Minutes
of the Risborough Area Business Group Monthly Meeting
Held
at
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Attendees |
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Chairman G.Wiles :IFC |
C.Waterton :WDC |
J.Hughes :Corporate
Comms |
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Hon Sec P.Pitcher
:P.A.M. |
H.Brown :Pickles
Delicatessen |
M.Pitcher :P.A.M. |
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P.Jeffries :Spruced-Up |
A.Smith :J.Smith &
Sons |
B.Clark :J.H.Clark
Butchers |
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R.Jeffries :Spruced-Up |
M.Thomas :Coppins
B&B |
C.Williams :Business
Link |
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B.Bendyshe-Brown :B3
Consultancy |
J.Thomas :Coppins
B&B |
N.Faux :Risborough
Police |
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R.Orsler : |
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Item |
Topic |
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1 |
Chairman’s Welcome The
Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming everyone, including our guests, Reg
Orsler from the Risborough Town Festival and Nigel Faux from Risborough
Police. |
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2 |
Apologies for Absence
received from:
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3 |
Minutes of the meeting
held on The
Minutes were agreed as a true record. |
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4 |
Matters arising from
Minutes not already covered by the Agenda ·
CCTV: the
Chairman updated everyone on developments re the installation of CCTV in
Risborough. The meeting between RTC
& WDC has been put off again due mainly to WDC dragging its heels. David Lidington (local MP) added his
support on behalf of RABG and a reply has been received from David Evans (police)
which will be discussed in committee before reporting back to members at the
next meeting. The Home Office matched
funding of hopefully £125K toward the capital cost has now been lost due to
delays over the past two years.
Alternate matched funding is now being sought by both WDC and
PRTC. There was a suggestion that the
money potentially set aside for CCTV may instead go towards half-funding a
PCSO. This is not acceptable; CCTV is needed in
Risborough and is high on RABG and the Town Council’s ‘want’ list. ·
Economic
committee: Peter Keen. In Peter’s holiday absence, the Chairman
gave a summary of events in the last month. Steam train : a
meeting is planned with the steam train people on 31st March to
keep that project moving. Car parking : Peter is
pushing for a free parking period in the Mount car park and a meeting on car parks generally is
being arranged with WDC. ·
Quilt Show:
Plans
appear to be going ahead, with RTC allowing the King George V playing fields
to be used for parking. Simon can be
contacted at studioinca@aol.com with
offers of help. ·
Loyalty
cards: Mike Pitcher’s group had
met and come up with some good ideas.
They are planning to produce a package for retailers explaining how
‘Risborough Rewards’ will operate. A
brief mention was made in the Bucks Free Press but when ready a full approach
will be made to the local press for coverage.
This matter will be discussed and developed further by the retail
subgroup, and a progress report and will be tabled at the May meeting. ·
RABG
initiatives: Risborough Upper School o
Heather
Brown
has done two presentations at the school and set up a competition to design
logos to assist with the RACA Youth and Community subgroup. The students will present their ideas to
her on 21st March. o
On April 21st, year 10 is spending
an Enterprise Challenge Day working in groups on projects concerning their international
twinned school, Uchira in o
The school is still actively looking for
volunteers to mentor the business students in the school. Some RABG members are already getting
involved in this project. ·
Local
press: suitable articles on all RABG initiatives are
always needed for the local press.
Please email to Heather Brown hbpicklesdeli@aol.com
or Paul Jeffries at paul@spruced-up.co.uk
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Presentation on Reg Orsler : The
Festival started in 1996 with some 20 events organised by mainly volunteers,
supported by the Town Council. Since
then the Festival has grown significantly, filling the whole of the first
week in July with a variety of events and competitions. Reg has been on the committee for the past
five years. The Festival aims to: ·
promote Princes Risborough ·
provide opportunities for local clubs,
businesses and inhabitants ·
give enjoyment to all The
committee organises the musical events and relies on local charities, societies
and shops to set up stalls, sponsor events and generally take advantage of
the increase in visitors to the town. The
Festival is covered in the Town Guide, now available from ‘under the counter’
(!) at the Risborough Information Centre (RIC, opposite Budgens). Outline programme: ·
Saturday, the Festival starts
with a children’s fancy dress competition and parade. The procession is led by marching bands to
the King George V playing field where stalls and events provide entertainment
for the rest of the day. This year a
Rotary youth event is planned along with Punch & Judy, dancing and a bar in
the evening. ·
Sunday is the 10 Km race,
starting from the ·
Monday - Friday, upwards of 80 events
are organised such as lunchtime concerts by school bands and evening events
by local clubs. Hypnos, Ercol and
other businesses lay on tours round their factories. ·
Final Saturday, the main event is
the fair in the High Street with musical entertainments and stalls. Some
retailers take the opportunity of the increased visitors to lay on promotions
etc. A pig roast rounds off the
evening. ·
Final Sunday is the children’s
chocolate hunt in the Whiteleaf Cross area. Costs: The
Festival costs between £8,000 and £10,500 to run each year and relies heavily
on sponsorship. In the past one
committee member (Don Morris) concentrated, very successfully, on getting
sponsors, but he has now retired. The
committee aims to keep a float of at least £8,500 available to ensure the
long term viability of the Festival. Future: ·
new volunteers are required to help organise,
set up equipment and raise funds ·
new ideas are needed each year to slowly
expand the festival and maintain its popularity. A very successful mini ‘Crufts’ was added
in 2005 ·
sponsorship is essential if the festival is to
continue ·
any profit is ploughed back into the festival
by buying equipment such as chairs, marquees, staging, road signs etc (anyone
wishing to borrow the equipment for other functions during the year can
contact Reg and the Festival committee.
Typically they now have staging, PA and other equipment). The
Chairman thanked Reg for his talk and opened the meeting for suggestions as
to how RABG could help. The following
points were raised: 1.
sponsorship: a sponsor
is associated with an individual event.
RABG businesses could get involved - they would benefit by having
their name and logo in the Festival programme. 2.
High Street
shops: Risborough’s
profile would be raised if more shops were
open and laid on promotions etc during the Saturday fair. 3.
advertising: one copy
of the Festival programme is delivered by the Post Office free to each
address in the HP27 area. If local
businesses were emailed a copy of the programme they could distribute it
amongst their staff, many of whom live outside HP27 and therefore are unaware
of all the organised events. Business
Link may be able to help with the emails.
Local press provides free advertising and there is a poster campaign
in the town. 4.
programme: the
printing is costly so would any of the printing businesses in RABG be willing
to do a more competitive deal? 5.
fireworks: although
fireworks on the final evening seem a good idea and would be a big
attraction, the cost and safety aspects may rule them out. 6.
fancy dress: the general
atmosphere on the final Saturday would be enhanced if stall holders dressed
according to the Festival theme - this year’s being ‘The Ugly Bug Ball’. Shops could promote the theme as well. 7.
fair-ground
rides:
the comment was made that the cost of these rides is very high and some of
the fair-ground people have a very bad attitude. The shops have problems with the
owner. However, the rides do help to
fill up space and add to the overall atmosphere 8.
charges: most
bands perform free of charge. Stall
holders on the King George playing field pay a nominal amount. Perhaps these charges should be rethought
to raise extra revenue. 9.
help and
assistance: it was suggested that if possible some companies could
release people to help with the setting up.
Reg said he would let RABG know the type and times that help was
required. ·
suggestions
and ideas: if anyone has any suggestions for the Festival, please
contact Reg, Sue Coombs or Will Streule (who produces CrossTalk) Christmas Lights: The
discussion then moved on to the Christmas lights. The Festival committee is also responsible
for organising the turning on of the lights and the entertainments for the
evening. High Street shops are
encouraged to open and take advantage of the numbers of visitors. The lights are funded equally by RTC and
WDC (who subcontract the work involved).
The Festival committee is only responsible for the entertainments and
the turning on of the lights. The main
cost each year is the contractor who puts up and takes down the lights. He covers many local towns and villages so
it is not always possible to have the lights installed exactly when
required. If more lights are needed,
then money must be raised which has hitherto has been matched by WDC. The Festival committee, RTC and WDC
normally meet in July to plan the lights.
RABG will work with WDC/RTC on some of these issues. Graham Wiles & Bill Bendyshe-Brown volunteered
to represent RABG in any negotiations and Peter Keen and his economic group
could also get involved. It
was agreed that John Coombes, Reg Orsler and Will Streule be invited to the
next RABG committee meeting to discuss the above issues. The
Chairman thanked Reg again for his excellent contribution and hoped from
hereon that RABG can play a far more active part in future Town Festivals. |
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6 |
Talk by Christine
Williams of Business Link Christine
is an account manager with Business Link which is an independent private
limited company, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry. They support small to medium sized
companies (up top 250 employees) by offering free advice and information needed
to develop and run their business. Business
Link’s strengths are through being: ·
insightful - have extensive knowledge in
public, private, academic and voluntary sectors ·
impartial - do not rely on fees from third-party
specialists so can give genuinely impartial advice ·
convenient - services available over the web,
telephone or local office The
nearest office is Thame where 25 account managers are available for telephone
advice and on-site visits if needed.
They aim to give advice, suggest ideas and discuss options, all of
which are free of charge. They do not
tell companies what to do. The
ways in which Business Link can help are through: ·
business information - on their website or by
receiving their email newsletters ·
customer service team - can be called for a
particular need ·
account managers - will work alongside to help
solve problems or set strategic views Examples
of current programmes on offer are: ·
Skills for
Lean Manufacturing: addresses the needs of manufacturing
companies including understanding of Business Improvement Techniques (BIT) ·
Raising
Finance:
for entrepreneurs to start up or expand projects and business ideas ·
Manufacturing
Consortium: confederation of companies that share experiences and
run joint initiatives ·
Retail
Opportunities for Networking: encourages local retailers to join
forces and to deal with local issues ·
Rural
Schemes:
to support farmers, country pubs, hotels, B&Bs, etc ·
Practical
work based training for 16-24 year olds: funding is available
for apprenticeships including the retail sector ·
Managerial
Skills Now: up to £400 per employee is available when signed up for
this training scheme ·
Product 10: support
for companies of 10+ employees to help improve performance ·
Grant
search facility: this is offered free to businesses. Business
Link also works alongside organisations such as the Woodland Trust, Princes
Trust and the Carbon Trust. Another of
their objectives is to get people with mental health problems back into the
workforce. A
number of the members have attended breakfast meetings for retailers and
B&B owners to promote their businesses. Full
details of all their programmes and ways in which they can help are on their comprehensive
website www.businesslinksolutions.co.uk
. Christine can be contacted on 01844
210448 or email christine.williams@businesslinksolutions.co.uk The
Chairman thanked Christine for her talk and asked for questions: ·
What happens if a learning provider or
recommended person advising a company is in fact not very good? Business Link always welcomes feedback and
would remove such a person from their list if not satisfactory ·
How closely does Business Link work with
organisations? They have partnership
managers who will work with business groups and support initiatives, and they
will always try and find someone with the experience to match the
organisation’s requirements. ·
When a project is being undertaken and
assistance given, are there any time limits?
There are no time limits, support will be continued for as long as
needed Christine
handed out copies of the ‘People Worth Knowing’ booklet which contains
details of many of the programmes listed above. She then awarded the bottle of champagne to
Mr & Mrs Thomas of Coppins B&B whose business card was the first
pulled out of the hat! |
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7 |
Talk on Neighbourhood
Policing Sergeant Nigel Faux of
the Risborough Police The
way this country is policed has not changed significantly since 1964 when the
modern police service was introduced.
However, a big change is now underway with the introduction of
Neighbourhood policing which will affect the way the police currently
operate. The
scheme is to set up Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) whose remit is to
address community problems. The NAGs
will consult with local people to identify the most important problems
currently facing the community and draw up a list of priorities to action. They will then liaise with the police as to
the best way to address these issues and suggest means to tackle them. Members of the NAGs are expected to be ‘key
members of the community’ representing all groups - health, education, PRTC, WDC,
recreation, neighbourhood watch, but not BCC who volunteer to become
involved. There will not be any limit
on the size of NAGs but it is expected that over time they will ‘shake down’
to a useful working group. They will
not have a constitution and no funding as such is available. Any recommendations made by them must be
paid for out of local budgets. Members
have no legal duty but will be expected to meet every few weeks and report
back after a year. Public bodies will
have a legal duty to perform tasks set by the NAG but not applicable to
individualsThe police are convinced that working with NAGs will be useful and
productive. Essentially the local
community will be far closer involved in setting the policing agenda for the
area. The
Chairman then opened the meeting for discussion and questions. Issues raised: ·
worries that councils have not been properly
consulted as there are no specific budgets set aside to deal with NAG issues ·
how will problems be defined? If too many people are involved will an
agreement ever be reached? ·
NAGs hopefully will result in a better
partnership between the police and the local community ·
there are already lots of local organisations
attempting to address local issues.
Why not just get these groups working together if possible? ·
yet more people will be needed for these NAGs
and how will they be chosen? It is
expected that predominantly local people will volunteer but the police will
have a say as to who is invited to join. ·
Risborough consists of two main areas, town
centre and rural, with different priorities and interests. How will these be reconciled and will
politics be kept out of NAGs? ·
there are plans to recruit more PCSOs to help
with local policing. Risborough police
will concentrate more on local community policing with rapid response to
emergencies being provided by ·
is this the start of a two-tier policing
system in this country with o
one force dealing solely with local issues (Risborough
police station, planned policing) and another (Wycombe) dealing with
emergencies (termed reactive policing)? o
professional and fully qualified police and
lesser qualified PCSOs ·
the police must ensure that all public
meetings be advertised widely to reach as many people as possible in good
time! The
Chairman then thanked Nigel for his talk and promised to keep all RABG
members informed with developments and dates of meetings when arranged. |
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8 |
RACA Action Group
Reports: Community
& Housing. Heather
Brown had no significant progress to report Transport. Graham
Wiles gave an update on the following issues:
·
Ridgeway: the path
co-ordinators are planning to move the Ridgeway away from Risborough to the
East but this is being fought by RACA and RABG as they want to maximise
visitors to Risborough. ·
·
Risborough High
Street traffic congestion: the Town Council are about to let a contract
(approx. £7-8K) to undertake a professional study of the traffic flow options
available to improve the High Street.
Rather than leaving the terms
of reference broad enough to consider all options, the Town Council has ruled
out pedestrianisation, instead favouring a narrower terms of reference,
asking the traffic professionals to only consider the implications of a one
way system. Feedback from the local
community will be sought. Environment. Youssef
Safir was not at the meeting so no feedback was provided. |
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9 |
Any Other Business 1. Heather Brown asked for all members
wanting to join the social meeting walk on April 11th to email her
ASAP at hbpicklesdeli@aol.com. 2. Dates for diaries: ·
30th
March: RACA
Economic group, ·
19th April: Local Area
Committee, meeting (open) with Ian Reed (BCC). Public can ask questions if submitted at
least 2 weeks in advance ·
end of April: police meeting on
NAGs ·
11th May: annual town
meeting 3. Risborough 2035 study: another discussion meeting is being planned after which David Lock
Associates will circulate its report. 4. Changes in boundaries. The Risboroughs and Icknield are moving from Aylesbury into the Buckingham constituency of John Berco. It was agreed that RABG should make initial co | |||||||||||||||||||||||||