Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed all parties to the meeting.

Apologies for Absence received from: Rosemary Carr (Henbury and Brentry) were noted.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the 28^th March 2017 as a correct record, matters arising and action sheet.

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the meeting dated 28 March 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

Keith Houghton referred the Neighbourhood Partnership to the Action Sheet dated 28th March 2017 and provided a summary of the progress on actions to date.

Bristol Impact Fund process

In discussion, residents raised concern and disappointment that the process did not appear to have taken into account the Neighbourhood Plans and Community Plans.

It was noted that whilst the Community Plan identified priorities for Southmead for their local spend, the plan alone could not be used as the basis to apply for the Bristol Impact funding, as the criteria for the funding had been clear and specific to the Impact Fund. 

It was noted that the criteria for applications to the Bristol Impact Fund had been clear, but that additional communication may have supported members in putting forward their bids.

Bristol Youth Links

There had been a strong response from residents and councillors to the consultation and a further detail would be available after 27 June which could be circulated to residents. Cllr Godwin pointed out the North had ended up with improved financial support than originally proposed.

To consider any public forum statements submitted.

The deadline for the receipt of statements is:

12 noon on Monday 19 June 2017.

There was no public forum received.

-           Highways: progressing CPNN and Traffic/Transport via BS10 Group & Cllrs

-           Brentry Hospital PROW 542 S106 allocation decision

-           Parks/Open Spaces:

-           H&B S106 allocation for parks improvements

-           Taking forward Southmead disabled access project

The Area Co-ordinator presented the above report and the following points were made in discussion:

Highways schemes, traffic and transport

·         Public Right of Way BCC/542:  It was agreed that BS10 have influence in progressing any public rights of way schemes, although it was noted that they could not act as the final decision maker.

·         Residents discussed concerns regarding ongoing criminal activity and use of scooters along this pathway and in parks, and some members expressed a need for additional measures to restrict access. However, it was noted that other members raised concerns that this could result in a reduction of disabled accessibility.

·         It was agreed that concerns should be highlighted to the BS10 Group and that robust equalities impact assessment issues be addressed by the PROW officer.

Parks and improvements

·         Henbury and Brentry Parks Improvement Group recommendations: It was noted that after an online and paper survey conducted between February and March 2017, 130 responses were received and the main parks/open spaces prioritised for improvements were: Crow Lane Open Space, Okebourne Open Space and Barnards Park.

·         Cllr Weston had agreed with the Council that Henbury and Brentry act as a test bed by exploring alternative and less expensive ways of sourcing the equipment for the proposed parks improvements, to make the money stretch further. He has secured quotes from a company called Caloo. Additional funding is likely to be needed to meet all the aspirations agreed by the Group.

·         Residents raised concerns that disabled access into Okebourne Open Space had not been prioritised. The NP agreed it was an issue but that the steep slope leading from the entrance and issues of motorbike misuse on the site made this very difficult to achieve. It was agreed that this process would consider the equalities impact of proposed improvements and the accessibility of any equipment purchased.

The Neighbourhood Committee Resolved and the Neighbourhood Partnership Agreed:

1.      That the Councillors and BS10 Group take forward Henbury, Brentry and Southmead traffic/highways priority work and liaison/influencing with Bristol City Council and potential influencing of the use of CIL/S106 in the post-NP arrangements being developed locally and city-wide

2.      That the Councillors approve the allocation of the S106 funding, £42,618.45 to improve Public Right of Way BCC/542 and that the NP recommends that BS10, as a local resident body,  act as an advisory/consultation route for the officer to link into during the development of this scheme.

3.      That the Councillors approve the recommendation from the Henbury & Brentry Parks Prioritisation Group to allocate £71,672.48 Parks S106 to the 5 priority improvements drawn from the Parks Improvement Survey

4.      That the NP notes the intended work set out to take forward the Southmead Parks Access improvement project

5.      That the NP notes the latest S106 contributions and the latest statement on Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

6.      That the NP notes the legal information with  due regard to Public Sector Equality Duty