Bedale & Villages Community Forum

Chair: Yvonne Rose OBE Vice Chairman: Cllr John Noone Treasurer: Cllr Mike Barningham

Secretary: Peter Cole

Management Group

7.30pm on Thursday 9th November 2017

The Drawing Room, Bedale Hall

Minutes

Present

Yvonne Rose (Chair); Peter Cole; Bob Pocklington; Harry Lillystone; Cllr Richard Corner; Ian Watkins; Sue Latter; Cllr Jackie Kennedy; Cllr Jane Ward; Cllr John Kettlewell; Rab Hastie; Sue Latter; Chris Hall; Daren Rosamond; Cllr John Noone; Cllr Mike Barningham; Cllr Carl Les; C.J. McGill; Cllr Andy Hallett; Cllr Abigail Carr & Cllr Amanda Coates.

Apologies

Natasha Jones; Hazel Kirby; Cllr David Webster; Cllr Christine Mollard; Richard Moore; Bill Tetlow; Cllr Ian Marr.

  1. Welcome & Introductions

Yvonne welcomed Cllr Jane Ward (Exelby, Leeming and Londonderry Parish Council) and Cllr Abigail Carr (Bedale Town Council) to the meeting.

  1. Minutes of the Last Meeting held Thursday 20th July 2017

Agreed as a true record thereof.

  1. Actions & Matters Arising
  • HDC ‘Making a Difference’ Grants 2017-2018: It was reported that two successful grant applications had been submitted to the HDC ‘Making a Difference’ grant scheme on behalf of the Forum, the first for £2.5k towards the design and printing costs of Heritage Trail and Footpath leaflets and the second for £2.5k for the design, fabrication and installation of a new town sign for Bedale. Subject to planning permission and additional funding being secured the new sign, to be fabricated from similar material used in the arts trail, will replace the existing sign opposite the entrance to Bedale Golf Club.
  • Footpath Mapping: Work is underway by the Hambleton Strollers to ‘map’ the footpaths and ginnels in and around Bedale and Aiskew. This work will help inform the design and publication of the Heritage Trail and Footpath leaflets.
  • Bedale Arts Trail: A planning application for the proposed Bedale Arts Trail has been submitted to HDC for consideration and a decision is expected sometime in December 2017. A response to the proposals from NYCC Highways has yet to be received. Should planning permission be granted a Street Furniture Licence will be applied for from NYCC and an approved contractor will be sought to carry out the work.
  1. Community Plan 2016-2020: Review

Peter circulated a revised copy of Bedale & Villages Community Plan 2016-2020 which incorporated feedback from members since the previous meeting of the group and suggested the Plan be published in a new format to distinguish between those key priorities over which the Forum has some influence and those ‘aspirational’ projects that members felt were beyond the Forum’s remit. It was agreed that these ‘aspirational’ projects remain in the Plan to ensure the lead organisations responsible for the delivery of the projects can still benefit from support from the Forum if required (ie. through the endorsement of funding applications) and that the Plan include an archive of those projects that have been completed to evidence success and ‘the difference made’. Peter suggested that the new format will provide clarity and will drive the agenda of future meetings.

Action: Peter to produce a revised version of the Community Plan in a new format and to circulate a copy to Forum members for comment prior to the next meeting to be held in January 2018.

  1. Focus Group Updates:
  • Vibrant Market Town: Yvonne provided an update on the work being undertaken by the ‘BrandBedale’ business network to plan, coordinate and promote events in the town throughout the year. Yorkshire Day proved successful (the TIC having raised £500) as did the Bonfire, the pumpkin-carving and the ‘Free-to-Trade’ market. The Christmas Festival is to be held on the 2nd December and a number of activities are being planned including a food market, ‘angel window dressing’ and the Christmas Lights ‘switch-on’.
  • Community Interest: It is understood that Hambleton Community Action has met with Dalescare to discuss the help it can offer, is supporting the Leeming Bar Community Hub project to develop a business plan and is to launch a new volunteer recruitment campaign. It was noted that the Bedale Youth Venue is looking to recruit new volunteers.
  • Transport: It was noted that although the land survey undertaken by SUSTRANS is now complete little progress has been made with regards to plans for improved pedestrian and cycle links between Aiskew and Bedale. A meeting is to be held with Bev Trees at HDC and Mike agreed to provide Forum members with an update following this meeting. It was understood that Cllr Weighell had raised the issue of heavy goods vehicles using Wycar and the Wynd with NYCC Highways. With regards to public transport it was suggested that school bus services could be used by fee-paying passengers if free seats are available. It was noted that there is no Saturday bus service between Leyburn and Bedale.
  1. Finance Update

Mike presented an update on transactions since the last meeting of the Forumheld in July and confirmed that as at the 8th November 2017 the Forum had £13537.01 in its General Account,of which £1805 is ringfenced for the Bedale Art Trail and £2000 is committed to the Bedale Town Square public realm project. A payment of £2000 from HDC was received in October 2017. Mike reported that as at the 8th November and with no transactions made since the previous meeting the Forum had £1657.85 in its Events Account.

  1. Correspondence
  • Correspondence had been received from:
  • The Clerk toBedale Town Council requesting a contribution of £1200 towards the cost of purchasing, maintaining and installing the Christmas lights. Cllr Mike Barningham proposed that a contribution of £100 be made towards the cost of replacement batteries and £500 made towards the cost of replacement light bulbs. This proposal was seconded by Chris Hall and endorsed by all those present[1].
  • Bedale Meals on Wheels thanking the Forum for its support and confirming that the group is now registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is now looking to increase the number of meals it provides.
  1. Any Other Business
  • Hambleton Parish Liaison Meeting:Peter reported that the next Parish Liaison Meeting is to be held at the Civic Centre in Northallerton at 7pm on Thursday 16th November. Items on the agenda for discussion include Community-led Housing, the support available to Parish Councils from the South Hambleton Shale Gas Advisory Group, the setting of the Parish Precept and how issues can be reported to NYCC Highways via the Parish Portal.
  • Leeming Bar Community Hub: it was noted that further funding for the project has been secured and that a heating system is to be installed. It is anticipated that the Hub will open in spring 2018.
  • Bedale Community Library: Support is being sought for the library’s application to the Co-op Community Fund and Aviva Community Fund, support for which can be submittedvia an on-line voting system[2].
  • Re-branding the Forum: members discussed the need for a new ‘corporate’ logo for the Forum and a number of options were presented by Ian on behalf of Blue Sky Thinking. The logo incorporating the ‘Yorkshire rose’ proved popular and it was agreed that this issue be discussed in more detail at the next meeting of the group.

The meeting closed at 8:50pm.

1 | Page

[1] Cllr Noone declared an interest in this item and did not contribute to the discussion.

[2] It was noted that Bedale Hall had also applied to the AVIVA Community Fund but in a different category to that of the Community Library.