Issue - meetings

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2015 were agreed as a correct record subject to the following amendments:

·         Minute 15: ‘relied upon’ rather than ‘replied upon’ at the end of the first paragraph.

·         Minute 19: ‘dog ownership’ rather than ‘down ownership’ at the top of the second paragraph.

Matters Arising

A letter had been sent to Sharon Holt who had stepped down as Forum member in 2015. The letter which was sent on behalf of the Forum by Richard Walton from the Borough Council thanked Sharon for her valuable contribution to the Forum over the years, particularly in relation to promoting the interests of horse rising in the borough.  Sharon has also greatly helped the Borough Council by providing information and advice in relation to equestrian matters and she had offered to continue this support where she could.

At the last meeting, members raised a query about the locations of defibrillators in the borough. An enquiry had been made with the Council’s GIS Team, with a response pending. Officers also reported that a useful tool might be www.defibtracker.co.uk . The website was a work in progress and it had been launched by West Midlands Ambulance Service, Safeheart UK and the Community Heartbeat charity. It let people use a postcode or place name to find the nearest defibrillator in an emergency. There were aspirations for this facility to be built into a national database.

As part of the Members’ Initiative Fund, 14 defibrillators had been purchased and positioned throughout the borough; many of these were located in schools. The query was raised as to whether defibrillators in the borough were accessible 24 hours a day or locked away somewhere, such as in a school location. Rob Solomon had a list of defibrillator locations in the borough and would forward this to Rose Wicks.  Further investigation would be undertaken to find out if these had been mapped.

(Action: Rob Solomon/ Rose Wicks)

John Deakin reported that they were to position four dog bins in various locations within The Crown Estate site approximately 100 metres from the boundary. The correct positioning of dog bins is crucial in order to encourage people using this facility. The Crown Estate would pay to ensure that these were emptied and maintained.