Chesham Town Council Bill Richards Town Clerk Tel: 01494 774842 Fax: 01494 582908 www.chesham.gov.uk Email: [email protected] th 8 July 2013 Dear Councillor I hereby give you notice that a meeting of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE to be held in the Council Chamber, The Town Hall, Chesham, on MONDAY 15th JULY 2013 AT APPROXIMATELY 8.00pm (i.e. immediately following the close of the Development Control Committee meeting which is due to commence at 7.30pm) when the business set out below is proposed to be transacted: A G E N D A 1. Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman for the administrative year 2013/14. 2. Apologies for absence. 3. Declarations of Interests. 4. To receive and confirm the Minutes of the meeting of 25th March 2013. 5. To receive and consider the Minutes of: CHAP Management Committee meeting of the 12th March 2013 and General Meeting of the 23rd April 2013. Town Centre Working Group meeting of the 14th March 2013. Chesham & District Transport Users’ Group meeting of 2nd April and 14th May 2013. Transition Town Group meeting of the 2nd May 2013. Finance Working Party meeting of 12th June 2013. 6. Devolved Services Update. 7. Community Engagement Strategy. 8. Financial Out-turn 2012/13. 9. Financial Statement and Annual Report 2012/13 10. Financial Report to 31st May 2013. 11. Internal Auditor’s Report. 12. Flag Flying Policy. 13. Forward Plan. 14. Future of Youth Council. 15. Exclusion of the Public and Press. 16. Granting of Easement – 5 Bellingdon Road, Chesham. Yours sincerely, Bill Richards Town Clerk Chesham Town Council, Town Hall, Chesham, Bucks HP5 1DS Twinned with Friedrichsdorf Germany; Houilles France; Archena Spain Chesham Town Council continued . Circulation: Councillor V.M. Abraham Councillor Mrs. R .Juett Councillor A.K. Bacon Councillor Mrs C.M. Michael Councillor Mrs C. Boxer Councillor M. W. Shaw Councillor Mrs P. Cherrill Councillor F. S. Wilson Councillor M. Fayyaz Councillor P. W. Yerrell Councillor T. Franks Councillor P. J. Hudson Publication Date 8th July 2013. - 2 - Chesham Action Partnership Management Committee Meeting Tuesday 12th March 2013 at Chesham Town Hall In attendance: Martin Parkes (Chairman) Better Chesham David Carter (Treasurer) Chesham Society Kathryn Graves (Secretary) Chesham Town Council (CTC) Ken Austin Chesham Environmental Group (CEG) Mora Walker Chesham Museum Colette Littley CTC Bill Richards CTC Barbara Richardson COPAG Mort Smith Buckinghamshire Examiner Apologies: Fred Wilson (Chesham Chamber), Merrin Molesworth (Chiltern Voice), Niels Aalen (Pond Park Community Association) and Jo Pearce (Waterside Community Association). 1. Welcome & Introductions As Mort Smith was in attendance from the Buckinghamshire Examiner, each member of the committee introduced themselves and explained their involvement with ChAP. Mort explained that he is the Community Editor for the Bucks Examiner and Bucks Advertiser and is seeking to make links with community groups and charities in South Bucks and the Chilterns in order to find ways that the papers can help these groups. 2. Minutes of the 30th October 2012 The minutes were accepted as an accurate record. 3. Networking Meeting The networking meeting will be held on the 23rd April 2013 at 6pm, following the general meeting which will be held at 4pm. Community groups invited to attend will be asked if they wish to bring information leaflets and displays with them. A small budget of £20 for refreshments was agreed. Mora will purchase refreshments and organise them at the event. Barbara and Mora will ensure that attendees have name badges. Action: Mora & Barbara Mort offered to publicise the networking meeting through the Bucks Examiner. 1 4. New Committee Members Jo Pearce, a member of Waterside Community Association, has been nominated by Cllr Peter Hudson. It is hoped that she will be able to observe a future committee meeting before being elected on to the committee. 5. The Portas Grant Martin explained that the Town Team has organised a survey to go out with the next issue of YourChesham to seek people’s views about the town centre, which will help to inform how the Portas Grant is spent. Bill said that the Chilterns Sustainable Gateways Cycling Project has begun and that perhaps some of the money could be earmarked for this. 6. New Markets Martin said that the Street Market is looking to develop more associated events, following on from the success of the Chinese New Year event. Better Chesham is looking to develop a World Market on the first Saturday of each month. Colette is investigating the possibility of holding a Night Market to help develop the evening economy. 7. Any Other Business (i) Waterside Lakes Mora said that she is in favour of this land becoming a nature reserve that could be incorporated into the riverside walk. She would like to see ChAP support this idea. (ii) Skottowes Pond In light of the need for expensive regeneration works to safeguard its future, Mora suggested that people would be willing to donate money for Skottowes Pond, as it is a historical and popular feature of the town. Colette said that the Town Council and Friends of Lowndes Park are planning a campaign to educate people about the problems associated with feeding the pond’s waterfowl with bread. (iii) Industry David asked how we can promote light industry in Chesham. Martin said that Better Chesham has met with Chiltern District Council and will be meeting Bucks Business First. There are currently more apprenticeships in town than there are willing candidates, so there is a need to encourage young people to take these up. The meeting closed at 3.35 pm. 2 Chesham Action Partnership General Meeting Tuesday 23rd April 2013 at Chesham Town Hall In attendance: Committee: Martin Parkes (Chairman) Better Chesham Kathryn Graves (Secretary) CTC Ken Austin Chesham Environmental Group (CEG) David Gardner CDC Colette Littley CTC Merrin Molesworth Chiltern Voice Bill Richards CTC Barbara Richardson COPAG Mora Walker Chesham Museum Fred Wilson CTC, CDC, Chesham Chamber General Members: Masud Ahmed Chesham Asian Welfare Society Ibrahim Ameen Mosque Committee Mick Carling Better Chesham Alex Day BCC Phil Folly Transition Town Chesham Nigel Gordon Christians Against Poverty Tom Gorsuch Chesham Society Stuart Ottley Shed@ThePark/Caracol Helen Petty Chiltern Dial-A-Ride Mark Rann Chesham Comedy Club Mort Smith Bucks Examiner Tanya Sunman The U Project Mandy Thompson Job Centre Plus Apologies: Committee: David Carter (Chesham Society), Niels Aalen (Pond Park Community Association), Noel Brown (CTC, CDC, BCC General Members: Roy Abraham (Chiltern Commissioning Group), Christine Boxer (CTC), Peter Hudson (CTC, CDC), Charlotte Norris (Broadlands Avenue Residents Association), Deborah Taylor (NHS Bucks and Oxford), Kevin Patrick (Chiltern Hills Academy), John Shepherd (Emmanuel Church), Nigel Sims (BCC) and Liz Wright (Chilterns CAB). 1. Minutes of the meeting of the 15th January 2013 The minutes of the EGM were accepted as a correct record. 1 2. Roundtable Update from Organisations Everyone in attendance introduced themselves and provided an update of positive news from their organisation. Colette Littley and Ibrahim Ameen arrived at 4.10pm. 3. Change for Chesham & Cycle Chilterns Alex Day introduced Change for Chesham, a project seeking to encourage behaviour change in local residents and businesses to improve people’s lives and increase sustainability. If your community group wishes to know more please contact Rachel Toresen-Owuor via [email protected]. If your business is interested in supporting the project, displaying a Change for Chesham window sticker and promoting products which enable people to lead more sustainable lives, please contact Alex Day via [email protected]. Alex also explained that central government funding (from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund) has been obtained to promote cycling in the Chilterns for both residents and visitors. Chesham/Amersham/Great Missenden is regarded as one of the gateway areas to the Chilterns. For the Chilterns area, an electric cycle hire scheme is planned. The exact location of hire and charge points has not been confirmed yet. CTC are delivering the Cycle Chilterns project with Bucks County Council as a supporting partner. Bill Richards mentioned that the Town Council and Transition Town Chesham are bidding for money to facilitate safer cycling through Chesham. For further information on either of these schemes, contact [email protected]. 4. Update on The U Project Tanya Sunman outlined the free training sessions taking place across town to bring the community together and enable people to learn new skills. The project will run for four months after which data will be analysed to assess what the next steps should be. 5. Update on the Chesham Community Well Being Project The group were referred to the update from Nigel Sims that had been circulated prior to the meeting. 6. Christmas in Chesham Kathryn Graves explained that the organising group for Christmas in Chesham is looking to recruit new members and that she would like to talk to anyone who may be interested in becoming involved. 7. Chesham Community Hub Martin Parkes said that £3,000 has been secured from the LAF to initiate a Community Hub in a High Street unit. The hub will act as a box office for The Elgiva, a contact point for organisations, a media hub and a space for new business start-ups. 2 8. Any Other Business (i) Pride of Bucks Awards Mort Smith explained that this is the first year of these awards, which are being run by the Bucks Examiner to celebrate people who contribute to their community. The awards will be given out in June. It was noted that there are lots of awards schemes that cover Chesham and that it would be helpful if the organisers liaised with one another. (ii) Skatepark Bill explained that the consultation on the designs for the new skatepark in Lowndes Park closes this week, after which three companies will be shortlisted.