Agenda item

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 develop a positive relationship with the HS2 and East-West Rail projects than had previously been possible.