Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Meeting of the Berwickshire 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.

The Chairman varied the order of business as shown on the agenda, and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

Copies of the Minutes of the meetings held on 2 September and 16 December 2021 had been circulated.  With reference to paragraph 3 of the Minute of 16 December, the Locality Development Co-ordinator, Ms G. Jardine, gave an update on the current status of the Community Fund.  Ms Jardine thanked the Assessment Panel for promoting the Fund and there were now 16 applications awaiting assessment.  Due to the number of applications received, and the time needed for officers to assess them, it was proposed that the meeting of the Assessment Panel would be moved forward by a week and the report from the Assessment Panel would be issued as a later paper for the meeting of the Berwickshire Area Partnership on 3 March 2022.  In effect, the Community Fund was over-subscribed with new applications totalling £28k before the assessment process was undertaken.

DECISION

AGREED:

(a)       to approve the Minutes of 2 September and 16 December 2022; and

(b)       that the report from the Assessment Panel on the applications to the Community Fund due to be presented to the next meeting of the Berwickshire Area Partnership would be issued as a late paper, due to the time required to assess the 16 new applications.

Papers to follow.

Photos of BBBB funded projects: BBBB Fund Awards 2021/22 | Flickr

Ms G. Jardine, Locality Development Co-ordinator, advised that should the application before the Committee be approved, this would leave £29k in the Fund.  There were still 2 further applications pending.  Copies of the assessment form for the application from Berwickshire Marine Reserve (BMR) to the Build Back a Better Borders Recovery Fund had been circulated.  The BMR sought £15,000 from the Fund to cover salary costs for 6 months for a Community Outreach Officer and to contribute to the salary costs of their Volunteer & Governance Manager.  By employing a Community Outreach Officer 3 days per week, the BMR would increase capacity within the team to rebuild BMR’s training programme and planned events for 2022 which were intended to encourage locals and visitors to participate in marine conservation and data collection.  This would be in addition to the regular summer programme of Marine Ranger-led events.  The BMR was also apply to other funders to continue these 2 posts and projects beyond 6 months.

DECISION

AGREED to grant the sum of £15,000 to the Berwickshire Marine Reserve for the project, conditional on the applicant following Scottish Government Covid-19 guidance. 

Consider paper by Keith Dickinson.  (Copy attached.)

5.1       With reference to paragraph 3 of the Minute of 2 September 2021, copies of a briefing paper had been circulated.  Mr Keith Dickinson gave a presentation on the content of the paper, which had two aims:  to strengthen the role of the Berwickshire Area Partnership by setting up the mechanisms whereby community views could be fed into Place Making discussions in an effective, participatory and constructive way; and it would help address concerns raised about the absence of early and effective consultation, perceived flaws in the currently proposed methodology, and difficulties in the understanding/interpretation of proposals.  This in turn would encourage greater community involvement and broader representation.  The background and context for Place Making were detailed along with a proposal to set up a Berwickshire Area Partnership Place Making Working Group.  Previous Working Groups had worked well in Berwickshire and had made recommendations which had been accepted by the Area Partnership.  It was proposed that a Working Group be created, comprising 6-8 community members, with an additional 2-3 SBC Councillors, and this Group would be charged with making recommendations to the Area Partnership relating to the development and implementation of Place Making/ Planning in Berwickshire.  This Working Group would report to a future meeting of the Area Partnership and would consider and work towards clarifying the terminology around Place Making and Place Planning; proposed joint principles; the proposed target Place Making Framework; the methodology for determining which communities to prioritise; how to best allocate resources available for Place Planning in Berwickshire; and the Area Partnership-Draft Place Making Role Agreement.  As well as being considered by the Working Group, some of this could be the subject of a facilitated workshop.

5.2       Mr James Lamb, SBC Portfolio Manager, advised that he had spoken with Mr Dickinson after the previous meeting of the Area Partnership, and was supportive of the ambition and direction of travel.  There had been a similar experience at other Area Partnership meetings and the idea of having time to build an understanding of what Place Making was about was also important to them.  It had been agreed with other Area Partnerships that a series of facilitated workshops would be held which would be open for members of the community to attend to learn and understand more about Place Making.  A tender had been issued and it was hoped to appoint a suitably qualified organisation to facilitate these workshops and then set up the workshops from the end of February.  Details on the workshops would be issued in due course.

DECISION

AGREED:

(a)       To set up a Place Making Working Group;

(b)       To the initial topics for consideration by the Working Group as detailed in the above narrative;

(c)       To plan a facilitated Place Making workshop which would explore and agree a way forward;

(d)       To propose a facilitated Borders-wide Place Making good practice workshop to learn from other areas;

(e)       To receive a further report on a method of recruitment to the Working Group; and

(f)        Where possible,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Ms G. Jardine, Locality Development Co-ordinator, explained that unfortunately representatives of the Association had had to send apologies tor the meeting so a written update would be requested.

DECISION

AGREED to ask the Coldstream Gateway Association to attend a future meeting of the Area Partnership to provide an update.

Hannah MacLeod, Principal Solicitor, to provide an overview of the Common Good consultation.

Common Good Consultation 2022

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”).   The Council was currently undertaking a consultation on what should be included on the Register which included the Common Goods for Coldstream, Duns and Eyemouth.  Community Good was property owned by the former burghs in Scotland and when the burgh system was abolished in 19975, 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.  Councillor Moffat advised of a collection of books (about 13 or 14 volumes) in Coldstream Town Hall on the First World War which he felt should be kept in the community.  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.  It was anticipated that people from the communities would have greater knowledge on local assets than the officers based at Council HQ.  Councillor Fullarton referred to “Thomson’s History of Berwickshire”, a copy of which was in Eyemouth Library which could also contain further information for reference. 

DECISION

NOTED the consultation on the Common Good Register and encouraged everyone to participate to ensure that all assets had been included for Coldstream, Duns and Eyemouth.

Brian Young, Network Manager, and the Jim Clark Rally Committee will present routes the rally will use in Berwickshire.

8.1       Copies of a report by the Director Infrastructure & Environment on the Jim Clark Rally Consultation process had been circulated.  The report provided the Area Partnership and the local community with an opportunity to consider and comment on the proposals submitted by the event organisers to hold a rally on closed roads in the Scottish Borders from 27 to 29 May 2022.  Mr Brian Young, SBC Network Manager, presented the report, advising of the revised legislation which was introduced in 2019 to allow motor sports events to take place on closed public roads.  The new regulations built upon previous experience through the Jim Clark Rally and other events and were intended to introduce increased rigor to the procedure for organising and running such events.  These regulations introduced a two stage procedure where organisers must first successfully apply to an “authorised body” for a permit before applying to the local authority for a Motor Sports Order.  In determining whether to make such an Order, the Council, as local roads authority – had to consider a number of factors that were laid out in the regulations.  The report outlined those factors and provided an opportunity to, in particular, examine the proposals submitted by the rally organisers in respect of the routes and timings for the rally in May.  It was noted that the event organisers had also been in regular consultation with representatives of the Council and Police Scotland via the Safety Advisory Group system at the Council which also included representatives of Fire & Rescue Services and the Scottish Ambulance Service.  The proposal was for the rally to be based in Duns and to have a pre-rally “shakedown” stage on the Friday morning followed by two rally stages early evening; then seven rally stages over 3 different routes on the Saturday; and a further six rally stages over 3 further different routes on the Sunday.  Overall route plans, provisional stage timings and plans for all stages including a reserve route were all contained in the appendices to the report.  The Council had also launched a public consultation via Jim Clark Rally 2022 - Scottish Borders Council - Citizen Space which was due to close on 9 March 2022. 

8.2       Ms Lindsay Burnip, Mr Clayton Lackenby, Mr Graham Provest and Mrs Frances Renton from the Jim Clark Rally were all present at the meeting.  Mrs Renton gave assurances that as an organisation they were watched very closely by the local authority and Scottish Government to ensure that everything was correct in terms of health and safety.  Safety was the first priority and the organisers worked with Police, Fire and Ambulance services throughout the preparation and the running of the event.  The first PR letter to local communities had been issued and there would be at least another two letters coming out before the rally started.  Mrs Renton encouraged everyone to take part in the consultation as the organisers were interested in everyone’s views.  Mrs Renton could be contacted directly.  Ms Burnip  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Ms G. Jardine, Locality Development Co-ordinator, gave a brief overview of the areas of discussion at fortnightly community hub meetings.  People from communities were encouraged to attend if they were interested.  Recent issues raised included social welfare concerns; the new legislation coming into force about fire alarm systems and how people could afford to install such systems (Citizens Advice had details on their website and there could potentially be help available for householders); concern about the need for care staff across Berwickshire and how that need could be met; householders in arrears with utility costs and how to best support them; the NHS Money Worries App; looking at a whole systems approach in Eyemouth with a park run scheduled for summer along with other outdoor activities; and Eyemouth & District Community Trust producing and delivering their What’s On Guide.  In response to a question about the rising costs of utilities, Ms Amaral of BAVS, advised that BAVS had been allocated funding from the Financial Inclusion Fund towards support for families in crisis and also to move beyond crisis to a preventative approach.  Heating costs were an issue and impacting on incomes, so reliance on this type of support was needed more than ever.  However, it had to be done with dignity and an example was given of foodbanks coming up with innovative solutions.  Mr Paterson of Berwickshire Housing Association advised of their befriending scheme which was looking for more volunteers, as well as doing a lot around food poverty.  It was expected that the 50% rise in wholesale fuel costs would be passed on to customers.  The Housing Association was working with a number of other organisations and partners to see how best they could work together to deliver services and support, particularly around heating and food.  Cllr Fullarton then advised anyone impacted by the recent Storm Arwen to make a claim to Scottish Power for a hot food allowance and also the loss of power for more than a few days.

DECISION

NOTED.

Next meeting: 3 March 2022; agenda issued 17 February 2022.

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

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

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Area Partnership would be held online on 3 March 2022 starting at 6:30pm.  

-       For information on current consultations, community information and useful links, see the Additional Information document.  (Copy attached.)

11.1     Participatory Budgeting

Details of the feedback from the workshops held by the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) at the end of 2021 on Participatory Budgeting, Systems & Structure, Engagement & Involvement, and questions answered on the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and clarification on Participatory Budgeting, had been circulated.   Ms Jardine, Locality Development Co-ordinator, thanked those who had attended the workshops and advised that there had been some very positive conversations.  Anyone wishing to be involved in further conversations should get in touch with the Partnership team.  The Chairman also referred everyone to the current consultation on the Council budget and encouraged everyone to take part in this.

11.2     Additional Information

Information on current consultations (2022/23 Budget survey and the Common Goods) had been circulated, along with links to other community information.

James Purves, Community Engagement Officer, used the Menti system to allow those at the meeting to give feedback and advised that this would be open for a while after the meeting.  Responses would be fed back to the next meeting of the Area Partnership.