MINUTEof a Meeting of Motherwell Community Forumheld on the

30 June 2009inCommittee Room 1, Civic Centre, Motherwell.

Present:

Felix Mulholland (Chair) / Tommy Hughes (Vice Chair) / Kristofer Keane (Secretary)
Doreen Campbell / Hugh Ferguson / Helen Hamilton
Derek Malley / William Martin / Karl Monsen-Elvik
Stewart Gray / Jim Millar

In Attendance:

Stephen Brown (NLC EO)

/

Annette Harvie (NHS Lanarkshire)

Agenda
Item
No / Action
Req’d
by

Welcome and Apologies for absence

The Chair welcomed and thanked members for their presence.
Apologies for absence had been received from:
Martin Joyce, Francis Cairns, Grace Westwood (MCF Treasurer)

Minute from Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were regrettably lost due to a computer failure.

Matters Arising

Eddie Dunlop has resigned from the Forum because of a change in his person circumstances. The Vice Chair has emailed Eddie to thank him for his contribution to the group and wish him all the best in his new job.

Correspondence

/ TH FM & TH
Health Sub-Cttee
  1. Third Sector Interface Group and CVSNL Survey
There will be a focus group for eight Community Forums in North Lanarkshire next Tuesday to assess our future funding needs and for ongoing feedback to develop a new interface group between different organisations in the area. We were also sent a survey from CVSNL asking about our sector, our staff, and our meeting arrangements and so on. The Forum agreed that TH should complete and return the survey. FM and TH will attend the focus group.
  1. REACH – Community Health Project
We have been informed of a new project (Improving Community Health through Effective Engagement) to improve health and social care provision for Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Scotland by making it more socially competent and relevant to their needs. The Forum referred the details to the health subcommittee to discuss.
  1. Community Council Minutes
Carfin Community Council has raised issues about the deteriorating condition of the local mosque. They have also raised an opposition to the closure of a local school.

Finance

The Chair apologised for the lack of a finance report which was due to the Treasurer not being able to attend the meeting.

Chair’s Update

/ SG
KK
FM
  1. AGM 2009
Last month’s AGM was considered a success. Pam Redpath was reappointed as our independent financial examiner. The current office bearers were all re-elected.
A speaker from Beautiful Motherwell, Keith Vernon, talked about areas of Motherwell such as DuchessPark that break its false stereotype as an unattractive town. SG raised issues about the accessibility of the paths in the park, and will report back to the next meeting. KK will photograph the fountain and park for our photo library so we can look to raise an article in the Motherwell Times about it.
  1. Signage
It would appear that the Council has opposed placing any new additional road signage to identify and advertise local amenities and attractions such as DalzielPark and Baron’s Haugh. FM will raise this issue at the next LAP meeting.
  1. New Members
FM noted that we have to advertise and build the membership and capacity of the Forum. FM asked members to offer their talents and time and encouraged other members to become more involved.

Sub Committee Reports

/ FM
  1. Health
  1. The health sub-committee asked for more members to join to ensure good attendance at meetings and to build greater input and feedback.
  1. FM will circulate the date and location of the next health sub-committee meeting (8th July, 4.30pm, in the Health Education Room, 1st floor of Motherwell Health Centre). Anyone wishing to attend is asked to contact AH.
  1. FM noted we specifically need more young members. KK commented that Motherwell Youth Forum is being established and he will liaise between the Youth Forum and the Community Forum.
  1. Town Centre
  1. TH commented on the town centre partners’ meeting that most of the partners involved were stating that little could be done to bring in our improvements in the current financial climate.
  1. CALA Homes have no intention to improve the town centre, the SPT have been limited in their range of power and cannot act to increase capacity, and the Council could not talk due to the media presence. The Motherwell Times picked up on the SPT pulling out of funding the rail station upgrade plans.
  1. Is it likely that CALA will introduce car parking restrictions or charges due to workers using the car park on an all-day basis.
  1. The partners do not share our Imagine Motherwell vision to bring improvements to the area. The community still demands that something is done to improve the town centre. FM noted that the council stated all the existing development plans were no longer fit for purpose due to the changed financial climate. They intend to bring forward a combined development plan and will maintain financial support for the town centre, but they are not responsible for bringing forward particular stores or facilities. They accepted all twenty of our suggestions for improvements brought forward from local residents. The architect challenged us to find a solution and funding for biggest issue – the public toilets – first, stating if we cannot manage this then further successes will be unlikely – we need to measure people's aspirations.
  1. SB stated the architect was pragmatic in getting improvements made and that we had an achievement in bringing together all of the potential partners.
  1. JM felt the meeting was positive as it was the first meeting with all the partner organisations together with the Forum. Other organisations are interested in our support to bring on their projects. He noted there was a danger of dampening down our vision but some of it was shared with the partners.
  1. KME asked what the current value of the town centre is, which was unknown. He noted the possibility of CALA selling the town centre.
  1. Transport issues took a large priority at the meeting, including: the bus stop on Merry Street; the Merry Street traffic lights; and removing the orbital road. TH raised the possibility of a “SCOOT” project – computer controlled traffic lights to carry the traffic flow through efficiently.
  1. It was noted that Motherwell residents spend only 18p of every pound in their town centre, compared to a national average of 38p. There was a 22% drop in town centre footfall when ASDA moved, and an 18% drop when the Co-Op closed down.
  1. BM highlighted that other town centers such as East Kilbride are also facing store closures in the recession, but that we are still behind on other issues including toilets and public transport.
  1. TH noted that for twenty years, the Council and local parliamentarians have been focusing on delivering Ravenscraig. If Motherwell town centre is difficult to deliver, Ravenscraig will realistically be even harder. If Ravenscraig was delivered as planned, the town centre would likely be left to wither despite the distance from the proposed Ravenscraig town centre.
  1. There was a mention in the Motherwell Times of the Council possibly replacing the existing toilets with pay-to-use automated toilets. Motherwell is the only town in North Lanarkshire not yet changed over to using these.
  1. SB and KME suggested writing a letter to the Motherwell Times to repudiate their headline story.

Forum Development

/ TH
SB & SG
  1. Community Forums Network
We need two representatives to attend meetings of the Community Forums Network. TH will send details of the agenda, location and time to the email list, as TH and FM will not always be able to attend.
  1. Office Accommodation
We are still seeking office accommodation. FM asked SB and SG to find and negotiate for available office spaces as soon as possible.

Health

  1. The Forum noted the minutes of the last PPF meeting and the diverse range of groups and interests represented.
  1. NHS Lanarkshire are looking for people to promote the new bowel screening programme to community groups – contact FM or AH (who has been designated a local health champion) for details.
  1. Concern was raised over the differential in travel expenses for volunteers and NHS staff. PPF refused to accept the volunteer policy.
  1. FM attended a meeting of Mentally Flourishing Scotland, a group tasked with improving provision of mental health care, which is acknowledged by NHS Lanarkshire as currently very poor. They aim to produce a local action plan, which has been a long time in the making. However, it seemed to lack practicalities such as how it plans to go about advertising and disseminating information – we noted particularly that not everyone has internet access, and there is too much already on notice boards in doctors’ surgeries. The meeting was mostly attended by health practitioners – it could benefit from a general public perspective. The plan should be launched in North Lanarkshire soon, and will be incorporated into every service and agenda.

Community Matters

  1. We noted the filthy state of the stairwell connecting Windmillhill Street to the town centre at the Dalziel Arms. It belongs to the Council although the underpass at the bottom belongs to CALA. We noted our concern at the image it portrays as an entrance to the town centre.
  2. We also noted concern regarding parking restrictions in Motherwell.

Date and time of next meeting

We will hold our next meeting a more relaxed meeting place for summer. FM recommended either the Bentley or Mooring Hotels. Members TBA

Felix Mulholland

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