|
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 30 APRIL 2014 AT 7 30 PM AT ST ANDREW’S CHURCH, BURNT ASH LANE
1.
Welcome and introduction by the Chairman
Peter Skipp (Chairman) welcomed members to the meeting. He extended a special welcome to Councillors
Peter Morgan (Portfolio holder for Renewal and Recreation) and Michael Turner,
Reverend Liz Davis, Tony Isbitt
(Chairman of the Community Advisory Panel), Sergeant Wayne Page and PCSO
Peter Scott of the Met’s Neighbourbood Team (NT), and Bob Edwards (London
Borough of Bromley (LBB) Street Environment Operations Manager).
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies had been received from:
Paul Bellinfantie Councillor Ellie Harmer
Lynne Beskeen Steve Mace
Tony Beskeen Theresa McWhirter
Kath Goodwin Michelle Pike
Malcolm Goodwin
3. Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 2 May 2013
The minutes were approved.
4. Matters arising
Liz Davis reported
progress on the building of the new Community Hall. Although an additional £70,000 still needs to
be raised to complete the project, the work has now started. The existing building has been demolished and
the new foundations are currently being put in place. The new building is currently scheduled for
completion by the end of this year. Peter said that LERA would make a donation
to the new Hall when it is completed. A
proposal will be put to members for approval at next year’s AGM.
.
Liz announced that the Community Fun Day this year will be
held in King’s Meadow on Saturday 12 July. Donations towards the costs weren’t
needed as sufficient funds had been secured. She encouraged members to support
the event and invited LERA to have a stall.
Posters and flyers promoting the event were available at the meeting for
members to distribute around the neighbourhood.
5. Officers’ reports
Chairman’s report
Peter outlined the Committee’s main activities and
achievements during the past year. These
included representing LERA’s interests on the Ward’s Safer Neighbourhood Panel
and the Bromley Road Safety Consultative Panel; maintaining good relations with
our Councillors, LBB’s officials and our local police team; initiating
improvements to street cleanliness, car parking and safety on the Estate;
co-ordinating the Snow Friends scheme; and keeping LERA members informed
through the website and Newsletter. A
recent success was initiating the process with LBB for controlled parking
measures to be installed at the junction of Leamington Avenue and Oak Tree
Gardens where cars that are parked on the corner are causing a serious safety
hazard.
Peter invited speakers to say a few words on the following:
· Street
Cleaning
Sandro Gor said that he had initiated regular meetings held
on site with representatives of LBB and its contractors, Kier, to discuss
improvements to the service and opportunities for improved efficiency. These meetings enabled hotspots for litter
and fly tipping on the Estate to be identified and addressed. This has included the extension of the
regular litter picker service operating on Burnt Ash Parade to the stretch of
New Street Hill between Burnt Ash Lane and Oak Tree Gardens which tends to be
particularly vulnerable to dropped litter.
Bob Edwards explained that he was responsible for a number
of LBB’s contracts covering street and graffiti cleaning, refuse and fly
tipping clearance, and drainage. LBB has 6 officers managing the contracts
across the Borough and the representative for our area, Tony O’Donnell, liaises
with Sandro. Bromley has 3,500 roads that need to be maintained and the
contractors have to keep to a tight schedule.
There are 42 recycling containers that are cleared at least daily. The
Borough’s 35,000
drains are cleared twice a year – 27 of these that are most prone to flooding
are checked monthly. There are 2 vans that drive around the Borough each day to
check for graffiti that needs to be cleaned off – the target is for this to be
done within 24 hours but is normally done on the day.
Residents are asked to report incidents requiring attention
via the ‘Fix My Street’ link on LBB’s website.
This enables the incident to be routed directly within minutes to the contractors
who are required to deal with it within 5 days.
It is important that a separate report is raised for each incident to
ensure that the system works effectively.
Bob then answered questions from the audience on a range of
issues.
· Website
and Newsletter
Clive Robson explained that the website had now been running
for over 2 years. The website address (http://leralink.blogspot.com) is
printed on the front page of the Newsletter. Around 320 pages of news and other
items of interest have been posted so far.
These include information about local events such as the Community Fun
Day, alerts about scams, and links to other relevant websites. The website also provides an important means
for LERA members to communicate with the Committee and the wider
membership. Clive encouraged members to
use this facility and to provide feedback and other comments as well as
suggestions for news items.
The Newsletter continues to be popular with members and is
now issued 3 times a year.
· Safer
Neighbour and policing
Tony Isbitt explained that the Community Advisory Panel
(which has replaced the Safer Neighbourhood Panel) provides a link between the
residents and the police and LBB with the aim of keeping the Ward a safe place
to live and work. The Panel works to
co-ordinate the local Resident Associations and Neighbourhood Watch
Co-ordinators in advising of problems and initiates action in getting these
addressed. Successes have included the
raising of the kerb by Burnt Ash Parade to prevent vehicles being parked on the
forecourt to the shops; the installation of lighting in the alleyway leading
from the Parade to the car park, and the clearing of the drains behind the
shops. Tony said he was very keen that
Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators and residents take an interest in the Panel
and encouraged them to attend meetings. Residents can find out more about the
Panel’s activities by clicking on its community Facebook page.
Sergeant Wayne Page explained that he was responsible for
the Plaistow and Sundridge area which following the Met’s restructuring last
October, formed part of a cluster with neighbouring wards. He has 7 officers under his control, of whom
one PC and one PCSO are permanently assigned to the Ward. The remaining 5
officers are ‘flexed’ to other areas as the need arises. These arrangements are reciprocal with
Plaistow and Sundridge and officers from other areas being brought in to help press down on the recent spate of
crime in the Ward and this had resulted in a
marked improvement.
Wayne then answered questions from the members about
parking.
Peter said that after many years serving as a Committee
member, including the role of Treasurer, Malcolm Goodwin had decided to step
down from the Committee. He thanked
Malcolm for all his support to LERA and the work that he had undertaken on its
behalf. The meeting expressed their
appreciation with a round of applause.
Peter announced that after serving 2 terms totalling six
years, he was standing down as Chair. He
thanked the Committee members and Street Representatives for all the support
they had given him over the past 6 years.
6. Treasurer’s
report
Diane Bex presented the accounts for 2013/14, copies of
which had been distributed at the meeting.
LERA’s finances remained in a healthy state with income and
expenditure being similar to 2012/13, enabling the accounts to break even. The main income continued to be the
membership subscriptions which had been held at £2.00. In addition to the normal administrative
expenses, the main item of expenditure had been the donation to the annual
Community Day. The assets stood at £951 in the current account (including £72
to be banked) and £8,429 in the savings account.
The meeting approved the accounts.
Peter proposed that the membership subscription for 2014/15
should remain at £2.00. The meeting approved the proposal.
7. Election of
Officers
Chair
- Iliya Ingram. Proposed by Ruth
Odiase and seconded by Saryu J Patel, and was elected.
Committee members
The following were re-elected:
Paul Bellinfantie
(Oak Tree Gardens)
John
Crutchlow (Ridgeway Drive and Treewall Gardens)
Sandro Gor.(Lead
on Street Cleaning issues)
Margaret Hearn
(Leamington Close and Milverton Place)
Pam Lucken
(Leamington Avenue)
Clive Robeson
(Website Manager and Newsletter
Editor – and Ridgeway Drive)
Peter Skipp
(Community Advisory Panel representative)
Peter Smith
(Briary Gardens).
All the above, with the exception of Sandro Gor and Peter
Skipp, also serve as Street Representatives (roads are indicated in brackets).
Theresa McWhirter of Oak Tree Gardens is also invited to
attend Committee meetings.
In addition, the following serve as Street Representatives:
Betty
Donoghue (Broadlands Road)
Irene
Lambell (Ridgeway Drive)
Michelle
Pike (Upper Portland Road)
Jackie
Taylor (Ridgeway Drive)
Laurel and Roy
Wretham (New Street Hill).
Following these proceedings, Peter Smith thanked Peter Skipp for all his leadership and hard work on
behalf of LERA during his 2 terms as Chair.
The meeting expressed their appreciation with a hearty round of
applause.
8. Appointment of Auditor
The
meeting approved the re-appointment of Steve Mace as Honorary Auditor. The meeting expressed their appreciation for
his continued support to LERA by a round of applause.
9.
Open Forum
Peter Morgan addressed the meeting about LBB’s plans for the
re-development of the Town centre. He
explained that the Borough was having to live within very tight budgets, with
cuts of £35 million over the past 4 years and further cuts next year. Bromley has suffered in recent years as a
result of competition from Bluewater and the new shopping centre development in
Croydon. Other retail centres such as
Westfield at Stratford also present a threat.
There are 3 main aspects to regenerating the Town centre:
- Development of Bromley South
involving a £90 million investment to build a cinema, hotel, flats and car
parking which is due to be completed in 2015;
- Churchill Gardens with the
addition of new shopping mall to attract more up-market traders; and
- ‘Public Realm’ improvements to
Bromley North Village and East Street.
The investment is justified by the economic and community benefits
of a more pleasant working and living environment. Traders are also being organised into
Business Investment groups where they pay additional business rates to
fund local improvements.
Peter then answered a range of questions from the members
about the retail and traffic facilities, and the potential extension to Bromley
of the Docklands Light Railway which is still under consideration due to the
difficulties of funding the £800 million costs.
10. Any other
business
There was no other business.
Peter Skipp closed the meeting by thanking the speakers and
the members for their attendance.
The
meeting formally closed at 9 10 pm.
Following the meeting, LERA members and the guests mingled
informally and enjoyed refreshments.
Around
50 members and guests attended.
No comments:
Post a Comment