Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership and outlined how the meeting would be conducted.

(a)        Menti feedback from the meeting held on 13 June 2023. (Copy attached.)

(b)        Minute and Action Tracker of the meeting held on 13 June 2023. (Copies attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Menti feedback and the Minute of the Meeting held on 13 June 2023.  Feedback was generally positive though the poor acoustics of the Burgh Hall had been noted, as was the request for less presentations and more discussion.  The meeting of 22 August was to have round table discussions around youth engagement and Ally Turnbull MSYP was in attendance.

DECISION

NOTED and AGREED the Minute of 13 June 2023

Sergeant James Harrison gave a brief background summary to his position as Supervisor for the Community Beat Officers (CBO).  In post for two months, Sergeant Harrison had transferred from the Police Community Action Team.  The challenges of policing the region were highlighted, with an acknowledgement that an increase in police officer numbers was a frequent request.  Decisions around the recruitment and deployment of additional officers remained with Area Commanders and MPs and MSPs. With regards to youth anti-social behaviour it was acknowledged that current resources impacted on response times with only the most serious incidences attended.  It was important that evidence (e.g. CCTV), corroboration and statements were obtained in order for a case to proceed. There were a few ways to report incidents to Police Scotland:  to dial 999 or 101; to use the ‘Contact Us’ button on Police Scotland website – which had yielded a speedier response that 101 in some instances; and via the anonymous service Crimestoppers.  It was important for incidents to be reported for the Police Scotland analyst to identify any upward trends and for resource to be allocated to an area.  An incident number should also be obtained.  Moving forward, Sergeant Harrison was keen to develop the partnership with community councils and the wider public with the Community Beat Officer mailbox to be better utilised. Sergeant Harrison undertook to circulate to Community Councils the monthly Police reports. In response to a question about ‘boy racers’ in Peebles, it was confirmed that the matter was to be addressed with the Roads Policing Unit in Galashiels. 

DECISION

NOTED the update

Youth voice and participation.

Pam Rigby, Youth Engagement Officer shared information on the upcoming elections to the Scottish Youth Parliament.  There were currently three Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) in office for two years.  The role of the MSYP was to consult with peers on matters which were fed through to the National Forum and then on to the Scottish Government.  A current MSYP Ally Turnbull was in attendance to help facilitate the round table discussions.  Peter Maudsley, Chair of Peebles Community Council reported that Lennox Lovell-Henderson had recently joined the community council and they were also a candidate in the upcoming SYP elections.  The attendees then engaged in round table discussions to share opinions and suggestions on how to promote youth participation and capture their perspective.   The involvement of young people from the beginning was key to promote the ownership of any project and provided the opportunity to gain confidence, life skills and to build a CV.  It was acknowledged that co-production was key, along with the matter of remuneration in the form of vouchers or an outing to mark appreciation of their engagement.  There was the suggestion that longer term funding by SBC was needed to allow groups to focus on delivery of service rather than sourcing funding annually and/or for specific projects.  Ms Lacon reported that SBC were to consider a more sustainable funding model in partnership with South of Scotland Enterprise and Borders Community Action.  The results from the round table discussions were to be collated by Hannah Lacon, Community Engagement Officer for distribution.

DECISION

AGREED to the distribution of discussion findings following the meeting.

Update and conversation on the Destination Tweed project and current plans for Peebles.

Greig Gibson provided a brief summary of progress to date on the five year, £1.3 million funded Tweed Trail project.  Tweed Trail was to be a 113 mile walking trail and facilitated cycling from Moffat to Berwick-Upon-Tweed.  There was to be physical and digital interpretation to animate and engage user experience on the trail.  Included in the 2023 budget was a proposal to make improvements to the paths between the Gytes and Fotheringham Bridge to create a new 3 metre wide multi-use bound path funded by Sustrans and to repair existing sections of Tweed Green path where necessary.  There was to be scope for seating, landscaping and habitat enhancements with accessibility for all where possible.  It was also proposed to widen and regrade the mound site behind Haylodge hospital, to widen the Eddleston water bridge and upgrade the link path to The Cuddy to two metres and to three metres for the path to town.  New signage was also proposed.  The redecking of the bridge at Cardrona and lighting improvements at Eshiels tunnel were to commence in September and October 2023.  The resurfacing of the multi-use path below the Peebles Hydro Hotel had been completed with Sustrans funding. There had been a public consultation exercise on 12 July 2023, the results of which were to be presented in a report in due course.   A feasibility study on options on the north and south banks of the River Tweed was to be completed in September 2023.  With a view to maximizing public engagement and consultation, Mr. Gibson asked for attendees to advise of the most effective means within the locality.  Suggestions included the use of the window of Go Tweed Valley office on the High Street for public display of proposals with feedback forms and an article/advertisement in Peebles Life magazine (distributed to every household in Peebles). Crick Carleton was to liaise with Marina Piper and Greig Gibson to share learning gleaned from the Eddleston Path project.  With regards to ongoing maintenance costs of the path network, it was confirmed that the funding award for the Tweed Trail path network included its maintenance.

            DECISION

NOTED the update

The Chair informed the meeting of a request to establish a working group under the auspices of the Tweeddale Area Partnership to address issues around improving communications  and the early warning of potential flooding of the River Tweed in the Tweeddale locality.  Colin Kerr, Walkerburn Community Council spoke to members regarding the need for a coordinated community response.  It was suggested that any working group should include those with specialized local knowledge, particularly the ghillies as they were able to provide an early warning of worsening river conditions. The working group was to ne formed of Elected Members, Community Council representatives and other interested parties.  Colin Kerr agreed to lead the Committee.  There was the recommendation that the group speak with Councillor Stuart Marshall who was involved with the Hawick Volunteer Flood Group and that Councillor Marshall be invited to attend the next meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership along with representatives from the local Resilience Groups.

DECISION

AGREED:

(a)     to the establishment of an Area Partnership working group to consider early warning of potential flooding of the River Tweed in the Tweeddale locality; and

(b)     that Councillor Stuart Marshall and representatives of the local Resilience groups be invited to attend the next Tweeddale Area Partnership meeting.

Copy attached.

 There had been circulated copies of the Tweeddale Funding Table which showed available funds in the Tweeddale area.  Hannah Lacon reported that there was an opening balance of £60,138.77 at 1 April 2023, which gave a total available balance of £53,938.77.  Were all applications under consideration to be successful, there would be £37,214.87 left.

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DECISION

NOTED

Tweeddale Assessment Panel funding recommendations for the following NSF applications:

·         Conservation without Borders

·         Oor Space Youthy

·         The Dyslexic Collective

Ms Angela Holliday of the Tweeddale Assessment panel provided an overview of each of the applications.  The Assessment Panel had carefully considered each application and any conflicts of interest were declared during the Panel’s deliberations. 

Conservation Without Borders had requested £7,500 to make a documentary about the flight of Ospreys through the Tweed Valley.  In response to the Panel’s view that the project was not specific enough to Tweeddale, Tony Lightley and Dianne Beattie of Forestry Land Scotland confirmed that the project was to focus on only nine schools in the locality. There followed a brief discussion during which FLS undertook to redraft the application to better highlight the benefit to the locality, to be reconsidered at the next meeting on 31 October 2023.

DECISION

AGREED TO DEFER decision on the application until 31 October meeting.

Oor Space Youthy had requested £6,723.90 to support with on-going costs for staffing and rent from January 2024 onwards.  There followed a brief discussion during which it was agreed that further information from the organization was required on the particular projects that were to be funded from January 2024, the strategic approach to youth work in Peebles and its sustainability going forward.

DECISION

AGREED TO DEFER decision on the application until 31 October meeting.

The Dyslexic Collective had requested £2,500 for equipment for assisting dyslexic children with school work.  There followed a brief discussion during which it was agreed to defer any decision until such time as the group had received further advice from officers and Borders Community Action. 

DECISION

AGREED TO DEFER decision on the application until a later meeting

An update on progress to date.

Councillor Tatler, Chair of the Peebles Parking Working Group presented an update of progress to date.  A number of recommendations had been agreed and there remained outstanding the issue of changes to the paid parking regime at East Station car park and the free parking regime at Kingsmeadows and Neidpath car parks.  Contrary to recent a newspaper report, no final decision regarding the recommendations had been made on these matters.  There followed a brief discussion, during which a variety of opinions were shared.  It was also confirmed that officers were investigating parking revenue due to the Peebles Common Good Fund from SBC. The Chair reiterated that the decriminalisation of on-street parking was a matter for Scottish Borders Council, a process which could take up to 2 years and cost between £200-300k to establish.  A report on the matter was to be brought before the Council in September.  Recommendation six in the report was not agreed; an option of paid parking for 3 days was also to be considered for the Citizen Space survey.

DECISION

AGREED to approve the following five of the six recommendations contained in the report as follows:

1.          Any changes to the off-street parking regime in Peebles were to be reviewed after a period of 18 months from implementation.

2.          There was to be no immediate changes to the charging regime for the Neidpath, Kingsmeadows, Greenside or Swimming Pool car parks.

3.          There was to be improved signage at entrances (and possibly junctions) in the Town indicating the name, capacity and charging regime for all Car Parks. Consideration was to be given to including information about the availability of public toilets at the Kingsmeadows and East Station Car Parks.

4.          There was to be improved signage at the Pay Stations at the Greenside, Swimming Pool and East Station Car Parks, indicating that funds from parking fees and fines (less maintenance and staff costs) was to go directly towards Town Centre improvements. These improvements could be better visitor information, path and pavement maintenance, environmental work (flower beds and baskets) and promotion of the Town for visitors.

5.          For the benefit of residents there was to be a promotional campaign to encourage the purchase of Annual Car Parking Passes which were available from Scottish Borders Council for £26 a year. The Pass allowed for free parking in any of the Peebles Car Parks and some of the other Car Parks across the Scottish Borders.

NOT AGREED

6.       A proposal to change the current charging regime in the East Station Car Park will be put to an online vote on Citizen Space, before a final decision is made at the next meeting of the Group in October 2023. The proposal will be to change this from only charging on a Saturday to charging 6 days a week (Sunday excluded).

Opportunity to raise local matters.

Crick Carleton, Chair of Tweeddale Place Making Working Group provided a brief update of progress since the last meeting.  Peebles now had a working draft of their Place Plan, Walkerburn continued to make progress and Skirling had organised a meeting for the majority of households in the village.-  The SBC Placemaking website area was a useful resource and a sharing platform still needed to be established for groups and areas to exchange expertise and experience.

DECISION

NOTED the update

Ms Lacon encouraged attendees to complete meeting evaluation forms to be sent via email and to submit any items for a future agenda.

The next Area Partnership Meeting was scheduled for 31^st October 2023 with the agenda issued 17^th October.

Are there any items you would like to propose for the agenda? 

Please contact your local Councillor or the Communities & Partnership Team.

The next Area Partnership meeting was scheduled for 31 October 2023.  Following the meeting, the venue was confirmed as online via Microsoft Teams.