Scottish Borders Council

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Hawick High School, Hawick

Contact: Judith Turnbull Tel No. 01835 826556  Email:  Judith.Turnbull@scotborders.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Introductions

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor Richards, welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Partnership and thanked Community Councillors, Partners and local organisations for their attendance.  

 

2.

Consumption of Alcohol in Public Places

Consultation to help inform the Council in considering if there are areas in the Scottish Borders where drinking alcohol in a public place should not be allowed.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman also extended a welcome to Brian Frater - Regulatory Service Director Regulatory Services, and Susan Elliot - Alcohol & Drugs Partnership Coordinator, who were in attendance to advise of Scottish Borders Council’s consultation on the Consumption of Alcohol in Public Places.    Mr Frater explained that in 2014, the Council had considered the introduction of byelaws to prohibit drinking in public places.  Following a consultation process, in 2018, the Council decided not to introduce byelaws due to a range of factors including the changes in licensing laws and the low level of response to the original consultation.  The Council did however agreed to a new consultation which had been launched in Tweeddale, with over 300 responses already received.  The purpose of the consultation was to determine the views of the community, to inform the Council in considering if there were areas in the Scottish Borders where drinking alcohol in public places were causing problems.    Mr Frater encouraged participation in the consultation, copies of the questionnaire were available on the tables and the Council’s website.   The closing date for responses was 9 June.  Following an analysis of the responses, subject to the responses received, a further consultation exercise may be carried out in the autumn, with a report back to Council by the end of 2019.  

 

2.2       Mr Frater responded to a number of questions raised explaining that the byelaws would cover any public places not covered by a licence e.g. public parks.  There could be exemptions for events such as Common Ridings and Rugby Sevens.  Occasional licences could also be granted for special events.  If introduced, the Police would enforce the byelaws; Police Scotland and NHS Borders were key partners in the consultation process.    Regarding devolving the decision to Area Partnerships, Mr Frater advised that Area Partnerships could make recommendations to Council, but ultimately the decision was made by Scottish Ministers.

 

2.3      Ms Elliot went on to highlight that one in four adults were drinking to excess and that children exposed to alcohol by parents were more likely to drink alcohol.   NHS Borders’ view was that the introduction of byelaws would be an effective tool to reduce consumption and could change the mind-set of the public around the availability of alcohol; restriction could also help in terms of people’s overall health.   In response to a question, Ms Elliot explained that the impact of minimum pricing had not yet been analysed.  However, anecdotal information showed that consumption patterns had improved.   The Chairman thanked Mr Frater and Ms Elliot for their attendance and encouraged everyone to participate in the consultation.  

 

 

3.

Feedback from Meeting on 19 February 2019 pdf icon PDF 448 KB

Copy Minute from meeting on 19 February 2019.  (Copy attached).

Minutes:

The Minute of the meeting of the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Partnership held on 19 February 2019 had been circulated. A summary of the discussion on the theme ‘our quality of life was attached as an appendix to the Minute.  Tonights’ table discussion would discuss each theme and ensure that we had captured everything and had the right priorities. 

 

4.

Draft Teviot and Liddesdale Locality Plan pdf icon PDF 373 KB

A facilitated discussion on the Locality Plan for Teviot and Liddesdale. (Copy draft Plan attached.)

 

Discussion to consider:

  • Whether you agree with the priorities you have raised through Area Partnership meetings? Has anything been missed?
  • What would success look like?
  • How can we work in partnership together to achieve this?
  • How do I get involved?

 

Further information on local data and statistics

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Communities & Partnership Manager, Shona Smith, explained that the Draft Locality Plan, which had been circulated with the agenda, took into account all the comments and feedback from discussions that had taken place at the previous four themed meetings of the Area Partnership.  The priorities and key priorities about what was important and what would make a difference to the lives of people in the Teviot and Liddesdale area, within each theme, had been identified and listed in the draft plan.  Those present were now asked to review the draft and assess whether the plan had missed any significant areas of discussion and to consider if they agreed with the priorities and key priorities that had been identified. It was explained that there would be a 20 minute discussion on each of the four themes within the draft plan with a facilitator responsible for that theme moving between each of the four tables to record the input. For each theme the questions were asked.   Whether you agree with the priorities raised; has anything been missed; what would success look like; how can we work in partnership to achieve this; and how do I get involved’?  Feedback from the discussions on the draft would be used to inform development of the Teviot and Liddesdale Locality Plan.  It was noted that Local Community Action Plans and Learning Community Partnership Plans would also form part of the Locality Plan.

 

5.

Locality Bid Fund Update

Minutes:

Gillian Jardine, gave an update on the Localities Bid Fund (LBF).  There had been a good response to the process, the deadline for which was the of February.  Teviot and Liddesdale had £40k to allocate.  Officers were now in the process of communicating with groups to go forward to a public vote.   Ms Jardine went on to explain the registration process and that voting would be online or at the one day public event.   Further details on the process and timescales would be confirmed soon. 

 

6.

Other Business

Minutes:

Neighbourhood Small Schemes

The Chairman referred to a note by the Service Director and Infrastructure, copies of which had been circulated to Members at the meeting.  The note requested Members’ approval to delegate authority to the Service Director Assets & Infrastructure to approve Small Scheme applications in 2019/20 subject to the criterial detailed in the note. 

 

DECISION

AGREED to delegate authority to the Service Director Assets & Infrastructure to approve Small Scheme applications in 2019/20, subject to the conditions detailed in the report.   

 

7.

Open Forum

Opportunity to raise local matters.

Minutes:

In response to a question, the Chairman advised that the Council would not be introducing car parking charges or a tourist tax.

 

8.

Date of Next Meeting - 11 June 2019

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Partnership was scheduled for Tuesday 11 June 2019.  The venue would be confirmed in due course.   Ms Smith explained that the meeting would develop actions on quality of life to work towards achieving priorities.   Following a discussion members of the Area Partnership asked that all four themes be discussed at the next meeting, that the Area Partnership be restructured, Community Council Spotlight be reinstated and that Area Forums be reintroduced.

 

 

CONTACT US

Scottish Borders Council

Council Headquarters Newtown St. Boswells Melrose TD6 0SA

Tel: 0300 100 1800

Email:

For more Contact Details