Agenda item

Opportunity for Members/Partners to share their views and ideas on priority areas from 2020/21, links to their areas of work and key focus areas of Local Economy, Environment, Health & Wellbeing,  and Community Safety.

Leone Dale then outlined the vision of the Community Board for the next municipal year and invited comments and feedback from attendees. The presentation gave a brief breakdown of the budget allocation for the board which stood at a total of £472,554 for 2021/22. This included a sum of £261,072 which had been carried forward from the previous year’s budget. The funding process had also been streamlined with the removal of funding streams, and applications would instead be funded from the same pot. The Community Board aimed to spend at least 15% of its budget each on environmental projects and local economic recovery following the pandemic. At least 25% of the budget was to be spent on roads and highways projects.

Community Board Members would be given information on funding applications via email and invited to make comments over the course of the subsequent week before a decision was made to either approve or reject the application. It was hoped that this would foster a more in-depth and broad conversation surrounding potential projects, rather than these taking place at the formal Community Board meeting.

Leone also updated Members on the Action Groups and introduced their Chairmen for the ensuing year. These were as follows:

·         Improving the Environment Action Group (Chaired by Councillor John Chilver)

·         Supporting Economic Recovery Action Group (Chaired by Councillor David Goss)

·         Transport and Highways Action Group (Chaired by Councillor Billy Stanier)

·         Health and Wellbeing Action Group (Chaired by Councillor Phil Gomm)

Future meeting dates for the Action Groups would be communicated when finalised by Leone following the meeting. Anyone interested in joining one of the Action Groups could contact the Community Board, or one of the Chairmen directly to express an interest.

Councillor Gomm notified members that he would also be involved in the Transport and Highways Action Group working under Councillor Stanier, specifically in relation to rural speeding issues. Anyone with concerns about speeding was encouraged to contact him.

Councillor Chilver notified members that the Joint Working Group dedicated to issues concerning the East-West Rail and High Speed 2 construction projects was still meeting monthly. The next meeting of the Working Group would be 22nd July on MS Teams from 6-8pm. Anyone wishing to attend the meeting was encouraged to contact Leone for further details.

Leone informed Members that meetings of the Community Board would take place in November and February, with an annual event in April. The deadline for highways applications seeking funding from the 2022/23 budget was 30th September 2021.

Roy van de Poll expressed his hope that the Community Board’s Health and Wellbeing group would continue to explore and advocate for the replacement of Norden House Surgery in Winslow with more contemporary facilities over the ensuing year. Marco Dias also clarified that the online application process would be reviewed to consider removing the requirement to complete the form in one sitting in the future.

Marco confirmed that the requirement for match funding would not continue as standard practice for applications, but that it would be considered on a case-by-case basis, especially where budgetary constraints were more pronounced such as with transport projects. Anyone with concerns about the proposed schedule of payments in relation to an approved funding application should contact Leone for further information.