Agenda item

A verbal update from Sue Renshell, Chairman of the Winslow and Villages Community Board.

The Chairman formally welcomed everyone to the meeting, and reminded Members of the Community Board’s aims, objectives and priorities.

The Chairman also gave Members a brief update on recent events that had transpired since the last meeting of the Community Board in November. This included:

·         A new PCSO would be starting work in the community.

·         Winslow and Villages Community Board’s new email address (winvill@buckinghamshire.gov.uk). Members were advised that future email correspondence to the board should be directed to this new email address.

·         Winslow and Villages Crisis Fund was still open. Anyone with ideas regarding good use of the funds was encouraged to contact Leone for further information.

·         John Gilbey (Great Horwood Parish Council) had made initial contact with the relevant landowner regarding a future cycleway from Great Horwood to Winslow as had been discussed at the previous meeting.

·         Members were reminded to check the ‘Your Voice Bucks’ Citizen Space for current consultations at the following link: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/. The Chairman drew attention to a proposed Transport for Bucks Virtual Stakeholder Event taking place on 10 March for Aylesbury and the surrounding areas. Residents, parishes, external organisations and anyone else local was encouraged to attend. A TfB survey on future priorities would be issued and made available from 22nd February.

The Chairman welcomed Christine Dodds to the meeting as a new member of the public in attendance.

The Chairman reminded attendees of the upcoming Census which would take place on March 21, 2021. Further details would be distributed by Leone following the meeting.

Police Sergeant David Kuttner was then invited to give a brief update on the work of Thames Valley Police since the last meeting of the Community Board. Members were informed of Police action to tackle a spate of rural crime, resulting in five arrests and a subsequent reduction in similar crimes being reported.

There had also been an increase in telephone fraud with the aim of extorting money from vulnerable residents. A virtual fraud awareness and prevention event was being organised in partnership with Natwest Bank and Newton Longville Parish Council to tackle this. Aldo Simone (Trading Standards Officer) informed Members that anyone who would like a call blocker to prevent cold-calling of this nature to get in contact with Trading Standards at: trading.standards@sureycc.gov.uk The information gathered from the call blocker could then be used by Trading Standards to try to prosecute the cold-callers.

Members were introduced to the new PCSO, Kate Michalska, who was staring work in the local area. Sgt Kuttner highlighted this appointment as a great asset in improving Thames Valley Police’s local policing efforts, as their neighbourhood team had been short of a PCSO for the previous year.

Finally it was reaffirmed to Members that policing priorities in the area moving forward continued to be reducing anti-social behaviour, burglary and online fraud rates.

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and were informed that Police had attended the scene of a dumped cannabis farm on Pilch Lane in Great Horwood, but were unfortunately unable to find anything with substantial forensic value at the scene to identify the perpetrators.