Local area priorities

Recently Local Area Forum (LAF) members • Encouraging volunteering have been refreshing their priorities and the • Promoting local shops and businesses Local Area Plans updated accordingly. • Protecting the environment and green The most commonly occurring priorities are: spaces

• Activities for young people, including focus The following pages show just a few of the on employment or tackling ASB projects that have been commissioned or • Supporting older people to live independ- worked on in the local areas to meet specific ently, and reducing social isolation local priorities. In , the LAFs • Speeding, traffic and parking issues are known as Local Community Partnerships (LCP). • Roads, footways and footpaths • Public transport and cycling For further information, please call 01296 383409 or email Locality Services Less commonly occurring, but a priority for a on [email protected]. number of areas:

Activities for young people including employment and tackling anti -social behaviour

Many local areas have been working on with young people, so two events were projects to engage with young people, to organised in and Winslow to reduce youth unemployment and to tackle enable interested parishes to come along and anti-social behaviour (asb). Examples of this learn more about working with young people include commissioning a range of diversionary to developed youth councils or forums. or consultation activities, or engaging with From the Winslow event, it was identified that young people through youth councils or the some parishes would like to develop a youth creation of local area youth forums—or tack- council, but do not have the capacity to do so. ling specific issues by consulting with young people. In the local area it was therefore agreed that work would take place to develop Youth councils and forums an area-wide youth forum to provide young Many parishes would like to better engage people with a voice through the Local Area Forum and its parish councils. The young people can engage with the LAF members and work on priorities relevant to them. A local youth provider is currently working with Locality Services, youth groups and the local school (which also wants to develop this provision) to take this forward. The sports cage and sumo suits were on offer to young In other parishes throughout the county, BCC people at activities organised in the parishes. and partner agencies are working with parish on Activities and Opportunities for Young councils where applicable to develop capacity People. In 2011 three Blue Light Emergency to create local youth councils and give young Services courses for young people were de- people a voice. signed and funded in partnership with Bucks In Chiltern District, a Youth Club Forum has Fire and Rescue, Connexions and Street been set up by BCC and Chiltern District Dreams. This demonstrates partnership Council. This forum meets every couple of agencies working together to provide young months and has been developed to support people with more choices and opportunities local youth providers, who determine the to try something different, raise aspirations, agenda. get fit and healthy, gain a qualification and inspire individuals in career options. In Diversionary activities and tackling asb addition, it has brought individuals together A range of diversionary activities have been from different cultures, age groups, religions, developed throughout the county. Some of ethnic backgrounds and genders, encouraging the projects were developed to tackle specific cohesion and understanding of diversity. local issues. One example of this is a young The Youth Sounds project is a new project in people’s project in Prestwood, where early in and South West Chilterns & 2011, Prestwood Youth and Community Marlow which is designed to encourage a Action Group (PYCAG) identified a group a healthy and active lifestyle through singing for number of young people who had become dis- young people from all walks of life. The Youth engaged from the local community and were Sounds Project enables young people of all involved in substance misuse and petty crime. vocal abilities to join in a vocal choir/ group, The LAF worked with Chiltern District Coun- whilst also creating resources for other young cil, the Police and Paradigm Housing to de- singers. No other vocal provision or group in velop a project with an expert youth organisa- the locality targets young people—which is tion Street Dreams to resolve this issue and why the need was identified as a core focus engage with the young people. within this target group and offers the chance In other areas, positive activities were for young people to use singing as an outlet developed where gaps in provision were for pressures, problems and issues they maybe identified or pro-active engagement could be experiencing. undertaken. In Vale, a number of forums jointly In Chepping Wye Valley, the LCP has focused funded a sports cage and it was agreed this would be run by a provider, Club and Chalfont St Giles Youth Club. Youth for Christ (AVYFC), and supplied at Work also took place with the Youth Service low cost to parishes in the area. Diversionary and Action4Youth to develop capacity within activities for young people were set up in a communities to take on the provision of youth number of parishes in , Wing & services. In some communities, added value and Wendover local areas. These was created with additional provision were developed in partnership with the LAF being developed—including Prebendal Farm in and AVYFC. They were highly successful and Aylesbury. have run for a number of years, with many parishes also organising their own activities Youth unemployment through the provider. Following from a Big Society networking event Importantly, this provision has also lead to with the theme of Overcoming Barriers in Bucks other activities and facilities being provided, for Young People to Enter Employment , an including parishes working with the provider Enterprise project with targeted schools was to create additional youth provision or designed to address the lack of employability/ consultation with young people. In addition, enterprise skills in young people. Funded by young people are encouraged to become the LAFs in relevant areas, teams from the junior volunteers and the appropriate training Peter Jones Enterprise Academy and Bucks is provided. New University will work with young people from targeted schools to develop Consultation enterprise and personal skills that will help In some of the local areas, the diversionary them prepare for the world of business and activities were used to consult with local work after leaving school. young people and feed into parish plans, local Work is also taking place with the Local projects, etc. Young people also attended a Children’s Trust Boards. In Chiltern & South number of the Local Area Forum refresh Bucks, the local trust board is thinking of workshops—coming from local youth clubs developing a workshop on apprenticeships and and youth cafes. This was seen as extremely work experience. successful by many of LAF members, who actively welcomed their contribution. Volunteering

Developing capacity and provision SW Chilterns and Marlow LAF identified a local priority of supporting the identification, A number of volunteer-run youth clubs were training and support of local volunteers. A set up in areas where a need was identified, project was commissioned from Girlguiding with support from Locality Services and other and Action4Youth to agencies. These include: Weston encourage parents from local schools and the youth café, youth club and area generally to think of becoming volunteers youth café., Green and supporting local young peoples opportunities. Bourne End youth clubs. Existing community- A series of workshops will be held to develop run youth clubs also receive support from the volunteers including first aid, food hygiene LAFs, for example Chalfont St Peter Youth safeguarding and youth work. Speeding, traffic and parking issues

A number of schemes have been developed throughout the areas to review the issue of speeding, traffic and parking issues.

HGVs

HGVs are an issue for many parishes through- out the county where local roads and high streets are not designed for the heavy and long vehicles of today. negative impact of HGV traffic to ensure that A public meeting was held in Iver to discuss Buckinghamshire’s roads provide freight this issue with local residents. A LAF subgroup operators with the most efficient routes has been developed to take actions forward, through the county. which also include wider Transport issues, and the local Member is also organising a local Parking consultation meeting where HGV companies In Great Missenden, the Missendens LAF has and agencies can discuss road safety and set up a sub-group to take an overview of HGV routing issues with residents. issues including parking, speeding and cycling In Great Brickhill, Wing & Ivinghoe, a pilot and decide priorities. The local area technician Freight Quality Partnership (FQP) was set up has taken the lead to develop an action plan by county councillor and LAF chairman Avril for the area. Davies and a local parish councillor. A number of parking specific projects have The FQP started as a pilot in 2009, but its been implemented with multi-agency support membership has grown and it is an active across the areas. Local Members have taken voice for the LAF and local parishes, bringing the lead in addressing the issues below. together the relevant agencies (Road Haulage Hospital parking is a county-wide issue, but in Association, Police, BCC, etc) to ensure a tar- Beeches work has been undertaken through geted approach to the issues of HGVs using the LAF to alleviate parking issues and also inappropriate local roads and minimising the develop traffic calming measures. Councillors The FQP has created a website: www.beaconfqp.org.uk are also taking the lead with parking issues at .

In Wendover, a residents’ parking scheme was created with support from the LAF, BCC and AVDC. The aim was not just to facilitate resident parking, but to enable shoppers to be able to come into Wendover and find parking space nearby, rather than the local streets being filled by all-day commuter parking. A Greater Aylesbury LAF subgroup is tackling management the issue of parking around a high-traffic area of moveable with the highest ratio of schools in one area. Vehicle Activated A multi-agency approach is involving local Signs and schools and other agencies to resolve this roadside posters issue. have been agreed meaning that The High Wycombe LCP has taken a strategic parishes now cost-saving approach to managing the many have additional requests for help with parking issues from resources to local residents and now allocates the cost of manage their one Traffic Regulation Order per year from own speeding its Local Priorities Budget to cover as many issues locally. individual schemes as possible across the area. In Great Brickhill, Wing & Ivinghoe, a sub- Speeding group has been developed to look at a range Speeding is an issue in many parishes though- of measures can undertake. The aim is to out the county. As such LAFs have developed encourage cross-parish working and co- a number of subgroups to take forward operation to develop a solutions to tackle the actions, or work is taking place with NAGs issue of speeding in the wider local area. where they exist. Considerations include a cross-parish This work includes a car sticker competition Community Speedwatch event which also with local schools in North West Chilterns, encourages volunteering, poster and sticker championed by a local Member. competitions in the local community, using existing signage and rotating these between The NW Chilterns LAF also has had traffic parishes and raising awareness of existing management with a focus on speeding as its Road Safety campaigns and messages, including top priority for two years. As a result of the Get in Gear programme for young working with parishes, local NAGs and drivers. officers from TfB, new policies on the use and

Parishes are combating speeding issues by installing vehicle-activated signs, or participating in Community Speedwatch schemes Public transport and cycling & Roads, footways and footpaths

There are many instances of local areas complexities, but were happy their transport working to further develop public transport needs were being properly investigated. opportunities. These also tie in with the The LAF also had a Sustainable transport sub- community transport schemes (above). group which looked at local cycling issues and At the Wendover Local Area Forum priorities other needs. refresh, one of the tables looked at the issue LAF has supported the develop- of public transport. Members from Halton and ment of a safe access for walkers, cyclists and parish councils came up with horse riders between Forty Green and Knotty some ideas and then took these forward. They Green. This will include a raised footway. consulted with local residents and then came back with a proposal to change the existing The Beeches LAF has been working on an bus route to better address local needs. Olympic legacy project. Work has been un- dertaken with local stakeholders and schools This was then taken forward with the local for this two-year project, which will create a county councillor, relevant representatives cycling route around Dorney Lake. from Locality Services, TfB and Arriva. A change was made at the meeting to adapt the Not all footpaths have to be tarmac— proposal and Arriva agreed to consider the sometimes a Right of Way can provide the request subject to it being do-able. The solution and also lever the necessary funding. parishes understood the issues and The Ford End to Great Gap footpath was a

unsuccessful bid for Transportation delegated budget funding at the Local Area Forum.

Until the Great Gap However, the Great Brickhill, Wing & Iving- walk was created, hoe LAF, led by the LAF Chairman and local residents had to walk along what was then a Member decided that this should be a priority busy 60mph-main project. The project was led by Locality road—or drive Services, who obtained additional funding of £30,000 and then worked with the local parish, the landowner, the Rights of Way team and Transportation to enable a new Right of Way to be created and bring this footpath to fruition. In other instances, footpaths cannot be put across landowner’s land or need to be tarmac. This was the case for the to canal safe walk which received LAF funding in addition to support from neighbouring of Way are working with an isolated group of parishes, etc. residents to improve and adopt an unofficial footpath through woodland to improve ac- Locality Services worked with the parish cess to local shops, services and schools. council to take forward the funding applica- tion. With just £20,000 Comma grant funding The SW Chilterns and Marlow LAF is support- available for the whole of Bucks, the level ing Lane End Parish Council in the creation of of support demonstrated by neighbouring a new footpath across an industrial estate parishes and local residents, enabled over half which currently divides two halves of the vil- the funding pot for the year to be given to the lage. This will improve not only access to final phase of this project. shops and local services but also community cohesion and wellbeing. In High Wycombe Locality Services and Rights

Supporting older people to live independently, and reducing social isolation

The issue of social isolation can affect people Sheds project to reduce the instance of social of all ages. However, many of the local areas isolation in older or vulnerable men—those have focused on older people as this is seen as who may have been recently bereaved or a major issue. Just a few of the many projects isolated due to being a lone parent or running in the local areas are shown below: unemployed, etc.

The NW Chilterns LAF has a priority of In Great Brickhill, Wing & Ivinghoe, a number supporting services to older people and has of community car schemes have been regularly committed funding and support to developed to enable older or vulnerable the Risborough Community Bus which people to attend hospital appointments or provides much needed public transport to other services depending on need. residents who, in many cases, have no These include a community car scheme in alternative means of visiting local shops, , where 27 members of the community medical, social and leisure facilities, friends and attended a public meeting to develop this car relatives or connecting with other bus or train scheme and 17 volunteers agreed to take on services. The LAF works with the Community the scheme. In Pitstone, a smaller group of Bus to ensure that the service is maintained volunteers stepped forward to develop the and is targeted to the areas of most need. provision. Both schemes are doing well. This LAF also funded the development of a Community Car Scheme with strong support In and Chiltern Villages, the LAF has from volunteers at RAF and supported a group of volunteers who set up a . community car scheme and a good neighbour scheme in Chesham, and has also supported Currently the Greater Aylesbury LAF has a similar approach in Cholesbury-cum-St commissioned work to develop a Men in Leonards with the newly formed Hilltop Social Library that has been set up in George Villages Good Neighbours Group. Green, which offers an opportunity for local people of all ages to chat, swap books and go A self-supporting good neighbour scheme has online. This project will enable integration and also been taken forward in Stoke Poges. reduce social isolation in the community. The Already a number of local people are making Library Service is also arranging for a number use of this volunteer-run service. of children’s books to be donated to this In Wexham & Ivers, the LAF subgroup is look- much-needed local facility. ing at supporting local libraries and community facilities. The LAF is looking to support a

Other priorities

Work is being undertaken to resolve local is- BCC Services sues and priorities throughout the local areas. are also Where a priority has been identified as a top encouraged to or actionable priority, then funding is available consider local through the Local Area Forum. priorities when working in a Examples of work on other priorities include locality. Amersham LAF’s support for the development An example of of St Michael’s Church forecourt in Amer- More a Local Area Plan sham -on-the- Hill. This is to make the area information into a new ‘town square’ in order to attract on the priorities for each local area and the more people to this part of the ‘high street’. local area plans are provided at:

The Chalfonts LAF has also supported the www.buckscc.gov.uk/localareaplans introduction of the ‘first hour free’ in Chalfont

St Giles car park to help increase footfall for local traders and boost the local economy.