Agenda and draft minutes

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

(a)        Consider Minute of meeting held on 6 February 2024. (Copy attached.)

(b)        Consider Action Tracker. (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the meeting held on 6 February 2024 and the Action Tracker.

DECISION

AGREED the Minute and NOTED the Action Tracker

Feedback from meeting held on 6 February 2024.

Hannah Lacon gave a brief recap on the introduction of Alex Waterstone-Law, the recently elected MSYP. Alex had already been contacted on a number of issues and was to be invited to attend future meetings of the Area Partnership where diary commitments allowed. Crick Carleton had provided a thorough summary of the progress of Peebles Town Team and the wider Place Making programme.

DECISION

NOTED

Clare Malster- Participation Officer Scottish Borders Council to lead round table discussions on the review of Area Partnerships.

Clare Malster, Participation Officer introduced the purpose of the evening’s round table discussion. The review of Area Partnerships had restarted following a break due to the pandemic. Attendees were encouraged to share thoughts and pose questions on Area Partnerships. A summary document on responses was to be collated and circulated to attendees in due course.

DECISION

NOTED the update.

Iain Gibson- Peebles Youth Voice to give an update on local initiatives for the increase in provisions available to young people.

Iain Gibson, Administrator of Peebles Youth Voice (PYV) provided attendees with an update on local initiatives to increase provision for local young people.  PYV was a collective of organisations with a focus on youth provision and support in Peebles and to bridge the gap between young people and the local community.  The programmes and facilities were for young people in Tweeddale and it was acknowledged that wider access was challenging and relied on public transport or parent/carer drivers.  Mr Gibson reported that a survey that had been produced for the young people of Peebles High School and he hoped that this would provide a good base of information on barriers for young people and potential gaps in services and facilities for them locally.  Work on the youth shelter in Victoria Park had begun and an opening event was to take place in due course. Several future youth events had been planned at the Eastgate Theatre (film and music evenings). Mr Gibson thanked SBC, Community Councils, Elected Members and communities for their support in working towards their objectives.  In response to a question on governance and resultant funding opportunities, Mr Gibson reported that PYV had considered becoming a constituted group.  However at present, the organisation was content to work under the umbrella of the Peebles Community Trust and fulfil an enabling role for other organisations with a focus on action for and by young people.

DECISION

NOTED the update.

Colin Kerr to provide an update.

Colin Kerr provided an update on progress to date.  Six communities had been brought together to develop a strategy.  Some of those communities had received SWIFT water rescue training from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, with Innerleithen’s training pending.  The process of engaging with stakeholders had begun and positive responses had been received from SEPA, Scottish Water, SBC Resilience Team and Tweed Forum.  An early warning system provided by WhatsApp between farmers and ghillies had been deployed recently and it was intended that this communication tree continue for future weather events.  The redeployment of the temporary flood barrier at Hawick to Peebles was to be put to SBC, as was a larger sandbag store at Walkershaugh, ‘Path Closed’ signs, and sandbags for Walkerburn Primary School.  Another possibility to discuss was the installation of flood gates, akin to snow gates, to close flooded roads.  The group had considered the purchase of 2-way radios, the result of which was a need for 20 sets and a funding source for their purchase was being sought.  The group hoped to complete all outstanding actions within 6 months.  SEPA and Scottish Water were to be invited to speak to communities and the next meeting of the Flood Group in Peebles was to be arranged soon.  There followed a brief discussion on the perceived benefit of river dredging as a flood prevention measure and water management practices by Scottish Water.  Dredging was not acceptable to SEPA and alternative mitigations such as that at Eddleston Water were the alternatives.

DECISION

NOTED the update.

Chris Lewin- Assessment Panel Chair to give an overview of Neighbourhood Support Fund criteria and processes around decisions.

Chris Lewin Chair of the Tweeddale Assessment Panel shared the criteria for NSF applications and the process and challenges of their assessment.  The criteria had remained mostly unchanged, and a few changes had been suggested by the current Panel.  The updated criteria, to be piloted over 2024/25, was to be attached to the Minute of this meeting. This was to be Mr Lewin’s last Area Partnership meeting as he stepped down as Chair of the Panel.  The Chair thanked Chris for his work over the past three years in advising Members.  Those interested in joining the Tweeddale Assessment Panel were to contact Hannah.lacon@scotborders.gov.uk .  There was a suggestion that Elected Members have the opportunity to contribute to the Panel’s deliberations on the NSF applications prior to consideration at Area Partnership meetings.  Hannah Lacon confirmed that feedback and evidence from groups was a condition of an NSF award and that it was often challenging to obtain.  Repeat applications were only considered where an evaluation of the previous award was provided.  There was a suggestion that future Area Partnership meetings begin with an evaluation round-up, whereby group representatives were invited to share the impact of NSF awards and raise awareness of their work and that of the Partnership and Panel.

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.   Were all applications under consideration to be successful, there would be a deficit of £2,356.47. 

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DECISION

NOTED

Tweeddale Assessment Panel to present funding recommendations for the following NSF applications;

·       The Dyslexic Collective

·       Innerleithen Golf Club

·       Peebles County Cricket Club

·       Linton Lifts

Chris Lewin 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. 

Innerleithen Golf Club had applied for £7,500 to part fund a second-hand tractor and trailer for £15,000 to replace their existing one which was at the end of its life. They had not provided evidence of funding sought elsewhere and the award was capped at £5k.

DECISION

AGREED TO FUND £5,000

Peebles County Cricket Club had applied for £3,194 towards the purchase of a new bowling machine.  It was to support the development of cricket at the High School and was available for other clubs to use.

 DECISION

AGREED TO FUND £3,194

Linton Lifts had applied for £590 to support with the costs incurred to assess demand in a local car lift scheme similar to the one in Broughton.

DECISION

AGREED TO FUND £590

The Dyslexic Collective had applied for £4,000 to pay for practical items to help dyslexic learning students in their first year at Peebles High School.  Councillor Pirone agreed to liaise with the school to obtain their approval of the equipment and its use.

DECISION

AGREED TO FUND £4,000 on condition of a letter of approval of the equipment and its use in school from Peebles High School.

The SEStran (South East Scotland Transport Partnership) ‘Do The Ride Thing’ event was to be held in Walkerburn on Thursday, March 28 from 10am-2pm.  A fleet of e-bikes was to be available for the local community to try out with cycling instructors there to lend a helping hand.  The event was part of SEStran’s project to promote the use of e-bikes for travel and leisure throughout March and April.  The event was located at the GO e-Bike Hub, behind Unit 7, Tweedvale Mills East, Walkerburn, EH43 6AB.   Walkerburn Community Development Trust (WCDT) operated the hub and had a number of e-bikes on loan from SEStran.

10.2   Jean Dobbing, Community Learning & Development Officer spoke briefly on her role as ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) co-ordinator for adults.  Along with Richard McDowell, Jean worked with adults, unaccompanied minors and families to support their English learning.  Attendees were encouraged to contact Jean for any support needed in the area at jean.dobbing@scotborders.gov.uk or cld@scotborders.gov.uk .

10.3   Councillor Tatler confirmed that the Levelling up Fund had awarded the Chambers Institution Trust £4.4m. There had been a drop-in session at the Burgh Hall on 18 March, attended by around 70 people, to gather initial opinion on the draft vision proposal (available here: Agenda for Chambers Institution Trust on Wednesday, 28th February, 2024, 4.00 pm - Scottish Borders Council (moderngov.co.uk) ).  There was to be a standing item on the Area Partnership agenda to provide an update on progress. 

There was a brief discussion on the Pingo bus service and the possibility of this being trialled in Tweeddale.  Councillor Begg confirmed that he had been in discussion with SBC around the service difficulties experienced in the Berwickshire pilot area and that costs to roll out a programme were likely to be prohibitive.  There was to be further discussion on the 91 and 93 service between Councillor Begg and Gordon Grant, Principal Public Transport Officer, SBC.

Next Area Partnership: 11^th June 2024 with agenda issued 28^th May 2024.

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

Please contact your local councillor or the Communities & Partnership Team

The next meeting of the Tweeddale Area Partnership was noted as 11 June 2024, via Microsoft Teams.