Prior to the commencement of the meeting, the Chair intimated that this meeting of the Local Partnership would be recorded and that the recording would be available to watch on the Council's YouTube channel.

Andrew Ramsay, Paisley East & Whitehaugh Community Council; Laura Hamill, Police Scotland and Piero Pieraccini, Paisley Development Trust.

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the
meeting.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Local Partnership held on 14 June 2022.

 

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

Nicola Perrat, Celebrating Renfrewshire Steering Group provided an update in respect of the Celebrating Renfrewshire Fund 2022/23 which allocated grant funding via a participatory budget process.

The role of the Celebrating Renfrewshire Youth-led Steering Group was outlined. Reference was also made to the recruitment session, held on 12 August 2022, which had been delivered by previous steering group members, and to the numerous planning sessions held to identify the priorities for the fund, application design and agree the voting platform.

Applications for funding required to be submitted between 16 September and 9 October 2022 with local young people having the opportunity to determine which local projects were granted funding. 13 applications had been received relating to the Paisley East Local Partnership area seeking funding of £34,871. The available budget had been oversubscribed.  Using the Council’s in-house voting platform, over 2000 local young people had voted, with 122 votes being recorded in the Paisley East area. Full details of the awards made were provided.  A voting results announcement event, planned and organised by young people, had been held at the UWS Student Union on Friday 28 October 2022.It was noted that an evaluation of the process would now be undertaken, appropriate recommendations made for the future and planning for the next round initiated.

DECIDED: That the information provided be noted.

S Graham, Chief Executive’s Service, gave a presentation on the Winter Connections Programme, a network of local places where people could connect to others in their community this winter.

The presentation highlighted the purpose of the Winter Connections Fund which would provide assistance to local groups to help cover the additional costs in making venues, activities and sessions available as part of the Winter Connection Programme. The presentation outlined the timeline and next steps for the Programme. 

DECIDED: That the content of the presentation be noted.

A McBride, Renfrewshire Engage, provided a summary report relative to the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022/23.

The Local Partnership was advised that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund was now in its second year and Engage Renfrewshire had been allocated just over £550,000 to distribute to the third sector for new applicants and also previously awarded projects. A brief overview of the aims, key priorities and target audience of the Fund was provided. It was noted that the deadline for applications was 31 October 2022, that successful groups would be notified in early December and that the Fund was over-subscribed. 

DECIDED: That the information be noted.

I Sinclair Communities and Housing Services made a presentation in connection with the Building Communities Approach.

An overview was provided of the four main areas of responsibility and the wide range of activities undertaken by Communities Learning & Development Section. Reference was made to the delivery of universal services, targeted provision, community capacity and connected communities initiatives and future partnership working with Local Partnerships. It was noted that each local partnership was to be provided with a single point of contact within the Building Communities service to ensure communities and members of the partnership could access Council Services and support easily. These contacts would ensure enquiries and local concerns were resolved or directed to the appropriate Council Service and seek to drive forward work and priorities identified by local partnerships within their area. 

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

Rebecca Lindsay Wright, RIG Arts, spoke in connection with RIG Arts, a socially engaged arts charity bringing artists and communities together in a collaborative and creative way.

Reference was made to the Evolve Seedhill Arts and Park Life projects. The aims and ambitions of both Projects were outlined, together with details of the funding sources, project end dates, activities delivered and attainments to date. It was noted that supplies of flyers relating to the Projects were available, on request, for circulation.

DECIDED: That the information be noted.

E McMahon and M Lockard (Communities & Housing) gave a presentation in connection with the housing-led regeneration and renewal Programme approved by the Council making specific reference to the projects in the (i) Auchentorlie; (ii) Howard Street; and (iii) Thrushcraigs areas. 

Full details of the specifications for each of the projects were provided. Reference was made to the numbers of properties involved, the packages of enhanced capital investment to be delivered, the new build specification and the retro-fit approach to be adopted in terms of the fabric works to be undertaken. It was noted that (i) involved retention and investment with some demolition; (ii) involved retention and investment, demolition and possibly some new build; while (iii) 100% demolition and new build.

DECIDED: That the content of the presentation be noted.

The Convener advised that the item had been included as an item of business on the agenda following concerns being raised regarding the current volume of traffic on Hawkhead Road and likely future traffic arising as a consequence of development in area.

M Higginbotham, Environment and Infrastructure, advised that prior to granting of planning permission consideration was given to the transport assessment document for the site, potential mitigating measures which could be introduced to address the problem and the imposition of appropriate planning conditions. There then followed a general discussion regarding the desirability of requiring realistic assumptions regarding the travel arrangements of residents of new developments. It was agreed that further  discussion on the matter be held following the meeting between the Convener, M Higgenbotham and Piero Pieraccini.

DECIDED: That the information be noted.

R Smith and P Moss, Chief Executive’s Service provided a presentation relative to Climate Change.

During the presentation a definition of Climate Change was provided, while reference was made to the local impacts of Climate Change, the progress and achievements, to date, of Scotland’s Climate Action, Renfrewshire’s Plan for Net Zero 

It was highlighted that Renfrewshire’s Plan for Net Zero was Council- led but was for the area as a whole and required everyone to participate in order to achieve the ambitions. In addition, it was also highlighted that the local aim of working towards Net Zero by 2030 was to ensure the whole of Renfrewshire was a safer, healthier, greener and fairer place for everyone to live, work and spend time in and that repeated small individual actions, repeated on a large scale could have a big impact in tackling climate change. On that basis it was deemed critical to identify key sources of emissions to be targeted to enable progress to be monitored using an open and transparent process. The importance of knowing the starting baseline for emissions in order to work to collectively reduce emissions was also emphasised. In this connection, the evidence used to determine the emissions baseline which would be used to monitor future progress and achievements was outlined.

A summary of the avenues via which local communities could get involved was provided.

Following discussion, it was agreed that a hyperlink would be circulated for the Business survey, In addition, it was intimated that copies of the Plan for Net Zero were available on request from the Climate Emergency Lead Officer (Comments/feedback on the Plan were invited and would be incorporated into the ongoing engagement process. Information was also requested by members of the Local Partnership relating to the Community Climate Action Fund projects and it was agreed that arrangements would be made to circulate details following the meeting.

DECIDED:  

(a) That a hyperlink to the Business Survey be circulated to members of the Local Partnership, together with additional information relating to the Community Climate Action Fund projects; and

(b) That otherwise the content of the presentation be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive relative to the Paisley East Local Partnership budget for 2022/23.

The report advised that the Local Partnership provided funding to community groups to
undertake projects through a range of grants in terms of the General Grant Fund, Paisley Common Good Fund and, following a participatory budgeting exercise, the Celebrating Renfrewshire Fund. Appendix 1 to the report detailed the funding allocated at the meeting of the Paisley East Local Partnership held on 14 June 2022 together with the current budget position, while Appendix 2 detailed feedback received from community groups awarded funding during 2021/22.

DECIDED:  That the report be noted.

Members of the Local Partnership were advised that it was proposed that meetings of the Paisley East Local Partnership be held at 6pm on 15 February, 10 May, 6 September and 29 November 2023.

DECIDED: That arrangements be made to convene meetings of the Paisley East Local Partnership at 6pm on 15 February, 10 May, 6 September and 29 November 2023.