Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the forth meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership. He advised that he was changing the agenda order and that the item on Small Schemes and Quality of Life Funding would be taken first.

Consider note by Service Director Assets and Infrastructure.  (Copy to follow.)

            There had been circulated copies of a paper by the Service Director Assets and Infrastructure seeking approval for the proposals detailed in the Appendix to the report and that delegated powers be given to officers to approve future applications when a decision was required between meetings of the Area Partnership, subject to certain qualifying criteria.  The Councillors present approved the list of Schemes and the proposed delegated approval process.

Opportunity to raise local matters.

Mr. Graham Tulloch, Chairman of West Linton Community Council raised the issues of the new bus timetable which had come into effect on 19 August and the fact that the last bus from Edinburgh was now at 7.35 p.m.  This was impacting those who worked in Edinburgh and he felt that similar small communities in the Scottish Borders received later services.  In response to a suggestion that a service could be funded from Quality of Life Funding it was noted that this could not be used for service substitution. Councillor Anderson advised that she was working with officers to explore all options.

Copy Minute from meeting on 23 May 2018. (Copy attached.)

The Minute of the meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership held on 23 May 2018 had been circulated along with a summary of the discussion attached as an appendix to the Minute.  The Chairman outlined what was being done with the outputs from the various meetings.  Over the next few months these would be analysed to ascertain what actions had already been implemented and which were currently planned.  The remaining outstanding actions would then need to be prioritised and a draft Locality Plan would be available early 2019.  The main points raised at the last meeting were highlighted. 

A facilitated discussion on the subject in order to put forward a set of initial outcomes for Tweeddale. Further information on local data and statistics.

5.1       The Chairman welcomed Charles Johnston, Senior Planning Officer, who talked about the Main Issues Report (MIR) which had recently been approved by Council for a 12 week public consultation period.  The preparation of the MIR was intended to encourage engagement with the local community, sought opinion on a number of key issues and set out the Council’s proposed and alternative approaches to a range of matters.  The consultation would involve officers holding sessions in various lotions around the Borders with local people.  The format would include afternoon drop-in sessions and more formal evening workshops to give feedback.  These would commence in mid-October and suggestions for venues would be welcomed.  The MIR asked a series of questions on matters such as site suggestions and policy changes.  Mr Johnston gave some examples of things on which comment was sought on a wide range of issues including housing sites, industrial sites, housing in the countryside and climate change.  An electronic link to the consultation would be issued to all community organisations.

5.2       Donna Bogdanovic, the Council’s Senior Housing Strategy Officer commented on the production of the Local Housing Strategy which was prepared in partnership with the main Registered Social Landlords and covered the period 2017- 2022.  The purpose of the document was to identify and resolve the key housing issues.  The key areas included increasing housing supply, housing quality, energy efficiency, fuel poverty, the private rented sector, preventing homelessness and assisting independent living.  The Strategy set the housing supply target which had been arrived at following a comprehensive assessment of need.  She commented on the plans for affordable housing in the Tweeddale Area and the current condition of housing stock with a lot of work needed on older properties.  With regard to energy efficiency Change Works in Peebles were managing an energy efficiency project which provided a hub to allow people to discuss energy efficiency.  Extra funding was being sought to expand this project to cover the whole of Tweeddale. 

5.3       Henry Coyle, Director of Assets and Property Services, Scottish Borders Housing Association advised that the 4 social landlords in the Scottish Borders formed the Borders Housing Network and worked in partnership.  With regard to the provision of social housing he outlined the appraisal process which included a number of considerations including site location, inclusion in the SHIP, government funding, need and value for money.  There was a design guide for new housing to maintain the standard of the homes covering areas such as energy efficiency and high quality communal spaces.  The Scottish Government objectives were key with a requirement to deliver 674 new homes in the next 4 years.  With regard to projects in Tweeddale there were plans for both Eildon and SBHA to build new homes in Cardrona, Broughton, Innerleithen and Peebles at a total cost of £4.7m.  SBHA currently managed 5600 homes across the Scottish Borders and were spending £1m per month upgrading those including the provision of new doors and windows and improved energy efficiency.

5.4       Colin  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1       Ms. Shona Smith, SBC Communities and Partnership Manager, reminded everyone that the Locality Bid Fund was now open for applications up until the end of September 2018.  Application forms were available on the Council’s website and she encouraged people to call any member of her team for advice and guidance.

6.2       Andy Tharme, the Council’s Ecology Officer, explained that the Local Biodiversity Action Plan had just been launched this week for consultation for a 12 week period.  The Plan had not been updated since 2001 so it was time for a review.  The consultation covered a number of areas including the restoration of eco-systems.  The cost of the loss of such systems included flood damage and crop failure. The consultation would be open until 30 November 2018 and could be accessed through the Citizen Space online system.  

6.3       Community Councils were reminded to respond to the survey reviewing how area partnerships worked.  The survey was open until 30 September 2018.

Wednesday, 7 November 2018 – venue to be confirmed.

The next meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership was scheduled for Wednesday, 7 November 2018.  The venue would be in Peebles and it was likely that the theme would be the Council’s budget 2019/20.  The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.