Minutes of the Meeting of the
SWANAGE TOWN AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
held at the Town Hall
on Wednesday, 19th July 2006 at 9.30 a.m.
Present: -
Cllr G Suttle Chairman & Town Mayor
Mrs A Faulkner Vice Chairman & Swanage Community & Sports Partnership
Mr A J Leeson Honorary Secretary & Treasurer
Mr M Goodman Market & Coastal Towns Association
Councillor Mrs J Farrow Swanage Town Council
Rev. S Garrett Churches Together in Swanage & District
Cllr C Bright Swanage Town Council & Purbeck District Council
(until 11.00 a.m.)
Mr R Brasher MCTi
Mr N Field Swanage Sea Rowing Club
Mr J Andrews The Getaway-Swanage Youth Centre
Mr T Ayling Emmanuel Baptist Church
Mr C Brixton Purbeck Society
Cllr P Bowyer Studland Parish Council
Mr D Bale The Mowlem Theatre & Arts Centre (until 11.00 a.m.)
Mrs L Haines Y-Axis
Mr D Price-Hughes Swanage Resident’s Association (until 11.15 a.m.)
Cllr M Hadley Swanage Town Council
Mr T Welham (until 11.00 a.m.)
Mrs V Pike Swanage In Bloom
Mr I Allen Swanage Chamber of Trade, Swanage & Purbeck Rotary Club
Mr K Gooding Swanage Railway Co. Ltd
Mr P Clark Swanage & Isle of Purbeck Liberal Democrats
1) Apologies
Apologies for their inability to attend the meeting were received from Mrs J Lazenbury, Cllr Mrs Marsh, Mrs A Squires, Mr R Wilson
2) Appointment of Chairman
Before commencement of this agenda item, the resignation of Mrs A Faulkner and Mrs J Farrow from the respective roles of Chairman and Vice-Chairman was noted. Mrs Faulkner presided over the formal appointment of her successor, whereupon it was proposed by Mr Bale, seconded by Cllr Bright and agreed unanimously:
That Cllr Gary Suttle be appointed Chairman.
3) Appointment of Vice Chairman
It was proposed by Cllr Suttle, seconded by Mr Brixton and agreed unanimously:
That Mrs Ann Faulkner be appointed Vice-Chairman.
4) Appointment of Honorary Secretary & Treasurer
It was suggested that the secretarial role be separated from that of treasurer. It was further suggested that a properly appointed minute taker be appointed to alleviate the workload. Each suggestion was given merit and as there was no immediate solution it was agreed:
That Mr Alan Leeson be appointed Honorary Treasurer & Secretary.
5) Report from the Chairman
The past-Chairman introduced her report for the year ended 31st March 2006, copies of which had been circulated prior to the meeting. Specific reference was made to the projects and activities namely; King George’s Field - Pavilion project, Y-Axis skate park and Play-in-Swanage play equipment. Other projects included the Swanage to Wareham Rail link, Swanage as a Fairtrade Town and the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership.
Detailed reference was made to the initiatives undertaken namely; the Market & Coastal Town’s initiative and the Rural Renaissance initiative.
It was stated that the “MCTi Healthcheck” was almost complete and the Plan was anticipated to be published in draft by December. It was noted that the completion of the Plan was required by 31st March 2007.
During the ensuing discussion, concerns were highlighted at the Regional Spatial Strategy consultation documentation recently published and the impact of this on the future of the community.
6) Statement of Audited Accounts
The Honorary Secretary & Treasurer presented the statement of accounts for the year-end 31st March 2006. It was noted that almost all of the financial activities related to either the MCTi or RRi.
7) Presentation from Mark Goodman – MCTA
Mark Goodman, the Community Facilitator (Regional) from the MCTA gave a presentation on the MCTi process.
Mr Goodman stated that the MCTA was an independent organisation, which would become a limited company in due course. It was funded by SWRDA and other organisations and authorities.
The MCTi process is based upon trust in the local communities is non-political and with no strings attached with the aim to:
∑ Involve local people and groups
∑ Prepare a plan
∑ Organise the Community
∑ Make things happen
Mr Goodman outlined the transition from the Parish Plan to the Market & Coastal Towns initiative. The STCP initially applied to become a Market & Coastal Town; however the bid was put on hold. During this time an application was made for the Parish Plan and was accepted, this being the first positive bid for funding by the Town to be accepted. It was during the course of the Parish Plan process that the STCP was told that its bid for the MCTi had been accepted. A decision was then made by the STCP to terminate the Parish Plan and focus solely on the MCTi. The MCTi has a greater funding capacity and is Town rather than Parish oriented, therefore more suitable for Swanage. The MCTi process is dependent upon strategic planning, with a greater emphasis on providing evidence of need, which funding bodies now require.
The MCTi is a 4 stage process: Pre planning, Community Strategic Planning, Implementation Planning and Project Delivery. Swanage was noted as being at the end of stage 2, producing the Strategic Plan. The evidence of need now has to be documented and base evidence established. The Healthcheck started in April 2006 to provide this evidence. The next stage is the implementation of the plan and this should take projects to the funding ready stage.
Issues need to be prioritised and weaknesses identified. The need to engage more of the community has to be addressed, although the capacity to engage is known to be limited. The opportunity to restructure the Partnership should be taken now during the transition form stage 2 to stage 3 and establish a funding portfolio for projects and initiatives.
The need to find people to take projects forward was highlighted as imperative to their success. The question of access to the MCTi for new projects was raised. It was noted as being fluid with all new projects being able to access the MCTi. The question of accessing the whole community was raised. Mr Goodman stated that this did concern him however all efforts had been made to get them on board.
A discussion arose as to the perceived lack of feedback from previous consultations. It was reported that all information gathered from previous consultation processes was being fed into the strategic plan. Problems with people leaving posts, the temporary nature of the work and the fact that few people were doing a lot of the work was highlighted by Mr Goodman. These all resulted in a breakdown in the flow of information from the consultations however the information was being used and would be available. The multitude of processes was also confusing. The need for something tangible was highlighted by Mr Allen. It was noted that a concise and complete document would be available in October.
The Chairman requested that an agenda item be placed on the Council’s monthly meeting so that the Partnership and its work could be highlighted, especially considering the importance to the Town for the next twenty years.
8) Structure Proposals
The Honorary Secretary & Treasurer reported that the process had moved on significantly however felt that there was a certain amount of negativity at present which was possibly borne out of the fact that those who had not been on board from the start could not appreciate the work done to date. In order to move forward the need to be enthusiastic and supportive was highlighted.
Rev. Garrett thanked Mr Leeson for all the work that he had done behind the scenes for the Partnership, since its inception. These thanks were echoed by Councillor Mrs Farrow and those present.
The Honorary Secretary & Treasurer stated that in order to move forward the Partnership had to restructure. A schematic drawing, mirroring the process used by Purbeck Partnership was presented as a model to pursue. The Partnership would consist of:
1. A Board, which would meet approximately four times per year and be made up of representatives from key organisations.
2. Project groups, which will report to the board and must be active.
3. An advisory forum to meet bi-annually and be open to all residents of Swanage.
4. Principles and Values which should be adopted.
The issue of involvement in the Partnership Board was discussed and whether religious groups and political groups should be included as a matter of course. Rev. Garrett stated that faith groups should be represented on the board and this was generally accepted. Mr Allen stated that the Partnership would look less attractive if political parties were represented on the Board. It was therefore generally accepted that political parties would not be represented on the Board but could be part of the advisory forum. After further discussion it was proposed by Mr Gooding, seconded by Mr Allen and agreed:
That the Partnership adopts the proposed structure model, with the ability to co-opt if necessary and that the Board comprises the proposed list but with the churches also being represented.
9) Minutes of Meeting held 10th May 2006
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Town Partnership held 10th May 2006 were agreed subject to it being recorded that Mrs Haines was present.
10) Matters Arising from the Minutes
Mr Gooding reported that the applications for the south & west rail operating franchise had been submitted.
11) Minutes of Meeting held 1st June 2006
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Steering Group held 1st June 2006 were noted as agreed.
12) Matters Arising from the Minutes
There were no matters arising.
13) Any Other Matters
Mrs Haines requested that a time limit be set for meetings which should result in structuring the meetings better. This point was noted.
14) Date of Next Meeting
Members of the Board will be advised in due course.
The meeting closed at 12.15 p.m.
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