Minutes of a meeting of the Steering Group held at 7 Old School Lane, Brockham on Monday 19th December 2005 at 8.00pm

Present: Lisa Marshall-Bailey Chair
Paul Ritchie Secretary
Bob Pritchard Treasurer
Hilary Budd Brockham Parish Council
Nick Caddick Brockham Green Village Society
Vicky Adam Surrey Community Action

1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

None received.

2 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

Apart from correcting Diana Simpson’s name in item 3.4, Carol Sacha’s name in item 6.2 and some minor amendments to item 13 for Any Other Business the minutes of the meeting held on 29th November 2005 were accepted.

3 OPEN DAY

3.1 Review of Open Day event

Overall this was a very successful event, which produced 100 comments about the ten different criteria. The event provided an opportunity for the Steering Group to meet the members of other active groups in the village and for villagers to meet all the members of the Group. Helyn Clack (Surrey County Council) presented the prizes to the winners of the art competition and NC has produced a press release. It was agreed that PR to draft a letter of thanks for LMB to send to those volunteers who provided their support on the day and helped make the event such a success.

3.2 Review of other events

The Group agreed that using the display for a scoping exercise had been a success both at Teas on the Green and when visiting local clubs. This approach has generated over 600 responses from a wide range of residents of both Brockham and Strood Green. It was interesting to note the proportion of people who attend Teas on the Green that are from outside the village.

This scoping exercise also highlighted the proportion of the 20-30 year age group that are active in the village but are not resident, while the 30-40 year olds who can afford to reside in the village but are perhaps less active.

The map proved useful in identifying that the consultation process has failed to reach residents living in Boxhill Farms, Puddenhole Cottages, Bishops Cottages and Castle Gardens i.e. properties on the edges of the Parish. The Group recognises that it will need to find ways to rectify this. It is apparent the residents of both Brockham Park and Root Hill, although living outside the Parish boundaries, consider themselves as part of the community of Brockham and Strood Green.

4 REVIEW OF FEEDBACK

4.1 Identify Sub-Committees

The next stage of the public consultation process is to involve interested stakeholders to help members of the Steering Group develop an effective questionnaire. VA explained that the process of “getting there” (i.e. inclusive consultation) was just as important as the end result (i.e. creating a questionnaire).

A discussion took place during which the Group agreed that some of the ten (10) criteria are linked by either involving similar issues or by the level of interest shown during the scoping exercise. It was therefore decided to create five (5) discrete sections in the questionnaire covering these criteria.

? Transport & Information
? Environment & Green Spaces
? Housing & Building
? Youth & Childcare
? Services, Meeting Places & Local Businesses

It was agreed that each section would be assigned to separate Sub-Committees to develop relevant questions for the questionnaire.

4.2 Sub-Committee Formats

VA stressed that these Sub-Committees should be composed of 4-5 members, which should if possible include specialists capable of developing an effective questionnaire. It was agreed that each Sub-Committee be composed of two members of the Steering Group and two other volunteers.

Transport & Information NC & LMB
Environment & Green Spaces LMB & HB
Housing & Building BP & NC
Youth & Childcare HB & PR
Services, Meeting Places & Local Businesses PR & BP

The Sub-Committees will be assigned the task to consider the issues and develop the questions required for their section of the questionnaire. Steering Group members on each Sub-Committee will drive the process working to guidelines and deadlines set by the whole Group. It was agreed that a “starter pack” should be prepared, which will contain a summary of comments from the scoping exercise, the bar chart, contact list and sources of information.

5 STRATEGY FOR QUESTIONNAIRE

VA advised the Group that the questionnaire should contain no more than 60-70 separate questions covering the ten (10) criteria used for the scoping exercise. A brief discussion took place to decide how the questions would be distributed amongst the five (5) sections in the questionnaire. It was agreed that each Sub-Committee would be tasked with developing about 12-15 questions relevant to their section.

It was decided that the Sub-Committee members would consider the stock questions from the C&G package and select the most appropriate questions. While they would focus on the comments raised in the scoping exercise, it was agreed they should also discuss other issues considered important by that Sub-Committee.

NC agreed to rearrange the 300 stock questions on the website into groups to reflect the five (5) sections of the questionnaire.

6 VOLUNTEER CONTACT LIST

In addition to the names provided by members it was agreed that PR should add Tony Hines, Andy Jackman and Bob Bartlett to the list.

7 RECRUITMENT OF VOLUNTEERS

Discussed in earlier during the meeting.

8 NEWSLETTER

The Group discussed the need to keep in contact with residents who have contributed to the scoping exercise and thereby maintain the momentum of consultation. It was agreed that a newsletter would support that process but that the cost of production should be moderate. PR is complete minutes of meeting and circulated so that NC can use them as the basis of the newsletter.

9 VILLAGE DESIGN PLAN

It was agreed that NC and BP would include the concept of a Design Plan in their Housing & Building Sub-Committee discussions.

10 FUNDING

10.1 Awards for All

LMB is still awaiting a response about our application for Awards for All, National Lottery Funding. The Steering Group had requested £3,000 and Carol Sacha at Surrey Community Action has vetted the application.

10.2 Future funding

PR stated that Clare Ritchie (MVDC) will write to LMB with details about the Funding Fair which is held at Bourne Hall in Ewell Village on 16th March 2006, which members of the Steering Group can attend. Apparently Clare has information about National Lottery Funding available for local groups to deliver community projects.

PR mentioned the discussions during the Open Day with representatives from the Poland House Trust and the potential for funds to be made available for suitable community projects in the village. NC made reference to the potential funds available from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).

11 STAKEHOLDER LETTERS

Most letters sent and LMB agreed to send rest and update the spreadsheet for contacts who have responded.

12 SUGGESTION BOXES

A discussion took place about usefulness of suggestion boxes to gather information and comments from residents. Although the scoping exercise finished in December and the next stage of consultation will focus on the questionnaire it was agreed that suggestion boxes could be useful in gathering additional information. NC to create four (4) boxes suitable for use in Tanners Meadow surgery, village club and both pubs for collecting comments and potentially for returning questionnaires.

13 TREASURER’S REPORT

BP informed the Group that £1,937.37p remained in the BPP Account and that a total of £41.45p was donated at Open Day with £26.99p due payment for expenses.

14 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The members of the Steering Group and Kathy O’Leary attended the Parish Council meeting held on the 5th December 2005. Kathy stressed the commitment of Mole Valley District Council in supporting Parish Councils and Steering Groups deliver effective Parish Plans. LMB gave a summary of our progress and requested support from the Parish Council on a number of issues, which include the following aspects:

a) To be responsive to reasonable requests, such as the completion of forms, comments on the questionnaire etc.
b) To provide support in the way of information that could prove helpful in the preparation of the Parish Plan.
c) To subscribe to meeting the action requirements of the Parish Plan within proposed deadlines.

After a discussion members of the Parish Council agreed to these requests. LMB had received a phone call from the SCA to say that a grant cheque had been sent to the Parish Council and the Chairman confirmed this. The Treasurer of the Parish Council issued a cheque to BPP Account, which was handed to BP.

LMB and NC showed the display to Kathy O’Leary before leaving the meeting.

15 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Group will be held at 8.00pm on Tuesday 17th January 2006 at 7 Old School Lane, Brockham.

Use our feedback form to make your comments on the key issues that Brockham should address now and in the future.

Brockham Parish Plan Steering Group

Return to top