Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were presented on behalf of County Councillors Geoff Driver, Yousuf Motala and George Wilkins and Councillors Anis Faruki and Biku Patel.

The note of the meeting held on 2 December 2014 was presented and agreed.

An update was requested regarding any action taken in connection with street furniture and A boards on Fishergate Central Gateway. It was reported that Preston City Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee had established a task group to investigate the issues and the Chair of the task group was to meet with officers within the next two weeks to progress this.

Members received an update on the action taken in response to issues raised at the previous meeting. In receiving the update Members made the following comments:

Fishergate Railway Bridge – It was reported that there might be an opportunity for Network Rail to bring forward the timescale for painting the bridge. It was hoped that Preston City Council would match funding provided by the County Council.

It was noted that the amount of graffiti on the bridge was increasing and it was suggested that a letter be sent to Network Rail asking them to address this.

Cycling within Preston – Members wished to express their increasing concern about the lack of progress in negotiations with Network Rail regarding Vicars Bridge; it was an important part of the cycle route into Preston from South Ribble and the delay was most unsatisfactory.

Fishergate Central Gateway – an update on phase 2 of this project had been provided to county councillors by the County Council's media team. Officers would ensure that the update was also provided to other members of this Forum.

The Environment Directorate's "dashboard" performance for the third quarter of 2014/15 was presented.

In noting the dashboard the following point was made:

Preston Bus Station – regarding the international design competition referred to in the item, it was reported that 8000 youngsters had so far visited the website from 80 different countries with 125 firm registrations so far.

Updated A, B and C roads and footway schemes for consideration

The Environment Directorate Capital Programme 2015/16, which listed A, B and C roads and footway schemes for consideration in Preston was noted.

Countywide New Starts Programme

The Forum received a report on the Environment Directorate’s New Starts Programme 2015/16 to 2017/18.

The Localities Officer undertook to confirm whether the £1m allocated to street lighting was to be used entirely for LED lights.

An oral report will be provided at the meeting

Marcus Hudson, Head of Planning at the County Council, attended to provide members with an update on the City Deal project.

There was some discussion about the use of in-house workforce and local labour generally. The Forum was assured that, wherever possible, work would be carried out using in-house resources, but this might not always be possible. It was important to find the right balance between cost and quality.

Clarification was sought on whether Bluebell Way/LCC Car Park fell into City Deal.

Ged Docherty, Senior Social Worker, Child Protection attended to advise the Forum about work ongoing to protect children and young people from Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). He read out the Association of Chief Police Officer's definition of CSE and outlined specialist work ongoing to triage referrals and raise awareness to prevent CSE.

He explained that, for many reasons, CSE is a very complex and contentious issue. The use of social media was creating a network of potential victims and it was difficult to ensure that young people understood the risks. It was important to work creatively and sensitively with partners, without putting young people at further risk.

Members asked that they be provided with the contact points to which concerns should referred and Ged undertook to provide this via the Localities Officer.

The Forum received an information note briefly setting out the position regarding the proposed route of shale gas vehicles through the North of Preston.

There was some concern about the tone of the note and the lack of firm information. It was, however, pointed out that the note was just for information and that members would have an opportunity to respond to proposals at the formal consultation stage. Assurance was sought that parish councillors would be among the formal consultees.

An oral report will be provided at the meeting.

A note was circulated setting out information about a programme between the County Council and Spice Innovations to be rolled out across Lancashire over the next three years and beyond. A copy of the note is attached.

To be submitted to theChair and Mark Wardale, Localities Officer, Environment Directorate: Strategy and Policy, Mobile 07919 227424  mark.wardale@lancashire.gov.uk

Members of the Forum were invited to suggest items for the next Preston 3 Tier Forum. Any suggestions would need to be cleared with the Chair.

The following suggestions were made:

·  The future of Three Tier Forums

·  The future of the Library Service

·  Transport plans for the Market Quarter

·  Transport plans for the University Quarter

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.

A date has not yet been agreed, further information will be circulated in due course

The date of the next meeting was yet to be arranged.

Thank you

As this was Mark Wardale's last meeting before leaving the County Council, a number of members expressed their appreciation to him for his excellent service to the Forum, both within and outside its meetings, over a number of years. They wished him well for the future.