Minutes of Residents' Association Committee May 3rd 2016

Present:
Hilary Cox; Terry Heyes; Trish Hancox; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom;  Bron Putnam; Rona Taylor; Mary Webb.

In attendance: Cllr. Caryll Green

Rona welcomed everyone.


1. Apologies

Apologies had been received from Faith Ward.

Summary of actions following the meeting

Summary of actions following the meeting	Responsible
Arrange small group meeting with Peter Hallam	Rona
Letter of thanks to Burton Green Congregation after the Jubilee committee event	Rona
Donation to First Responders	Terry and Mary
Draw up donations policy	Terry
Clarify resident’s concern about Red Lane pothole	Rona
Make personal approaches regarding volunteering for Speedwatch	All
Suggest to Greenway Trust joint letter about fly tipping	Rona
Raise issue of pavement parkers	Cllr Green
Query PC about possible funding of all Bugle editions	Cllr Green
Distribution envelopes etc for collection of subs	Mary
Contact Hickory Smokehouse re advertising or sponsorship	Mary
Retain format of AGM as an agenda item	Judi
Bugle article about walking group	Mary
Find out if PC website being updated	Cllr Green

Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising

The minutes of the previous meeting of March 8th 2016 were approved.

Matters Arising from the previous minutes

• Problems with footpaths in Red Lane and road surface in Hodgetts Lane. Rona had contacted Peter Hallam who had visited Burton Green to look at various reported problems. In addition a lamp in Red Lane had been reported as not working alongside a deep hole. 

• Drainage in Red Lane had been sorted and drains in Cromwell Lane had been jetted and footpaths swept but the footpath in Red Lane remained a problem as it was overgrown, very narrow and with crumbling tarmac. Rona would suggest that Peter met with a small group to include Bron and Hilary. Action: Rona

• Volunteers for Speedwatch (agenda item)

• Queen’s birthday souvenir book. Mary said 60 copies had been ordered by Burton Green Congregation for families to take at the end of the Jubilee event (one per family). Rona would write and thank the Congregation after the event for this gesture to the community. Action: Rona

• Format of AGM (agenda item)

All other matters arising had been covered or were to be agenda items.


2. Treasurer's Report

A report was circulated.

Terry explained there had been very little change over the last two months. The only expenditure had been Bugle printing. Income had been received as donations for the celebration. BGRA funds now stood at just over 4k.

£123.40 had been received as donations from the First Responders course. The committee agreed to make up the donations to £150.
Action: Terry and Mary

Nepal fundraising coffee morning had raised £325 and Terry was awaiting a receipt from the recipients.

Terry explained that the overall situation looked good but the figures were distorted because of £1200 refund from Mine Fund and summer event being paid for in advance (£950 donations and only £45 spent in bookings as yet.) The Parish Council donation towards the event was yet to be received.

Terry said the Residents’ Association was not funded to make large donations. Requests in future should be circulated in advance and applicants should be made aware of alternative sources of funding such as the Kenilworth Forum. It was decided to draw up a policy explaining the procedure.
Action: Terry

Thanks were given to Terry.


3. Residents' views/concerns

Rona had already explained concerns about potholes and lighting in Red Lane. This was to be clarified with the resident concerned. Action: Rona


4. Update on and discussion of Residents' Association initiatives and issues

• Speedwatch - Pat Hehir had attended the Parish Council meeting and explained that Speedwatch was looking for more volunteers. Speedwatch was suffering from the impact of needing three people for each session. There was less flexibility now with times when the volunteers were available to operate. They had received cooperation from the police who were willing to give people safety briefings even if they were not able to attend full training. It was agreed personal approaches were probably necessary to attract more volunteers. Action: all

• Clean up April 10th. Thanks were extended to those who had helped with the clear up on the Greenway and to Mary for arranging it. A trailer full of bags of rubbish had been taken to the recycling centre. There was still much being tipped from gardens including plant pots, old compost bags, rubble and even a child's slide. Rona would consult the Greenway Trust to ask if they might consider a joint letter to residents backing on to the Greenway. Action: Rona

• Nepal fund raising April 22nd. This had already been discussed. Thanks again to Mary and her supporters.

• Jubilee Group Community Fun Day Sunday June 12th 2016. Mary said everything was booked. A further group meeting was to be held the next week. It had made a huge difference that there was no advance selling of tickets for this event. Donations had already been received. The head teacher had been very supportive and the school was looking forward to hosting the event

• Pavement parkers. It was generally felt that this was better now. Cllr Green asked to add a reminder in the Bugle about what residents should do if they were worried about it. Cllr Green said she would ask the Parish Council whether it was appropriate to create slips to put on the windscreens of offending vehicles. Rona said there was a private member’s bill going through parliament about this issue. It was hoped that at a future date the provision of a car park for the Greenway would improve the situation. Action: Cllr Green

• Lighting Red Lane. This item had already been covered.

• Flower planting. Free wildflower seeds had been planted at the top of Red Lane and the outcome was awaited!

• Collection of £3 subscriptions, Consideration was given to the process of collecting subscriptions because it was so time consuming and labour intensive. Collections usually raised in the region of £1,000. A suggestion was made that the Parish Council could be approached for the cost of all the year’s Bugles (£680) rather than the current £300 donation. Cllr Green said she would approach the PC for their views. Action: Cllr Green. It was pointed out that collectors were a point of contact for residents so they could identify a member of the committee or a supporter and this would no longer be the case if door to door collection ceased.. Electronic payment was also mentioned with direct debit being a way to continue annual payments more easily. Meanwhile, collections would continue and Mary would arrange for distribution of lists and collection envelopes. Mary would also approach Hickory Smokehouse about advertising/sponsorship. Action: Mary 

5. AGM

It had previously been agreed to hold a discussion regarding how to encourage more contributions from residents at the AGM.

Rona explained the format of the Parish Meeting which had reports from a variety of organisations such as the school, the village hall and Speedwatch. There were no councillors’ reports but Cllrs Illingworth and Coker spoke on a specific topic (housing) and this was felt to be a much more helpful approach. The evening ended with wine and cheese.

Rona pointed out it was necessary to have the formal part of the AGM which included the chair's report which was issued in advance. Maybe BGRA should follow the example of asking councillors to focus on a topic of concern/interest rather than providing fuller reports.

It was agreed that via the September Bugle, residents would be asked to suggest topics and councillors would then be invited to speak on these issues.

The agenda item would be discussed again at the next meeting in July. Action: Judi


6. Village Hall

Diane reported that another formal meeting had been held with HS2 when the VH committee presented its outline plan and justification paper. This had incurred a tremendous amount of work and liaison with consultants (whose costs were being paid by HS2). The proposals had been favourably received in principle but now had to go to an agent for consideration.

The Village Hall committee had registered a petition.

With reference to fund raising events:

• Ascot Ladies' Day was to be celebrated on Thursday June 16th at 1:30pm with afternoon tea and Pimms plus watching the racing.
• The annual BBQ would take place on July 9th

On May 10th close neighbours to the new hall been invited to a meeting to view the proposed plans and then these would be presented to a wider public.

Thanks were given to Diane


7. HS2 Opposition Group petition to the House of Lords

Rona said Andy prepared a petition on behalf of the whole community but it was submitted by the Parish Council.

There had been a change of community liaison personnel at HS2.

It was anticipated there would be delays after the Royal Assent.


8. Parish Councillor's Report

Cllr Green said the new councillors were reaching the end of their first year. The petition mentioned above had been submitted as had objections to the Local Plan which, to deal with the Coventry overspill, proposed 420 new houses on Westwood Heath Road plus a holding on 500. A green barrier had been assured on the former Electricity Board Playing Field site and adjoining fields. These houses were in addition to those on Cromwell Lane leading up to Tile Hill Station and an increased number of houses at the Burrows Hill Nursery site in Red Lane.

Cllr Green wondered if there would be interest in forming a walking group to walk the local footpaths. It was said that this was done informally on behalf of the Greenway Trust. There would be an article placed in the Bugle to ascertain interest. Action: Mary

Old and new maps of Burton Green were mentioned and these were to be framed in readiness for the new hall.

A question was asked about the PC website and whether it was being updated.  Cllr Green would investigate. Action: Cllr Green

A revised licensing application had been submitted by Hickory Smokehouse and increased hours were causing some concern. The application could be viewed at
http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk" www.warwickdc.gov.uk . Use the search facility to enter licensing and scroll down to WDCPREM00192Hickory’s Smokehouse.

Old Tom opening hours: 11.30am-12.30pm, Mon – Sat; 12-12.30 Sun
Hickory opening hours:    9 am- 12.30pm Mon –Thurs; 9am – 1.0pm Fri Sun
Old Tom licensing hours: 11.30 am – 12.00pm Mon – Sat; 12 -12 Sun
Hickory licensing hours – 11am- 12 pm Mon – Thurs; 11 -12.30 Fri – Sun

Mary, Rona and Hilary agreed to look at this is more detail. Action: Mary, Rona and Hilary

Post-meeting note: Emma Dudgeon, WDC Enforcement Officer for licensing had been approached.
She explained not all the hours granted were necessarily used.
Licensing for all night on New Year’s Eve (as per the Hickory’s application) was common.

Off licence sales meant diners could take away unfinished bottles of wine and alcohol could also be purchased over the counter for consumption off the premises.

There were new regulations that, if there was a licence for alcohol, a licence for music was not required during licensing hours, but was necessary after these hours. Concern was expressed about music outside the premises and a meeting had been arranged with Hickory’s Smokehouse personnel with whom it was hoped to retain good relations.

Thanks were given to Cllr Green.


9.  Any Other Business

The choir would be holding a concert on May 20th at 7.30 in the Village Hall.  All would be welcome and there would be Pimms and puddings. Entry £10 on the night.

Hilary would send details for inclusion on the email loop about the problem of hawkers.

Stoneleigh History group was hosting an Emmanuel choir in Stoneleigh church on Saturday May 7th

The next retired of Burton Green lunch was to be discussed.


10. Date, time and venue of Next Meeting

The next committee meeting would take place on July 12th at 7.30p.m.at the Village Hall. Apologies were given in advance by Caryll Green.

Future dates in 2016 would be: September 13th, October 31st (AGM), November 15th

Thanks were expressed to all for attending.