Minutes of Meeting 29 May 2003 Present: Mike Goodman - Chair Jack Dodds - R.B.L George Penman - Wansbeck F.D.G Tom Arkle - Newbiggin CWFC Cty Cllr Tom Saunders - NCC Stephen Peel - High fliers J.J.Taylor - Neighbourhood Watch Will Rogers - New Bigginings Bobbie Glen - W.I Pat Fenwick - Newbiggin ladies Bowls Club Gordon Burn - Newbiggin Sailing Club Cllr A Thompson - WDC Cllr Mrs.M Wallace - WDC Cllr Mrs. I Dent - WDC Cllr T Roll - WDC Cllr J Birch - WDC Cty Cllr J Lang - NCC H Gustard - Newbiggin Allotments Association Joyce Durmaz - Newbiggin Fayre Lynn Yates - Kidz Avenue Mr.F.Lothian - Newbiggin Anglers Stan Green - RNLI Guests: Nick Burden - WDC Caroline Stewart - Greening for Growth Andrew Gardner - Casella Stanger Andrea Malcom - Cheviot Housing Roberta Buchanan - Cheviot Housing In attendance: Jenny Costello - WDC 1. Apologies Hazel Stoddart - Welfare Residents Association Jean Thompson - Newbiggin Ramblers Rev.Judith Grieve - St.Bartholomew's Vaun Campbell - Alcan Before the meeting started, the Chair asked all Members and Guests present to introduce themselves. The Chair also welcomed the new, recently elected Councillors to the meeting and reminded them that they hold Associate membership on the Partnerhship. The Chair explained that there would be couple of changes to the circulated Agenda - i. Representatives from Greening for Growth had been invited to talk about the Gateway feature plans, this was to be first on the Agenda. ii. Item 8 - An additional Project Proposal for the Annual Fayre has been submitted for endorsement. iii. Two additional items would be incorporated: 7a. Bridge Street Toilets and 7 b. Cheviot Housing. Greening for Growth Caroline Stewart, Project Officer, introduced herself. She explained that Greening for Growth (G4G) having been operating for 2 years across South East Northumberland and are working on environmental, economic and community development. G4G gained funding for a design Project to develop Gateway features across the region, working alongside Local Authorities. They have been working with the Local Authority in Wansbeck but have not until now approached the Partnership. Caroline apologised and explained that they had not been aware of the Partnership and it's role and had not wished to 'railroad' the group into doing anything. Caroline introduced Andrew from Casella Stanger, who had been commissioned by G4G to design 14 Gateway features in Northumberland. For inspiration they had looked at the history and future of the region and of each individual area. A draft design was then circulated around the meeting. Andrew also showed the meeting pictures of local features which had led to the design. Questions/comments Jack D questioned why the Council hadn't consulted with the Partnership. The Chair replied that he was looking into it with the Council. Caroline S again apologised and explained that they had thought they were doing the right thing by consulting with the Council. A short discussion followed around the design in which the Chair said a decision should be made this evening to accept or reject the design brought to them this evening. It was also noted that the Partnership had come up with a design some time ago. The Chair asked for a show of hands from anyone who was in favour of the design brought by Andrew and Caroline this evening. No votes were shown. Resolved: The Partnership welcome the involvement from Greening for Growth but ask that they come up with different designs, using also ideas from the Partnership's original design - the Chair suggested that they consult with WDC's Steve Williams on this Plan. The Chair thanked Andrew and Caroline for attending the meeting. 2. Questionnaire This was circulated by Jenny Costello to Members before the meeting. It had been designed (by Kevin Wright, Community Empowerment Fund and Karen Maclean, WDC) with the aim of establishing what people actually thought of The Partnership meetings and what they are achieving. 3. Minutes of the last meeting Apart from an omission in Apologies - Vaun Campbell - the minutes of 27th March 2003 were received and approved as a true record. Action : Jenny C to amend the minutes accordingly. 4. Matters Arising Item 3: Flowerbeds. A comment was made that there were some flowerbeds not yet removed. The Chair replied that presently there was not the money to do this. A Project Proposal form should be completed and we will take it from there. Lynn Y commented that the parking at Avis Avenue has improved. Item 4: PALS. They have been advised to postpone their presentation to the Partnership due to today's full agenda. Item 5: Cheviot. Andrea Malcolm is now Project Manager for the Newbiggin Project. She and her assistant Roberta will be resident in the Housing Office by the end of next week. Item 6: Workshop. No results as yet. Item 7: Avis Avenue. See Item 3. Item 8: Ocean Youth Trust. Partnership now has £550 from Alcan. Now waiting for confirmation of names of youths to go on trip from Ashley Brown. The trip will then be booked. Item 9: Memorial Park. On agenda. Item 10:County Plan. The Chair explained that at the last meeting it was decided that if the status (with regards to secondary settlement status) of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea does not change following the review of the County Plan, then the Partnership would go ahead and challenge the decision. The status has not changed following the review. The Chair has the forms on which the Partnership expresses their objection. He asked for a vote via a show of hands to confirm that the Partnership should continue to pursue this. Resolved: The proposal to continue to submit the objection was proposed by Stephen Peel, seconded by J.J.Taylor. The vote showed that the meeting were in agreement. Item 11: Skills Share Day. This was attended by the Chair, Mike Goodman and Jack Dodds. The purpose was to share information with others from Community Partnerships and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) in different areas. It appeared that our Community Partnership was more settled in the way it works than some others. Item 12: Beach. The Chair reported that the Beach has been cleaned since the last meeting of the Partnership. He will be investigating having the beach cleaned on a regular basis. 5. Correspondance A nomination form for a replacement representative from Newbiggin Middle School - Mr.B.Linn - has been received. 6. Community Plan. Nick Burden from WDC was present to introduce the Plan on behalf of his colleague, Kevin Bartlett. Nick explained that it is the responsibility of Wansbeck District Council to produce the plan but it is owned by the Wansbeck Initiative. Along with the Council, Partners in Health, Education and the Police will be asked to sign up to the Plan. The Plan is split into 8 key themes. Each of these will have targets, actions and partners involved in achieving them - so that partners can be accountable. Each Community Partnership will have it's own Neighbourhood Plan, it will feed into the District Plan and will be a relatively concise document with a list of projects, actions and partners responsible for them under each theme. It will also have an 'aspirations' page at the end. The next step will be for Kevin Bartlett to discuss with the Partnership in practical terms how the consultation for the Plan will work. 7. Memorial Park & War Memorial The Chair reminded the meeting that at the last meeting Members were given two architects reports to consider. These were also sent to all Members who were not present at the meeting. There was a question as to whether it was necessary to redesign completely the footpath (as enhanced option). The Chair suggested that as the Partnership were applying for grant funding (possibly Heritage Lottery Fund) it was a good idea to go for the maximum anyway as there would be a chance they would not get all they applied for. In response to a comment about the way in which the bid should be structured, the Chair confirmed that Sue Reed at WDC would be completing the application for the Partnership and would consult fully with the group. There was a short discussion about whether it was necessary to construct a new Memorial with names on in the Park and whether it was necessary to have two memorials . A suggestion was put forward about possibly moving the existing War Memorial to Memorial Park. Resolved: The meeting agreed to go ahead with the Plans and also to investigate the possibility of moving the War Memorial to Memorial Park. If it is feasible then the community will be consulted. 7a. Bridge Street Toilets Lynn Yates had brought this issue to the Chair prior to the meeting. She explained that there were no baby changing or breast feeding facilities in Newbiggin. The toilets on Bridge Street have been sold to the Sailing Club. There was a short discussion around the issue and confusion as to whether there were any Council plans to build new toilets. Resolved: The meeting wholly agreed that there was a need for some decent public toilets in Newbiggin and that the Chair should pursue with the Council whether they have plans currently to erect some. 7b. Cheviot Housing Andrea Malcolm introduced herself as Project Manager for the Newbiggin Project and introduced Roberta Buchanan as Project Assistant. Roberta then unfortunately had to leave the meeting. Andrea explained that all the grants for the Project were now in place and the Project officially started on 1st May. The team will be based in the Housing Office. Andrea explained that due to outreach work and meetings the office will not be manned all the time so if people feel it is necessary they are willing to hold 'surgeries' so people know there's a time they can see them. Andrea explained that it will be a 3 year project initially, after which it is expected that there will be a good grounding for continued work. Andrea showed the group a logo prototype for the name of the Project - 'Newbiggin Life.' There was a short discussion around this name. Resolved: It was agreed that 'Newbiggin-by-the-Sea' should be used in the Project name rather than 'Newbiggin' - to avoid confusion with other towns. There will be an official launch of the Project on 1st July at Newbiggin Sports Centre - it will be a 'drop in' type day from 2pm-7.30pm. Details will be circulated about the day nearer the time. Andrea circulated some draft plans about the Gateway scheme including examples of planting schemes. They are looking at planting semi-mature trees so that they can be seen straight away. Between the bridge and the entry it is proposed to give a 'rural feel' to the landscaping and from the entry feature into the village an 'urban feel'. She also reported that the ILM (Intermediate Labour Market) have expressed an interest in being involved in the planting and children from local schools could also be involved therefore taking ownership of the Project. Planting will need to be done in October/November or March next year when the conditions are right. The timing will also depend on funding. In response to a question Andrea confirmed that there will be extensive consultation with the residents in the area, including around where to put the Gateway feature. They acknowledge this may not necessarily be an easy task and are working on the best way to go about it. Andrea explained that the Highways, the Partnership and the residents would all influence where the Gateway feature will go. The Chair asked if the meeting have any objections to Andrea's initial proposals. Resolved: The meeting agreed that they have no objections at this time. 8. Sustainable Communities Fund The following projects are applying to the Sustainable Communities Fund for funding and are seeking endorsement from the Partnership. i. Newbiggin Bowling Club. The Project Proposal Form for this project had been sent to all members prior to the meeting. The Chair declared an interest in this item and asked Tom Arkle to Chair which he agreed. Pat Fenwick from the Bowling Club asked to say a few words in support - she told the meeting that research suggests people visit parks regularly and that Milburn Park is well used. The Bowling Club project will go towards improving the Park. Mike Goodman added that usage tracking showed 500 people per week using the Park. There was a question as to whether the Pavillion building is owned by the Council. Mike G said yes but they are negotiating a lease??? The Chair asked whether there was support for this project. Resolved: J.J.Taylor proposed, and Jack Dodds seconded a proposal to endorse the project. The meeting unanimously agreed. ii. Newbiggin Allotments Mike Goodman resumed the Chair position. The Project Proposal Form for this project had been sent to all members prior to the meeting The Chair explained that funding for this project has been postponed but the group is still seeking endorsement to assist their application in the future. In response to a question about other funding options, Mr.Gustard confirmed that Mr.Hawkey (from the Association) will be looking at other options. Resolved: Stephen Peel proposed and tom Arkle seconded a proposal to endorse the project. The meeting also unanimously agreed. iii. Annual Fayre. This project proposal had been received after the papers for the meeting had been circulated. Jenny Costello apologised for not having details of the proposal to circulate at the meeting. The Chair suggested Jenny read out the details: The proposal outlined the history of the Fayre, that it has been an annual event since 1995 and it attracts thousands of people to the area. The Fayre Association have already attracted funding from other sources but are looking for endorsement from the Partnership in order to support further funding applications as costs have increased due to Health and Safety regulations. Stephen Peel appealed for any other community groups who would like to take part in the Fayre to get involved and any volunteers interested in helping. The Chair asked the meeting if they would endorse the project. Resolved: The meeting unanimously agreed to endorse the Annual Fayre project. 9. Open meetings. The Chair explained that as stated in their constitution they are to have two meetings a year which are open to the public. It is for the Partnership to decide what format this meeting should take. There was a short discussion as to whether it should be a special meeting of some sort or not. Cllr Saunders suggested that the public could be asked to submit questions before hand so that answers could be properly researched. Resolved: It was agreed that the public should be invited to attend a normal meeting, a venue will be decided. The Chair then raised the issue of distributing the minutes of the meetings more widely. They have now been put on the website www.newbigginbythesea.com . Several suggestions for locations followed including the Sports Centre, notice boards, Rent Office, Churches, Women's Institute. It was suggested that for notice boards a synopsis of the minutes would be more appropriate. Action: To investigate locations suggested for displaying minutes - Chair/JC 10. AGM This has been timetabled for 31st July. The Chair reported that the Management Committee suggested the AGM starts at 6.30pm and is followed by a normal meeting. Election papers will be sent to all Members in due course. Resolved: The meeting agreed to accept the proposals to hold the AGM at 6.30pm on Thursday 31st July 2003. 11. Wansbeck Online Jenny Costello explained that a new website, www.wansbeckonline.com is being launched this summer. It is a community website for the people of Wansbeck. There will be a large section for the Wansbeck Initiative and a section for all the Community Partnerships, including Newbiggin. The Partnerships can put on any information they wish about the work they are doing, or projects they are involved in. The website coordinator, Sadia Aslam, is also looking for people interested in becoming a 'webmaster' for their area - being responsible for updating the website and encouraging access in their local community. Jenny thanked Members for taking the time to complete the Questionnaire and also handed out Information Packs about the Wansbeck Initiative to all Members present. 12. Date and time of next meeting. See Item 10. The meeting closed.