Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Borough Councillors Roy Lees, Laura Lennox, Joyce Snape, Ralph Snape, Mary Wilson and County Councillors Peter Wilson and Don Yates.

The minutes of the meeting of the Chorley Central Community Forum held on 8 March 2007 are attached.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting of the Chorley Central Community Forum held on 8 March 2007 be confirmed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

A copy of the schedule detailing the action taken on issues raised at the Community Forum meeting held on 8 March 2007 is attached.

A detailed schedule was distributed highlighting the action taken in respect of the individual queries that had been submitted at the Chorley Central Community Forum held on 8 March 2007.

Alison Johnson representative of the Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust updated the Forum on the present situation regarding the Friday Street, Health Clinic. The PCT were presently re-tendering for a developer, as the previous company did not represent good value for money. A number of alternative sites were also being looked at and it was possible that there would be an expansion of the scheme so, it was felt that further consultation was needed before work commenced.

Questions/Issues raised at the meeting:

(i)         A member of the public sought clarification that the Health Clinic would still be located within the Chorley East area?

            Response:            Donna Hall (Chief Executive) reported that confirmation had been received from Mark Wilkinson (Chief Executive of the Central Lancashire PCT) that the Health Clinic would still be located with Chorley East but that a number of different sites within the area had been identified as a possible location.

            Councillor Edgerley commented that the original Friday Street site had been chosen because of its central location within East ward.

The Chair welcomed Alison Johnson (Associate Director Community Engagement) from Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust.

Mrs Johnson gave a short presentation on the Statement of Strategic Intent towards Health and Healthcare in Central Lancashire.

It was the work of the Central Lancashire PCT to promote health, reduce health inequalities, and deliver the best possible care for the population within the resources available.

The Key Objectives were to significantly reduce the gap in life expectancy between the best off in the country and the worse off in Central Lancashire, deliver services that are amongst the most cost efficient and effective and effectively eliminate waiting to receive their services.

This would be achieved by understanding the needs of the local communities and individual patients, planning and prioritising accordingly, and would require them, above all, to work in partnership with other organisations and the public.

Question raised at the meeting:

(i)            Councillor D Edgerley asked if the Statement was back up with the necessary finances?

Response            Mrs Johnson confirmed that the three budgets had been amalgamated and that resources would be shared more effectively.

Representatives of Lancashire Police will report on the priorities for each PACT (Police and Community Together) and any other Community Policing initiatives.

The Chair welcomed Inspector Ian Roberts to report on the priorities for the local Police and Community Together (PACT) and other community policing initiatives within the central area of Chorley.

The Inspector explained that three years ago Government had set a target to reduce British Crime Survey crimes, which included burgulary, violent crimes, criminal damage and vehicle crime by 15% and he was happy to report that they had achieved this within the first two years.

There was however some concerns that there was a slight increase in high-level crime mainly associated with the carrying and using of weapons on the streets by youths. The Community Team were totally dedicated to dealing with Anti-Social behaviour and the eradication of this trend would be their top priority.

The Inspector also announced that they were shortly to re-launch their ‘Operation Summer Nights 07’ initiative. Organisations across Lancashire have joined together in this campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour, promote personal health and safety and build on the positive behaviour of most young people.

Questions raised at the meeting:

(i)         Simon Clark (Environmental Health Manager) asked if there was any statistical information on crimes relating to the carrying of weapons.

            Response:            Inspector Ian Roberts reported that in a three-month period there had been nine crimes committed that involved weapons and a further twelve youths had been fined for carrying a weapon on the streets.

(ii)            Councillor A Gee asked if the crimes had been against strangers or people that they knew?

            Response:            Inspector Ian Roberts reported that the weapon related crime was usually against people that the assailant knew and that less than 20% of weapon related crime was against strangers.

Donna Hall (Chief Executive) asked Councillors T Brown and H Khan to talk to the Forum about their successful Young Peoples Programme.

The Members explained that local residents in the area had been experiencing a high number of racial attacks and other problems relating to anti-social behaviour. Consulting with the youths concerned and with the help of Local Network funding they were able to deliver a programme of activities that not only incorporated fun, helping to relieve boredom, but also help to deliver educational sessions on racial and behavioural issues and run awareness days on Alcohol and Drug use. The programme is going from strength to strength and with the securing of extra funding there were plans in place for the provision of a Youth Club on Lord Street in the near future.

The responsibility of the parents was just as important and a number of Parental Skills workshops were planned along with joint activities for children and their parents.

The Members reported that there was now a better working relationship with the Police Community Team, there was greater community cohesion and as a result Crime was reducing. They did however add that further funds would be needed and that a commitment for the continued funding of this programme would be needed from Lancashire County Council.

Questions/Issues raised at the meeting:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor E Forshaw to the forum who referred to an information pack had been put together to help local communities set up their own cold-calling zones. The initiative had been set up to give local residents or communities the confidence to say no to uninvited salespersons and rouge traders and was being supported by a number of partner organisations including the Trading Standards Institute and Lancashire County Council.

He congratulated Councillor T Brown and H Khan for all their hard work in setting up the Young Peoples Programme and advised that he would report back to the relevant officers at Lancashire County Council and make a request for further funding.

Members of the Public are requested to indicate the 3 biggest issues in their local community, which they would like addressed by Chorley Borough Council and / or Partner organisations.

Donna Hall (Chief Executive) explained that the Council had some money available to spend on services and wanted to focus on what the residents of Chorley considered the three biggest priorities in their area. A number of question cards had already been distributed throughout the Authority for people to complete and send back to the Council using the FREEPOST address printed on the back, so far the responses had identified a wide range of issues that were important to them.

The Members of public present at the meeting indicated that they had already received and responded to their question cards.

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 local services affecting the community.

Question cards will be available at the meeting for members of the public to complete and hand in before the start of the meeting.  Where possible questions will be answered on the night.  If a question cannot be answered a written response will follow.  A summary of the responses to questions submitted will be included on the agenda for the next meeting.

The Chair invited the local residents present at the meeting to raise questions and express their views on any matters relating to the provision of local services or issues affecting the central area of Chorley. In addition, a supply of question cards was available at the meeting as an opportunity for residents to write their enquiries or views on the cards.

The members of the public that were present did not have any further individual questions to ask of any representative at the meeting but commented that they were happy with the answers they had already received throughout the meeting.

The following issue was raised at the meeting.

(i)            Councillor A Gee commented on how good the meeting had been but that he was disappointed with the low turn out from the members of the public.

Response:            Steve Pearce (Assistant Head of Democratic Services) explained how the forums were presently being advertised and a discussion took place on what further measures could be taken to raise the profile of the Forums in the community, with lots of viable suggestions being put forward from members of the public, partner organisation representatives and the Members. The Democratic Services Team would ensure that these ideas were implemented for the next round of Forum meetings.

The following additional issues/questions were raised on question cards presented after the close of the Forum meeting:

(i)         “What alternative disabled car parking facilities would be provided whilst the works were taking place on the Market Walk Phase 2 development?"

(ii)        “What is going to be done about the Mid-Wifery shortage in Chorley?”

Replies to the question cards would be sent to the respective residents as soon as practicable and reported to the next Forum meeting.

Future meetings of the Forum will be held on the following dates, commencing at 7.00pm. 

• Thursday 11 October 2007
• Wednesday 13 February 2007

The venues will be circulated in the near future. 

It was noted that the meeting that the future meetings of the Forum were to take place on the following dates, commencing at 7.00pm at venues yet to be decided:

• Thursday 11 October 2007
• Wednesday 13 February 2007

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Chair thanked all the Members of the public present for their attendance and participation in the Community Forum meeting and expressed gratitude to the Council Officers and Partner Representatives for their contributions.