Risborough Area Business Group

Meeting held at Princes Risborough Community Centre, Carrington Room on 19^th May 2005 at 1930 Hrs

Attendees

Lance Adlam – Hon Chairman

Bill Bendyshe-Brown – Hon Sec & Treasurer

28 other members

Chairman’s Opening Remarks

The Chairman opened the meeting by explaining that this was the second meeting following the very successful inaugural meeting held on 17^th April 2005. At that meeting members had asked for an early follow-up meting so that the initiative was not lost. Much work had been undertaken since the inaugural meeting including the setting up of a Bank account, compilation of the members list and several meetings which would be briefed upon during the meeting

Apologies for Absence

Apologies had been received from Liz Wager, Martin Hall, Terry Duffell, Chris Shields, Bob Newell, Steve Wilkinson, Edward Tadros, Geoff Ribbens, Rodney Lugdon, Simon & Jean Barker, Carl Etholen, Francis Gomme, Sylvia & Jean

Business Update

The Hon Sec/Treasurer advised the meeting that Wycombe District Council had now agreed to undertake a Town Master Plan Study for Princes Risborough and the surrounding areas. Terms of Reference and timescales had yet to be agreed but he was hoping for an early meeting to get the study underway. He advised that there would be a great need for input from the business community into this study to ensure that their needs were met.

It was agreed that RABG would need to keep close links with the Risborough Area Community Action Group (RACAG) which is leading the Market Town Initiative and that a copy of their latest update should be attached to these Notes.

Future Committee Structure

An outline for a proposed future RABG Committee structure was circulated by the Hon Chairman who asked for comments at the next planned meeting.

It was agreed that the RABG should build for consensus and that committees should not necessarily mirror those of the RACAG. However, it was important to know what the latest areas RACAG were addressing and to discuss these in the appropriate RABG monthly meeting. RABG was fortunate in having John Hughes (Corporate Comms) as a member as he was also the RACAG Chairman. He agreed to bring these areas to the meeting for discussion. Copies of RACAG minutes of the Tourism group to be circulated with these minutes.

It was agreed that the RABG focus should be on what the organisation would have to do to promote the businesses in the town and surrounding areas and to make the most of business to business exchanges.

Proposed RABG Constitution

The Hon Chairman passed copies of the proposed RABG Constitution to members attending and called for comments to be made at the next meeting. A copy of the Constitution was asked to be attached to these Notes of Action for members who could attend to have the opportunity to comment.

RABG would be a members group, not just a ‘walk-in’ group, and membership would require a modest fee, to be agreed at an AGM.

Format For Future Meetings

It was agreed that there would, in future, be 3 or 4 five minute presentations by RABG members at each meeting followed by up to 20 minutes discussion. These presentations should aim to generate sensible discussion and bring one local issue to the table. The first 4 presentations would be provided by:

· Lance Adlam Chartered Architect – Lance Adlam

· B3 Consultancy Services Ltd – Bill Bendyshe-Brown

· PAM Ltd – Mike & Pam Pitcher

· Ariel MS – John Vessey

The  meeting after next had two volunteers:

· Art & Office – Steve Barnes

· Business Link  - Julie Murdoch

Any Other Business

Future Meeting Venue.  Risborough School agreed to host all future RABG meetings at no charge. The School has all facilities required by members including IT support. This offer was gratefully accepted by members.

Links to Other External Organisations.  Business Link and Wycombe District Council were happy to join as members.  Other organisations would be approached by the Hon Sec to assess their response.

Car Parking.  This was a major issue facing local businesses as there was a physical issue of off and on street parking availability. It was agreed that this was a good issue to debate at a future meeting and also to be addressed by the forthcoming Master Plan study.

Office Space.  There was a need for the town to have a succession of office units from starter units right up to very large units so that as businesses grow they could move upwards and remain in the town. This would also be a good issue for the forthcoming town Master Plan.

CCTV.  The Hon Sec advised that this subject was currently being addressed by WDC and that there was a forthcoming meeting to assess viability of having monitored CCTV in the town. He would report back to the next meeting.

Younger Members.  It was agreed that there was a need to get younger people involved in the RABG. This was up to existing members to try and invite younger people to future meetings.

Gated Entrance to Town.  It was suggested that Princes Risborough should try and emulate other towns/villages in having a gated entrance to the town. The Hon Sec agreed to pass this to the Princes Risborough Town Council for their consideration.

Web site. PAM had volunteered to set up and host a web site for RABG which would be demonstrated during their presentation on 16^th June. It could also include the setting up of a local on-line business directory

Electricity Supplies. The erratic nature of the electricity supply required an approach to the local power supplier to improve the robustness of the power supplies to the town. This was essential if the town is to develop.

Date for Next Meeting

After a short discussion it was agreed by a majority vote to hold future meetings monthly rotating between Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. However, due to school holidays the school would not be able to host a meeting in August. It was unanimously agreed that no meetings should take place in August as most members would also be on holiday.

The next meeting would, therefore take place on June 16^th at Princes Risborough School at 7.30pm.