Minutes of Residents’ Association Committee Meeting July 9th 2013

Present:   
Terry Heyes; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom; Marlene Hills; and Mary Webb.

Mary chaired the meeting in Rona’s absence.

1. Apologies   

Apologies had been received from Hilary Cox, Andy Gibbs, John Nisbet, Bron Putnam, Kathryn Stewart, Archie Taylor, Rona Taylor and Faith Ward

Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising:   
Marlene wished it to be recorded that the money from the Westwood Charity had not been donated while she was treasurer.
The minutes of the last meeting of May 21st 2013 were accepted.

Matters Arising

Treasurer’s Report: As no further correspondence had been received from John Nisbet, it was agreed Terry would send a letter to John as Chair of Westwood and Tile Hill Charity regarding return of funds and what would be acceptable.
Action: Terry

2. Oddsocks review

Everyone agreed this had been an excellent evening.  A profit had been made which was to be reported later in the meeting.  The Jubilee committee was to recommend dividing the profits between the Greenway Trust, the Village Hall and BGRA.

3. Update on and discussion of Residents’ Association initiatives and issues

Plans for Retired of Burton Green lunch September 27th

Mary reported that plans were in hand for the next lunch event which would have a seasonal menu. An invitation would be included in the September Bugle. As agreed at the May meeting the price would be increased to £7 per head and each person would be offered one free glass of wine.  Additional wine could be purchased at £1 per glass. Mary was pleased to report that there was a "client group “of about 50 people.

Speed Watch

The scheme had been going well but Terry's illness had resulted in a delay in progress.  Pat Hehir had taken over control of co-ordination and running of the scheme and a working roster was being organised. Thanks were expressed to all on the team.

Parking on the footpaths remained a problem. The committee would support double yellow lines only at the bridge on Cromwell Lane as a basic safety measure.Marlene would speak to Cllr John Whitehouse.
                                    Action: Marlene

Burton Green website

No further progress had been made until funds became available. It was agreed to discuss the matter again at the September meeting and Judi would add this as one of the first agenda items.
Action: Judi

Footpath survey update

Chris Langton had completed the village section of the footpaths and registered these.  The remaining footpaths in the parish were still to be surveyed including Westwood Heath, Crackley, Cryfield, Bockendon etc.
                                    Action: Mary

4. Le Van

A letter from Cllr Ian Cox had been circulated explaining the situation in which a precedent had been used which was not felt to be appropriate with regard to this matter.  The owner of the land wished to install 20 park homes.  Marlene said this would detract from the number of homes the village would consider as part of the neighbourhood plan.  It was agreed this was a Parish Council matter.

5. Parish Plan Update
 
Marlene explained that WDC had initially put forward a local plan which was turned down so a revised version was developed. She explained the Parish Plan was important to make sure developers were held at bay.

Mary added that local schools were to be consulted.

The results of the questionnaires returned were being collated and Kathryn had reported these would be available at the end of July.  It was hoped to hold an event at the Village Hall to publicise the results and to celebrate the high return rate of questionnaires. Further funding would be needed to create the final printed report and action plan. A bid had been submitted to WDC to help with this.

6. Village Hall

Kathryn had sent a report saying the annual BBQ had been very successful with 72 people attending.

Produce Show flyers had been issued and it was hoped for a good turn out at this event in September.

7. Status of Jubilee Group as a subgroup of Residents' Association
Questions had been raised regarding the status of the Jubilee committee which comprised representatives of various organisations within the village.  It had been responsible for a number of successful events, the most recent being the Oddsocks performance.

Following discussion, it was agreed the Jubilee Committee would retain its name and be classed as a sub committee of the BGRA as outlined in section 9 of the BGRA constitution:

SUB COMMITTEES   

The Management Committee may from time to time appoint sub-committees to deal with special matters and delegate such powers as may be considered necessary. The minutes of each sub-committee shall be confirmed by the Management Committee.

In accordance with this, notes from Jubilee committee meetings would be circulated to the full BGRA committee for their consideration and approval.  This was necessary to retain financial accountability.

Thanks were expressed to the Jubilee committee and especially to Terry and Juvey regarding the organisation of the Oddsocks performance

8. HS2

Mention was made of the response to the environmental impact assessment.  As yet this was not completed but was a priority.

Terry queried information he had read about a report saying the Birmingham airport hub was to expand to accommodate 70m passengers per year. Marlene explained there was a lack of money for development of Birmingham airport and proposals had therefore not been issued.

9. Parish Councillor’s Report

Cllr Taylor had sent his apologies but had explained that the Parish Council's priorities were the Le Van issue and the Neighbourhood Plan.  Marlene was drafting the environmental response.

10. Treasurer’s Report and dates for collecting subscriptions

Mary said few people had been available for the collection of subscriptions but still more money had been collected than last year.  She still planned to do a "mop up" operation with Kathryn.

Accounts as at 9/7/13

Current account net balance                2720.17
Deposit account net balance                1500.70
Total funds (A)                    4220.87

Ring Fenced Funds (Balance remaining of monies donated/allocated for specific purposes but not yet spent):
Parish Plan Survey                      157.75
Defibrillator                            470.86
Speedwatch                            375.01
Luncheon Equipment (Plate Warmer)               32.75
Total Ring Fenced Funds (B)                  1036.37

Freely available/unallocated Funds (A-B)          3184.50

The above funds include the following monies:
2013-14 residents’ subscriptions collected to date         869.25
“Profit” from 29th June Oddsocks production           1558.15

Thanks were expressed to Terry

11. Any Other Business
Mary said the next Bugle would be issued in early September. All articles were welcome.
The next police clinic was to be held on July 22nd from 6:30 to 7:30 in the Village Hall Green Room.
Mary asked if she could buy a cartridge for her printer as she printed out many items for BGRA. This was agreed.

12. Date, time and venue of Next Meeting

The next committee meeting would take place on Tuesday September 17th at 7.30p.m.at the Villager Hall.
The AGM was scheduled for October 7th.

The subsequent meeting would be on November 19th, subject to availability of the Village Hall.
Action Judi