Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership.

The Chairman varied the order of business as shown on the agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

Consider report on Eshiels Tunnel Lighting. (Copy attached)

There had been circulated copies of a paper outlining the options to provide lighting in Eshiels Tunnel.  The tunnel was formerly part of the railway infrastructure and now formed part of the multi user path between Peebles and Innerleithen.  The tunnel was located close to the Eshiels Recycling Centre and was approximately 60m long and 4m wide. The height changed from 3.5m at the eastern entrance to 2.4m at the western entrance.  The paper explained that there had been a number of incidents and accidents which had been reported as due to the unlit tunnel despite mitigating works including the installation of warning signs, slow signs painted on the path and path lining in white paint.  Quotes had now been received for the installation of lighting and these were detailed in the report.  Keith Robeson, Senior Ranger with Scottish Borders Council was present at the meeting and outlined the requirements including the need for a bat survey and SNH approval.  Those present discussed the options including possible alternatives and agreed that work to take the proposal forward should proceed.

Copy Minute from meeting on 27 August 2019 . (Copy attached.)

The Minute of the meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership held on 27 August 2019 had been circulated along with a summary of the discussion attached as an appendix to the Minute and the Chairman highlighted the main points which had been raised and was pleased to advise that 3 community councils were currently working on a solution to late night transport in their areas. 

(a)     Update by Shona Smith, Communities and Partnership Manager.

(b)     Health Care & Wellbeing – Reducing loneliness and social isolation.

          Presentations by:

          (i)      Margaret Smail/Richard McDowell – Community Learning & Development

          (ii)      Rachel Studinski – Social Prescribing

          (iii)     Discussion regarding the above presentations

(Current draft Plan attached.)

5.1       Shona Smith advised that the updated version of the Plan would be submitted to the next meeting of the Community Planning Partnership.  Copies of the draft Action Plan were on the tables for the information of those present.  There was still some work to be done on this and the final version would be circulated with the Minute of the meeting.  The Performance Framework would be included in the Community Plan.

            Health Care & Wellbeing – Reducing Loneliness and Social Isolation

5.2       Margaret Smail and Richard McDowell from Community Learning and Development gave a presentation on the work of her service.  The Service had a priority plan for the year.  They were currently targeting families and encouraging people to study for qualifications.  This empowered people and improved health and wellbeing.  Digital isolation was also highlighted and weekly IT drop in sessions were being held.  Two adult learners were also present and explained the help they had received and the positive impact it had on their lives.  Four young men from the Walkerburn Youth Group were also present and gave examples of the issues they faced and suggested that free bus travel for young people in rural areas and the availability of buses later in the evening would make a huge difference to their lives.  Examples of intergenerational projects were also highlighted.

5.3       Rachel Studinski gave a presentation on the Spring Social Prescribing project by Health in Mind which had been funded by the National Lottery.  This allowed NHS primary care providers to refer patients to the project who would in turn identify activities within their communities which would help to improve their health and wellbeing.  There could be up to 12 interventions with each person to assess their needs.  Activities included aqua fit and walking football and they would be accompanied by someone from the project until they had the confidence to attend alone.  The project was working well and was helping reconnect people to their communities.  Most referrals had been related to social isolation and lack of confidence.  A digital platform was being used to record all information and allowed both the Doctor and the patient to monitor progress.

5.4       Lorna McCulloch from the Bridge reported on their work.  40% of people in Tweeddale lived in a rural location.  They provided support to the Federation of Village Halls which included 14 halls in the area.  Village Hall played an important role in community life with over 400 regular lets and 150 one off hires per year.  They also provided a community transport service which had facilitated 6500 trips last year.  They maintained a Tweeddale Community Directory which contained over 300 groups and they were looking to develop this further over the next 6 months.

5.5       There were discussion sheets on each table which posed a series of questions including:-

·         Where there any gaps

·         What were the barriers to access

·         How can these be addressed

·         What would be the benefit to the community

Each table was given 30 minutes to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Update.  (Copy papers attached.)

Shona Smith advised that there were no applications to consider.  However, one was currently being processed and a second had been received that week.  A fast track application was also being dealt with.  With regard to local festival funding Councillor Bell highlighted that Clovenfords had not been included and was overdue for review.  Les Turnbull, Chairman of Peebles Community Council expressed concern that festival funding was now part of the community fund.  These were central to the life of many towns and villages and suggested that the money should be ringfenced and did not require to be applied for.  The Chairman advised that this would be considered as part of the current consultation on the community fund.  Mr Turnbull advised he was not aware of this consultation.  It was confirmed that all Community Councils had been contacted but there was still time for views to be submitted.

Consider setting up a sub-group to carry out a review of Off Street Car Parking in Peebles.

There had been circulated copies of a paper proposing that a sub-group of the Tweeddale Area Partnership should be set up to carry out a review of parking in Peebles, with a particular focus off-street parking.  It was agreed that a sub-group should be established and comprise representatives from the Council, Peebles Community Council, Peebles Community Trust, traders in Peebles town centre, other business and community representatives.  The group should consider the current parking provision in Peebles with a particular focus on off-street parking and its relationship to all parking and public transport.  The timescale for the group should be 1 year.

Opportunity to raise local matters.

8.1       Frank Drummond from the Tweeddale Access Panel advised that Sainsbury’s were supplying sunflower lanyards.  These were designed to be worn by those with a hidden disability and that they may require assistance in certain situations.

8.2       Les Turnbull, Chairman of Peebles Community Council reported on the Peebles Railway Heritage Project.  The aim was to obtain the small building in the East Station Car Park and return it to community use.  The building was owned by the Council and negotiations regarding a long-term lease were almost concluded.  It was proposed that it would be used as a visitor information hub and funding would be sought from various sources.

Shona Smith advised that an easy read document providing information on Community Empowerment was available which provided details regarding participation requests, assets transfers etc.

It was suggested that the next agenda should focus on young people.  Items on the Community fund and climate change were also suggested.

Tuesday, 14 January 2020 – Eddleston Village Hall

The next meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership would be held on Tuesday, 14 January 2020 in Eddleston Village Hall.  The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.