Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed all parties to the meeting. All those present introduced themselves.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Cleo Lake, Alison Bromilow and Lesley Welch.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on Monday 23^rd January 2017 as a correct record.

Resolved – that the minutes of the above meeting be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the following amendments:

(1)   “Greater Partnership” on Page 5 to be altered to read “Greater Bedminster Community Partnership”

(2)   The word “He” in the third from bottom line on Page 5 be replaced with “Liz Kew”

(3)   “G Bird” be replaced with Gloucester Road bid on the penultimate line of Page 5;

(4)   “£2,900” in Resolution (1) of Minute Number 12 be altered to read “£1,924”.

Action: Jeremy Livitt

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.

Please note that the Register of Interests is available at https://www.bristol.gov.uk/councillors/members-interests-gifts-and-hospitality-register

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.

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:-

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 12noon on Wednesday 15^th March 2017.

The following Public Forum Statement was noted:

Statement Number 1 - Draft Bristol City Council Response to the Bristol city Council Discussion Paper: The Future of Neighbourhood Partnerships – Local Decision Making Models for Discussion: Roger Gimson

This statement was taken in conjunction with discussion of future arrangements for BRC NP meetings.

Roger Gimson advised that the NP was being requested to submit their response to proposals from Penny Germon about future arrangements by 7^th April 2017. He noted a number of responses that he had received from other NP members which he would incorporate into the suggested response.

Councillor Fodor stressed the importance of ensuring the issues relating to boundaries, standards and safeguards were addressed in the response.

Roger Gimson made the following points:

(1)   The NP needed to consider what was the minimal support that BCC could provide, either directly through Councillors or requesting officers to attend Neighbourhood Forums;

(2)   NP members had been requested to attend a neighbourhood city wide networking event on Wednesday 5^th April 2017;

(3)   NP members were requested to agree a statement to submit on behalf of the BCR NP on these proposals;

(4)   We had been advised that all formal decisions on CIL and S.106 spending would need to be taken by 24th March. Though we had asked what the final date was that Democratic Services would be able to support meetings, no reply had yet been received

A number of NP members stated that they were not happy with this arrangement. It was noted that current Bristol City Council Scrutiny Commissions had been told they would be stopping but existing meetings were continuing on for the time being.

Regardless of future funding arrangements, BCR NP members needed to ensure that CIL and remaining Section 106 funding up until NP’s discontinued was given to the existing BCR NP or its successor body.

NP members agreed that a formal NP meeting in June 2017 should be fixed and Bristol City Council be requested to provide appropriate support to enable this meeting to take place.

Action: Andrew McGrath

The NP is requested to receive verbal reports from all Working Groups with the exception of the Parks Working Group (Report attached at Agenda Item 6a below)

There were no verbal Working Group reports.

Please find attached a written report for this meeting

The NP noted the written report from Alison Bromilow on the Parks Working Group.

Please find attached the Neighbourhood Co-ordinator’s Report

The NP introduced his report. In response to members’ questions, he and the Chair made the following points:

(1)   The spending freeze remains in place and, as of 1^st April 2017, all remaining funds would be withdrawn;

(2)   The scheme at Sommerville Road would be implemented at some point in the future, along with all other schemes already approved;

(3)   The Central Clifton and Harbourside Neighbourhood Partnership had agreed to the request from BCR NP at its last meeting to fund the complete cost of the £4,000 Hampton Road scheme.

Resolved – that

(1)   the current budget of the NP is noted;

(2)   the brief update be noted relating to parks’ schemes in BCR with regard to the budget cuts;

(3)   the brief update regarding Gloucester Road Library and potential future use be noted;

(4)   that the discussion paper be noted on potential funding for local engagement models following the end of NPs in June 2017.

No Action

None

No further meetings have yet been fixed.

It was noted that, subject to the response to the request agreed under the Public Forum item, a formal NP meeting would be fixed for June 2017.

Action: Andrew McGrath