1. Chairman’s Opening Remarks

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and then introduced Colleen Bright and Anne Brewer from the Local Health Board who had attended the meeting to give a presentation on the outline business case for the new hospital.

2. New Hospital Proposal - Presentation

The presentation was to consult local people on the outline business case for the new hospital. There has been an informal process of consultation taking place over the last few months and there have been presentations made to all the local partnerships.

A short video was then shown illustrating at what stage the proposals are at now and the consultation process so far.

The video illustrates the case for change. It has been decided to take a new view on how to plan the health service, as things cannot go on as they are. If we were to stay as we are the backlog maintenance bill for the existing older hospitals would be huge. At the present time it is very difficult to recruit and retain specialist staff with the fragmented service that currently operates in Caerphilly County Borough.

It is hoped that in each Borough there will be a local hospital to support specialist services elsewhere.

There is a 5 year timeframe for the hospital. The new local hospital will have a minor injury centre, birthing centre, stroke unit, medical assessment unit and emergency access 24 hours a day. This will mean that there will be an out of hours service in the Borough that is not available at present. The hospital would then be supported by services out in the community with the aim of treating as many people without the need to admit them into the hospital. Outpatient services would be far more extensive. The new hospital would also have a diagnostic centre and be linked up to specialists at larger hospitals to aid patient assessment. All patients would then either be sent home, admitted to the new hospital or transferred to a specialist hospital.

The Local Health Board is currently going through a tendering service at present, which is due in approximately two months.

There has been £5.2 million fed into the area through the Wanless money. The option chosen through the consultation process has been that all other hospitals in the County would be closed and a new hospital built in a central location. However, these hospitals would not close until it can be proven that they are no longer needed. The Wanless money is all about getting people out of hospital and supporting them in the community through a new range of supporting services.

There will be a number of public meetings held around the County Borough.

The next step is to present the outline business case to the Welsh Assembly Government. The business case will look into the finances of the project and weigh up the cost of the new service with the old. The result will be known around September / October. There is now a great deal of commitment between Gwent Health Care Trust, the Local Health Board and CCBC. It is hoped the project will then come to fruition in 2009. The informal feedback from the Welsh Assembly Government is good at present. It is hoped that it will not be necessary to go down the Private Finance Initiative (P.F.I) route.

If anyone has any further queries they can contact the Local Health Board or look on the website. All questions and answers asked at the partnership meetings will also be put on this website. A link could also be made with the Oakdale website.

3. Apologies

Apologies were received from Don Touhig MP, Irene James AM, David Jenkins, Noel Young, Neil Baldwin, Doreen Brown, Joyce Thomas, Stephen Carter, Mrs Ralph and Mrs Williams.

4. Minutes of the Last Meeting

The minutes from the last meeting were agreed as a true record.

5. Matters Arising

Roger mentioned that the need for Local Health Board support at future meetings had been taken up.

6. Correspondence

There was no correspondence.

7. Roll In Roll Out - Feedback

Roger thanked all who had distributed leaflets before the event and thanked Granville for organising the event. Granville also thanked all those who took part on the day and those who took the time to come along. The website now has photographs from the day on it. All organisations who attended the event are also being placed on the website.

Between 100 and 200 people attended the event and there has been a lot of positive feedback from the day. A letter was also received from Ralph Thomas, thanking Granville for all his hard work.

8. Environment - Village Pride

Roger introduced Geoff Jones to the partnership. He is a member of the CCBC Biodiversity Partnership. He is available to help with environmental / conservation based projects and with the environmental sections of the partnership’s sustainability strategy.

Roger then mentioned that the partnership needs to start to think about actual projects. He mentioned that a number of projects had been discussed at the officers meeting. It is now hoped to set up a number of sub-groups to look at these different projects. The sub-groups can be made up of people not attending the partnership but who are members of the various partner organisations. The following projects were discussed:

Penmaen Churchyard

The Churchyard was cleared around four years ago but is in need of clearance again. Paul Taylor has talked to Mynyddislwyn Choir who use the Chapel and the hope is to set up a sub-group to restore the graveyard. Geoff Jones mentioned that Groundwork might be able to help with this project. There is a need to do more environmental projects in Oakdale.

The Village Square

Rob Onions has contacted Steve Trew and arranged a meeting regarding the viability of brightening up the Square e.g. with hanging baskets. At the moment there is a lack of colour and general tidiness. It is the intention to consult with the village regarding any plans for the Square.

Peter Gomer talked about the resources available and the fact that hanging baskets can be difficult to maintain. It is hoped to pilot a scheme using a self-watering system. CCBC will work with the partnership to start this project. This is an opportunity for Oakdale to lead on this initiative.

It is hoped to get the schools on board to support these projects. It was also mentioned that the toilets in the Square need some work and that they should be available for use by the community.

Greater Oakdale Area

There are a number of patches of green in the village that need tidying up e.g. near the car park, along the various footpaths going out of the village (need tidying, signposting etc). Roger will be taking this project forward.

The Recreation Area

There are strong feelings regarding facilities in the area and playgrounds are a matter for concern. It is hoped that the sporting clubs can come together to form a sporting association in order to access funding. However, it is important to remember that recreation is not just about sports and so it would perhaps be better to create a sports and leisure facility. The MUGA talked about by Councillor Pritchard will also be going ahead at the school.

It is important that the groups on the partnership sit down and establish what are feasible projects for Oakdale e.g. it would be impossible to put a swimming pool in every ward. Peter Gomer agreed to meet with the sporting organisations in order to determine an achievable list of projects.

9. Bridle Way Meeting

The idea of this project is to encourage horse riding on specified routes and therefore keep horses out of the centre of the village. A potential route is to Trinant and then on to Manmoel, Croespenmaen and Argoed. A 40 mile trekking route could be developed in the area. There is a meeting at CCBC on the 25th of May to establish how much support there is for this project. June Piper is organising the meeting for horse riders in the area.

Residents of the Trinant and Argoed wards are also very keen, as is Tim Peppin at CCBC. The project would help to encourage tourism and improve the local environment. Tim also has a budget for signposting etc. If the project were to go ahead there would be a need to create a handout map for the choice of routes.

It was agreed that Richard would represent the partnership at the meeting.

10. Logo - Partnership Timetable

Granville explained that he had seen all 4 schools including Oakdale Comprehensive and that all were happy to participate in the competition. The following timetable has been set up for the competition:

April 21st All schools visited and concept relayed.
May 4th Letter to schools outlining timetable.
June 11th All sample entry logos from schools.
June 11th - June 14th Michael Organ to decide overall winners
1-2-3 each school.
June 14th - June 24th Sponsors to decide overall winner.
June 25th Presentations announcement with press coverage.
June 28th Logo format to printers for production of stationary.
June 30th Logo on website.

This timetable will be delivered to the schools tomorrow.

11. Talent Bank

Granville reminded everyone to fill in a talent bank form. Karen from GAVO has additional blank forms if required. It is very important that we receive a talent bank form from everyone on the partnership. Perhaps members can now think of the individual projects mentioned and focus on the skills needed for those.

Granville also explained that we need to gather as many email addresses as possible so that information can be sent out electronically.

12. Any Other Business

Administration - Granville thanked Karen for all the help she has been giving in terms of minute taking, mailings and general administration but that the partnership would now need to look at how it could become more independent. Karen explained that we could look for a volunteer to become minute secretary. Karen also explained that now the partnership are moving onto project planning and looking for funding this would allow her to spend more time assisting the sub-groups with this. Karen will continue to support anyone willing to take on the role and help them with training etc.

STEPS Presentation - The committee had attended the STEPS Presentation event and received the cheque for start up and administrative costs.

Partnership Agreement - Need to set up the Partnership Agreement and sign the document. It was agreed to delay this until the results of the Logo Competition in order to include it in the press coverage.

Caerphilly In Bloom Competition - Geoff Jones explained about the competition and encouraged groups to take part in it. The biodiversity group now have a wildlife garden section to the competition. Entry forms are available.

Library Opening Hours - It was mentioned that the library is only open for limited hours and that it would be better if these could be extended. Peter Gomer explained that there is a programme to open the libraries for extended hours throughout the County. There will be regular consultation on the opening hours so that if it is identified that the library should be open for longer this can be addressed. It appears at the moment the library is being used far more than before.

St Fagans Institute Meeting - A number of members are going down to the Bevin Boys regional meeting. Granville mentioned that it would be a good idea for the partnership to become linked to the Bevin Boys. It was agreed that Granville would represent the partnership. Granville will try and meet any of the Bevin Boys who had been in Oakdale. This might be a digital story telling film project for the future.

Carnival Sub-Group - This could be a carnival or a fete. Granville will try and get the ball rolling.

Community Centre - The telephone has now been installed. The line will now be reconnected and a BT call barring system put in place. This system will mean that only certain people at the centre will have access to a 4-digit code.

Newsletter - It is important for those with skills to create a newsletter for the partnership. The newsletter will mean that the partnership can get information out to the wider community. It is hoped to produce a newsletter once every 3 - 4 months. The printer that was used for the Roll In Roll Out leaflets did a very good job and could be used again.

Date of next meeting.

2nd June, 6.30pm Oakdale Community Centre.