Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Burton Green Residents’ Association held on November 4th 2024 at the Village Hall
Rona welcomed everyone in particular Parish Councillors. She was pleased to see so many residents in attendance at the meeting.
Apologies:
Apologies had been received from Lesley Tacon, Adrian Hickinbottom, Mike Hibberd, David and Sheila Skinner.
Minutes of the last meeting:
The minutes of the last Annual General Meeting of September 2023 were accepted.
Proposed: Mary Webb
Seconded: Archie Taylor
Matters Arising:
Any matters arising had been dealt with.
Chair’s Report:
A report from Rona had been circulated in advance as follows:
The Residents’ Association has had another busy and productive year. Our community has
continued to grow, with the completion of Phase One of the Westwood Park development
bringing almost one hundred extra households into Burton Green. We were delighted to
welcome these new residents with a leaflet through every door and an invitation to the AGM!
Over the last year we have had two very successful, well attended community lunches, in
March and October. The Community Lunch Team manages to deliver amazing value whilst
setting a really high bar for quality and the October meal was amazing. Very many thanks to
the team.
The Open Gardens afternoon was a real treat this summer, providing a fascinating
opportunity to visit a variety of different gardens and to enjoy refreshments at the Village
Hall. We saw Burton Green at its best and all the hard preparation work paid off, delivering
another very special community event.
There will be a new display on the Coronation verge to mark Armistice Day and the
Christmas tree will be in place there at the end of November. Plans for other Christmas
traditions are well under way, with a Christmas card competition for the children of Burton
Green Church of England Academy and a visit from Santa on his newly improved sleigh on
December 21st . The two charities we are supporting this year are Warwickshire Air
Ambulance and Warwick Young Carers, so please give generously. As always, we are very
grateful to the Balsall Common Lions for including Burton Green in this event.
The Bugle is published four times a year and is distributed to each household in Burton
Green. It provides an opportunity for residents and groups to contribute and is an invaluable
tool for communication in the village.
Our environment continues to be enhanced by the flower troughs which are replanted each
season and watered with residents’ help. The Coronation verge is mowed regularly by
volunteers and the new mosaics are carefully maintained.
The IndieG0 Plus bus service is now an established feature of Red Lane, with routes to
Kenilworth, Leek Wootton, Hatton and Warwick. Book your journey by using the app or by
phone: 01926895559. Please use it so that we can justify pressure for the service to
continue.
We continue to report fly tipping and potholes and are keeping a close eye on the speed of
HS2 Ltd contractors’ vehicles going through the village. We have raised concerns about the
safety of the Hodgetts Lane/ Cromwell Lane junction regarding the speed of motorists
navigating the bridge.
The residents’ association always has a representative at the Parish Council monthly
meetings to pass on any concerns and suggestions raised with us. We are delighted that
residents’ request for a bus shelter in Red Lane has been taken up by the Parish Council
and we are very grateful the Parish Council has arranged for the solar powered defibrillator
case to be installed next to the new bus stop and a new defibrillator provided.
As work on the cut and cover tunnel moves nearer to completion, we look forward to
residents being able to have some ownership over plans for the top of the tunnel, which
should be an attractive focal point for our community.
Many thanks to everyone who has supported the Burton Green community over the year. Many thanks to the Bugle team for providing four editions, keeping the whole community fully informed over the year. Thanks also to Peter Stanworth for taking on the role of liaising with HS2 and keeping us well informed.
Despite, or perhaps because of the devastating impact of HS2, we have maintained our priority of keeping our environment as pleasant as possible. The flower tubs always look amazing, potholes and fly tipping are reported promptly and the progress of complaints followed up. We are really grateful to the large number of residents who regularly carry out litter picks, many of them doing so on a daily basis. Thanks also to Alison and Jim Fielding who have undertaken the mowing of the Verge and watering of the Verge troughs.
We now have three defibrillators in the Village: at Hedgerow ‘s Nursery, Cromwell Lane (paediatric and adult), at the new Village Hall in Red Lane, and in Hodgett’s Lane, close to the old village hall. There is also one being planned for Red Lane. Thanks to our First Responder, Alice Hawkins for overseeing the operation of these vital pieces of equipment.
The 87 Bus continues to trundle through Burton Green each hour, Monday to Saturday. Please do your best to support this vital service when you can by leaving your car at home and going to Balsall Common and Solihull, or Cannon Park and Coventry by bus. Unfortunately, the 24 Bus to Kenilworth no longer goes through Burton Green after the bus company’s analysis showed very, very low usage. This is such a blow to Red Lane residents without cars who now have just two buses a week to Kenilworth. At the suggestion of the resourceful Chloe Skidmore, a new Red Lane resident who organised a petition concerning the demise of the Number 24, we have asked Warwick County Council Transport Department to extend the patch of the IndieGo+ to Red Lane. Watch this space!
Treasurer’s Report
Dianne advised that the accounts were currently with Lucy Hatton as the Independent Examiner and would be made available once they had been signed off.
Dianne was thanked for being such a competent and reliable treasurer.
Election of Independent Examiner
Dianne is arranging for the current bookkeeper to take on the role of examiner, and because the RA is so small, it seems we do not need the services of an accountant. We are very grateful to Marlene Hills who has voluntarily provided this service for some years, and the Committee will express their sincere thanks to Marlene in writing.
Election of Committee members:
Janet Hickinbottom, in her role as Joint Secretary, conducted this agenda item.
The constitution requires that the officers and three committee members should stand down. All the officers, Rona Taylor, Mary Webb, Janet Hickinbottom, Judi Hibberd and Dianne Adams were willing to stand again and were re-elected.
Proposed: Peter Stanworth
Seconded: Eileen Nisbet
Unanimously agreed.
Three committee members also stood down and agreed to be re-elected:
Andy Gibbs, Faith Ward, Helen Hehir
Proposed: Deirdre Vernon
Seconded: Caryll Green
Unanimously agreed.
It was reiterated that new committee members or those willing to volunteer for specific projects would be most welcome and should approach a current committee member to discuss this. At the end of the meeting Rob Wright volunteered to join the committee.
Discussion of key Burton Green issues:
Village Hall
Cheryl Wall, Chair of the Village Hall trustees, provided an update on the Village Hall. She explained that the first full year of occupation had taken place in March 2024. There had been quite a few snagging issues to sort out and the Village Hall committee was working on maintenance and costs. A local contractor had been working on the grounds. In conjunction with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, wildflower seeds were to be sown the following week and in January 2025 extra hedging was to be planted.
The committee aimed to provide a facility for as many people as possible. To this end, they were trying to expand the range of activities on offer. For example, the Produce Show had been extended to incorporate children’s activities and was now called the Village Show. Other events had included a barn dance, a curry night and a New Year’s Eve party. A theatre production of Three Men in a Boat was planned for January 2025. A lindy hop session had been held with more planned.
The committee was always open to suggestions for other events.
An application was to be put in for a pétanque pitch.
Committee members were mindful of noise levels especially at private events and so a capacity of 80 was now applied to private bookings and a noise limiter had been installed. Acoustic panels would be added in the hall.
Finances were healthy with bookings at a high level and even until autumn 2025. A discount was to be given to Burton Green residents booking the hall. A toddler group served the community and there was no charge made for booking the hall for community lunches.
Questions from the floor
Police Matters
P C Mark Finch introduced himself. He had been in the police service for 27 years in various wide-ranging roles. He is the Safer Neighbourhoods Officer for Kenilworth and his responsibilities cover Burton Green. He works alongside our Community Support Officer. He emphasised that Burton Green and Kenilworth are safe places to live with very little crime. He provided some advice for residents with cars using keyless entry. Car keys should be kept away from the vicinity of a front door and lodged in a Faraday Bag, a foil lined bag or a metal biscuit tin to ensure potential thieves cannot use electronic devices to access the vehicle.
It is important to report crimes and using online reporting is the best way. If a resident witnesses a crime in progress, the 999 facility should be used.
PC Finch was aware of the anti-social problems on the Burrow Hill estate and had spoken to residents about it before the meeting began. Citizen Housing was dealing with the problem and if the persons concerned went to appeal, Citizen Housing would take the matter to court.
Residents were advised not to use social media as a source of information.
The problem of speeding vehicles was a matter was a matter for the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership which had its own website where incidents can be reported.
He had issued a report which detailed local crime statistics and signposted to THRIVE which records every reported incident and determines the level of engagement and the appropriate agency or department to deal with the matter. He highlighted www.police.uk which contains crime statistics and the status of investigations. Residents can search it using their postcode.
P C Finch was thanked for attending the meeting and providing such useful information.
Questions from the floor:
Has anything been heard about the proposed planning application for housing in the fields adjoining Red Lane?
Information would be available on November 21st. If the site behind the houses on Red Lane was to go ahead, an expert in planning would need to be engaged. There had been a lot of sites put forward and some will go through to the next stage.
The problem was raised of parking causing disruption on Cromwell Lane when a fireworks event was held at Hickory’s Smokehouse.
The establishment does a good job in the community. It employs a parking control company on these occasions but its focus is on the area immediately surrounding the restaurant and residents felt it should allow parking on only one side of the road and all the way along Cromwell Lane. It was agreed that before the next Fireworks event in 2025, the owners should be invited to meet the Residents’ Association committee to explain residents’ concerns and to look at mitigating procedures. P C Finch added that police cones were available on request.
Chris Langton explained the history of the Parish Council. He said that now the agenda of the Parish Council at each meeting was inordinately lengthy and asked if the Residents’ Association could share some of the tasks. Rona said the committee would be happy to discuss this.
Can speed cameras be installed at the top of Red Lane?
The speed of traffic was an ongoing issue and Jeremy Wright MP had tried to have the speed limit reduced to 30MPH but had not received support from Warwickshire County Council. Mention was made of speed cameras in Berkswell but a resident pointed out that drivers often still ignore the speed limit.
A question was asked if the flashing speed sign at the bottom of Red Lane was no longer working. P C Finch said Warwickshire County Council will not routinely manage these signs because of the cost involved. At the same time, it was recommended that people park on the road and not on the pavement thereby narrowing the road and making traffic slow down. Another resident pointed out that cars should be parked facing the direction of traffic
A further concern was the state of the pavements in the village and Rona agreed this should be discussed at the next committee meeting. P C Finch signposted residents to the website www.fixmystreet.com where reports go through to Highways to investigate.
Any Other Business:
There was no other business
9. Date of Next Annual General Meeting:
The next Annual General Meeting would be held on October 27th 2025 at the Village Hall.
