Minutes of the Avonmouth and Kingsweston Neighbourhood Partnership on Tuesday 22Nd March 2016 at 7.00Pm

Agenda Item No 3

Minutes of the Avonmouth and Kingsweston Neighbourhood Partnership on Tuesday 22nd March 2016 at 7.00pm

Venue: Avon Primary School Hall, Barracks Lane, Shirehampton, Bristol, BS11 9NG

Councillors present:

Councillor Jason Budd and Tim Leaman (Kingsweston Ward) Councillor Matt Melias (Avonmouth Ward)

Neighbourhood Partnership Members (representing Lawrence Weston, Sea Mills, Shirehampton and Avonmouth)

Renee Slater (Neighbourhood Partnership Chair, Shirehampton) David Thomas (Shirehampton) Tim Scott (Avonmouth) Mark Pepper (Lawrence Weston) Val Jenkins (Shirehampton) Ann Hawkins (Lawrence Weston)

Officers: Keith Houghton (Neighbourhood Partnership Co-ordinator) Ruth Quantock (Democratic Services Officer) Robin McDowall (Economic Development Manager) (for item 7)

Other attendees (including organisation where identified): George Ferguson – Mayor of Bristol (for item 7)

[email protected] http://www.bristol.gov.uk

Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Paul Bolton-Jones Avon & Somerset Police

24 residents including: David Tudgey – Ambition Lawrence Weston David Martyn – Kingsweston Action Group Jac Blacker – Avonmouth CCA John Chaplin – Bristol Port Company Andy Hollick Wendie Smith John Morris Maryna Morris Judith Hadley Paul Gilltrow Mrs J Crouch Mr M Crouch Christine Chard Stephen Warn Sandra Warn Eddie Kendall Gerry McCabe John Muse

1. Welcome and introductions

Introductions were made.

2. Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Councillor Wayne Harvey, Anne Green and Gil Osman.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on the 9 December 2015 and Action Tracker

P8 – it was pointed out that there was a $ sign on page 8 instead of £.

Agreed - that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2015 be confirmed as a correct record, subject to the above minor amendment and signed by the Chair.

Action Tracker All actions listed had been completed.

Matters Arising

P9(d) – Shirehampton Christmas Lights. David Thomas updated the NP that the Christmas Lights Association is taking active steps to re-form and will be in a position to deliver the Christmas Lights in 2016.

P9 (3) - Bid from Shirehampton Community Action Forum (SCAF) for £5000 grant funding which had been unsuccessful due to concerns raised by the NP around on-going sustainability of SCAF. It was noted that SCAF had now received confirmation that they will receive a grant from the People’s Health Trust for 50% of the cost of core funding and have therefore re- applied for funding to be dealt with later on the agenda.

P10 (6) – Allocation of between £200 and £500 to cover the cost of the installation of a bench for Sea Mills. Cllr Melias indicated that a vote had been taken by local residents and the preferred location was on the green area outside Sea Mills Library. Action Keith Houghton

4. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

5. Public Forum

One item of public forum had been received from South West Transport Network which was campaigning for a new station building on the Severn Beach line platform to be a priority project for Metro Rail.

The NP supported the contents and noted the statement. Action: letter outlining NP support for this campaign to be drafted – Renee Slater

6. Mayor’s Port Communities Resilience Fund

The Chair agreed to bring this item forward on the agenda as the Mayor was in attendance to answer questions that had been raised by the NP at the December meeting relating to the £1m Port Communities Resilience Fund (PCRF) which had been set up to support the communities around the Port.

The questions and replies from the Mayor are attached at Appendix A.

7. Neighbourhood Partnership Business Activities Report

The NP Co-ordinator introduced the report.

1) Wellbeing Fund

The Neighbourhood Committee were invited to approve spending of £4996 in accordance with recommendations agreed at the grant assessment meeting held on the 23rd February 2016.

The Neighbourhood Committee considered each of the Wellbeing Fund Applications in turn as follows:

(a) 191st Shirehampton Scout Group – Making the building vandal proof (concrete blocks and render) - £1200 requested

Resolved – (unanimously) that the Neighbourhood Committee approves the request for £1200

(b) Shirehampton Community Action Forum – Lamplighters Spring & Summer Walk/Events Programme - £1125 requested

Resolved – (unanimously) that the Neighbourhood Committee approves the request for £1125

Resolved (unanimously) – that the Neighbourhood Committee approves £410

(d) Goram Events Ltd – The Goram Fair - £1500 requested

Resolved: (unanimously) - that the Neighbourhood Committee approves £500

(e) Avonmouth Children’s Centre - Shed storage for play tots – shelves & Storage - £327.75 requested

Resolved: (unanimously) - that the Neighbourhood Committee approves £327.75

(f) St Mary’s Church – Girls Only Group (resubmission) - £1500

It was noted that there was not enough money to award the full amount so £1433.25 had been recommended which was the remaining balance in the Wellbeing fund. The NP Co-ordinator indicated that due to a slight arithmetical miscalculation of £20 there was actually 1453.25 remaining.

Resolved: (unanimously) - that the Neighbourhood Committee approves £1453.25

The Neighbourhood Committee also resolved to approve the recommendations not to fund the requests listed in section 1.4 of the report.

2) Traffic & Transport

The NP has been asked by BCC Highways team to choose some alternative schemes in case the Shirehampton/Kingsweston/Westbury Lane Junction scheme is unsuccessful in securing additional funding from Road Safety to complete the scheme. The T&T Sub-Group met on 14th January and have asked Highways to explore delivery of 4 schemes from Traffic Choices which were outlined in the report. The Sub-Group will meet in advance of the next NP meeting to find out whether funding has been successful and if not make a recommendation to re-allocate the NP funding (£25k) to one of these other schemes.

It was pointed out that owing to forthcoming changes to Ward boundaries the pedestrian crossing scheme outside Sea Mills Primary School would no longer be within the responsibility of this NP. The NP Co-ordinator confirmed that all the information relating to this proposed scheme would

5 be passed on to the new Stoke Bishop Ward along with all other issues relating to Sea Mills. Action Keith Houghton.

The Neighbourhood Committee resolved:-

1) that the 3 alternative Local Traffic Schemes listed in 2.2.3 of the report be put forward to Highways for further exploration:- - Vehicles parked and driven onto the Green at Moor Grove (LW), £25k for the introduction of a parking layby (but there is also the option of carrying out a lesser minor works scheme for under £3.5k - Accidents at Kings Weston Lane Roundabout (LW), @£25k for crossing - HGV parking in Portview Road, Avonmouth (AM), £3-£4k for yellow lining

2) that the proposed use of the Valerian Close S106 fund (£14803.26) be approved as set out under 2.3 of the report: - Upgrade of the Valerian Close bus stop (Portway) travelling in an inbound direction 3) that the recommended applications of the Merebank and Plot M6 S106 contributions be accepted as set out under 2.3 of the report and that it be brought back to the NP for final approval once the funding package for Kingsweston Lane is in place and a response from the DVLA is received. (the NP wished to see the correspondence between Jimmy Cliff and DVLA – action Keith Houghton)

4) that at its next meeting the T&T Sub-Group be requested to develop a set of criteria to be applied to highways improvement requests logged on Traffic Choices to select schemes. Action Keith Houghton/T&T Sub-Group

Action: Keith Houghton

3) Parks & Open spaces

The Environment Sub-Group had met on 18th February 2016 to continue its work on refreshing the existing Parks and Open Spaces Priority Investment

Plan. BCC has allocated £500k per year to support NP parks & open spaces priorities, expressed in NP Plans.

The Sub-Group had made a number of recommendations for the use of Parks S106 monies and Park Access improvement schemes to include in the NP Plan to enable access to the above funding.

During discussion it was noted that Kingsweston Action Group (KWAG)had put forward a project to the 27th February Parks meeting which had not been included in the list which he found disappointing. Although the application was not perfect, a lot of work had already been done on circular access paths in the area and KWAG did not want to miss out on this opportunity for funding. The Neighbourhood Co-ordinator suggested that this work was probably included in the BCC list but agreed to check with Sarah Tyler and get back to David Martyn (KAG). Action Keith Houghton

The Neighbourhood Committee noted an emerging S106 priority relating to Arbutus Drive/Westbury Land junction and resolved:-

1) that the recommended allocations of Parks S106 in para 3.1 of the report be approved as follows: - Former Portway Day Centre - £7620.97 - Former Shirehampton Baths - £23910.51 - Valerian Close - £8382.20 (Allocate to existing priority 5 – Improve park facilities at Beachley Walk/St Marys Rec) - Arbutus Drive - £9717.61. To apply to provision of play facilities in East Lawrence Weston, subject to an exploration of the most appropriate location

2) that the recommended Access improvements in para 3.3 of the report be approved for inclusion in the NP Plan as follows: - Nibley Road Open Space - Avonmouth Park - Ridingleaze & Henacres Play area

Action: Keith Houghton

4) Clean and Green / Environment Budget

The Neighbourhood Committee resolved to note the accumulative underspend of £2800 and approved that it be carried over to 2016/17 as a Clean & Green Budget.

It was suggested that some of this money could be used in conjunction with the Community Payback Service for litter picking across the NP area. The NP Co-ordinator agreed to speak to Tracy Edwards-Brown, Area Environment Officer. Action: Keith Houghton

5) Legal information

The Neighbourhood Committee resolved to note that in making decisions on how to spend any NP devolved budget they should have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty that applies to all public bodies.

6) NP 2016/17 Budget allocations

The Neighbourhood Partnership noted the Neighbourhood Budget available for 2016/17 as set out in para 6.1, commitments already approved and the uncommitted sum of £34813 available in the NP Neighbourhood Budget for allocation to NP Plan priorities.

Wellbeing Fund. It was noted that this fund has been consistently over- subscribed in recent years which is used to help engage local groups and organisations in contributing to the delivery of the NP Plan.

The Neighbourhood Committee resolved: 1) that £20,000 of the Neighbourhood Budget be allocated to a Wellbeing fund for the new ward area of Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston.

2) that no Clean & Green allocation be set aside from the 2016/17 NP Budget at present and that the situation be kept under review as the accumulated underspend from previous years is used across 2016/17.

Action: Keith Houghton

7) Exploring 2016/17 Neighbourhood Budget allocations

It was noted that there were a number of potential spends which the NP could consider to make use of the unallocated £14813 of the 2016/17

budget as set out in the report including the request from SCAF to reconsider their funding application for £5000 mentioned earlier in the meeting.

The Neighbourhood Partnership resolved that a further Governance/NP development event be held between March and June 2016 to include consideration of a range of options for use of its Neighbourhood Budget to report back to the AGM NP meeting on 30th June with recommendations.

Action: Keith Houghton

8) Latest devolved S106 contributions and community infrastructure Levy contributions

The Neighbourhood Partnership resolved to note the latest position as set out in the report.

8. Avonmouth and Kingsweston Green Capital Feedback

1) The NP received a presentation from David Tudgey - Ambition Lawrence Weston: ‘Build Your Own Solar Panel’ Community Awareness Event. This project had been granted £1694 Green Capital funding from the NP and had been successful in attracting some additional match funding to deliver the project. Action: Invite to Neighbourhood Forums – Tracy Edwards-Brown

2) The NP received a presentation from David Martyn - Kingsweston Action Group: Exploring Nature events. This project had been granted £1600 Green Capital funding from the NP to support a programme of free guided nature walks, to publish a walking guide to complement KWAG’s other free leaflets and two school days to bring the natural environment of Kings Weston Estate to a young audience. Copies of the leaflet and guide were circulated for information.

Both presentations were very well received by the NP who felt that they had delivered good value from the NP funding and that the objectives of both projects had been delivered.

Neighbourhood Partnership resolved that the presentation be noted.

9. 2nd City Wide Neighbourhood Event 24th October

The NP Co-ordinator introduced this report which outlined the feedback and the recommendations arising from this event. The NP was asked to discuss a number of questions that were raised in the report and provide a response.

The Neighbourhood Partnership resolved that the questions be referred to the Governance/NP development event that was to be set up, to make recommendations back to the next meeting as to the NP response.

Action: Keith Houghton

10. Avonmouth & Kingsweston NP Plan Update Report

The NP Co-ordinator introduced this report which provided an update in respect of each section of the NP Plan.

1) NP Plan Review The Plan would need to be reviewed to reflect the outcome of the Ward Boundary review and as previously acknowledged by the NP more work needed to be done to understand and include Young People’s priorities and engagement.

It was suggested that perhaps a pot of money could be allocated from the NP Budget 2016/17 to support travel expenses incurred by young people and others who participate in the work of the NP to encourage engagement. The NP Co-ordinator agreed to explore the technicalities of this proposal and bring back to the Governance Event for consideration. Action Keith Houghton.

The Neighbourhood Partnership resolved to review its Plan and to undertake specific work with young people during the March – June 2016

10 period as a priority and to bring a new edition of the Plan to the AGM meeting in June for adoption.

2) Influencing City Wide Priorities using NP Plans

It was noted that an overview of the work which has been undertaken to pull shared priorities from NP Plans across the City to be presented the City Council Services for action and to re-shape how these services could be delivered in future to meet the needs expressed in NP Plans would be provided at the next NP meeting . Action: Keith Houghton

3) NP Plan Activities update a) 1.3 - Developing resident membership of the NP and sub-groups to ensure Avonmouth Village, Shirehampton, Lawrence Weston and Sea Mills communities are well represented.

At the Governance event held on 20th February, two models for membership selection had been proposed for consideration by the NP as follows:-

Option 1 – Given that the NP consists of 4 villages (Avonmouth, Lawrence Weston, Shirehampton & North Sea Mills/Coombe Dingle), resident members per village should be elected by each Village’s Forum in April/May 2016 to take effect from June 16 AGM. Membership would initially be for 12 months, but would be reviewed going forward.

Option 2 – Open Door system (used by Horfield & Lockleaze NP). The NP term of reference limits each Ward’s resident membership on the NP. Within those limits any resident can request to become an NP member, via the NP Co-ordinator or NP Chair. They are asked to attend two NP meetings and are then formally voted on as members by the NP (no limit on period of membership)

The NP Chair invited the public in attendance to participate in the debate and following lengthy discussion a further option was proposed from the floor as follows:-

Option 3 – Take the above 2 options to the Forums and get residents to decide which membership selection system they would prefer to be in place. It was suggested that it would be better to delay putting forward resident

members until the September NP meeting to allow time for residents to get to know their Ward Councillors as they could change depending on the outcome of the Elections in May 2016.

In order to inform the NP’s decision the NP Chair asked the public in attendance which option they preferred and on a vote being taken the majority voted for Option 3.

Upon a vote being taken the Neighbourhood Partnership resolved that Option 3 above be approved.

(Voting: For 4, Against 1 and 1 abstention)

b) 1.5 – The Community Plan in Avonmouth

The Neighbourhood Partnership resolved to invite the Avona Group to the next NP to present on the Avonmouth Village Community Plan

Action: Keith Houghton

11. Date of Next Meeting

It was noted that the next meeting would be held at 7.00pm on Thursday 30th June 2016 at the Tithe Barn, Shirehampton, High Street, Bristol, BS11 0DE).

(The meeting finished at 9.10 pm)

Chair

Appendix A

Q1) Why is the Fund Capital rather than Revenue?

Reply Under the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting ) Regulations (England) 2003, capital receipts may only be used for meeting capital expenditure, repaying the principal of any amount borrowed, premiums charged and other costs and liabilities related to land disposal.

General revenue expenditure is not permitted, though direct costs related to managing a capital grant scheme are classifiable under capital expenditure.

The Council looked into whether it could practically and legally ‘swop’ some capital for revenue, but the Council has little or no ‘spare’ revenue, and this would require permission from the Secretary of State - both uncertain and involving a long delay.

A viable alternative exists - to lever a proportion of revenue funding from external sources.

In response to supplementary questions the Mayor provided the following responses:-

• The Port belongs to the whole of the City of Bristol, this is the first time in the history of the council that a proportion of capital receipt has been earmarked specifically for one community. The Mayor had therefore been keen to secure this funding before the elections in May 2016. The remaining £9m of the capital receipt will go in to a regeneration fund to unlock sites that are suitable for affordable housing and where needed most across the City. • The £1m capital receipt provides a great opportunity to attract match revenue funding from other sources and officers will assist the NP to maximise its potential to lever in external funding. As a good example St George NP had used Green Capital funding to produce Discover East Bristol, which was a green space mapping project to produce a guide to explore green space in the area. The Mayor

hoped that this NP would be equally as creative and take a positive approach for raising additional revenue funding and sponsorship. • The Lawrence Weston Community Hub was a separately funded project and the Mayor indicated that he was equally frustrated by the slow progress to date as he had a keen personal interest in seeing the project delivered (see Mayors response to Chair of NP – Appendix 1 to the Action Tracker)

Q2) When will the NP be advised of the plan for this scheme and how will the NP be involved in the process?

The NP will receive and be invited to comment on draft proposals with options for the delivery of the PCRF as soon as possible in the new financial year and no later than the June meeting.

The NP will be treated as a co-owner and partner in the Fund with the Council.

Proposals will include publishing a PCRF Prospectus and holding a Community Event to raise awareness and generate ideas and inviting NP representatives to join a Steering Board.

In response to supplementary questions the Mayor provided the following responses:-

• The fund should be used to grow and develop the area for the future, seeing a lasting impact, socially or economically – preferably both. From the Neighbourhood Partnership Plan and in consultation with the Ward Councillors, the Mayor has identified 3 key local priorities that the fund should focus on which fit this theme of resilience:- - Jobs and Enterprise - Social impact – investing in community facilities, and - Thriving High Streets

• Officers have been asked to flesh out some options on how these broad objectives might be delivered and bring back a report to the NP to help shape the design and delivery of the Resilience Fund. • Once the prospectus is published there is likely to be two rounds of applications for funding and allocation will be based on the greatest need/greatest opportunity for additional match funding. There is no fixed percentage allocation per Ward, this would be for debate at the local level • It was anticipated that the timescale of the process would be within the year

Q3) What work would be carried out to scope out match funding and how would options be brought to a wider stakeholder group ?

Work to identify potential sources of match, both capital and revenue, to align with capital PCRF, has already commenced.

Sources include future rounds and calls under: - Big Lottery Coastal Communities Fund Round 4 - West of England European Structural Funds (ERDF / ESF) - local charitable foundations, eg. Quartet - social investment funds, eg. Bristol & Bath Regional Capital - corporate CSR funds.

The options paper will contain further details of potential sources, including criteria, processes and timescales for applications.