THREE RIVERS DISTRICT COUNCIL

Notes of a meeting of the Youth Council held in the Penn Chamber, Three Rivers House, Northway, Rickmansworth on Tuesday 18 October 2011 from 5.30pm to 7.17pm.

Attendees

Tulsi Mehta (Chairman) / Hanna Cherbachi / Jamie Conquest
Daniel Parrott / Elsie Ring / Tejal Mehta
Leila Quinney / Benjamin Quinney / Kirsty Herdwick
Nicole Jacobus / Sara Ezekiel / Deeva Maroo

Three Rivers District Council:

Councillor Ann Shaw OBE

Andy Stovold

Alison Mirpuri

Ryan Watson

Chris Fagan

Apology for absence:Georgina Rice and Councillor Ty Harris.

1.WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

The Chairman, Tulsi Mehta, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their attendance. Members were asked to introduce themselves.

2.NOTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The notes of the last meeting held on 12 July 2011 were noted.

3.HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE AREA

The Youth Council was asked by Andy Stovold, Community Partnerships Manager and Alison Mirpuri, Consultation Officer, to take part in a mini-workshop on future Council priorities. The views of the Youth Council were being sought as part of a wide-ranging consultation on the priorities which people felt the Council should adopt and the views expressed would be fed into the preparation of a Community Strategy for the District. Andy explained that although most areas of Three Rivers were classed as having a good environment and facilities, useful information about areas of particular need within the District was contained in the Government publication Indices of Multiple Deprivation. The published data showed for example that in Three Rivers there was a significant lack of affordable housing.

The Youth Council received a brief presentation outlining the data from the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 that had underpinned the consultation on future priorities for the Three Rivers Community Strategy.

The Council was divided into pairs and asked to take on the role of representatives on the Local Strategic Partnership Board. Those roles were:

  • Hertfordshire County Council
  • Three Rivers District Council
  • NHS Hertfordshire
  • Hertfordshire Constabulary / Hertfordshire Police Authority
  • The Voluntary Sector
  • Local Business

Each pair was asked to rank the 11 categories of the Index of Multiple Deprivation, according to how important they felt it was to their role to address these issues in Three Rivers. They were also given the opportunity to add an ‘other’ issue and rank that according to their views.

Each pair then reported on explained their ranking, giving their reasons. Members of the Youth Council added issues concerning drugs, obesity, which was a big health issue, the lack of awareness of what other organisations did and the lack of young people’s clubs, which could contribute to youth crime and anti-social activity.

The results of the exercise showing the rankings given by each pair are attached at Appendix 1.

Andy thanked the Youth Council for providing some excellent and very helpful feedback on the priority themes, which would contribute to the priorities presented by a number of organisations, including those which members had represented in their role-play, which would result in the production and publication of a new Community Strategy for the District.

The Chairman thanked Andy and Alison for an enjoyable presentation and role-play exercise.

4.VIBE 107.6 FM

The Chairman introduced Matt Cadman, a Director of Vibe 107.6 FM. Matt explained that he had worked in radio for many years, including BBC radios 4 and 5, BBC Three Counties Radio and a number of independent stations. He explained that the radio station was a not-for–profit community radio station servingWatford and the surrounding area, including Three Rivers and had a potential audience of about 260,000 listeners. It was based in Clarendon Road, Watford. The station had originally been foundedin 2006 as Fresh FM and it had broadcast for a week in order to prove to the radio authorities that it was suitable to receive a full-time FM radio broadcasting licence. In 2010 it changed its name to Vibe 107.6 and was launched in August 2011. It was supervised by a Board of Directors and run by a Management Team.

The vision of Vibe 107.6 FM was to be a successful station for greater Watford run by local people. A statement of its mission was available on the station’s website, Two of its aims were to introduce young people to broadcasting and to give local young people a voice to discuss issues of concern to them.

The target audience was an age range of 13-39 year-olds, but its core audience was ages 13-25. The total potential audience was 260,000. To guide their programming they used the profile of an imaginary typical listener, who had particular shopping habits and holiday choices. The choice of programmed music ranged from Coldplay to Lady Gaga. Organisations supporting Vibe 107.6 FM included BBC Three Counties Radio, Watford Community Housing Trust and Youth Connexions. Anyone interested in finding out more could go to the website and click on Questions. Those who were interested in volunteering could find a form to complete on the website

The Chairman thanked Matt for a very interesting presentation.

5.ST JOHN AMBULANCE CADETS

The Rickmansworth and Chorleywood St John Ambulance Cadets gave a demonstration of first aid techniques, centring on providing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and applying dressings to severe cuts to stem bleeding, which Youth Council members then practised, working in pairs. They explained that Cadets worked towards the Grand Prior award, which covered proficiency in 12 categories. Cadets could obtain bronze, silver and gold awards. To obtain an award, Cadets must demonstrate their knowledge of challenges and how to meet them. When on duty Cadets must operate in accordance with a code of conduct. They worked with an ambulance, a mobile unit and a volunteers, had contact with patients and learned on the job.

The Cadets attended District and County weekends and also held social events.

First aid mini-booklets and information leaflets on the St John Ambulance Cadet Service were distributed.

The Chairman thanked the Cadets for a very enjoyable demonstration.

6.ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Register to Vote

Councillor Ann Shaw advised any member of the Youth Council who was aged 17 years or older to contact their local Council’s Electoral Registration Office to ensure that their name was on the Register of Electors. Everyone on the Electoral Register was entitled to vote as soon as they reached the age of 18. Voter registration forms were available and a canvass was currently in progress. People should ensure that any canvass form which their household received was completed and returned.

Free Swimming in Three Rivers

Councillor Ann Shaw told the Youth Council that the Council had a scheme which enabled 16-19 year olds to swim free of charge during half-term and the Christmas Holidays, at William Penn, Sir James Altham and Woodside Leisure Pools.

7.CHAIRMAN FOR THE NEXT MEETING

It was agreed thatLeila Quinney be appointed as Chairman for the next meeting of the Youth Council.

Councillor Ann Shaw said that members would be emailed and asked for their ideas on items which could be considered at the next meeting.

8.DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Youth Council was scheduled to be held on Tuesday 7 February2012.

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Appendix 1

YOUTH COUNCIL COMMUNITY STRATEGY RANKINGS
Deprivation Indices / Ranking
Categories / HCC / Police / NHS / Voluntary Sector / Business / TRDC / Total / Average
1 / Children and young people's education / 1 / 6 / 7 / 1 / 3 / 3 / 21 / 3.50
2 / Poverty affecting children and young people / 4 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 10 / 1 / 26 / 4.33
3 / Access to services / 8 / 5 / 2 / 4 / 4 / 10 / 33 / 5.50
4 / Outdoor environment (pollution/road accidents) / 7 / 2 / 3 / 7 / 6 / 9 / 34 / 5.67
5 / Adult skills / 2 / 10 / 12 / 6 / 2 / 5 / 37 / 6.17
6 / Older people's poverty / 10 / 8 / 6 / 2 / 9 / 2 / 37 / 6.17
7 / Crime / 5 / 1 / 8 / 10 / 8 / 8 / 40 / 6.67
8 / Other / 6 / 4 / 4 / 12 / 7 / 7 / 40 / 6.67
9 / Health problems and disabilities / 9 / 11 / 1 / 5 / 11 / 4 / 41 / 6.83
10 / Unemployment / 3 / 7 / 11 / 9 / 1 / 11 / 42 / 7.00
11 / Affordable housing / 11 / 9 / 10 / 8 / 5 / 12 / 55 / 9.17
12 / Indoor housing conditions / 12 / 12 / 9 / 11 / 12 / 6 / 62 / 10.33
Other comments / Services: hospital, open spaces, library / Obesity / Awareness of organisations / Public transport / Drugs

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