Desford Neighbourhood Development Plan Working Group

Minutes of meeting 06.06.16.

Present: Martyn Randle (Chair), Paul Angelinetta, Pat Crane, David Crocker, Adrian Dickinson, Bernard Grimshaw, Jim Houghton, Linda Mitchell, Julie Peel, Malcolm Peel, Joe Scarratt, Darren Tilley, Scott Wakefield

In attendance: John Preston

Apologies: Lyn Dearling, Kaye Johnson, Judy Sharpe, Kay Smith, Peter Walker

1. Chairman’s Report: The Open Events had gone well. Thanks to JP for his report, although not everyone had had time to read it in detail yet.  First thoughts were that we will need sub-groups to look at specific topics

 

2. Minutes: The minutes of 12.04.16. were signed as a true record

 

3. Matters Arising: none

 

4. Treasurer’s Report: Expenditure: £166.88. Balance: £83.12 (see attached). Thanks were expressed to SW for obtaining the voucher from Pesto foc.  Pesto had been thanked and acknowledged at the Carnival

 

5. Consultation Report:

General comments:

• JP suggested that sub-groups will need to look at the results under the different headings, the feedback from the stakeholder meeting plus any evidence gathered. Consideration of all these sources of information will be used to inform our policies
• It was good to note that people offered suggestions; not all criticism
• Some issues raised can be referred to the Parish Council as they fall within their remit
• It was good to give people 3 opportunities to have their say. The weather may have affected attendance
• JP provided the contact details of those who wish to be kept informed about the NDP.  A database will be created
• The demographics show that all but 4 of the attendees were over 55 and none were below 35 (see discussion below)
• We need to consider how we engage people from other age groups and geographical areas not represented. The stakeholder meeting and questionnaire will pick up some different people
• It is important to keep people informed through articles in the media and social media

 

The Results:

• Traffic & Transport attracted the most comments, which was not surprising
• There was considerable interest in Renewable Energy
• Facilities were generally thought to be good
• Housing revealed a demand for bungalows, which reflects the demographics of the attendees
• Only 3 people expressed their vision for the parish, so this needs to be worked on
• Comments under each heading could be grouped together and filtered

 

Attracting younger people:

• SW suggested we need to piggy back onto events where there are younger people, such as Open Mic Night at SiD, the Village Quiz. We could ask for 5 minutes to explain why they should care about the future of the place where they live and their children will grow up
• Another suggestion is for us to visit the different groups that meet in the parish and talk to them
• JH offered to contact all the sports clubs and ask them to disseminate the message
• We do the same for the young people’s organisations, mums & toddlers, the PTA – any volunteers?
• This needs to be done in parallel with our ongoing work, in the hope that there will be a greater public awareness by the time the questionnaire is issued
• PC will ask Peter Walker if he would be prepared to set up a facebook page. DPC is about to set one up, but it was felt that we need a snappy title to attract people to visit.  We need to ask the administrators of other facebook pages to add a link to ours
• We may pick up new issues from the above actions

 

6. Communications Officer’s Report:

• BG & PC attended a NDP Network meeting at County Hall. BG will summarise the papers and circulate
• The next task is to ask HBBC if we need a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) or Sustainability Assessment (SA). BG will contact Andy Killip

 

7. Project Plan: (previously circulated)

There is a lot to do in the coming month

• Analyse the Consultation Report
• Organise the Stakeholder Event then look at the results
• Evaluate all the information
• Engage with schools
• Set up focus groups to look at the various topics (see AOB). It was suggested that each group aims to co-opt a younger person
• Encourage people on the extended mailing list to join focus groups, but they should be chaired by a member of the WG
• Start preparing the Questionnaire: BG suggested this should be ready by October, so that in November we will have had them returned and be able to draft our vision and get an idea of what consultants we might need to engage
• The Project Plan sub-group will coordinate the above process

 

8. Open Events sub-group: this had not met since the Open Events, but will meet to organise the Stakeholder Event (see below)

 

9. Understudies for officers: It was felt that most of the officers could send a report by e mail if they were unable to attend. In the absence of the Secretary or Chair, substitutes can be nominated on an ad hoc basis

 

10. Stakeholder Event:

 

• Tuesday 5^th July at Bosworth Academy
• After discussion, it was agreed to keep to the suggested time of 5.45 for a 6pm start
• PC & Julie P have compiled a list of groups/organisations/shops/businesses and any updates need to be sent to JP
• AK will be asked to contact any businesses not on our list
• JS has almost completed a list of landowners (PC to send her list)
• Statutory authorities and service providers will also be invited
• JP will circulate the standard RCC invitation
• JP will send them out later this week (as soon as approved) or next week (as soon as the information about landowners is passed to him). A reminder will be sent nearer the date
• If we feel there are key stakeholders who have not replied, we can contact them ourselves
• JP provided a draft Agenda for the Stakeholder Meeting
• We will decide whether to have mixed or category based groups for the workshop when we see who is coming
• A facilitator and scribe will be needed for each table (suggest 5)
• JP will provide a grid of the key issues. The aim is to discuss constraints & opportunities (see attached facilitators brief)
• Confidentiality was raised. It was felt that some businesses will be reluctant to disclose plans for the future.  Separate meetings can be arranged at other times if requested
• A meeting of the facilitators was set for Tuesday 28^th June 6.30 at the library
• The following volunteered: PA, DC, PC, BG, JH, LM, MR, DT, SW
• KS will be asked if she is willing to be the 10^th volunteer

 

11. AOB:

• Focus Groups:

After discussion, the following groupings were agreed, but this does not preclude discussion about other topics.  There will be plenary sessions when the outcomes of the groups’ work are shared

• Heritage, History & Housing
• Traffic & Transport
• Environment, Flooding, Open Spaces, Recreation & Renewable Energy
• Facilities, Services, Education, Employment & Economy

 

• People can be on more than one focus group, so meetings will need to be carefully timetabled
• BG will coordinate the groups. About 4 members would be a good number per group.  Those on the extended mailing list will be invited to join
• BG will produce a set of draft Terms of Reference for the focus groups

 

• It was suggested that we invite someone from another NDP group to share their experience. It was agreed to invite a representative from Market Bosworth to our next meeting

 

• Locality grant: the timing of an application is difficult. We are not ready to identify what consultants we need, but once decided, we have to allow time to get quotes, find out their availability etc.  Any grant awarded in the autumn would need to be spent by March 31^st

 

• JP will talk to Richard Mugglestone about a Housing Needs Survey

 

Date of next meeting: Monday 25^th July 7.30pm at the library