Notes of Action from RABG AGM

Minutes of the Risborough Area Business Group

Held at Princes Risborough School on 15^th November 2006 at 1900 Hrs

Attendees
Chairman G.Wiles :IFC	M.Thomas :Coppins B&B	J.Varle :Sylvia & Jean Hairdressers
Hon Sec P.Pitcher :P.A.M.	A.Smith :J Smith & Sons	S.Baker :Sylvia & Jean Hairdressers
H.Brown :Pickles Delicatessen	J.Hughes :Corporate Comms	N.Brooks :FSB
S.Marriott : PR School	D.Kent: Special Days	L.Gray: Daisy Chain
W.Streule :Cllr PRTC	B.Benifer :Cllr PRTC	D.Czarnetzki
P.Williams : Cllr PRTC	M.Wooster :Cllr PRTC

Item

Topic

Chairman’s Welcome

In the initial absence of the Chairman, the Secretary opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the meeting which was held in one of the school rooms instead of the library - due to technical reasons

Apologies for Absence received from:

L.Adlam :L.Adlam Architects	M.Adlam :Adlam Reprographics	J.Thomas :Coppins B&B
M.Pitcher :P.A.M. Ltd	N.Cook :Jinca Ltd	J.Cumming :Jinca Ltd
A.Brown :SoftTech2000	S & J.Barker :Inca Studio	M.Chignall :Thames Restek
K.Davidson :Davlock Crafts	J.Murdock :Business Link	C.Williams :Business Link
B.Aldridge:Alternative Tools	C.Wise :Wise Solicitors	M.Shuttle :David Shuttle
J.Barlow :Barlow Frith	C.Nightingale:	S&V Dear :Chiltern Circuits
B.Clark: Birtchnells	L.Wager :SideView

Minutes of the meeting held on 10^th October 2006 (previously circulated)

The Minutes were agreed as a true record.

Matters arising from Minutes not already covered by the Agenda

No matters were raised

Presentation: RAYM Logo Competition

The presentation by students from Risborough school of their entries for the RAYM logo competition has been postponed to a later meeting. Apologies were received on behalf of the school.

Presentation: Youth Town Council

Emma Davis, Kara Hercules & Natasha Greenough gave a most interesting presentation on how and why they have become involved with the Youth Town Council. When the YTC was first set up in November 2005, they met with Gary Hall (Mayor) who explained Town Council procedures. Since then they have their own regular monthly meetings in the council offices and also attend full council meetings. They aim to represent the voice of local youth at meetings and raise youth issues:

Their objectives are to:

1. Improve youth facilities.

A Multi User Games Area is being planned in Wades Park and it is hoped that sufficient funding will be raised in time to open it for Easter. PRTC is contributing and other sources of funding are being applied to.

A wider range of shops appealing to the younger generation is needed in the High Street, such as music and clothes shops

Better local transport with more frequent, reasonably priced bus services is important.

2. Raise awareness of YTC. Surveys have been carried out on school buses, articles placed in CrossTalk and links set up with local websites.

3. Widen the membership of YTC by recruiting from other schools e.g. Aylesbury High, Misbourne.

There is a real need to break down the barriers between local adult residents and the youth of Risborough. The school is trying to open up attitudes but needs help in taking this forward. A representative from RABG on the board of governors would be greatly appreciated (please see at the end of the minutes details of the commitments involved with being a school governor)

Emma, Kara & Natasha are currently in their final year at school and hope others will come forward to take their places on YTC and the School Council.

The secretary, on behalf of the meeting, thanked Emma, Kara & Natasha for their excellent presentation and wished them well for the future.

Presentation: Princes Risborough Town Council

Alan Turner: deputy chairman

Alan congratulated the YTC for the excellent work they do on behalf of local youth.

He introduced the other members of PRTC who were in attendance:

· Ben Benifer :Chairman of Planning committee

· Pamela Williams : councillor

· Maggy Wooster : Chairman of Burials committee

· Will Streule : Chairman of Public Relations Working Group, editor of CrossTalk

Introduction to PRTC

The Town Council is the non-political bottom layer of local government, and consists of thirteen members who are elected every four years, the next election being in 2007. Other members may be co-opted if needed. There has been only one public election in 25 years as normally no more than 13 people ever stand at any one time! The Council is run by a clerk and assistant clerk. The chairman is elected each year.

Responsibilities

PRTC is responsible for :

· Street lighting within Risborough which is heavy, expensive burden. Lights on the A4010 and main highways are the responsibility of BCC.

· Parks which have to be maintained in good condition. Recently Marlow received £700K towards the costs of a park from WDC. PRTC has received nothing!

· Public buildings including Market House, war memorials, bus shelters, seats, storage sheds, flower beds and grass areas. All have to be maintained and kept in good order. The war memorial at Monks Risborough was recently renovated.

The main source of funding for the above is the rates precept, chunk of domestic council tax. PRTC is always looking for grants etc to help fund the above. Last year’s budget included a lot of capital expenditure.

Projects

· Internal Health Check : resulted in RACA being set up to help address local issues

· CCTV : considered essential to stop anti-social behaviour. Retailers need help to catch shop-lifters etc. Risborough has been asking for CCTV for more than 2½ years. WDC have now agreed £107K towards capital costs with PRTC putting up £70K plus an additional £15K. The problem is the annual running cost, originally quoted at £16K, now revised to £27K. The funding of this must be agreed before going to the vote in WDC Cabinet - expected to be early December. As and when agreed, the installation period is 12 weeks.

· High Street Study : there is a need to improve the atmosphere of the High Street, review traffic flow, use of parking spaces etc. PRTC initially did some research and got tenders. A study is currently being carried out and RABG and local retailers will be included in the consultation. There is a problem with the funding of any resulting recommendations as WDC will not help. Some money will come from the Tourism project with the rest from other local groups?, loans?

· Market Town Forum : Dennis Green is responsible for the weekly market, the proceeds from which go toward local charities, in particular Risborough Carers. A working group has been set up to discuss ways in which the market can be revitalised. Suggestions to date include:

improving the appearance of the stalls by supplying new matching awnings
providing stalls for traders who do not have their own
organising a 3 day Continental market in Dukes Street, Market Square and the High Street
improving advertising and road signage

Meetings are held monthly in the Information Offices and all retailers are welcome. The next meeting is on 4^th December.

Alan then opened the meeting for questions which included discussions on the following:

· CCTV : Marlow always seems to get preferential treatment from WDC. Risborough needs help from the local action groups and the press to persuade WDC, in particular the Crime Reduction Officer, that CCTV is needed. Mary Shuttle has been interviewed on this topic by Bucks Herald. Frances Gomme is actively promoting Risborough through the Tourism project.

· Town Statement : a working party of representatives from local groups is needed to develop a Town Statement for Princes Risborough for inclusion in WDC’s Development Framework. When accepted it should carry a lot of weight when discussing future planning issues. A meeting must be arranged to get work started on the statement as soon as possible.

· Meeting with WDC : needed between WDC and representatives from local organisations, RACA, RABG, PRTC etc to discuss a number of urgent issues. There is a feeling that :

WDC is relying more and more on local voluntary organisations in order to save money
non-cabinet members are not supporting local organisations any more
although a great deal of work is put into the recommendations that go to cabinet, little notice is actually taken of them
it is difficult to reach the relevant cabinet member who has responsibility for a particular issue

· Parking : Aylesbury is getting free parking on Saturdays and Thursday evenings coming up to Christmas. Wendover & Thame have free parking periods. PRTC, RACA & RABG have been asking for 1 hour free in Risborough which has consistently been refused by WDC. How do we get issues moving in favour of Risborough?

· CrossTalk : Will Streule editor. CrossTalk is hand delivered free of charge to all council tax payers (paid for out of the council precept). Suggestion it could also be distributed by email and made available through the RABG website. Everyone congratulated Will on an excellent newsletter which addresses Town Council issues and local news.

· Christmas Lights : 1^st December for the turning on of the lights. An extra £2K, matched by WDC, is currently being spent annually to make them bigger and better! The little Christmas trees over shops are no longer being used due to Health & Safety issues with rusting supports and problems with listed buildings permission.

The chairman thanked Alan for his presentation and the members of PRTC for giving up their evening to come along and discuss important local issues with us. PRTC can be contacted by email at prtowncouncil@btinternet.com

RACA Action Group Reports:

Community & Housing.

· Youth strategy is coming out shortly.

· Volunteers are required for the older persons’ strategy to see if their needs are being met.

· A database of volunteers will be made available.

· Following discussions at the recent NAG, a database of Risborough’s anti-social behaviour and criminal activity is needed so that a proper analysis can be carried out and recommendations made by the NAG to the police.

Economic.

· Chinnor Railway project will take a number of years. The Historic Rail Society may be able to give some help, but someone with real influence is needed to reduce the expected length of time it is all going to take.

Transport.

· Cycle and walking trails are being documented. Local speed restrictions need to be included so if anyone has such a map, please let Graham know.

· A proposal for a hop-off-hop-on bus should be researched first to determine how much demand there is for such a service.

Environment

· Brush Hill walk leaflet is ready

· Explorer’s walk leaflet is having problems with colours in printing

· Heritage leaflet is near completion

· Risborough to have new notice boards which will be installed next week. They will contain information and maps of the town including places to eat, drink and stay.

· Frances Gomme is co-ordinating a mini town guide, hopefully with SEEDA funding.

Any Other Business

· John Hughes asked for a letter of support from RABG to help their bid to SEEDA for funding towards the visitors project

Date of Next Meeting

The next full meeting is Tuesday 16^th January 2007, Princes Risborough School, 7.00 pm.

The meeting closed at 21:15 pm, and was followed by drinks and refreshments provided by Heather Brown

Hon.Sec Pam Pitcher

01-01-2007

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RABG : representative on Princes Risborough School’s Board of Governor

What do governors do?

· Get involved in the life of the school

· Support the school

· Challenge the school to do its best by every child

· Set achievement targets for the school

· Link with departments and visit to see how subjects are taught

· Keep an eye on the school’s improvement plan

· Set the school’s annual budget

· Get involved in recruiting key members of staff

· Look at school policies

· Keep an eye on pupil exclusions

· Work closely with senior management team and the head teacher

How?

Governors make decisions collectively as a team and most of the work is done through meetings. Some tasks are given to committees. Governors typically join two committees which meet as follows:

Full governing body	4pm (Thursday)	Termly
Informal governors’ meeting	7pm	Termly
Curriculum committee	4pm	5 times a year
Personnel committee	4pm	4 times a year
Premises committee	4pm	Termly
Pupil welfare committee	4pm	Termly
Finance committee	4pm	4 times a year
Management & strategy committee	2pm	Termly

To find out more, please contact the head teacher Mr Rowe, or the Chair of Governors Mrs Angela Kent via the school office 01844 345496 or email office@princesrisborough.bucks.sch.uk