Hazlemere/Chepping Wycombe Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) Minutes of Meeting held on 19/09 2013 at Sir William Ramsay School Chairman’s Opening Remarks: DO welcomed CRP who is standing in as a deputy for John Sparkes who himself represent the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Watch. 1. Minute Taker: Ashley Hopkins (AH) offered to take the minutes. It was proposed by DO and seconded unanimously by all present that AH should continue to be the minute takes. 2. Apologies for Absence: Brian Mapletoft, Carolyn Leonard, Ken Tucker, David Johncock, Barbara Hunt, Carolyn Leonard and Katrina Wood. 3. Minutes of last meeting (01/08/2013): It was agreed that most individuals present had received a copy of the last minutes and that they were a true reflection of the meeting. Copies were distributed to those who had not received copies. 4. Matters Arising: Nil 5. See Actions from minutes of meeting on 01/08/2013: It was agreed that there were not actions outstanding. 6. Items distributed since last meeting: All those interested had received the items mentioned. AS distributed a recently published leaflet from WDC entitled “Anti-Social Behaviour – Help and Advice for Residents within Wycombe District.” 7. Election of new NAG Chairman and Vice-Chairman 7a. There has been just one nomination for Chairman and that has been received from AS. 7b. Consequently, AS was voted in unanimously by all present and will now fulfil the role of Chairman for the next two years. He therefore immediately took the Chair for the current meeting. 7c. DO confirmed that the only nomination for the position of Vice-Chairman had come from Brian Mapletoft and he then provided his thoughts on the subject. The main thrust was that there could be a potential conflict of interest to have both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman from the same Ward and hence he agreed to put forward his name to act as Vice-Chairman 7d. Given that DO could provide AS with guidance on the role and also provide continuity it was agreed and accepted unanimously by all present that DO should be Vice-Chairman for the foreseeable future. SM then spoke of behalf of all the NAG members in putting forward a vote of thanks for all that DO has achieved during his tenure as Chairman, which includes amongst other things the Wheelie Bin Stickers and almost seeing through to conclusion the purchase and installation of the Moveable Vehicle Activated Signs (MVAS). 8. Nag Priorities: The Chairman announced that the priorities of the NAG remain as: ASB/Criminal Damage and Speeding/Road Safety. 8a. NAG Priority – Anti Social Behaviour/Criminal Damage: Update by CNPT: ML mentioned that he has maps of the whole area in his office and works out how to operate his resources effectively from these. ML then briefed the meeting on the attached Summary of Offences recorded within Chepping Wye Valley Policing area in the last four weeks up to 18/09/2013. Encouragingly, the crime reports in this policing area over the last 4 weeks compared to the same period last year have fallen from 65 to 48. therefore, 17 fewer crime reports (and 17 fewer victims) which is a fall of 26%. Additionally, looking at the bigger Wycombe picture, year to date burglary is down 28%, with 37.9% solved. This latter figure is the second best in the force. Whilst violence against the person has increased by 9.3%, the clear-up rate of 55% is the best in the force. NAG Priorities questionnaire using Alerts System: A general discussion took place regarding the need to ascertain from the community what they envisage as their major concerns, as it is now some years since the last public survey was undertaken. DO mentioned that the Hughenden NAG is currently undertaking a survey using a priority questionnaire and suggested that we should be doing likewise. Both ML and SM mentioned that they may have details of the previous questionnaire that was sent out and hence instead of ‘re-inventing the wheel’ they are to liaise and provide the next meeting with a suitable content. 8b. Speeding/Road Safety: Update by CNPT: Mat stated that various SID Operations had been undertaken, which are shown on the attached separate report. ML mentioned that the police had received a complaint from a resident in Rose Avenue, Hazlemere, regarding some youngsters undertaking late evening road displaying, which could be seen not only as a nuisance but also ASB. They will continue to monitor the situation. Members Questions: AH mentioned that during a recent Coffee & Cops meeting at Flackwell Heath library, that he had asked PC Rowena Austin of the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Team why we could not have a similar amount of speed enforcement and awareness days as say Lane End appear to have. She stated that there appeared to be a lack of volunteers in order to provide assistance for such operations. AH stated that as the Police & Traffic Co-ordinator for the FHRA that the buck stops with him to organise volunteers. He has subsequently been in contact with Rowena and is waiting on her response to when speeding operations can be set-up around the village. Further concerns were also raised regarding the Budgens car park issue and DO stated that work was going on earnestly behind the scenes and that David Johncock had appeared to obtain a compromise, which would shortly become apparent. DG mentioned that Marlow Bottom NAG had recorded 7 vehicles exceeding 55 mph on their MVAS. 8c. Traffic Calming: MVAS Project Update: DO stated that the project was moving on at a good pace and following on from the members of the various Wards identifying suitable locations, Loudwater have now identified two suitable sites along London Road, which means they now have 4 site locations. Subsequently, DO had accompanied Steve Underwood, the TfB Area Technician to view this site locations and he has made amendments to the locations as required. DO stated that the LPC had raised an objection to paying the £355.00 application fee and hence this is to be paid by CWPC in order to complete the funding for Phase 1. DO also confirmed that we now have all the funding for Phase 2, which is for a second MVAS and ancillary equipment, thanks to a contribution of £161.00 from Katrina Wood’s ward budget. All the three Wards involved confirmed that discussions have taken place with the householders who live nearby where the MVAS are to be located. RK raised a question regarding when it was anticipated that the first MVAS would go live? DO stated that he anticipated this would be towards the end of October and that he now expects the CWPC Clerk to shortly be in a position to place the order for the first MVAS and ancillary equipment. DG advised the meeting that the Wycombe District NHW had been advised that a MVAS had been stolen from Great Kingshill. DO mentioned that whilst insurance will be provided by CWPC, care needs to be exercised in ensuring the future safety of our own signs. DG also enquired about who would be responsible for moving the hingeable posts and signs as they are heaving pieces of equipment. As RK has a suitable vehicle for this, he agreed to undertake this responsibility initially with the help of the various Ward members. Community Speedwatch Update: ML stated that burglaries are currently their number one priority and hence operationally they are going to be stretched to undertake too many speeding initiatives over the coming couple of months. Nonetheless, AH stated that he will continue to pursue Rowena Austin with a view to undertaking some SID operations in the village as soon as possible, especially the busy times during the morning and afternoon school runs. DG stated that rubber humps had been installed along Ledborough Lane in Beaconsfield to try and calm traffic speed and that it would be interesting to ascertain who had paid for them? AS mentioned that BCC had stated that they would want some £175,000 to install 14 humps along Rose Avenue. NAG Safety Week: AH mentioned that via the NAG and the FHRA that his Ward would want to gain as much publicity as possible during the first week of the MVAS going live and that he envisaged not only getting the schools involved, but also the local press. Therefore, a general discussion took place regarding the establishment of a rota for use of the MVAS. DO suggested that initially each Ward would have the MVAS for one week followed by it staying in a Ward for four weekly periods. AH suggested that a draw should take place to ascertain in which order the three Wards would have the initial MVAS. However, SM suggested that as DO had been the principal mover in getting the MVAS project up and running and that he comes from Flackwell Heath, that this Ward should be first, followed by Penn & Tylers Green who will be contributing towards the costs and then Loudwater. A vote was taken on the subject and it was unanimously agreed by all present that this will be the rota order. SM raised a query regarding exactly what the MVAS displays and DO agreed to find out and report back at the next meeting. SM also raised a concern regarding Church Road East in Tylers Green which is a rather confusing road as in one part it is two-way traffic and in another it is one-way only. However, where it is one-way the road narrows appreciably and hence could benefit from some traffic calming measures. Evidently a letter had been sent to CWPC regarding this issue. AS stated that traffic calming along Rose Avenue is also under consultation. 9. CNPT: ML mentioned that he has recently been given additional policing responsibilities for Micklefield and Rye Mead, which are extra commitments on his time. He will therefore be working sometimes out the town centre police office and will undoubtedly have an impact on the time he can allocate to his Hazlemere responsibilities. AS wished him well and stated that it was no doubt a reflection on the good work he and his team had been achieving out of the Hazlemere office, but that he hoped it would not dilute the good work being undertaken in and around the area now that we appeared to have a full complement of police officers at last. 10. Youth Involvement: ML once again reiterated the thoughts of everyone that young people always complain that there is a lack of things to do which leads inevitably to ASB and other associated disorders. Hence he has given some serious thought to broadening the NAG structure by trying to involve younger people, but how to reach out to them is the major problem? He stated that whilst he was loath to suggest things he had a vision to involve 16 to 17 year olds who could put together a list of events for younger teenagers on what they would like to do. AS mentioned that the Hazlemere skate park was at a consultation stage, but ML stated that this could still be far off being installed and in the meantime would not help keep the youngsters involved. He mentioned that he had spoken with the Head of William Ramsey School who is keen to be of assistance and that he was keen to tap into the resources of the Amersham College at Flackwell Heath. This could for example be implementing a basketball competition between youngsters from the various Wards, which would require the help, assistance, and potential mentoring of NAG members or volunteers. Money was raised as a potential issue, but it was agreed that this should not be an insurmountable problem. DO stated that it should be part of the NAG responsibility to help solve many of the ASB issues and that the NAG is in an ideal position to help. ML therefore said that he wants to become more proactive in getting younger people involved in developing activities that they want to be undertake other than just skate parks, etc. Consequently, he is to continue his discussions with the various interested parties and provide an update at the next meeting. 11. Communications Update: Articles on NAG activities: DO stated that he had submitted an article for the Flackwell Heath village website regarding the progress of the MVAS project. AH requested that DO allow him a sight of this in order that he could place a similar article in the village Grapevine newsletter. JB stated that Hazlemere Residents Association is also putting articles out regarding the MVAS. ML stated that the Alert System was now working very well and that they were mostly being written by him as he does not want Rowena Austin to be tied down on this type of work rather than being out and about in the community. 12. Any Other Business: RK raised his concerns regarding nuisance being caused between Aries and Capricorn Houses in Flackwell Heath, which includes individuals urinating down the passageway. One of the individuals involved was evidently a taxi-driver from A1 taxis and RK had had mentioned this to the A1 Taxi proprietor. ML started that he would advise his team to keep a look out for this, but in the meantime, RK is to keep an eye on the situation and let ML know whether the problems are persisting. RK requested assurances regarding the insurance for the movement of the MVAS equipment, given the various health and safety issues amongst other things. DO and RK are to liaise on this issue. The meeting closed at 9.40 p.m. The next meeting will be on 31/10/2013 at The School Library, Sir William Ramsay School, Rose Avenue, Hazlemere starting at 7.30 p.m.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 08:37:52 +0000
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