Forging stronger links between community and public services

A NEW attempt is being made to forge stronger links between representatives of local public organisations and the community of West Somerset in what is known as a Local Area Panel.
The Minehead Area Panel is piloting the first of the new-look panels with a meeting to be held in the United Reform Church Hall, Bancks Street, Minehead, at 6 pm next Wednesday (December 10).
It is open to anybody to attend.
Representatives of Exmoor National Park Authority, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, officers from the county council’s locality and community teams, Somerset Primary Care Trust, and Magna West Somerset Housing Association, have been invited to join the panel.
West Somerset Council’s Minehead panel representative Adrian Dyer said: “The police already have a standing item on the agenda so that people can raise any issues that affect their community.
“Members of the business community, and officers and councillors from the local authorities are also present so that people can discuss anything from roads to regeneration.
“The panels have been very successful in some areas and we are looking to develop all of them, which is why we have asked other agencies to come along.
“The panels have the potential to be dynamic, interactive forums where the public can influence policy and make positive changes at a grass roots level.
“We hope this will appeal to people in our community, and we would welcome their input and their views.
“By working together, we can improve local social and economic well-being and help ensure our communities remain strong and active.”

Partnership seeking Minister's help to end fuel poverty

SOMERSET Fuel Poverty Partnership is calling on the Government to back a home insulation scheme that could make a real difference to people’s lives.
The partnership was officially launched last month and includes West Somerset Council and the five other Somerset local authorities, as well as the Centre for Sustainable Energy in Bristol, Age Concern Somerset, and Somerset Primary Care Trust
It has written to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband to ask for his support.
The partnership is backing a call for a massive investment programme to insulate half of all homes in England and Wales via a £500 million contribution from energy suppliers.
The scheme could lift 500,000 people out of fuel poverty, knock £200 a year off the energy bills of 10 million households, and cut domestic carbon emissions by 20 per cent.
Funding would come from the six main energy companies matching pound for pound the existing contributions from householders, raising an extra £500 million a year.
Under the proposals put forward by the Local Government Association (LGA), energy watchdog Ofgem would prevent the firms from passing on the charges to their customers.
Fuel poverty partnership chairman David Baxter said in the letter to Mr Miliband: “Measures such as the winter allowance obviously help those who are particularly vulnerable, but what is needed are long-term measures to reduce energy use and improve the housing stock.
“Despite rising fuel costs, take-up of the schemes run by energy suppliers is low due to consumer mistrust.
“A cross-party group of MPs has backed the LGA’s proposals that councils should instead take the lead.
“Local authorities would encourage many more householders to take part because councils are trusted more than suppliers and have a profound knowledge of their local area and housing stock.
“Councils would also boost confidence in home insulation schemes by providing accountability for the first time over how the money is raised and spent.
“We would welcome the opportunity to work with you in raising awareness of this policy and would be grateful for your consideration of how we could work together to take this forward.”

'Running for fun for beginners' starts next week

PEOPLE who want to make themselves fitter before the festive season - and possibly hoping to shed a few pounds afterwards - can enjoy a 12-week ‘Running for Fun’ course which starts on Thursday, November 6.
The weekly evening fun run at Minehead Sports and Leisure Centre is funded through the Active Somerset project, which includes West Somerset Council and Somerset Primary Care Trust among its partners.
The scheme is aimed at anybody who wants to start becoming fitter in a friendly and social environment.
Council community portfolio holder, Councillor Neil Parbrook, said: “I think there are quite a few people who might enjoy getting fitter in a relaxed enjoyable way rather than being fast-tracked into a serious sporting environment.
“The aim of this course is to get fitter and enjoy the experience.”
Somerset PCT spokesman Paul Harwood said: “Exercising at this level is enjoyable and brings benefits to the heart, lungs and to health in general.
“Running in groups is more fun than running alone, promoting good mental health, and the social aspect means people are more likely to stay the course.”
The weekly sessions cost £1.70.
More information is available by calling Jayne Lethaby or Mandy Godsell on 01643 708815.

Council to find £1.1m for new hospital

A NEW agreement is to be considered next week which could be an important milestone in the ill-fated New Horizons project aiming to deliver a new £36 million community hospital for West Somerset.
The cash-strapped district council will be recommended on Wednesday to find up to £1.1 million to pay for capital works to enable the scheme to go ahead.
The council previously pulled the financial plug on New Horizons when its share of the costs rose to £11 million – but there was said to be nothing in the coffers to fund it.
Despite The Post being told the council was bound by an undertaking to provide infrastructure for the hospital to be built anyway, the authority’s media and PR officer, Stacey Beaumont denied this.
Now, the ‘riot act’ has been read to district councillors by their Somerset Primary Care Trust partners and a new agreement has been drawn up, which also involves Somerset County Council and the West Somerset Community College.
New Horizons also aims to deliver a 14 to19 years vocational training centre, adult learning facilities, sports opportunities, and affordable housing.
If the agreement is approved by councillors on Wednesday, the proposed new Minehead Community Hospital will be then the subject of a detailed planning application which will be submitted by the PCT in the summer.
The agreement also maps out how the partners intend to take forward land deals so that work can also start on marketing the housing aspect of the project, 30 per cent of which will be affordable housing.
The county council has already approved the agreement, in which it commits to contributing up to £1.2 million as well as transferring significant amounts of land to partners to make the scheme work.
The report going to district councillors recommends:

• A capital contribution equal to approximately a 25 per cent share of certain infrastructure costs of the project. This sum is to be capped at £1.1m and would support all elements of the community facilities, the Community Hospital, Skills and Enterprise Centre, new playing field provision and residential housing.
• 
  The transfer to Somerset County Council of an area of land adjacent to Seaward Way equal to approximately 4.4 acres. In exchange, Somerset County Council will transfer an area of land adjacent to Seaward Way equal to 0.42 acres to West Somerset Council. This will enable the creation of an access road from Seaward Way and the replacement of sports pitches within The West Somerset College.
• 
  The transfer to Somerset Primary Care Trust of an area of land adjacent to Seaward Way equal to approximately 0.42 acres to enable the completion of the access road to the new hospital site.

West Somerset Council has already invested £2.7m in purchasing land to help facilitate the project and has also contributed a significant amount of staff resource and time in working with the partner organisations.

Council planners asked to approve New Horizons despite no money for it

DISTRICT councillors will be asked tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, to grant planning approval for West Somerset’s £50 million New Horizons project – even though the council has pulled its financial backing for the scheme.
New Horizons was intended to provide the district with a new hospital, sports centre and leisure facilities including a swimming pool, business support and training, and housing, including affordable homes for local people.
Now, an outline planning application will be put before tomorrow’s meeting of the council’s planning committee, with a recommendation for councillors to allow it subject to no substantive objections being received from organisations which have still to make comments.
The planning application has been submitted by the council itself in order that the principle of the development can be agreed.
But a deepening financial crisis which has hit the council since Independent councillors took control in last year’s elections has forced the authority to withdraw its £11 million share of the funding.
However, Somerset Primary Care Trust (PCT) is still looking at the possibility of going ahead with the £26 million hospital element of the scheme on its own, because almost all of the cost will be met by the Government.
Work is planned to start on the hospital during the summer of this year and it should be ready to accept patients in mid-2009.
Staff in the existing Minehead hospital recently shared their views on the design of the new community hospital.
The developers, Laing O’Rouke, met with clinical staff to discuss the design of the new facility, which is being planned on a site off Seaward Way, Minehead.
PCT project director Simon Corrick said: “We held a very successful project launch day which allowed the hospital developers, Laing O’Rouke, to meet with the staff who will be working in the new hospital.
“The meeting provided a good opportunity to allow our staff to discuss their thoughts on how the hospital should be designed and operated, and for Laing O’Rouke to introduce members of their team who will be working with us over the next two years.
“The event was very useful and enabled our staff to fully understand the process that will be followed.
“In particular, I think it provided reassurance that staff will be fully involved in the process.”
Laing O’Rouke was appointed by the PCT and will take full responsibility for all aspects of the design and construction of the new hospital.
The company has considerable experience in the development of public buildings and is presently completing a new hospital in Frome which will receive its first patients this summer.
Mr Corrick said: “This is the first part of the design process and we now face a very intensive three months which will result in a design which will be submitted for a full planning application later this year.
“In the meantime, we continue working with the other partner organisations which are collaborating on the development of the town’s New Horizons project.”
Members of the Somerset Patient and Public Involvement Forum - which is an NHS watchdog - this week expressed their concern at the district council’s withdrawal from the New Horizons project.
The forum recognised the council’s financial constraints but urged it to think again, in order to allow New Horizons to go ahead as planned.
Forum chairman Maureen Lloyd Williams said: “The shared site would foster links between all sections of the community. It will be a huge boost to the area.”