Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies received from Peter Robottom and Councillor Peter Abraham.

Also not in attendance were Paul Bolton-Jones and Jenny Hodges.

The NP noted the resignation of Valerie Bishop. The Chair said the following in respect of Valerie’s work for the NP –

‘Valerie Bishop has resigned as an elected Ward Rep for Henleaze after serving with distinction since the inception of the NP (7 years). Val is a stalwart of the Community and has given her time and effort selflessly over many years to many causes.

Her accomplishments are far too many to list, but we cannot ignore her Stewardship and Chairman ship of the Henleaze Society and our own Working Group for Older People. It is therefore with reluctance that I accept her resignation and ask that our profound thanks and good wishes are recorded in the minutes and ask that we show our appreciation in the usual way’.

The Chair also made the following comment regarding the future arrangements for community based involvement –

‘We are entering a period of change where the current arrangements for holding local Community Public Forums and Working Groups and Indeed these more formal NP meetings are changing as the vast bulk of the BCC devolved funding is being withdrawn because the strategic challenges and consequential savings required to allow BCC to operate within its means will impact on how we wish to operate in the future. This is a major topic for discussion tonight and will be taken at Agenda item 11 (see Minute No.8 below)’.

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.

None declared.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2017 were confirmed as a correct record.

Action update

1.     Item 6 PCC funding - this would not be a regular or frequent event but might happen occasionally;

2.     Item 7c OPWG - money to remain with the Group to be spent as appropriate;

3.     Item 9 (11) - note to Penny Germon had been sent, no reply received at current time.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on 16 May 2017.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 19 May, 2017.

None received.

The NP received a report from the Neighbourhood Co-ordinator regarding forum updates, current financial situation and funding requests.

Two funding requests were considered –

1.     Provision of a dog/litter bin in a position near to the main gate of Stoke Lodge. The cost of the bin included 12 years of regular emptying and totalled £3,700;

2.     The replacement of the current gate (rose garden entrance) at Canford Park at a total cost of £3,300.

On both requests being put to the vote the Neighbourhood Committee voted unanimously in favour.

            Resolved - that

1.                 The provision of a dog/litter bin in a position near to the main gate of Stoke Lodge at a total cost of £3,700, including the cost of the bin and 12 years of regular emptying, be approved;

2.     The replacement of the current gate (rose garden entrance) at Canford Park at a total cost of £3,300, be approved.

3.     The three recent forum updates be noted;

4.     The current budget of the NP, be noted.

No update was given due to the absence of the Police representative. 

The report was noted. The Group would continue its work with a smaller number and share electronic information. Linkage would be considered subject to obtaining funding of £500.

The Chair gave the following Epitaph -

‘Before I invite comments under any other business and bring the curtain down on this phase of the NP there are a few comments that I would like to make.

Over the past 6 or 7 years we have delivered over 350 projects, requested by the community for the community.

We have used circa £1.5m of devolved funds to successfully achieve this varied list of projects for the Community

Having identified our priorities at the onset we have maintained open and diverse working groups to develop and scrutinise all the proposals and made recommendations to adopt the most worthy

We have maintained regular Open Forums where we have reported progress and sought new issues or items of concern

We have presented well considered and well prepared reports at the Neighbourhood Partnership and Neighbourhood Committee meetings

We have abided by, and succeeded despite, the top down bureaucracy imposed by BCC.

We have been aided in a sterling fashion by the front line BCC officers allocated to our NP and they deserve our thanks for persevering and working their magic (in mysterious ways) on our behalf.

But most of all we have succeeded where others have failed because of the dedicated band of brothers (and sisters) who brought together their various skills and competences in their quest to improve the Community for the benefit of others. They have given their time freely and unselfishly with only the occasional moan.

I must therefore thank all members of the Community who have attended or served the NP and remember we have been highly successful because of their efforts.

But all life forms must evolve if they are to survive. This is the end of one chapter. But the next chapter is just starting and we must give it a chance to develop.

Once again my thanks to all those who have supported the NP to date and I look forward to seeing you at the next round of Forums.

Please give yourself a well-deserved round of applause.’

In addition Councillor Gollop expressed his sincere thanks to the work of all the members of the NP and in particular to the Chairman David Mayer who he felt had worked ‘in a statesmanlike way dealing with, sometimes, difficult issues in an exemplar way’.

None received.