Agenda and minutes

The Chair (Councillor Margaret Iddon) welcomed everyone present to the first meeting of the Lostock Area Forum and introduced in particular, Councillor Mrs D Dickinson (Vice-Chair of the Forum) and the Lead Officer for the Lostock Area Forum, Mr Jamie Carson (Chorley Council’s Director of Leisure and Cultural Services).

An apology for absence was recorded from County Councillor A Whittaker.

Report attached

The Forum received, for information, details of the agreed membership and terms of reference of the Lostock Area Forum, which comprised the three Parish areas of Bretherton, Croston and Ulnes Walton.

Each attendee at the meeting had been provided with a copy of the membership details and terms of reference which were attached to the meeting’s agenda.

A period of 30 minutes will be allocated to allow members of the public to raise questions and express views on any matters relating to the provision of local services in the Lostock Ward area.

The Chair explained that a major proportion of the Forum meeting had been allocated to allow local residents to raise questions and express views on any matters relating to the provision of local services in the Lostock Ward area.  In addition, a supply of Question Cards was made available at the meeting as an opportunity for residents to write their enquiries or views on the cards.

The Chair indicated that the appropriate Officer and/or Partner representative would endeavour, if possible, to provide a direct response to questions and issues raised at the meeting.  If this was not possible, a written reply would be sent to the questioner as soon as possible after the matter had been fully investigated.

Several questions were asked by the local residents at the meeting, either verbally or by way of the question cards.  The principal issues and concerns raised by the residents can be summarised as follows:

Ÿ            Unsatisfactory bus service provision in rural areas;

Ÿ            Discrepancies in use of Senior Citizens’ rail cards;

Ÿ            Relevance of, and responses to consultations on Parish Plans;

Ÿ            Jubilee Mill Recreation Ground;

Ÿ            Number of different vehicles required to collect recyclable materials;

Ÿ            Insufficient information on the performance of schools;

Ÿ          Traffic problems in the Lostock Ward and, in particular, the hazards caused by speeding vehicles;

Ÿ            Insufficient school buses;

Ÿ            Removal of footbridge from Public Footparth No 8;

Ÿ          Lack of facilities for young people in the Ward, including park/recreation ground facilities;

Ÿ          Police presence in the villages;

A schedule attached to these minutes includes details of each of the separate questions and concerns expressed orally or in writing at the Forum meeting, together a summary of the respective responses and actions instigated to address the issues.

Representatives of the following organisations will be in attendance to provide an update on relevant issues affecting the Lostock Ward area.

Mr Carson reiterated the Chair’s remarks that it had been decided to devote the greatest majority of time at this initial meeting of the Lostock Area Forum to listening to local residents’ concerns and queries and as a forum for open discussion.

Future meetings of the Forum could be used by the Borough Council and its partner organisations as a means of informing and consulting with the local community on relevant proposals for future strategies, developments and service issues affecting the area.

Ms Lowthian confirmed that it had been useful to hear and appreciate the views of local residents and undertook to ensure that each of the issues affecting Lancashire County  Council’s services would be investigated and appropriate action instigated, where necessary.

Details of the responsive action are outlined in the attached ‘You Said/We Did’ schedule.

List of questions / issues submitted by the Parish Councils of Bretherton, Croston and Ulnes Walton enclosed

The three constituent Parish Councils (Bretherton, Croston and Ulnes Walton) had each been invited in advance of the Forum meeting to submit questions on any matter affecting their Parishes.  The following issues had consequently been raised by the Parish Councils:

Ÿ          Action to deal with the problem of road speeds throughout the villages, and particularly on North Road and South Road, Bretherton (Bretherton Parish Council).

Ÿ          The linkage between Lancashire County Council’s ‘Lancashire Locals’ and the Borough Council’s Area Forum pilots (Ulnes Walton Parish Council).

Ÿ            Clearance of litter between the villages (Bretherton, Croston and Ulnes Walton Parish Councils).

Ÿ            Borough Council’s Planning Guidance on agricultural buildings/developments (Bretherton, Croston and Ulnes Walton Parish Councils).

Ÿ            Support for South Penwortham ByPass (Bretherton, Croston and Ulnes Walton Parish Councils).

A response to each of the questions was given at the meeting, and a summary of each reply is included on the attached schedule.

The following issues in relation to the provision of NHS services in the Ward were raised by a number of residents in response to a short address by Ms P Derbyshire:

Ÿ          the lack of a General Practitioner in Bretherton;

Ÿ          the effect on Hospital Trusts of proposals for hospitals to be re-imbursed on the basis of the number of cases dealt with;

Ÿ          the reasons for some patients being required to change GP practices.

Ms Derbyshire confirmed that the issues raised and the individual cases brought to the Forum’s attention would be investigated with the relevant Health Authorities.

The outcome of the PCT’s examination of the matters is shown in the attached ‘You Said/We Did’ schedule.

Sergeant Alex Clayton from the Neighbourhood Policing Team gave a brief presentation to advise the meeting of Lancashire Constabulary’s Neighbourhood Policing Policy which had been launched on 10 January 2006.  The initiative was aimed at increasing the Police’s accessibility and accountability to the public by closer collaboration with other relevant partners (including the County Council’s Youth and Community Service and Neighbourhood Wardens) and increasing Police presence in targeted areas, wherever necessary.

Sergeant Clayton also drew attention to the plans to introduce PACT (Police and Communities Together) meetings in the Lostock Ward in April 2006.  These public meetings would provide a forum for open discussion on any local policing or community safety issue and enable the Police to discuss with local residents possible solutions to the matters raised.  Feedback on the actions emerging from the meetings would be reported to the next PACT meeting.

The Police’s responses to a number of queries and concerns raised with the Neighbourhood Policing Team at the conclusion of the Forum meeting are outlined in the attached ‘You Said/We Did’ schedule.

Members of the public will be invited to express their views on the format and arrangements for this meeting and submit items for consideration at the next meeting.

The Chair referred to the feedback cards available at the meeting and invited the attendees to complete them to express their views on the format, arrangements and conduct of the Forum meeting.  The cards could also be used to suggest items for consideration at the next meeting.

Future meetings of the Lostock Ward Area Forum will be held on the following dates at the venues indicated:

• Thursday 6 July 2006 – Bretherton CE Endowed School, South Road, Bretherton

• Thursday 28 September 2006 – Wymott and Garth Prison Officers Club, Punp House Lane, Ulnes Walton

The meetings will commence at 7.00pm.

The meeting noted that the next two rounds of the Lostock Area Forum pilot scheme would be held on the following dates at the venues indicated:

Ÿ            Thursday, 6 July 2006 - Bretherton CE Endowed School, South Road, Bretherton.

Ÿ            Thursday, 28 September 2006 - Wymott and Garth Prison Officers’ Club, Pump House Lane, Ulnes Walton.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Chair thanked all the members of the public present for their attendance and participation in the Area Forum meeting and expressed her gratitude to the Council Officers, Partner representatives and Mr Hoyle MP for their contributions.

One local resident responded by thanking the Chair and organisers for arranging the Area Forum as an opportunity for open debate with representatives of the County, Borough and Parish Councils, Police, Primary Care Trust and the local Member of Parliament.