Agenda item

Updates from the Winslow and Villages Community Board Action Groups:

·         Public and Community Transport (Trish Cawte, Winslow Community Bus)

·         Health (Vron Corben, Winslow Big Society)

·         Roads and Highways (Billy Stanier, Buckinghamshire Council)

·         HS2 and EWR (John Chilver, Buckinghamshire Council)

The Chairman reminded Members that the current Working Groups for the Community Board were as follows:

·         Roads and Highways

·         Public and Community Transport

·         Health

·         HS2 and EWR

The Chairman then invited the leaders of each Working Group to provide a brief update on their ongoing work since the last meeting of the Community Board.

Billy Stanier – Roads and Highways

The Working Group had last met at the end of January to discuss highlighting and utilising MVAS data to ease speeding-related issues in the community. Billy had since discussed this with Councillor Nick Naylor (Cabinet Member for Transport) who suggested that a member of the highways and road safety team at Buckinghamshire Council could attend a future meeting of the Working Group or the Community Board to hear their ideas. Their next meeting was scheduled for 1^st April at 2pm.

Trish Cawte – Public and Community Transport

Trish and Leone had contacted Andrew Clarke (Head of Public Transport) at Buckinghamshire Council to discuss bus services in the local area. They were informed that flexing an existing subsidised bus service to increase future local coverage would be possible. John Gilbey had responded to suggest re-routing the no.60 subsidised bus service, or purchasing a smaller community bus with s106 funds.

Trish detailed that the response rate to the recent Great Horwood questionnaire regarding Public and Community Transport was 12% with many respondents having no idea what services were available. Trish would look to investigate this with an aim to improve public awareness of existing services.

VronCorben highlighted feedback from residents of the surrounding villages that a community car scheme would be beneficial to the public. The existing scheme in Winslow was economical and a similar scheme could be explored as an alternative to the changes in the bus route. Vron was happy to share the necessary information to help get the project up and running if required. Llew Monger suggested that allowing communities to bid for funding to provide community busses or car coverage could also be explored as an alternative to subsidising existing bus routes, as s106 money was to be used specifically for leisure purposes. John Gilbey highlighted £20,000 of s106 money for community transport in Great Horwood PC which could be used on a future project. Keith Higgins drew attention to a sum of £80,000 of s106 money in Stewkley PC for future community transport investment.

The next meeting of the Working Group was yet to be scheduled.

VronCorben – Health

The Working Group would examine the reports of both the CQC and Health Watch regarding Norden House Winslow Surgery. Some leaflets would also be acquired from LEAP to promote home exercise and dietary awareness to increase healthy living during lockdown. Anyone with ideas who would benefit from a leaflet was encouraged to let Vron know. Vron informed Members that there had been good feedback on the local vaccine rollout from the Winslow, Wing, Waddesdon and Whitchurch surgeries. The next meeting was scheduled to take place in April.

Llew gave an update on Norden House, stating that the Winslow Neighbourhood Plan allocated land in Winslow for a new Medical Centre. Initial proposals to the CCG were unacceptable causing progress on the development to stagnate. Winslow Town Council and Buckinghamshire Council were in regular meetings and further discussions with the CCG were being encouraged to overcome this. John Chilver (Cabinet Member for Property and Assets) informed Members that Greg Smith MP and senior Officers from Buckinghamshire Council were exploring avenues with the CCG to overcome this issue and expressed his desire for a positive outcome.

John Chilver – HS2/EWR

Greg Smith MP gave an update at the last meeting of the Joint Working Group from the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee which had been attended by representatives of local Parishes. The next meeting was scheduled for March 1^st at 6pm and would be attended by Andrew Stevenson MP (Minister of State for HS2) providing an opportunity to question the Minister directly. There would be no presentations at that meeting to allow more Q&A time. Members’ attention was drawn to the dedicated webpage for the Joint Working Group where further information on the questions submitted could be found. Members who had not received one were encouraged to contact Leone at winvill@buckinghamshire.gov.uk for an invitation should they wish to attend.

The Chairman thanked each of the speakers for their updates and re-stated the importance of the Working Groups as the driving force for progress within the Community Board. Anyone who wanted to get involved with their work or knew someone who would be interested was encouraged to contact the Community Board through the new email address at: winvill@buckinghamshire.gov.uk