Minutes of Residents' Association Committee January 17th 2017

Minutes of Burton Green Residents’ Association Committee Meeting
January 17th 2017

Present
Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom; Bron Putnam; Rona Taylor, Mary Webb, Dianne Adams, Trish Hancock, Faith Ward, Hilary Cox

In attendance: Cllr Archie Taylor

1. Apologies

Apologies had been received from Andy Gibbs and Cllr Caryll Green.

Summary of actions following the meeting	Responsible
Approach PC for full costs of Bugle printing	Rona
Bank statement to be passed to Dianne	Mary
Enquire about state of play of water problem and making good the damage in Red Lane	Rona
Proposal of community compensation	Mary
Add school to Village email loop	Dianne
Copy for Bugle to be sent to Mary by February 20th	All

Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising

The minutes of the previous meeting of November 17th 2016 were approved.


Matters Arising from the previous minutes 

Approach PC for full costs of Bugle printing: Rona had not had chance to do this but would now prioritise it.
Action: Rona

Article on walking group for Bugle
Cllr. Taylor had been in touch with Cllr Richard Lloyd of Berkswell and Balsall and hoped to invite him to a parish council meeting to discuss footpaths. Cllr Green was also arranging to meet with Jackie and Mike Lynch who had responded to an enquiry about a footpath group.

Cromwell Lane car parked on pavement to be raised at police surgery: this matter had been resolved.

Arrange distribution of 30mph stickers with the Bugle: this was underway.

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


2. Treasurer's Report

A report had been circulated. Dianne went through it and explained that £88.20 had been spent on stickers and £40 worth had been sold already.
Gifts of thanks had been purchased for all those involved in the Christmas tree.
Mary would provide the bank statement for Dianne.
Thanks were given to Dianne.


3. Residents' views/concerns

There had been major problems with the water supply in parts of the village over the Christmas period. Workmen tackling the issue had made a mess of the Red Lane verge and broken a fence. This all needed to be made good. Rona would ring the person concerned and ask for an update. Nothing more had been heard since the previous Friday when he had explained that Western Power thought it had resolved the problem but found this was not the case and so the generator was back in use while the pump was out of action.
Action: Rona

The matter of personal compensation was queried. It was felt both personal and community compensation should be sought. Mary agreed to pursue the latter, suggesting £500 to include enhancement of the new Village Hall and the next Calibration of the speed gun.
Action: Mary

A meeting was to be convened at a later date about the water problems.

Post meeting note: the following day Mary received communication from the CEO of Severn Trent as follows:

"Thank you for your email and the feedback given. It’s always nice to receive positive feedback and I’ve fed this back to those involved in your case. 

I’m pleased to see that the issues you and the other residents have been experienced should be resolved soon. I was concerned to learn that Western Power were not able to fix the fault last week, but I’d like to assure you that we’re working with them to help identify the faults so that it can be repaired as soon as possible. 

My team also assures me that whilst the investigation is ongoing we do have a process in place to keep supply disruption to a minimum. 

In light of the inconvenience caused by the supply interruptions and sewer blockages I’d like to make a gesture of goodwill offer of £500.....”

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

• Review of Santa Sleigh Evening on December 16th 2016 and planning for Dec 2017. The committee considered this had worked very well overall and had raised a good contribution for Myton Hospices. Thanks had been received from various quarters and children had enjoyed it. A meeting for the presentation of cheques was scheduled for the following week.
• It was agreed a feedback meeting with Balsall Common Lions would be useful and several points were made. It was suggested a simple supper could be provided for the volunteers to make it more of a social event. There had been sufficient volunteers so there was no need for additional Lions members except the "leader" of the groups had been very useful in monitoring progress and directing. Everyone had enjoyed the occasion.
• Review of Burton Green Christmas card. There were 100 cards left. The cost had been £170 plus vat. It was good to involve the schoolchildren. Could Hickory's Smokehouse sponsor the card the following year?
• Community Forum March 13th 2017. There was nothing to be raised on this occasion.
• Rona said that 2018 would mark the commemoration of the ending of World War 1. It was agreed this would be an opportunity for a community event and suggestions were made for dancing, dressing in the style of the era and maybe the choir's participation. There was plenty of time to plan this but booking of the Hall and of a band would need to be considered.

5. Village Hall 

• No one was available. Rona said after many months of no contact from HS2, members of the Village Hall committee had been invited to meet in Birmingham the previous week. HS2 had yet to approve new plans but was now putting pressure on the committee to submit for planning permission. 

6. HS2 Opposition Group

• No one was available. There was to be a demonstration to invited participants of sound impact on February 4th at the village hall.
• General correspondence had been received about correspondence with the community. 
• A coach visit of new HS2 employees had been made to Burton Green as part of a tour of affected areas.

7. Parish Councillor's Report

• Cllr Taylor said the Parish Council (PC) had been setting the precept which was to be at the same level as the previous year. 
• The PC had needed to commission the building of a fence to deter dog fouling at the play area. 
• It was likely a Neighbourhood Plan would be started.
• It was important to follow up on monitoring of local footpaths as, for example, one local farmer was known to have ploughed up footpaths.
• The progress of HS2 would generate planning applications, for example, bunds. WDC would consult with PC but the latter then had to report back within 10 days which allowed little time for community consultation. 
• PC was concerned about the impact of house building on local traffic.Cllr Taylor had attended a meeting about building and different phases of road building. He felt consideration was being given to a road parallel to the HS2 line. 
• A Village Design Statement (VDS) was to be launched and had to be sanctioned by PC. Developers could meet with the Village Design group to discuss designs. There would be a public meeting. Rona added that the VDS followed on from the previous Parish Plan. The designers of the VDS were supposed to be a freestanding group comprising representatives of the Village Hall, the Residents' Association, and the Parish Council etc. A flyer was to be issued inviting residents to a meeting on Monday February 6th at 7:30. to create a steering group with representation from all aspects of the village and a geographical representation. 
• With reference to housing Cllr Taylor felt that building in Westwood Heath Road was likely. For the foreseeable future he believed the planned house building programmes would mean there would be no infill in the village. PC had opposed Coventry's Local Plan mainly because of its impact on traffic. Consideration had not been given to traffic from Balsall Common.

8.  Any Other Business

• There had been a burglary at Broadwells Wood on New Year's Eve. A crime prevention officer was to be invited to talk to residents of the development.
• The local postman had reported a burglary in Cromwell Lane. Keys had been taken and a car stolen.
• It was suggested a food bank should be organised at Easter as the Christmas one had been very successful. 
• Rona was aware of money being made available for the filling of potholes and Bron reported having already seen this in action in Red Lane.
• The School needed to be added to the Village email loop. Action: Dianne
• Caine Pickering had been requested to go into school. Rona had liaised with the police on this matter.
• The next Retired of Burton Green lunch was to be held on March 31st. 
• The next edition of the Bugle was due for distribution during the first week in March. Copy was needed by February 20th. Action: All
• Mary reported that 100 bags were to be delivered for a clean up in the village.
• Rona said that the Welcome leaflets were very useful and were well received. Printing off as required was an efficient way to produce them.A question was asked about when to collect the £3 subscription from new residents and it was agreed to leave this for the normal collection period.
• Some door knockers had been moved on by the police.

9. Date, time and venue of Next Meeting

The next meeting would take place on March 7th 2017.