Buckingham Park Parish Council Annual Parish
BUCKINGHAM PARK PARISH COUNCIL
Clerk: Mr Keith Gray JP, CiLCA, FSLCC, MILM
Tel: 01296 435239 Buckingham Park Community Centre Mob: 07789 586594 Jubilee Square Email: [email protected] Aylesbury www.buckinghampark-pc.gov.uk Buckinghamshire HP19 9DZ
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A MEETING OF THE PARISH WILL TAKE PLACE ON 6th April 2021 at 8pm – This is a virtual meeting held under the Covid-19 Regulations
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84905171794
Meeting ID: 849 0517 1794 AGENDA
1. Welcome Cllr Anders Christensen (Chairman of the Parish Council)
2. Minutes of the Annual Parish To sign the minutes of the 2019 Annual Parish Meeting held on 2/4/19
3. Annual Report Chairman to present the Annual Report of the Council
4. Councillors / Community Groups To receive any reports from Bucks Council Members. To receive any reports from Community Groups / Stakeholders if present. To receive any questions or proposals
5. The Chairman to close the meeting
Anders Christensen CLLR A CHRISTENSEN CHAIRMAN OF THE PARISH COUNCIL
BUCKINGHAM PARK PARISH COUNCIL
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of Buckingham Park Parish held at 8pm on 2nd April 2019 Buckingham Park Community Centre, Jubilee Square, Buckingham Park
Present: Cllr A Christensen (Chairman of the Parish Council) Mr K Gray, JP (Clerk to the Council)
Parish Cllrs: Cllr Mrs A Looker, J Crowhurst
County Cllr: Cllr Mrs N Glover (Buckinghamshire County Council)
Residents: None present
Cllr Christensen welcomed everyone to the meeting.
1. Apologies for Absence RESOLVED: To receive and accept apologies for absence from the following: Parish Councillors Mr A Beukes, Mr L Whitlock, Mr P Bennison and Mr B Lemmon.
2. Minutes of the 2018 Annual Parish Meeting RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 3rd April 2018 Be signed as a true record.
3. Chairman’s Annual Report Cllr Anders Christensen gave the following report:
My reports for the last few years have been focused on the frustrations of dealing with developers, the lack of adoption, and hope that things would change in the coming year.
I am delighted that the past year has marked definitive progress. It has been a year of change when long held ambitions have been delivered. We have finally adopted the first parcels of land. The Parish Council is now in control of the main park by the community centre along with several greenways. This means that we are now in direct control of our public spaces and can start to deal with the defects we inherited. While this will be a significant responsibility it is one the Parish Council has prepared for and that I am confident that we can live up to. I now look forward to the remainder of the land being transferred and the commuted sum of approximately £500,000 being transferred from AVDC to the Parish Council. Adoption of our roads still seems some time away. Work is slow and communication between the Taylor Wimpey and Buckinghamshire County Council is poor. Once we have secured the remaining land transfer, I am confident we can turn our attention to this long running saga and push the two parties to progress work and adoption in a speedier fashion. Our residents demand and deserve nothing less. This was due to be the last annual statement of the current term with Elections due in May 2019. However, with the coming of a new unitary authority for Buckinghamshire all local elections have been postponed until 2020. In recent months I have been representing the Parish at a working group in relation to the Berryfields Surgery. The location of the surgery in Buckingham Park was only ever temporary though it has now extended to several years. Exciting plans are being made for the relocation of the surgery to a new building in Berryfields. While the move won’t be for another 18 months to two years, I am excited about the improved services that will be on offer in the new facility. Naturally residents with limited mobility or who are reliant on public transport are concerned about the move, but the working group is aware of these and working towards improved public transport links between Buckingham Park and Berryfields. Buckingham Park Church of England Primary School has established itself at the heart of our community since opening. This is in no small part to the efforts of the Head Master, Nick Waldron. Nick will be moving on from Buckingham Park to a new school after the summer holidays. On behalf of the community I wish to record our gratitude for all his hard work and wish him well in his new role. I also wish remember Cllr Tony Poth who sadly passed away during the past year. Tony and his wife, Mary, played an instrumental role in the founding of residents’ association and Parish Council. As always, I remain thankful to our fantastic team of staff who look after the community centre and now our open spaces. So thank you to Jan, Luke, the team at the community centre and Steve Webb. Also, a big thank you to our Clerk Keith Gray who makes the council function. I am proud of the progress we have made this year. It has been a significant milestone for the Parish Council and Buckingham Park as a whole. Now our real work starts, and I look forward to demonstrating how we can manage the land and play areas in the coming years.
4. Councillors / Community Groups To receive any reports from County & District Cllrs & Community Groups
County Councillor Mrs Netta Glover gave the following report: Community Forums and Having Your Say: From James Davies: I am the Community Policing Inspector for the Aylesbury Vale, and I have a proposal. You may be aware that each local neighbourhood has a community forum, arranged generally by the police, where you can give your views on policing in that area – this is with the community wherever possible. Therefore, I am proposing to chair a quarterly forum to address concerns that affect policing in your areas. This would be suitable for councillors, partners, members of the community, volunteer groups, businesses etc etc. However, before I arrange anything I want to see if there is an appetite for this sort of forum. Therefore, initially if you are interested in attending then please let me know. My email address to feedback is [email protected] – I would ask that you share this email with anyone you feel maybe able to provide an input. Buckinghamshire’s Brexit Preparedness: Buckinghamshire County Council is working with partners locally, regionally and nationally. It is well positioned to address any potential disruption arising from Brexit. In Buckinghamshire. BCC’s Brexit preparations started in earnest around May 2017, and this has allowed the Council to focus efforts to ensure the preparedness of both the County Council as an organisation and Buckinghamshire as a place.
Buckinghamshire Unitary Council: Structural Changes Order has today been laid before Parliament. This is the second piece of legislation required to implement the new unitary council for Buckinghamshire and follows on from the Regulations that was agreed earlier this year. The Structural Changes Order details how the change to the new council will take place and the set-up of the new council. The draft Order will be considered and debated by both Houses of Parliament. No changes of any significance have been made since the original draft. The Order confirms the following details:
The name of the new council will be ‘Buckinghamshire Council’ and it will have 147 councillors. Elections for the new council will take place in May 2020. A temporary Shadow Authority will be formed, with all current county and district councillors having a seat on this body; the shadow authority will set the 2020/21 council tax and budget. Leadership will be provided by a 17 seat Shadow Executive with eight District nominees and eight County Council nominees, plus the Leader of the County Council as its Chairman unless the Executive votes otherwise. An implementation team, led by the County Council Chief Executive and with a district Chief Executive as deputy, should be established to manage the smooth transfer of services and staff to the new Council
It is expected that the Order will take around 6 to 8 weeks to progress through Parliament. Once it is approved the Shadow Authority then needs to meet within 14 days. This is obviously great news as it gives a firm, strong legal basis for the actions necessary to create the news Buckinghamshire Council to which we are all committed. First Shared Service announced: The county and district councils in Buckinghamshire have started the process of sharing legal resources from the autumn, part of the first steps to joining up support services for the new Buckinghamshire Council. Under the plans, the legal team at Wycombe District Council and joint legal service at Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils, will provide some key elements of the County Council's legal work such as property, contracts and employment work from October 1. An in-house team at Buckinghamshire County Council will provide its children's and adults services legal work, since this is not replicated at district level, until all legal teams transfer to the new unitary council in April 2020. Officers from all five district and county councils worked together to develop the plans and will put forward proposals for a fully integrated legal service for the new Council in due course.
5. To receive any questions or proposals from Residents of the Parish No residents of the parish were present
There being no further business for the Annual Parish Meeting, the Chairman of the Parish Council closed the meeting at 8.10pm
Signed: ______Date: 6th April 2021
To Note: Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020, the Annual Meeting of the Parish scheduled for 2020 was cancelled. Therefore, the minutes of the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Parish was signed at the 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting of the Parish held under the Covid-19 Regulations.