ACTION NOTES

MEETING: Greater Local Area Forum DATE: 18 June 2018 6.30 pm to 8.15 pm LOCATION: The Community Centre

Brian Adams ( District Council), Bill Chapple OBE (Bucks County Council), Tim Dixon (Aylesbury Town Council), Allison Harrison (Aylesbury Vale Present: District Council), Brian Roberts (Bucks County Council) (Chairman), Marcus Rogers ( Parish Council), Barbara Russel (Aylesbury Vale District Council) and Mark Willis (Aylesbury Town Council) Rob Anderson, Mr Glen Crosland, Simon Garwood, Tracey Ironmonger, Anne- In Attendance: Marie Kenward, Teresa Lane and Calvin Richardson, and Adrian Shepherd Sue Chapple, Andrew Cole, Netta Glover, Mr A Huxley, Richard Lloyd, Joanna Apologies: Rose, Denise Summers and Julie Ward

Item ISSUES RAISED 1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE / CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

3 ACTION NOTES

Updates were given on actions from previous meeting, 19 February 2018, as follows:

Croft Road, Aylesbury – line repainting had been completed. Mrs B Russell commended the improvement. LED lighting – the replacement programme would start in July 2018 with 3300 bulbs to be replaced. Lower Road, Aylesbury development – the issue had been referred to development management. Bishopstone - issues with flooding and drainage had been resolved. Russel Arms, Butlers Cross road works/traffic lights – issue raised with the utility provider. Broomhill Drive, Stoke Mandeville flooding – a blockage had been found and cleared. Anton Way – TfB had slow release stump killers on order. These would allow for stumps and roots to be dissolved and removed. It was stated that there were safe for animals.

4 QUESTION TIME

No public questions were received.

5 PETITIONS

No petitions were received. 6 TRANSPORT FOR UPDATE

Mr C Richardson, Area Manager. TfB gave an overview of the report circulated with the agenda and highlighted the following

 Upcoming planned patchwork schedule: o Howard Avenue o Ellen road o Meredith Drive o Windsor Road  Gully cleaning was on schedule . The team now had capacity for reactive cleaning as well.  Potholes continued to be a big issue with extraordinary numbers reported due to the cold winter and flash flooding.  Rural grass – the swath cutting program would begin in July/August and consist of a single cut this year. This was separate to cutting to maintain visibility for road users which would be carried out a further three times. It was noted that many of the complaints received regarding visibility were regarding accessibility from private properties. There had been positive feedback regarding the ecological benefits of reduced cutting including the reintroduction of several species of plant.

Members of the forum raised and discussed the following:

Akeman Way//Broughton Lane A41 re-development – Mr M Willis asked about proposals to re-develop this junction. He said that while residents acknowledged the need to review the traffic management in light of the new developments, they wanted to be consulted. Residents did not feel this had happened previously and wanted a voice. Mr B Chapple stated that he was unsure if changes could now be made as the junction had already been consulted and approved under the Hamden Fields estate application. Mr Richardson would feedback to Mrs C Urry, Head of Highways ACTION: Mr Richardson

Temple Street and Kingsbury Mr T Dixon asked about loose cobbles and slabs in this area. Mr Richardson would seek more information from the local inspector who would be visiting the area and compiling his monthly report shortly. ACTION: Mr Richardson

Replacement of cobble stones Mrs Russell asked about the use of tarmac to replace cobbles after road works. Mr Richardson explained that there was a requirement to replace like with like however private companies and utility providers were known to not be doing this. Mr Richardson to take this back to his team to consider enforcement options. ACTION: Mr Richardson

Jansel Square, Bedgrove - Mr Chapple reported that the road had broken up causing drivers to use the wrong side of the road. ACTION: Mr Richardson

Aylesbury Road, – Mr Chapple raised on behalf of Shelia Cotton, Bierton with Broughton PC, issues with the condition of the road from the Kings Head right through Bierton and was severe enough that they felt it would not be able to wait until the work on the planned by-pass began. Mr Richardson confirmed that this was not currently on the CMP program. He would take this back to his team for consideration. ACTION: Mr Richardson Lower High Street, Aylesbury – Mr B Adams reported it was in poor state of repair. ACTION: Mr Richardson

Aylesbury gyratory – Mr Adams reported a large pot hole on the gyratory. ACTION: Mr Richardson

Croft Road - Mrs Russell reported a pot hole next to the church on Croft Road. ACTION:Mr Richardson

Holiday Inn – Mr Chapple reported a large dip in the road on the A41 between Bedgrove and the Holiday Inn. ACTION: Mr Richardson

7 THAMES VALLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING UPDATE

PC G Crosland, Thames Valley Police (TVP) gave an outdate on the local area:

Year to date figures as of June across local police authority:  +7% in all crime types  +30% in domestic violence with injury  +21% in Violence with injury.  +3% in burglary

 Rural Tool Thefts – £500,000.00 worth of stolen tools recovered. A dedicated team had been allocated. Aylesbury Vale was experiencing a -22% decrease year to date in June, following this operation.  Problem Solving team - -42% reduction in missing persons since November 2017.  Recorded calls for service to SMH had maintained in volume since November  Town centre ASB at Mcdonalds has reduced by 60% since January 2018

Walton Street stabbing - PC Crosland confirmed it as a targeted attack rather than a random one. The victim was recovering and two other young people had been remanded in custody. The Stronghold team were involved but there was not an increased concern for safety in the area.

Pebble Lane – Mrs Russell asked about the possibility of the installing CCTV on the site on behalf of local resident Mr G Aylett. Mr S Garwood, Area Manager stated that he had also had discussions with Mr Aylett and the vicar of St Marys Church and confirmed he would be approaching other local stakeholders for their views. Ms Lane, confirmed that AVDC had their own ongoing review of all CCTV in the town centre and would share the details with Mr Garwood. ACTION: Ms Lane and Mr Garwood

Members of the forum agreed Mr Garwood would write to Mr Aylett to confirm the matter would be investigated with the intention of bringing an update back to next forum in September. ACTION: Mr Garwood

8 PREVENTION MATTERS UPDATE

Ms Angelle Bryan, Community Links Officer, Buckinghamshire County Council gave an overview of the Prevention Matters team and two of their community projects.

The team was currently undergoing a rebranding but its objectives remained unchanged.  Reduce isolation in community  Keeping service users in their own homes  Linking people to appropriate groups and activities

This would be achieved by Community Practice Workers visiting users in their own homes. Referrals came from professionals; GPs, social workers, mental health workers, etc.

Coffee Companions - Aimed at tackling social isolation by allowing people in participating coffee shops to use mats to indicate whether or not they would like to have conversations with new people. There were two cafes in Aylesbury using this scheme, Coffee Bean, Bedgrove and More+, Parton Road with ongoing discussions to involve more locations. In 2017 they received a grant of £300 from the Greater Aylesbury LAF which was used towards promotional banners and the purchase of participation mats. The scheme was re-launched, as part of Dementia Awareness month in March 2018.

Men in Sheds – Ms Bryan had recently worked with Mr A Shepherd, the chairman of Men in Sheds, on a podcast to promote their organisations. The organisation works with men who are experiencing a range of lifestyle changes and circumstances such as retirement, bereavement, depression and social isolation. Ms Bryan handed over to Mr Shepherd to discuss further.

9 MEN IN SHEDS UPDATE

Mr A Shepherd, Chairman, gave an overview of the group and their current accommodation issues, highlighting the following:

 Originally formed in November 2012 with LAF support, the scheme quickly outgrew their base at the Queens Park Arts Centre.  They have had success stories were attendees had been able to reduce or stop their depression medication.  They tackle projects of all sizes and work to support the local community. Examples included: o Building a soap box racer with the Police Cadets o Work for schools and the town council o Hosting restart parties at Queens Park, working with local people to help them mend their own items.  They currently reside at Unit 27-28 Rabens Close, Aylesbury and operate Monday-Friday. The unit was co-owned by Aylesbury Vale Estates and had previously been offered free of charge.  The owner was now seeking a commercial rent for the property, £15,000 plus service charges and insurance, which the group could not afford. Men in Sheds were therefore seeking other premises in central Aylesbury, where most of their users were.  An ideal location would be 1,100 square feet to give storage space. They currently have 300 square feet.

From the AVDC/AV Estates prospective Ms Lane, explained:  They had previously offered the space free of charge but it was never meant to be a long term arrangement.  Men in Sheds had been offered a 25% discount on the full commercial rent.  AV Estates had several other organisations on a waiting list for units and they were compelled to prioritise commercial rentals to maximise income.  They had reviewed their portfolio and did not have another suitable site to offer Men in Sheds.  It would not be appropriate to use the University College Aylesbury building on Walton Street which was commercial zoned and unfinished internally in places.  The exemptions charity shops receive would not be applicable. Mr Garwood stated that the LAF remained committed to supporting Men in Sheds but was unable to make payments towards rent. However a request for funding towards a specific project was to be heard later in this meeting.

10 AVDC UPDATE

Ms Lane, title? circulated an update report And highlighted the following:

 Aylesbury Vale Local Plan – the Planning Inspectorate had now approved, with the enquiry starting 10 July 2018.  Garden Town– the website was now live  New Homes Bonus – had already checked and Men in Sheds are not able to benefit from this.  Section 106 - £18,558 awarded for Heritage Interpretation displays at Stoke Mandeville Stadium  Vale Lottery – two recent winners of £2,000 each.  Purple Flag status awarded again  WhizzFizzFest to return 30 June 2018.  Play in the Park – 1 August 2018.  Waste collections o Starting 3 September 2018 there would be changes to residential collection days as schedules were adjusted to accommodate housing growth. o Starting 3 July 2018 batteries and small electricals could be left on top of regular bins for collection.  Buckinghamshire Homelessness Prevention Trailblazer programme runs until March 2019.  Aylesbury car parking study had now been completed and would be going through the BCC Scrutiny and Cabinet processes.

Spilt waste bins – Mr Dixon asked what could be done regarding spilt waste bins. Ms Lane would investigate and respond. ACTION: Ms Lane

Watermead crematorium – Mr Chapple asked for clarification regarding its status. Ms Lane confirmed that all legal issues had been resolved and any outstanding matters would now be small ones with the site ready to start operation.

11 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL UPDATE

A written update was circulated with the agenda for information.

Ms T Ironmonger drew the committee’s attention to Clear Air day which was due to take place on 21 June 2018.

12 LOCAL PRIORITIES UPDATE

Mr Garwood, Area Manager presented three funding applications for approval.

Handy Helps £5k to Community Impact Bucks to support expansion of the scheme in the Aylesbury area. Men in Sheds £5k to overhaul their operations and help them be more self-sustainable in the future. Youth volunteering to regenerate an area around St Marys Church, Aylesbury to make it more attractive and inclusive. RESOLVED: Members of the forum AGREED all applications as set out in the report.

Mr Garwood reminded the forum that all transport projects for 2019 needed to be submitted and agreed by 31 August 2018.

13 DATE OF NEXT AND FUTURE MEETINGS

24 September 2018, 6.30pm. Venue to be confirmed. Minute Item 10

Aylesbury Vale District Council

Update for the Greater Aylesbury Local Area Forum – June 2018

1. Digital Success

2. Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP)

3. Garden Town Update

4. New Homes Bonus

5. Section 106 Funding

6. Vale Lottery

7. Purple Flag Status

8. Events

9. Waste Services

10. Trailblazer Programme

11. Aylesbury parking study

7 1. Digital Success We are continuing to improve levels of customer service through webchat, which offers 24/7 online support to those using our website and helps us deliver a faster, more responsive service.

29,462 Aylesbury Vale residents have opted to receive electronic council tax bills, reducing the need for paper bills and saving approximately £15,000 per year in postage. We will be continuing to encourage more residents online and to improve My Account functionality.

We have been preparing for the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulations and have updated our privacy notice.

2. Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) The Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (2013-2033) was submitted on 28 February for public examination. Paul Clark BA MA MRTPI from the Planning Inspectorate was appointed by the Secretary of State to carry out the independent examination of the plan and hearing sessions will begin on Tuesday 10 July at The Gateway, lasting for a period of three weeks. The Inspector has already asked a number of initial questions, which AVDC is working through and questions and answers will be found on the VALP page of our website.

Louise St John Howe has been appointed as Programme Officer, an independent officer of the examination who will be working on the Inspector's behalf, organising and managing the administrative and procedural matters of the examination process. The Inspector’s Matters and Issues and Guidance Notes, draft programme and draft participants lists were due to be sent out by the Programme Officer to all the regulation 19 respondents in the week commencing 21 May 2018.

Any queries about the examination or correspondence to the Inspector should be sent to: Programme Officer Louise St John Howe, PO Services, PO Box 10965, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 3BF Email: [email protected] Phone: 07789 486419

3. Garden Town update The Aylesbury Garden Town website is now live and you can find it at www.aylesburygardentown.co.uk

It has a detailed overview of the project, including a map showing all the key development projects in the town, with information about the planned infrastructure. The ‘Have your say’ section offers visitors to the site the chance to share ideas on what they’d like to see as the Garden Town evolves, as well as the opportunity to sign up for regular updates and suggest ways in which they could get involved and ‘champion’ the Garden Town.

Engagement with the community is at the heart of the Garden Town programme and in the last couple of months, forums have been held for council members in the Aylesbury area, along with stakeholders and partners, developers and home providers and people who have registered an interest. The output from these workshops was extremely useful and will feed into the Masterplan for Aylesbury Garden Town, looking at both the near term to 2033, as well as further ahead to 2050 and beyond. Consultants will start this process in July and there will be extensive engagement throughout.

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4. New Homes Bonus

Project Grant Scheme The New Homes Bonus Project Grant scheme is open for applications until Friday 27 July. This is likely to be the last round of applications for the foreseeable future, until the unitary debate has been settled.

Micro Grant Scheme Between 1 January and 30 April 2018, over £14k was awarded towards the capital costs for a variety of projects including the refurbishment of community facilities.

New Homes Bonus micro grants of up to £1,000 are available for parish and town councils, plus voluntary and community sector organisations. These grants are available on a monthly-basis and don’t necessarily need to have a link to growth.

The closing date for applications is the 15th of each month.

For further information on how to apply, please visit www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/new- homes-bonus-funding-scheme

5. Section 106 Funding Projects funded by S106 monies between 1 January and 30 April 2018 (totalling over £345k) are as follows:

- £73,104 for refurbishment of the all-weather pitch plus £73,297 for carpark resurfacing at Aston Clinton Park  Aylesbury - £18,558 for Heritage Interpretation Displays at Stoke Mandeville Stadium  - £20k for a new cricket practice facility  Coldharbour - £8,957 towards replacing play equipment  - £12,464 for play area equipment  Haddenham - £6,164 for information boards and seating in the Community Orchard  Northall - £5,088 towards extension of Northall Village Hall  - £7,791 for fencing and ball stop netting at Pitstone Football Club  - £1,860 bowling machine for new cricket nets facility  - £5,000 towards the restoration, extension and provision of disabled facilities at Saye and Sele Hall  - £64,258 to purchase land to create a community park  - £39,850 towards refurbishment of the Sports Hub  - £8,815 new slide at Village Hall playground

6. Vale Lottery The success of the Vale Lottery continues and the scheme now supports more than 180 good causes across the Vale. To date more than £140,000 has been raised.

In the last few weeks, we’ve presented two £2,000 cheques to Vale Lottery winners. We continue to discuss with other organisations how our successful model can help them to achieve a similar impact in their own areas.

7. Purple Flag Status Aylesbury town centre has been awarded Purple Flag status for the fourth time running, following an assessment by the Association of Town and City Management. The report heaped praise on the town centre, highlighting key achievements such as the policy that

9 encourages the staggered closing times of venues which they said “would be the envy of other towns and cities”.

8. Events

WhizzFizzFest 2018 Preparations for WhizzFizzFest 2018, Aylesbury’s family-friendly festival being held on 30 June, are almost complete.

A number of special guests and events have been lined up for the event including:

 Ballerina extraordinaire and Strictly Come Dancing judge, Dame Darcey Bussell, who will be reading from her much-loved book series Magic Ballerina and overseeing a dancing competition for local school students.  Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, gold medal-winning heptathlete and children’s author, will also host a question and answer session for her many fans and budding future Olympians.  Singer-songwriter and local resident, Tony Hadley, will be giving fans the opportunity to get up front and personal in his very own question and answer session.  A number of other exciting children’s authors are lined up, including the award- winning screenwriter David Solomons talking about his popular books as well as two new Dr Who stories.  Traditional parade involving hundreds of school age children from across the Vale of Aylesbury and beyond.

To see the full schedule of events, celebrity guests and much more, please visit www.whizzfizzfest.org

Play in the Park 1 Aug - Save the Date On Wednesday 1 August, our Communities Team will be hosting Play in the Park at Vale Park, Aylesbury. This annual event is free to attend, although there will be a small charge for some activities.

Play in the Park aims to encourage and develop family play through a unique day of activities and entertainment to celebrate National Play Day.

9. Waste

Bin collection days As part of ongoing improvements, we’re making changes to our waste collection service. These essential changes will help to futureproof the service as we improve capacity, fuel efficiency and accommodate the number of new homes in the district.

From Monday 3 September, residents across the Vale may have a new bin collection day. Bins will continue to be collected on an alternate week basis.

A new bin collection calendar showing the revised bin collection dates and an explanatory letter will be sent to all households in August.

Introducing small electrical items collections for the Vale From 3 July, residents across the Vale will be able to recycle unwanted small electrical appliances as part of their weekly kerbside bin collection service.

10 Batteries and small electrical items which are no larger than a standard sized shoe box can be left on top of refuse or recycling bins on collection day. The crews will collect these items at the same time as collecting the bin.

10. Trailblazer Update The Buckinghamshire Homelessness Prevention Trailblazer programme, launched in September 2017 will run until the end of May 2019.

The service targets clients who are in accommodation, but are dealing with other issues that put them at risk of future homelessness. Focused on early intervention, the Resilience Team, partnered with other support organisations, work with clients to improve their resilience to homelessness. For more information go to connectionsupport.org.uk/buckinghamshire/projects/resilience-service/

11. Car parking plan for Aylesbury

Arups have just completed a parking study for Aylesbury which has

- assessed usage and current demand for all public car parks in the town centre - use of other car parks provided by others eg Network Rail - on street parking - the operation and management of car parks - likely future demand - future trends and there impact on parking provision eg driverless cars

Many stakeholders have been involved during the process. The draft study and recommendations will be considered by AVDC’s scrutiny, cabinet committees and finally by council in September.

The study ahs been paid for by AVDC and similar studies have now been commissioned for Buckingham, and Winslow.

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