Agenda item

What is important to residents in the Exmoor area and what do we already know?

·         Are there local examples already working, or what can the Exmoor LCN do to make it happen?

·         Who else needs to be part of the LCN discussion?

·         Who can provide data and other information to assist us?

The Chair opened the discussion by stating that it was important that the Exmoor LCN decided what themes, issues and opportunities it wanted to explore over the next 12 months. The Highways pilot was already underway, and it was agreed that this should continue as it has been very successful.

There were a number of other subjects that could be considered, such as:-

• Affordable housing for young families;
• More accessible public transport across the moor;
• Social care and looking after the most vulnerable;
• Economic Regeneration – ensuring local businesses prosper
• Access to Education / linking in with employment and skills
• Youth Work and supporting young families.

The chair then invited members of the LCN to provide their thoughts as follows:-

• Andrew Bray (Wootton Courtenay PC) agreed that housing and economic regeneration were key issues in supporting communities locally;
• Duncan McCanlis (Porlock PC) wanted the Exmoor LCN to concentrate on getting itself organised and established in its first year, to create a solid foundation. This would involve ensuring that all parts of the moor had representation and parishes were able to feed into the relevant sub-groups where needed. In the second year, he identified Public Transport, Road Safety and Devolution as items worth exploring.
• Mike Ellicott (Vice-Chair/Exford PC) asked if information could be shared from the other pilot areas in Wincanton and Frome, to see if there was any learning that could be employed in the Exmoor area. He thought this would be a good opportunity for the three pilots to work together. He also hoped that going forward LCNs would come together to work on common issues/themes and share expertise. Cllr Val Keitch responded that this was a positive idea, and one she would look to progress.
• Katy Attwater (Timberscombe PC). Climate Emergency especially around severe weather events and how Exmoor housing can be better equipped to deal with this. (Insulation, resilience to flooding etc). The Chair advised that Climate Change should underpin all the emerging themes as opposed to being a separate item.
• Julian Soltau (Withypool & Hawkridge) How can we influence Council decisions? How can we ensure we are not just a talking shop? Cllr Val Keitch advised that in the absence of the former District Councils, LCNs were seen as a way for the parishes to work collaboratively together with Somerset Council and identify the issues that matter most to them. The LCNs would feed back into the Council, and would be a key  way to align priorities and budgets going forward.
• Janette Sapsford (Exton PC) Education and social support for young people especially around mental health.
• John Levenson (Cutcombe PC) Would like to see planning consultation opened up to include Exmoor Young Voices, and more development for low-cost affordable family housing. He also would like to see more opportunities for the introduction of Fibre Broadband across the moor, and for utility companies such as Openreach to be held accountable and scrutinised.
• Andrew Bray - Subgroups should be created, which need to be supported by key officers/specialists and align with executive portfolio holder responsibilities. This would ensure that key decisions and ways of working are delivered. Actions need to be tracked in real time and be accessible so that everyone can monitor and report back.

It was important that the LCN didn’t overload itself with priorities in the first year, but rather concentrated on a few to ensure success.

Other questions arising:-

• Clarity was required and more information on the LCN way of working and Terms of Reference (TOR), for those who had not attended previous meetings. The TOR had been circulated with the agenda pack. Information relating to the Exmoor Area Pilot, including minutes of previous meetings can be found on the website here. A LCN handbook has also been produced which provides information on the operating model for LCNs. This can be downloaded from the Somerset Council website here.
• It was suggested that a skills audit was undertaken across the Exmoor LCN to determine who had expertise and could contribute to the sub-groups. It would be a good way of assessing who had capacity and experience, and where gaps need to be filled. The emphasis should be on “What can you do and what can you contribute?”

Identified Outcomes:

• The Chair concluded by saying that the Exmoor LCN would be working towards “allowing Exmoor communities to flourish via the provision of affordable housing and support to families; making services more accessible and enabling businesses to prosper”. This would be accomplished by setting up sub-groups and working through data packs of information. These data packs would identify areas where the sub-groups could make the most impact. Topics underpinning these headlines would be around broadband, employment and skills training, education and housing.

Who else needs to be here?

• Christine Dubery (Dulverton TC) proposed that a representative from the West Somerset Flood Group should be invited to participate. The Chair identified Brenda Maitland Walker Brendamw49@gmail.com as a contact point for the WSFG.
• Beccy Brown (SC) – Homestart would be a good partner to include from the VCFSE as they had extensive knowledge and experience of working with young families across West Somerset.
• Exmoor Young Voices – They have been added to the core membership of the LCN, but unfortunately their representative (Will Lock) was working on the evening of the meeting. They would continue to be invited to attend and included in any sub-groups where relevant.

Who can provide the data needed?

• Somerset Council Business Intelligence has information that can be used to evaluate the emerging themes.
• Somerset Council as the principal housing authority for the Exmoor area would have access to information on housing need, and affordability.
• Exmoor National Park as the principal planning authority would have information on development proposals and housing providers on the moor.

The Chair stated he would like to see the sub-groups set up before the next meeting of the Exmoor LCN in September. It was agreed that this would be done over the summer. The LCN link officer (once established) to liaise with the elected members, and vice chair to determine a way forward.