (approximately 1500 per day) and was having a huge impact. The demolition was likely to last until the end of August 2022 and the new facility would take four to five years to build resulting in some degree of noise and extra traffic. 

Rosie Tunnard, Highways Community Liaison Manager, had visited the site on 27 July 2022.  It had a been a positive meeting with the site manager who had confirmed all vehicle drivers had been briefed on safety and checks were being made.  Road sweeping would continue at various locations.  It was agreed that direct contact would be made between the Local Area Technician (LAT) and the manager/site team.  Damage to the verge and carriageway on Haw Lane were discussed and no vehicles would be driven through West Wycombe.  Cllr Carl Etholen agreed to forward the report to the Bledlow-cum-Saunderton PC clerk for information.

Action:  Councillor Carl Etholen

It was acknowledged that there were several areas of concern and photographic evidence stating the date and time was required and should be sent to the Chairman.

Action: All/Parish and Town Councils

Councillor Broadbent stated that the HS2 and East West Rail projects were devastating the road network.  The road network was constantly monitored and a number of failed road surfaces would be repaired this year e.g., Nash Lee Lane/North Lee Lane.  Unfortunately, HS2 had powers under their own act but BC would continue to do everything they could to improve the situation.  Steve encouraged residents to use the HS2 enquiry mailbox (hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk)  or to contact the HS2 team at BC regarding vehicle concerns  (EWRANDHS2enquiries@buckinghamshire.gov.uk).

Further points were made regarding involving DVSA with potential contraventions and also about ensuring A4010 footway and cycleway was swept clear of chalk and debris as part of road sweeping.

The following key points were raised in discussion:

• Only the conditions laid out in the planning permission were able to be enforced.
• Weight limits could only be imposed by obtaining a traffic order.  However, it had been agreed that lorries would not be driven through West Wycombe.
• There should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

1 November 2022

1 November 2022