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January 23rd 2023
Present:
Dianne Adams; Hilary Cox; Paddy Deeley; Andy Gibbs; Helen Hehir; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom; Bron Putnam; Rona Taylor; Mary Webb.
Apologies and Minutes of the last meeting (Nov 2022):
There were no apologies.
Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising
See Minutes of November 28th 2022 meeting
Matters Arising from the previous minutes:
When defibrillator can move to new hall (Cheryl and Mary). The new defibrillator box had arrived. The defibrillator itself was scheduled to move to the new hall on February 15th. Prior to that, notices (at a cost of £9.98 each) had been ordered to inform of the location of defibrillators in the village. Mary suggested the location of the notices would be at Hickory’s (which had been agreed); at Hedgerow Nursery; at the old village hall; on the fence on the Jubilee verge; at the new Village Hall; and at the old post office on Red Lane. A location further down Red Lane should be sought. All schools were obliged to have a defibrillator on the premises by the end of 2023. There would be no defibrillator in Hodgett’s Lane and so a location for one needed to be agreed. Mary felt £400 could be available towards purchase costs. Michael Hibberd had approached HS2 to see if any funding could be allocated for this purpose.
Sorting out of the Christmas tree - done.
Update the constitution (agenda item)
Ask P.C. how to disseminate planning applications. It was decided Paddy would add these to the Facebook page as the PC became aware of them. Notices might also be placed on the village notice boards.
Action: Paddy
An amendment was made that not all Village Hall trustees would have access to the new booking process but only those designated to deal with enquiries and bookings.
The minutes of the July 2022 meeting were approved.
Village Hall:
The new Hall was nearing completion. Snagging was likely to be completed on February 3rd. The old hall must be vacated by February 24th.
A question was asked about drainage as some of the land around the hall still appeared waterlogged.
The Village Hall trustees were planning to invite regular users (including the Residents’ Association committee)to visit the hall and to be trained in use of the facilities. Other residents would also be welcome. Plans would be made for later in the year for a grand opening.
The new Village Hall website would be launched early in February and this would also contain a booking calendar.
It was suggested that Residents’ Association committee members might be able to meet in the Tacon Room for their regular meetings, thus freeing up the main hall for other hirers.
Treasurer’s Report:
See: Treasurer’s Report
A report had been circulated as follows:
BGRA Accounts as at 21st September 2022
Current Account net balance: £ 2,266.93
Deposit Account net balance: £1007.14
Total Funds (A): £3274.07
Major Expenditure Since Last Meeting:
Production of December Bugle - £450
Production of Xmas cards - £246
Lions Breakfast re Father Christmas event - £7.18
Card for Xmas card presentation at VH - £22
Flowers for tubs on Jubilee verge - £39.95
Defibrillator for new VH and replacement pads - £665.99
Income Since Last Meeting:
Parish Council donation for new defibrillator box - £595.00
Donation toward Xmas Card Production from Burton Green Honey, Hedgerow Nursery, Mews Cattery and Sarginsons - £195.00
Outstanding Parish Funds to be used by 31 March 2023 - £573.12
Thanks were given to Dianne for her efficient handling of the accounts.
Residents’ views/concerns:
State of the hedges in HS2 rental properties. Rona had sent a letter toHS2 regarding this problem. “Several residents have recently approached us commenting on HS2 houses where the gardens may be poorly maintained or where there are overgrown hedges which can impact the pavements. We understand that garden maintenance is the tenant’s responsibility and wanted to check how often you inspect the properties and what your standards are for ensuring properties are kept in a good state.” No response had been received.
Neighbourhood Watch. There was an opportunity to join a WhatsApp group, as highlighted in previous editions of the Bugle. If you wish to join, contact Lucy on 07881 300470
Requests for residents to view HS2 sites on a bus tour. BBV offer regular tours to Parish Council members as part of its community liaison, explaining the progress of work being undertaken and Rona would see if members of the Residents’ Association and interested residents might be able to join these tours.
Action: Rona
Update on and discussion of Residents’ Association initiatives and issues:
Community Fund from BBV – entrance gates; flower tubs
Were there any other suggestions? It was hoped that before too long this item would report actions.
HS2 issues – tree saplings. There were over 200 saplings available for community use. The new Village Hall already has an approved planting scheme and so other locations were needed.
RA visit to the new village hall. This would take place at a date to be arranged.
Defibrillator signs – item already covered.
Update constitution – Judi and Janet had reviewed the constitution and only minor amendments were needed. It was noted that any sub committees should submit minutes of their meetings to the full committee.
80th anniversary of D Day- this was not scheduled to take place until 2024.
Coronation celebration – the Jubilee committee had met to discuss ideas and had suggested the mosaics on the verge should be refurbished and a new mosaic added to mark the coronation. A resident had volunteered to look into this. It was agreed that four mosaics might be too many for the space and it would be best to have three in total.
Councillor’s grant application for refurbishing the verge/HS2 returfing/mosaics – Judi had submitted a successful application and £1500 had been awarded. This was at the final stages of approval and HS2 had offered to returf the verge so not all the money might be required.. A bench with fixings, and new tubs would be sourced once any funding was released.
It was agreed the work on the verge should be included in the Jubilee Group’s plans. Judi agreed to attend their next meeting.
Action: Judi
Priorities for precept money (Bugle funding; bulbs; verge maintenance)
Greenway Trust Update:
A meeting was planned to take place and this would involve Jeremy Wright MP and the MP for Meriden as non-compliance matters were to be discussed.
Parish Councillor's Report:
Paddy agreed to add planning applications in the village to the Facebook page.
It was announced that two new parish councillors had been appointed. Mary would ad details to the next edition of the Bugle.
Action: Mary
Any Other Business:
It was agreed that draft minutes of each meeting should be circulated to committee members for approval before being sent to John Webb who kindly puts them on his website.
Action: Janet
A Community celebration lunch was planned for Friday March 24th 2023. An outside caterer was to be used and so the cost of the three course meal, with wine, would be £18 per head. Further details would be available soon.
Action: Mary
Pat Hehir had managed to reactivate the Speedwatch tream with new members joining and they had already carried out two sessions in Cromwell Lane.
A query was raised about the state of 192 Cromwell Lane. It was believed that retrospective planning permission had been rejected.
A further question was asked about any progress with the site of the fire on Hob Lane. It was understood some of the rubbish was now being buried in the field. It was hoped Solihull MBC would inspect the site again soon.
9. Date of next Meeting:
The next committee meeting was scheduled for March 27th 2023.
Other meetings would take place in 2022 as follows:
May 22nd
July 24th
September 25th
October 9th (AGM)
November 27th
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November 28th 2022
Present:
Dianne Adams; Andy Gibbs; Helen Hehir; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom; Bron Putnam; Rona Taylor; Faith Ward; Mary Webb.
In attendance: Cheryl Wall
Apologies and Minutes of the last meeting (Sep 2022):
Apologies had been received from Paddy Deeley.
Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising
See Minutes of Sep 2022 meeting
Matters Arising from the previous minutes:
Article about Ann Benfield for the Bugle – Mary still to complete
Condolence card to Ann’s family - completed
Problems about booking hall raised with VH trustees - completed
The minutes of the Sep 2022 meeting were approved.
Village Hall: Cheryl updated attendees on progress. It was hoped that the transfer to the new hall would take place in February 2023. Cheryl asked people’s opinions on the kind of opening ceremony that should be held. There were discussions about inviting the community to an event but that regular hall users would need to be invited to be trained in use of the AV equipment etc. What kind of publicity should there be? Would Midlands TV be interested? It would be an opportunity to encourage new people to visit and use the hall. There should also be an event to unveil the stained-glass windows.
The trustees were also looking for ideas as to what to include in the time capsule. Suggestions included a copy of the Bugle and some artwork of the old Greenway by Margaret Cole.
There had recently been some criticism of the village hall and its trustees, saying that it was not inclusive and there were people in the village who felt isolated. The trustees would be addressing these issues.
Cheryl said the trustees would be looking at the availability of storage in the new hall so that regular users might like to store certain items permanently. Mary explained that she currently housed a lot of cookery equipment for the Residents’ Association and so it was hoped that this could be accommodated in the new hall.
Attendees were reminded that the Parish Council was sending funding for a new defibrillator box. Cheryl agreed to find out when this could be put in place and would liaise with Mary.
Action: Cheryl and Mary
Dianne reported that a new hall booking system would be used in the future alongside a new website. There would be a live calendar on the website and bookings would be managed through this. All Village Hall trustees would have access to the calendar so that responsibility for its updating would not fall to one person.
The BGRA committee might like to use the office for its meetings in 2023. This would accommodate 12-13 people.
The new hall will also have 40 car parking spaces, two electric charging points and a cycle shed.
Treasurer’s Report:
See: Treasurer’s Report
A report had been circulated as follows:
BGRA Accounts as at 23rd November 2022
Current Account net balance: £ 2,898.05
Deposit Account net balance: £1006.33
Total Funds (A): £3004.53
Ring Fenced Funds (Balance remaining of monies donated/allocated for specific purposes but not yet spent): -
Defibrillator: £ 149.56
Freely available/unallocated Funds (A – B): £2,854.97
For Information:
Major Expenditure Since Last Meeting:
Production of September Bugle - £432
Refreshments and printing for AGM - £89.95
Donation to FastAid - £250
Donation towards Christmas card production - £20
Vouchers for prizes for Children’s Christmas card competition - £40
Income Since Last Meeting:
Contributions from First Aid training - £91
Outstanding Parish Funds to be used by 31 March 2023 - £1279.07
Thanks were given to Dianne for her efficient handling of the accounts.
Residents’ views/concerns:
People claiming to represent Great Ormond Street Hospital had been collecting door-to-door and there was some concern about this. Warwick District Council had decreed that collections can no longer take place after 7p.m. Some residents had also found the collectors’ approach intimidating.
Fly tipping remained a problem in both Hob and Hodgett’s Lanes and residents were concerned that after reports, Solihull MBC was not dealing with these matters very swiftly.
Update on and discussion of Residents’ Association initiatives and issues:
Community Fund from BBV – entrance gates; flower tubs
Were there any other suggestions? It was hoped that before too long this item would report actions.
HS2 issues – there were no specific issues except that recent reports had shown that rail use post-Covid had reduced by 20%, indicating that HS2 was certainly a “white elephant.”
Christmas cards – thanks were given to Faith and Mary for organising the annual Christmas card competition at the school. The overall winner was a girl pupil in Y5. It was decided to order 530 cards which would be included with the next edition of the Bugle.
Christmas tree – Judi’s persistence had paid off and HS2 had managed to get a power supply put on the verge and had even agreed to buy the Christmas tree. The Hibberds and the Hickinbottoms would assist in the purchase, erection and decoration of the tree over the next week.
Action: Hibberds and Hickinbottoms
Which charity to support – the committee members voted on a number of charities which had been put forward as recipients of the funds to be collected on the Santa Sleigh round on December 16th. Two charities were chosen: The Samaritans and MIND.
Santa’s Sleigh – Mary had been liaising with Balsall Common Lions to work out timings and a route for the Sleigh. It was agreed to start at the bottom of Red Lane at 4:20pm on December 16th, to move up to Burrow Hill and then along Cromwell Lane to Westwood Heath. Collecting could not take place after 7pm. Volunteers were requested to help with the collecting. Afterwards, the team would return to the village hall for refreshments.
Update constitution – the constitution had not been updated since 2012. Judi and Janet agreed to review the constitution and to make minor updates.
Action: Judi and Janet
Councillors’grant application – the Parish Clerk had informed the committee of a grant and Judi had completed the application form requesting £3,250 to be spent on the Jubilee verge, although there was also the possibility that HS2 might restore the verge.
Priorities for Precept money – standing item. No further items were suggested.
Current suggestions remained as Bugle funding/bulbs/verge maintenance
Bugle
The next edition of the Bugle would be with the printer on December 2nd and would be distributed the following weekend.
AGM Debrief discussion
The AGM was deemed a success. A question was raised about whether presentations were to be used again. It was agreed that if specific issues or topics needed to be raised, then interesting presentations should be included (such as the recent one about the Westwood Heath allotments).
Greenway Trust Update:
There was no update.
Parish Councillor's Report:
Speed monitoring was taking place via rubber strips across the roads in the village.
Several applications had been made for sites for battery storage. The proximity of the electrical substation and proposed HS2 switching station was an attraction to the providers.
Any Other Business:
A rumour had been circulating that Burton Green Farm was to be sold but this had been discounted by the trustees of the Berkswell charity that owns the premises.
Discussion was held about residents’ awareness of planning applications in the village Rona agreed to ask the Parish Council, who received such notifications, if there was a way of disseminating this information.
Action: Rona
10. Date of next Meeting:
The next committee meeting was scheduled for January 23rd 2023 (still in the present village hall)
Other meetings would take place in 2023 as follows:
March 27th
May 22nd
July 24th
September 25th
Oct 9th (AGM)
November 27th
