Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: via Microsoft Teams
Contact: William Mohieddeen, Democratic Services Officer Tel: 01835 826504; Email: william.mohieddeen@scotborders.gov.uk
Link: Live stream link
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Welcome and Meeting Protocols Minutes: The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Teviot & Liddesdale Area Partnership. The meeting was held via Microsoft Teams and the Chairman outlined how the meeting would be conducted and how those both in the meeting and watching via the live stream could take part.
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Feedback from Meeting of 16 November and 7 December PDF 280 KB Consider Minutes of the Meetings held on 16 November (copy attached) and 7 December (to follow). Additional documents:
Minutes: Copies of the Minutes of the Meetings held on 16 November and 7 December 2021 had been circulated. With reference to paragraph 12 of the Minute of the Meeting held on 16 November 2021, the Chairman advised that information including details of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Fund for community groups to organise celebratory events had been circulated and the fund was open for application. With reference to paragraph 14 of the Minute of the Meeting held on 16 November 2021, the Chairman further advised that Officers had noted suggestions made during the Menti evaluation and would factor those suggestion for the agenda of the Meeting of the Area Partnership on 22 March 2022.
DECISION AGREED to approve the Minutes of 16 November and 7 December 2021 for signature by the Chairman.
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Impact of Storm Arwen on Communities Minutes: 1.1
There had been a request for a discussion at the
Area Partnership on the impact of Storm Arwen on
communities. Mr Philip Kerr of
Southdean Community Council introduced
the discussion with a verbal update noting there was a need to
assess progress with the electricity and telecommunications
networks. There had been further issues
with the electricity network following Storm Malik which
communities were using opportunities to share updates across social
media networks. Mr Kerr suggested that
communities should have access to mapping of electricity and
telecommunications network lines to readily identify
sources. Mr Kerr advised that forestry
had been having a difficult time with recent storm
events. After speaking with Forestry
and Land Scotland, Mr Kerr advised they were still aware of the
wheel causeway path issue of needing its path however the recent
storms had meant that there were other priorities for the agency to
address as matter of priority. The
damage assessment from the storms may affect Forestry and Land
Scotland’s five and ten year plans. Mr Kerr advised he wished to understand how
electricity and telecommunications companies were making their
lines more resilient and whether lines would be buried
underground. With regards to blocked
roads, Mr Kerr suggested that Scottish Borders Council could
publish a list of affected locations.
Mr Kerr further suggested that a Teviot and Liddesdale resilience
webpage may help to capture infrastructure incidents in the
area. Mr Kerr advised that
telecommunications had been in a better status and that he raised
the possibility of ‘not spots’ being covered with more
than one source of power. Tree clearing
had been taking place at Windhope where
it had been suggested that clearing of trees may help strengthen
other trees. In response to a question
from the Chairman on fibre optic cables shattering when strung
along poles, Mr Kerr advised that a 22-day broadband outage had
been caused by a similar incident. Mr
Kerr further advised that BT had rolled out fibre optic technology
by stringing cables between poles and that fibre optic cables were
strung tighter than copper lines making them more resilient however
they were still vulnerable to trees falling. 1.2 Ms Barbara Elborn of Newcastleton Community Council gave a verbal update on the impact of storm incidents in Newcastleton. Electricity had been off in Newcastleton for between 24 – 36 hours, while some properties were without electricity for five or six days. There had been concerns regarding levels of response with questions raised around resilience measures for vulnerable and elderly people requiring generators. Future communications resilience was also raised where there had been experience of digital services failing while analogue services were still live during the incident. Ms Elborn reported that an Executive Officer for Openreach had advised that a deal had been done to supply a 24-hour generator pack which was to be used sparingly. Path clearing had been requested to take place. Ms Elborn advised that there needed to be better understanding of road closures outside of the local authority ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
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Place Making Update Minutes: 1.1
Councillor Richards introduced Sharon Renwick,
Community Place Planning and Regeneration Officer, to give an
update on Place Making. Ms Renwick
began her role before Christmas 2021, had been involved in place
plans and place making and the role had come about from the
Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. The
Community Place Planning and Regeneration Officer advised that
place plans were to be prepared in a bottom-up approach and be
representative of the community. Place
making workshops were to be held across Area Partnerships in
February and March with dates to be confirmed. A facilitator was to be appointed to lead
workshops so they were not led by Scottish Borders
Council. A procurement brief was
published on 21 January 2022 with responses invited and due by 4
February. Responses were to be
evaluated by 11 February when a facilitator would be
appointed. 1.2
In response to a question from Ms Elborn, the
Community Place Planning and Regeneration Officer advised that
climate change and net zero may be part of place plans and had been
included as part of place plans guidance circulated by the Scottish
Government. Mr Kerr added that he had
attended a South of Scotland Enterprise talk on net zero and that
the organisation was educating their own staff in the
issue. It was hoped that the training
for staff would be rolled out to companies and hopefully
communities and this would contain useful information. The Locality Development Coordinator
advised that the place making workshops were platforms at which net
zero may be raised.
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SBC Common Good Consultation Hannah MacLeod, Principal Solicitor, to provide an overview of the Common Good consultation.
Minutes: Ms Hannah Macleod, Senior
Solicitor, explained to the Area Partnership that under the
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 the Council was required
to establish and maintain a register of property which was held by
the authority as part of the Common Good (“a Common Good
Register”) - which included the Hawick Common
Good. The Council was currently
undertaking a consultation on what should be included on the
Register
Common Good property was owned by the former burghs in
Scotland and when the burgh system was abolished in 1975,
everything transferred to a Common Good account which was managed
by the Trustees of the Common Good (SBC Councillors) who were
responsible for managing these assets and making grants as
appropriate. In their efforts to
establish what should be included in the Common Good account,
officers were finding it trickier to identify arts and artefacts
than it was to identify buildings and land. In recognising the community interest in this, the
Community Empowerment Act required the Council to consult with
communities on draft lists and that consultation which would run
until 31 March 2022 was being undertaken online through Citizen
Space (Common
Good Consultation 2022 - Scottish Borders Council - Citizen
Space), with paper copies of the
consultation also available. Everyone
was encouraged to check the lists and provide information either on
something that was there and should not be, or which was
missing. Mrs Macleod further advised
that once the consultation closed, all representations would be
brought to individual Common Good Sub-Committees as well as being
published along with officer’ comments. There were a number of legal tests which had to be
carried out before assets could be added to a Common
Good. The final register would then be
published but if any information came to light after that, then
assets could still be added. |
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Community Assistance Hub Update Minutes: 1.1
Scott McKail, Community Engagement Officer, gave a
brief overview of the areas of discussion at community hub meetings
which were taking place weekly. A range
of topics were discussed which included the impact of Storm Arwen,
new fire alarm legislation, rising utility costs and specific input
from the place making team. Naomi
Sweeney, Project Manager, and Sharon Renwick, Community Place
Planning and Regeneration Officer, introduced themselves and Place
Making at the community assistance hub.
There was also attendance from Colin Henderson of Skills
Development Scotland (SDS) who gave an insight into statistical
information used by SDS and how partners could access the same
data. Jill McCoy of Citizens Advice
Bureau (CAB) gave an update on calls that CAB had been receiving
which allowed partners to have an insight into the types of issues
for which people were seeking support as well as the numbers of
people getting in touch with CAB. Ruth
Dickinson of Changeworks and Caroline
Hamilton of the NHS introduced the Low and Slow project which aimed
to reduce the impact of rising utility costs by giving out
slow-cooker recipes and ingredients, and information on energy
usage and winter warmer packs and draft excluders to 15 families in
the TD9 postcode area. 1.2
In response to a question from Members, on the
effectiveness of awareness raising on integrated fire alarms, Mr
Mckail advised that the discussion held
on the matter at the community hub worked well and that there would
be potential to work with partners in Changeworks and the NHS that may help in reaching
vulnerable people. The Locality
Development Coordinator suggested that communications may need to
improve as some householders had reported that insurers had said
they did not need to do anything to be compliant. With regards to remote outreach in Newcastleton, the Locality Development Coordinator
advised that there was help provided through Link with a laptop
installed at the Tower Cafe where information was shared.
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Build Back a Better Borders Recovery Fund Applications for Assessment PDF 124 KB Minutes: 1.1
The Locality Development Coordinator, Ms Jardine,
presented the funding table for the Community Fund. If the tabled application was successful, there
would be £378 remaining in the Build Back a Better Borders
Recovery Fund. An application for the
Community Pot A had been received for £2,300 and if it was
successful there would be £16,670 remaining. Two further applications had been received which
were due to be assessed and if these were included this would leave
£13,775 to be awarded. 1.2
The Community Engagement Officer, Mr McKail,
presented the summary of an application to the Build Back a Better
Borders Recovery Fund: Cheviot Togs (i) The applicant must follow Scottish Government Covid-19 guidance when delivering the service. (ii)
Moveable equipment to be passed to
another community group/organisation should this project cease to
operate. DECLARATION OF INTEREST Councillor Ramage declared an interest in the following item of business in terms of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and left the Teams meeting during the discussion, returning once the item had been finalised.
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Community Fund Pot A Applications for Assessment PDF 448 KB - Hornshole Greenway Development Group – Hawick Pot A Minutes: Mr Cameron Knox of Hawick Community Council presented the summary of recommendations by the Hawick Community Council Fund Pot A Assessment Panel. The panel met to consider an application of £2,300 from Hornshole Greenway Development Group for a ground engineering survey for the Border Queen River Sculpture. The Assessment Panel recommended the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Partnership award a grant of £2,300 to the applicant.
DECISION AGREED to award Hornshole Greenway Development Group a grant of £2,300.
MEMBER Councillor Ramage re-joined the Meeting.
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Participatory Budgeting Update PDF 2 MB Update from SCDC Training. Additional documents:
Minutes: Copies of the slides from the Participatory Budget workshop sessions held at the end of 2021 had been circulated. Ms Jardine thanked all who contributed to the sessions which covered the potential of participatory budgeting. Discussions on participatory budgeting were to continue and attendees were encouraged to contact Ms Jardine or Mr McKail if they wished to participate. |
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Additional Information Pack PDF 553 KB For information on current consultations, community information and useful links, see the Additional Information document. (Copy attached.) Minutes: The Chair advised that additional information was included in the agenda pack on current consultations, community empowerment requests and the 20mph trial evaluation. |
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Next Meeting of the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Partnership Next Meeting: 22 March 2022; agenda issued 8 March 2022.
Are there any items you would like to propose for the agenda? Please contact your local councillor or the Communities & Partnership Team. Minutes: It was noted the next Meeting of the Area Partnership was 22 March 2022 and the agenda would be issued on 8 March 2022. It was noted that equality and diversity may be an item on the next meeting informed by feedback collected on Menti. Mr Kerr added that he could engage with South of Scotland Enterprise on environment social governance and net zero and approach Colin Banks to give a presentation. |
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Any Other Business Minutes: 1.1
Ms Heather Batsch asked
whether funds from Teviot and Liddesdale Area Partnership Community
Fund Pot A and Pot B would rollover to the next financial year
after 31 March as discussed at the Cheviot Area
Partnership. Ms Jardine advised that
this was a Scottish Borders-wide agreement and she would check
whether funds would be rolled over after 31 March. Mr Kerr asked whether confirmation would be sought
for the closing of round 3 for Pot A of the Community Fund for 21
February for recommendations to be completed for the 22 March
meeting of the Area Partnership. 1.2 Mr Kerr advised that Muir Hall wind farm application was due for the end of February to early March and there may be a four-month consultation period.
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Meeting Evaluation via Menti Minutes: Attendees concluded the meeting with submission of meeting evaluations using the software Menti.
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