Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2016.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 25 July 2016 were approved as a correct record.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Joint Ward Committee.

No announcements were made.

Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair any matters within the powers and duties of the Ward Committee, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.  (Questions must be submitted prior to the commencement of the meeting on the card provided.  These are available at the meeting. You can also submit via the Council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/publicquestions)

No public questions were submitted.

To receive petitions from members of the public and community groups.

No petitions were submitted.

To consider any applications for Ward Flexibility Funding or to receive feedback from organisations who have received funding.

No ward funding applications were submitted.

To consider any applications for funding from the Frank Bramwell Legacy Fund or to receive feedback from organisations who have received funding.

No Frank Bramwell Legacy Fund applications were submitted.

To consider a presentation from Colin Short, Headteacher of Reddish Vale High School.

Colin Short, Headteacher of Reddish Vale High School attended the meeting to update the Committee on the performance of the school.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         By February 2016 the school had been taken out of special measures and an inherited budget deficit of £1.5m had been resolved.

·         In the summer of 2016 the school achieved its best exam results to date, exceeding in 11 out of the 12 headline targets.

·         It was anticipated that the change in grading that was due to come in the following year would disadvantage children who were aiming for a C grade, of which there were a significant number at Reddish Vale High School.

·         The intake of year 7 pupils had increased from 136 in 2015 to 186 in 2016 and it was anticipated that the number would increase to as high as 220 by 2018.

·         Since 2013 there had been a turnover of more than 100 staff following a full restructure which included appointing specialist teachers in each subject.

·         The school had experienced a particular difficulty in engaging parents.

·         School buses were paid for by the school from the pupil premium and late buses were put on to allow children from Brinnington to partake in extra-curricular activities after school.

·         The importance of Councillors in helping schools engage with parents and local communities was stressed.

RESOLVED – That Colin Short be thanked for his attendance.

To consider a presentation from representatives of Big Local regarding their work in the area.

Chris Stonier and Tony Seppmann, Chair and Vice-Chair of Brinnington Big Local attended the meeting to update the Committee on their activities in Brinnington.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Big Local was an initiative whereby local communities were given funding of at least £1m to make a positive difference in the area.

·         It was a ten year programme and Brinnington Big Local’s plan was in its fifth draft before completion.

·         A key area of the plan for Brinnington involved youth engagement and trying to provide activities for children to prevent them getting involved in anti-social behaviour.

·         The project “movieland” was established in October 2015 which was a community cinema that showed movies in St Luke’s church on a monthly basis, and it was hoped that the project would soon become self-sufficient.

·         A community garden had been established with up to 30 plots which was so popular that a second garden was being sought.

·         Raised beds, a polytunnel and a shed had been installed at St Paul’s CE Primary School to assist with science projects and similar works were underway at St Bernadette’s RC Primary School.

·         Stockport Credit Union had begun to offer payment plans to people in the community who needed “white goods”.

·         Members praised the “white goods” initiative as it was a way of undermining loan sharks in the area.

·         It was suggested that Brinnington Big Local work with Stockport Citizens’ Advice Bureau to look at potential outreach work in Brinnington in order to provide welfare rights advice.

·         It was acknowledged that there could be a mistrust of the Police and the Local Authority within the community and therefore Big Local could not become too involved with either organisation.

RESOLVED – That Chris Stonier and Tony Seppmann be thanked for their attendance.

To consider a presentation from representatives of RECLAIM regarding their work in the area.

Aeve Ribbons, Community Relationships Lead at RECLAIM attended the meeting to update the Committee on their activities in the Brinnington area.

·         RECLAIM’s main aims were to engage young people with the community, activism and social change, as well to help them develop into young leaders and tackle negative stereotypes of young people.

·         The organisation was currently running a core 2-year leadership programme in Brinnington and Adswood called LEAD (Leadership, Enterprise, Activism and Community Development) which involved young people deciding what issues they wanted to address which fed into a manifesto to be presented to the community.

·         The organisation was looking for people from within the communities of Brinnington and Adswood who could mentor young people.

·         The importance of young people engaging with the Local Authority was stressed, as young people could often highlight issues that members originally may not have been aware of in their communities.

·         Young people involved in the RECLAIM project had been liaising with Ann Coffey MP and Life Leisure regarding new sports facilities in the area.

·         RECLAIM had planned a conference week to run from 24 October 2016 but a suitable location had not yet been found. It was suggested that Stockport Labour Club could be a suitable location for the event.

RESOLVED – That Aeve Ribbons be thanked for her attendance.

Councillors are invited to suggested items for inclusion on future agendas.

Councillors were invited to suggest items for inclusion on future agendas.

RESOLVED – That the Democratic Services Manager be requested to invite representatives of Arts for Recovery in the Community (ARC) to the next meeting to discuss their on-going work in Reddish.

(NOTE: The Chair was of the opinion that this item, although not included on the agenda, should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, to enable the Joint Ward Committee to promptly consider an update in issues affecting the management of Reddish Vale Country Park.)

Wayne Bardsley, Greenspace Project Officer, attended the meeting and provided an update on issues affecting the management of Reddish Vale Country Park.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Reddish Vale Country Park volunteers had spent a day making improvements to land at Hollow End to alleviate parking issues in the area.

·         A local McDonald’s restaurant had helped provide volunteers to undertake improvements to Tiviot Dale.

·         The Reddish Vale Country Park Visitor Centre was now open 7 days a week and there were a number of events taking place in the coming months.

·         The cost of initial restorative work to improve the flow of water to the Sunnyside Pond was £2,000 which including cleaning, jetting and installing cameras.

RESOLVED – (1) That the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration be authorised to undertake restorative work on Sunnyside Pond at an estimated cost of £2,000, to be funded by the Frank Bramwell Legacy Fund.

(2) That the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration be requested to investigate the possibility of tarmacking the land at Hollow End to improve parking provision in the area.

(3) That Wayne Bardsley be thanked for his attendance.