Minutes of the First Meeting of the

EAST GRINSTEAD COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

held in the Meeting Room, Chequer Mead
on 12 December 2003 at 3.30 pm

Present:
Mr Don Cooper - Chairman
Cllr Edward Belsey - East Grinstead Town Council
Cllr Lee Marmara - East Grinstead Town Council
Cllr Mrs Ginny Waddingham - East Grinstead Town Council
Mrs Carol Kelly - Manager, East Grinstead CVS
Mr Alan Lord(representing Mrs Dell Louth)- Age Concern East Grinstead
Ms Kathy White - Churches Together in East Grinstead
Mr Ryan Sallows - West Sussex Learning Network Partnership
Mrs Alexandra Durrant - East Grinstead Chamber of Commerce
Mr Roger Martell - East Grinstead Chamber of Commerce
Mr Dale Bulbrook - East Grinstead Chamber of Commerce
Ms Karen Picksley - Head of Community Services, M.S.D.C
Cllr Phillip Coote - West Sussex County Council

Also present:
The Hon. Nicholas Soames Member of Parliament for West Sussex
Councillor James Baldwin, Leader of East Grinstead Town Council
Teresa Gittins, Action in Rural Sussex
Geraldine Durrant, East Grinstead Town Council Press Officer
Sheila Gow, East Grinstead Courier
Sarah Bunting, Secretary

1 Apologies for Absence: Mrs Lorraine Dell Louth, Age Concern.

2 Welcome

Mr Don Cooper welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced himself as the Partnership’s independent Chairman. In turn, the members introduced themselves and their organisations.

3 Welcomes to the Partnership

3.1 Mr Cooper welcomed The Hon Nicholas Soames and asked him to speak to the meeting. Mr Soames told the meeting that he claimed a particular interest in the East Grinstead Community Partnership and referred to the successful initiative to bring a Farmers’ Market to East Grinstead and felt that had set the scene for the excellent work carried out by the Health Check. He felt it was an interesting and exciting enterprise for a Town to sit down, look at itself and bring together a coherent view of what needs to be done for the future. It was important that the historic tradition and sense of identity of East Grinstead was seen in a contemporary setting. In conclusion, he wished the Partnership well and offered his continuing support.

3.2 Councillor James Baldwin then spoke on behalf of the Town Council. The day was a proud one for the Town Council as the meeting was a significant step towards the realisation of the Action Plan. It was vital that the whole community had an opportunity to contribute to the Partnership’s work.. He wished the Partnership the best of luck.

3.3 Teresa Gittins then expressed her pleasure, on behalf of Action in Rural Sussex, on the formation and first meeting of the Partnership. East Grinstead was the first Town in West Sussex to have completed a Health Check and to have formed a Partnership. What the East Grinstead Partnership did would influence other Partnerships.

4 Making it Work

4.1 The Chairman asked Members to exchange views on the material he had circulated and, in general session, to share some first ideas on paper 1.3 section 7. In his view, it was evident that the engine room of the Partnership would be the Working Groups. It was in the Groups that the detailed work would be done. Each Group could co-opt other people on to the Group and so harness the skills and energies of people outside the Partnership itself. Between main partnership meetings there will be meetings of the individual working groups giving those groups a chance to report back on their work.

4.2 The following discussion was a first opportunity for members to discuss the Partnership and their contributions to it. In the manner of such discussions, this first discussion was ranged widely. It was soon evident that there was a general enthusiasm for the Partnership, coupled with a concern at the scale of some of the proposals in section 7 of the Action Plan. At the same time it was recognised that the Partnership’s job, in those cases, would be ‘to ensure that the issue [remained] on the agenda’ of those bodies that could had the requisite power. When funding was discussed, there was a sense that the absence of immediate funding (other than the funding from the Town Council) should not stop the Partnership from tackling some big proposals. Thus, there was an acknowledgement that the Partnership was a long-term body.

5. First Jobs

5.1 The members then formed themselves into four working groups, one each for the Environment, the local Economy, Social and Community, and Transport and Access. For about 30 minutes, each group talked about the relevant proposals in the Action Plan.

5.2 report to the whole meeting, the Social and Community Working Group said that they were keen to get ahead and had discussed a feasibility study for a new Day Centre. They had discussed social exclusion and isolation of elderly people and had considered a “Welcome pack” for those moving into East Grinstead.

5.3 Transport and Access Working Group reported that they had had a good discussion but felt that two members were insufficient. Similarly, the Environment Working Group needed more than two members. The two groups merged.

5.4 Economy Working Group felt that some aspects of the Action Plan were already in progress but they would prioritise what could be achieved sooner rather than later. They had looked for some possible ‘quick wins’. Like the Social & Community Group, they too had recognised the need for a Welcome pack.

6 Keeping the Work Going

In the Chair’s view, the first meeting of the Partnership had been a good one. The Partnership was about the right size, being small enough for Members to be in touch with each other but large enough not to be affected by non-attendance of a Member. He looked forward to the next meeting of the Partnership and hearing the results of the meetings of the Working Groups. He asked the three groups to let him know their meeting dates and promised to set up an email group so that the Partnership can keep in touch.

7 A draft Constitution

Each member was given a copy of a first draft of a Constitution for the Partnership and asked to comment on it before the next meeting. Comments should be sent to Don Cooper.

8 Dates of the next meetings

It was agreed that the next meetings of the Partnership would be held on
-Tuesday 27th January at 7.30 p.m. and
-Tuesday, 16th March at 4 pm..
Both meetings will be held at Chequer Mead.

The meeting closed at 5.35 p.m.

Secretary’s Note:

Working GroupsMembership and Meetings