Minutes of Residents' Association Committee 12th July 2016

Present

Hilary Cox; Andy Gibbs; Terry Heyes; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom;  Bron Putnam; Faith Ward; Mary Webb.

In Rona's absence, Mary chaired the meeting and welcomed everyone.

1. Apologies

Apologies had been received from Trish Hancox, Rona Taylor and Cllr Caryll Green.

Summary of actions following the meeting	Responsible
Joint letter about fly tipping
Query PC about possible funding of all Bugle editions	Cllr Green
More help sought to collect subs in Red Lane	Mary
Approach Hickory’s Smokehouse later in the year for sponsorship of the Bugle	Mary
Walking group Bugle article carried over to September	Rona
Represent funding paper as advice document	Terry
New treasurer to be sought	Rona
Children In Need fundraising pack to be sent for	Hilary
Prepare email to be sent to invited speakers at AGM	Judi
Invitation to submit questions at AGM to be included in Bugle	Mary
Card and flowers for Betty	Judi
Display request for financial contributions at AGM	Rona
Add to next agenda Christmas Tree and Father Christmas	Judi

Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising

The minutes of the previous meeting of May 3rd 2016 were approved.

Matters Arising from the previous minutes:

• Hilary had spoken to Peter Hallam.
• A letter of thanks had been sent to Burton Green Congregation
• The donation to First Responders had been made up to £150 
• The pot hole problem had been sorted 
• Volunteers for Speedwatch had been requested but so far with no success
• It was not clear if the joint letter about fly tipping has been arranged
• Caryll was unable to attend so there was no report on funding from the PC 
• Collection of subscriptions was underway and Mary would like further help with Red Lane
• A letter of thanks had been sent to Hickory’s Smokehouse from the Jubilee group. They would be approached at a later date for sponsorship of the Bugle.
• Walking group Bugle article carried over to September
• The Parish Council was taking a decision about a new website.

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


2. Treasurer's Report and discussion document of requests for funding

Terry said there was not a lot to report as the usual outgoings were similar to before.
£950 in donations had been received towards the event to celebrate the Queen's 90th Birthday celebrations. There was also £100 agreed by the Parish Council. £200 remaining was to be donated to the School.

£589 in subscriptions had already collected with more still to come in

The overall situation year on year was fairly static at around £2,500 to £3,000.
It was a little more this year because of the refund received from the Mine Opposition funds.

With reference to the retired residents' lunches, overall there was a profit of £550 but much of this had been reinvested into catering equipment.

Terry had devised a form regarding a policy for donations and this had been circulated. It was decided, however, on reflection, tha the BGRA did not receive sufficient funds itself to be a grant making body. Instead Terry was happy to rewrite his document explaining the position and that any charity donations made by the committee were the result of specific fund raising events (for example a coffee morning to raise funds for a disaster appeal).

The committee agreed that in addition to signposting to other sources of funding, an offer would be made to provide practical assistance, where possible, in the form of advice or actually helping at an event, for example, rather than financial support. Action: Terry

Andy said the committee needed to make clear why it needed to seek funds from the Parish Council.  An explanation of costs for Bugle printing was provided, showing that there would be very little remaining in the funds if the Bugle was published without this additional support.  The costs of all other activities were low, although these mounted up when combined.  Examples were given of the AGM, the flower tubs, hire of the hall, events such as the welcome to new residents and a general fighting fund.

It was agreed that a small fund might be available as a start up for an event within the village on condition that it would be repaid from profits.

Requests for items such as the calibration of the speed gun and the defibrillator might go to the PC at a future date.

Thanks were given to Terry. The committee was sorry to hear he was pllanning to step down at the AGM. Requests would be made for someone to take on the role of Trasurer in October. Action: Rona


3. Residents' views/concerns

Reference was made to a letter from Kathryn Stewart regarding speeding in Red Lane. Copies had been sent to the Speedwatch team and the police. The matter had been voted in at the Kenilworth Forum as a result of which police support was to be offered. It was commented upon that Burton Green was a very active community and a large number of votes had been received placing the issue second in a list of priorities.

John Whitehouse had spoken at the Forum on behalf of Kenilworth and Burton Green Speedwatch. The Forum was contributing to the cost of the calibration of the Kenilworth speed gun and Terry was planning to put in an application for the same for Burton Green. This would be for 50% of the cost and it was hoped to approach the PC for the remainder.

Faith suggested residents could be asked via the Bugle to inform BGRA about any burglaries. Residents should also be encouraged to link up with those neighbours without computers to ensure they were kept informed.


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

• June 12th Jubilee Group Queen's 90th birthday event. This went well in spite of disappointing weather. Organisers found it tiring but thanked everyone for their support.
• Speedwatch - Feedback from Kenilworth Forum had already been reported under agenda item 3.
• Flower planting. All tubs had been planted.
• June 16th welcome to new residents. About 20 people came including most residents of Broadwell Woods. Rona had visited two people who had been unable to attend. The bus to Kenilworth was now scheduled to stop at Broadwell Woods.
• July 16th retired of Burton Green lunch. Not so many were attending on this occasion partly because of holidays.
• Collection of £3 subscriptions - already discussed.
• Children in Need ramble September. Hilary would apply for a Children in Need pack to initiate this event. Action: Hilary
• Chatsworth Christmas market visit Wednesday November 23rd. A cost of £15 would be made for entrance to the hall dressed for Christmas plus £15 for the coach. This would be advertised soon.

5. AGM

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

A variety of ideas was put forward to try to cut down the length of presentations made at the AGM.  Finally, it was agreed to create an email which would be sent to invited speakers.  This would ask them to speak for a maximum of three minutes on topics appertaining to Burton Green and then allow time for questions.  Judi agreed to write the email and to be the "timekeeper" on the evening. Action: Judi

Questions could be submitted in advance or on the day although spontaneous questions would still be allowed. Details would be included in the Bugle. Action: Mary

Betty Woodward was not well and it was agreed to send her a get well card. Action: Judi

A suggestion was made that raffle tickets be issued so that only one free glass of wine was served at the AGM. Instead, it was agreed that a notice would be displayed asking for financial contributions to help cover the cost of the wine. Action: Rona


6. Village Hall

Petitioning the House of Lords was to take place the following Monday. The Village Hall's petition referred to sewerage and utilities at the new hall.

A meeting had been held with HS2 looking at outline plans and although representatives seemed to like them HS2 was now employing an agent to look at costings.

It was pointed out that the current schematic from HS2 was not accurate as it showed a playground.

A query was raised about what would replace the current village hall. Diane said this was destined to be a car park for the Greenway.

The next Village Hall event was the 10th anniversary Produce Show on September 11th

Thanks were given to Diane


7. HS2 Opposition Group petition to the House of Lords and possible delay of HS2

The PC and others were going the following week to petition at the House of Lords. Andy was not optimistic about the outcomes.


8. Parish Councillor's Report

Andy had already mentioned the updating of the PC website. There was a vacancy on the Parish Council.


9.  Any Other Business

Diane said Hob Lane was to be closed from July 28th till Christmas to install a mains sewer. Traffic would be diverted and this would impact on Hodgetts Lane. Several houses had applied for section 101 forms to see if the Burton Green end of Hob Lane could be added to mains sewerage and the school had also been approached.

Mary asked that the Christmas tree and Father Christmas should be added to the next agenda. Action: Judi


10. Date, time and venue of Next Meeting

The next committee meeting would take place on September 13th 7.30p.m.at the Village Hall.

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

Thanks were expressed to all for attending.