Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Eildon Area Partnership held remotely via Microsoft teams, which included Elected Members, guests attending within the meeting and those watching via the Live Stream. 

Copy Minute from Meeting held on 17 November 2022.  (Copy attached.)

The Minute of the meeting of the Eildon Area Partnership held on 17 November 2022 had been circulated and was noted.  The Community Co-ordinator, Mr Kenny Harrow, explained that feedback on the Tweedbank Care Village had been positive, and that work was ongoing to realise that project.  Mr Harrow encouraged any group or organisation seeking to provide a warm space for people struggling to heat their homes over the winter to contact the Communities and Partnership team.

(Copy attached.)

Mr Harrow explained that a copy of the feedback from the Community Conversations held by Scottish Borders Council over the summer had been circulated with the agenda.  The events had provided the general public with the chance to meet Elected Members and senior staff to talk about what the Council did well, and where it needed to improve.  Events had been held in all of the wards of the Scottish Borders.  Councillor Jardine explained that the conversations had been well received, and highlighted that the events in Selkirk and Galashiels had been well attended and engaging.  A broad range of issues had been raised, and it was hoped that some areas of concern could be brought into the Council Plan.  It was hoped that further events would be held in the spring or summer of 2023.  Those in attendance highlighted that it was important to promote the events by various different means in order to reach the widest possible audience.  Members highlighted that it was important to try and engage with people who were not already engaged with the Council, and suggested that advertising or running sessions at non Council events could potentially ensure that a wider range of voices were being heard.  Mr Harrow highlighted that it was important to deliver real improvements and changes, and that attempts to engage with people had to be genuine.  The use of electronic notice boards at bus stops was suggested as a potentially effective way of disseminating official information to the public in a modern way. 

Eildon Funding Table 2022/23 - SBC Communities and Partnership Team. (Copy attached.)

Copies of the Eildon Funding Table 2022/23 had been circulated with the agenda.  Mr Coltman advised that the opening balance of the Neighbourhood Support Fund (NSF) had been £147k, and that approximately £128.5k had been awarded since April 2022.  Applications totalling £32.1k had been assessed and were awaiting decision.  Mr Coltman explained that if all of the applications were approved in full then the Fund would be oversubscribed by £13.5k.  The Selkirk Community Council (Brighter Selkirk) application for £1.2k had been approved under the fast track arrangements following the publication of the agenda.    

Eildon Assessment Panel to present funding recommendations for the following NSF applications:

·                Perfect Harmony

·                Earlston Bumps, Babies & Toddlers Group

·                Hike and Bike Hub

·                Melrose in Bloom

·                At Birkhill House

(To Follow.)

5.1       There had been circulated copies of the Eildon Assessment Panel’s recommendations as a supplement to the agenda. The Chair welcomed Ms Jenny Mushlin of the Eildon Assessment Panel to provide an overview of each of the recommendations. 

5.2       Earlston Bumps, Babies and Toddler Group 

Earlston Bumps, Babies and Toddler Group had applied for £3,763.39 to provide support and friendship to parents attending their group.  Wider family members would also be encouraged to attend.  The support would be used to help support training costs.  The Panel was keen to support the group, and had recommended to part-fund the project with a grant of £1.5k.  Members unanimously agreed to approve the application.

5.3       Perfect Harmony

            The application from Perfect Harmony was for £3k to allow the group, made up of local musicians, to provide more concerts in nursing homes, residential homes, sheltered housing, hospitals and day care centres across the Scottish Borders.  Perfect Harmony had indicated that the funding would allow them to provide an additional 40 concerns per year throughout 13 care facilities in the Eildon locality.  The Panel was fully supportive of the group, and highlighted that the concerts were free at the point of access. If the group was unsuccessful in other securing funding in other localities, then the Panel felt that that the funding provided by the Eildon Area Partnership should be ring-fenced for Eildon performances only.  Members unanimously agreed to approve the application.

5.4       Hike and Bike Hub

            Hike and Bike Hub had applied for £8.2k, which would be used to cover the annual lease costs of a unit in Galashiels.  The group aimed to promote active travel in the region, and were opening a centre which would offer affordable bike hire, servicing, led cycles and guided walks.  The Panel was very supportive of the group, but were keen to see how sustainable the project was, and had therefore recommended to part-fund with a grant of £4.1k.  The Panel indicated that this would allow the group to cover 6 months of their rent, and encouraged a further application to the NSF in 6 months if they could evidence that the project was doing well.  Angela Crow of the Hub was present, and explained that plans to open a unit on Douglas Bridge in Galashiels had fallen through due to safety issues.  The premises which would be rented were owned by a local landlord.  In response to a question regarding whether SBC had been able to offer assistance finding a low rent space, Mrs Crow confirmed that SBC had been unable to find an available premises.  Mrs Crow encouraged all attendees to visit the official opening ceremony of the Hub.

5.5       Melrose in Bloom

            The application from Melrose in Bloom was for £5.75k to fund the replacement of a dilapidated wooden fence.  It had not been possible to determine who ownership of the land.  The Panel had recommended not to fund the application, but were happy that if ownership  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Breakout Room discussions may include questions such as:

• What are the barriers to active travel in Eildon?
• How do we encourage greater usage of public transport?

6.1       The Chair welcomed Mr Gordon Grant, Scottish Borders Council’s Principal Transport Officer to the meeting.  Mr Grant explained that the preceding years had seen significant changes to the bus network in the region, with some areas more negatively impacted than others.  Following the unprecedented disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, operations were now more stable.  The Council was undertaking a transport network review in order to assess how it could improve what it has in place.  The local bus network had operated on a series of fixed routes for approximately 30 years, with very little change.  The use of technology, in the form of Demand Responsive Transport, such as that seen in the pilot PINGO project in the Berwickshire locality, had the potential to greatly alter the way in which transport services were delivered across the region.  Work needed to take place to engage with key employers, such as NHS Borders, to try and ensure that bus services were fit for purpose, and enabled workers and service users to confidently rely on the bus network to meet their needs.  Usage of the bus network was estimated at 78% of pre-covid levels.  Mr Grant explained that a considerable part of the patronage of buses was made up of older people travelling on concessionary cards, and those individuals had not returned to using the service in the levels seen prior to the pandemic.  Operating costs had increased considerably due to the inflationary environment seen in the UK as a whole, with costs up approximately 33%.  Minor adjustments to the network, such as certain buses arriving or departing slightly later had the potential to make a big difference to user numbers and the wider networks’ effectiveness.   Mr Grant explained that, with reference to paragraph 3, where it had been suggested to use electronic travel boards to disseminate information to the public, it was possible to use those screens to put messages out.  Work was ongoing to assess the practicalities and effectiveness of that.  A marketing campaign was being developed which would encourage users to return to the bus network, and would focus on what changes were happening, and how families could travel at very cost effective prices. 

6.2       Mr Grant encouraged attendees to provide their honest feedback on the network, and invited questions.  Regarding how improvement and success would be measured, Mr Grant explained that the overall effectiveness of the network, and user numbers ultimately defined how successful the bus network was.  The number of young people using the service was seen as key, and whilst the numbers of people aged between 11 and 17 was generally good, following that there was a dramatic drop off. Attracting tourists and visitors to use the public transport network was also hugely important.  In response to a question regarding the lack of printed timetables at bus stops, and the need for passengers to use a smart phone application, the cost of printing and updating timetables regularly was highlighted as an issue.  Whilst using a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The next meeting of the Eildon Area Partnership will be held on Thursday, 23 March 2023.  The Agenda will be issued on Friday, 10 March 2023.

The Chair confirmed that the next Area Eildon Area Partnership would be held on Thursday, 23 March at 6pm.  The meeting would be held online via Microsoft Teams.

Attendees expressed their thanks to Mr Grant for his attendance and work in a difficult area.

Mr Coltman posted the link to the Menti evaluation, and encouraged attendees to complete the survey.