Agenda item

·       Proud of Bucks Awards

·       Community News 

·       Petitions - Cambridge Street and Mandeville School 

·       Buckinghamshire Council update 

·       Opportunity Bucks

Proud of Bucks Awards

Proud of Bucks Award winners would be selected in March with an event scheduled for 19 May at the Waterside Theatre to announce the winners and recognise everyone nominated. A formal invite for Board Members would be circulated in good time.

Post meeting-note: It was highlighted that this date clashed with the Aylesbury Town Council Mayoral Inauguration and a new date would be found.

Public Question

Mr Antonio Ribeiro, local business owner and resident attended to request an update on whether progress was being made on Cambridge Street improvements with the pavement licence expiring in September this year. The Board heard that the previous petition had been taken on board by the Council and the regeneration of Kingsbury and Market Square was integral to meeting the strategic vision for Aylesbury Town Centre. The feasibility of a permanent closure to traffic was being explored however if it were not possible then other ways to enhance the environment would be looked at. It was confirmed that residents and businesses would be consulted throughout the process to ensure the best outcome was reached for all.

Cambridge Street Petition

Hoi-Shen Radcliffe presented the petition raising concerns at couriers and customers use of the footpath and cyclepath to the businesses along the stretch of Cambridge Street from the Aldi store to the post office. Vehicle users were reported to disobey road markings, were blocking and damaging the cycle path and traffic officers were rarely present in the evenings to prevent this. There had been a number of near misses of residents and children, particularly users of the Martial Arts Club who ran classes in the evening.

A statutory consultation was underway in relation to junction protection markings in Aylesbury and the Aylesbury North Parking review is also underway. It was noted that the Council wanted to work with businesses to find a solution outside of engineered solutions. Members were keen to ensure parking wardens policed the area appropriately. This request was to be raised to Parking Services.

Action: Amy Jenner

Mandeville School Petition

Amy provided an update on the Mandeville School petition advising that she along with the local area technician, local member Councillor Raja, the Deputy Dead Teacher and senior road safety officers had met and discussed options including the school setting up their own active travel programme, a possible MVAS on site, and as a last resort the movement of the bus stop. Work would continue with the school to try and solve the problem.

Community News

The Buckinghamshire Community Wellbeing Hub Project Brief was included on page 69 of the reports pack for the Board’s information.

Buckinghamshire Council update

This could be seen on pages 65 to 67 of the reports pack.

Opportunity Bucks

Matt Everitt, Service Director for Service Improvement attended to present information on the Opportunity Bucks programme which was the Council’s local response to levelling up and was broadly aligned to the national agenda. Further details could be seen appended to these minutes. Whilst Buckinghamshire was an affluent area there were significant variations in certain areas where unemployment levels and benefit claimants were higher, life expectancy was lower and there were higher rates of crime. Ten areas had been identified in Buckinghamshire, three of which were in Aylesbury (the wards of Aylesbury South West, Aylesbury North West and Aylesbury North) and the Council would develop an action plan to improve outcomes in these areas and ensure all residents had the chance to succeed.

The Board highlighted that it would be important for the Council to liaise with Town and Parish Councils as statutory bodies who had extensive local knowledge. Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet had approved the programme for an initial three-year period with performance indicators then being regularly tracked.