Minutes of Residents’ Association Committee Meeting May 9th 2017

The meeting was preceded by a presentation to John Whitehouse to mark his retirement as a Councillor and in recognition of his tremendous service to and interest in Burton Green and our community.

Present:
Dianne Adams; Andy Gibbs; Trish Hancock; Janet Hickinbottom; Rona Taylor; Faith Ward and Mary Webb.

1. Apologies

Apologies had been received from Diane Swindells; Judi Hibberd and Cllr Caryll Green

Summary of actions following the meeting	Responsible
Request 50% of Bugle printing costs from PC	Judi
Find out availability of Salvation Army Band	Judi
Dementia leaflets to be obtained and distributed	Mary
Arrange Bugle distribution	Mary
Letter of thanks to Deirdre for sign refurbishment	Rona
Include in Bugle information for residents to sign up to Village Email Loop	Mary
Greenway Trust to be consulted regarding problems of access and need for notices about taking home litter	Hilary
Book Village Hall for afternoon and early evening Saturday November 10th 2018	Hilary
Mobile toilet hire for Jubilee Group event	Faith and Dianne
Bugle item about HS2 compensation packages	Andy
Payment of insurance premium	Dianne
Future agenda item re bulb planting	Rona and Judi
Minutes on Burton Green website to be published as draft	Janet

Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising

The minutes of the previous meeting of March7th 2017 were approved. 

Matters Arising from the previous minutes

• Approach PC for full costs of Bugle printing. The matter had been discussed with the Parish Council who felt the full cost was too much to fund and queried what the subscriptions to BGRA were intended for.  Ultimately the Residents' Association agreed they would continue to apply for 50% of the costs from the PC and to carry on with the collection of subscriptions. A request for 50% of Bugle costs would be made. Action: Judi

• Invite community beat officer to meet with BGRA and PC representatives to discuss parking problems. At the Community Forum the police had agreed to add this to their priorities so there was no further need to arrange a meeting.

• Find out availability of Salvation Army Band for commemoration event in 2018. Carried forward to next meeting.  Action: Judi

• Copies of dementia leaflet and article for next Bugle.  Action: Mary

• Invite a speaker about dementia to the Residents’ lunch. A speaker about the fire service and community assistance had been booked by popular demand at the next lunch on June 16th.

• Begin collecting subscriptions and selling bin stickers. Mary would arrange this to coincide with the distribution of the Bugle at the end of May. Action: Mary

• Donation to choir. The £50 donation had been made.

• £200 loan to Jubilee Committee. This had not yet been required.

• Query replacement road sign Cromwell Lane. Andy Gibbs and Deirdre Vernon had carried out removal, cleaning, repainting and repositioning of the sign. Rona would write to thank Deirdre. Action: Rona

• Publication of village loop information. Mary would include this in the next edition of the Bugle.  Action: Mary

• Broadwells Wood hedge reinstatement query. Cllr Green was unable to attend but had reported as follows:

Regarding the hedge at Broadwells, I have spoken to the enforcement planning officer at Warwick District Council and he is supposed to come back to me having unearthed the documents.  He told me over the phone that requirements to reinstate a hedge are comparatively rare and depend on the type of hedge.  He is going to look it up to see if there was a stipulation on the planning documents. If any of the res Assoc members has a document which shows that reinstatement was insisted upon, I would be glad to see it.

It was stated that Cllrs Coker and Illingworth agreed there was a document containing this information. Subsequent to this report, it was believed a new hedge of whips had now been planted.

All other matters arising were to be part of the agenda.

2. Treasurer's Report

A report had been circulated. Since the last meeting, expenditure had comprised £50 donation to the choir; £70 for the painting and frame as the gift to John Whitehouse; £170 Bugle printing costs.

Income consisted of £1.50 from the sale of bin stickers and £30.63 profit from the most recent lunch event.

Thanks were given to Dianne. 

3. Residents' views/concerns

• Water pressure: Nick Hogue was still pursuing residents’ concerns on this matter. Residents with water pressure problems in their homes were asked to inform Nick Hogue but at the same time to continue to report to Severn Trent. Thanks were expressed to Nick. A comment had been made by a representative of the Village Hall committee member who had attended a meeting with Crest Nicholson builders that the construction of housing developments on Westwood Heath Road would have further impact on water pressure.

• Hilary agreed to raise with the Greenway Trust committee the problem of access to the Greenway at various access points. Action: Hilary

• The Retired of Burton Green lunches continued to be popular and those involved were thanked for organising the event in March.

• Two meetings with developers were to be held at PC meetings on May 15th (Cala Homes) and June 19th (Crest Nicholson.)

• A community clean up had been held on March 19th and thanks were given to those who had taken part. Litter and dog poo bags remained a problem on the Greenway. Hilary would suggest to the Greenway Trust that notices were erected asking people to take home their litter and dog poo bags because there was no one with responsibility for removing these items. Action: Hilary

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

• Commemoration of Nov 11th 1918 – ideas for community event. Some discussion took place and it was decided an event was best held on Saturday November 10th 2018 for the afternoon and early evening. Judi would be asked to book the Village Hall. Action: Judi 

• Ideas included a singer of WW1 songs whom Hilary had met. Action: Hilary

• Jubilee Group: June 19th event. Flyers were being distributed. There was not a great deal of arranging to be done. Faith had arranged mobile toilet hire and Dianne would sort out the payment charge of £144. Action: Dianne and Faith

• Chevrons in Hob Lane had been damaged in a recent accident. Residents had contacted Solihull MBC without response. It was understood the PC was also following up this issue.

• Parking on pavements. This had been discussed under Matters Arising. There remained problems at some events at the Village Hall such as the recent Parish Meeting but a resident had asked those parking on the pavement to move their vehicles into the road. Continued reinforcement of the message remained necessary.

• Feedback from Kenilworth Community Forum. This had been discussed under Matters Arising.

5. Village Hall

There was no report.

6. HS2 Opposition Group

Andy said the only matter concerned the compensation available to residents in a number of bands marked at different intervals from the proposed line. He agreed to write an article for the Bugle. 

Action: Andy

7. Parish Councillor's Report

The situation with the hedge at Broadwels Wood had been covered under Matters Arising.

8.  Any Other Business

• Insurance. Lesley Tacon had kindly researched insurance renewal premiums.  The cost had increased a little to include the defibrillator. The policy covers not only the activities of BGRA lunches, carol singing, other social events but also the Jubilee Group’s annual event including the portable toilets. It was agreed to pay the increased amount. Action: Dianne

• Andy felt the defibrillator was a community asset and so costs could be met by the PC. The committee decided it would pay for the insurance but the PC could be asked to pay for replacement pads due in January 2018. Andy recommended the pads which were past their expiry date should be retained separately for use in training sessions.

• A proposed date of June 26th was being considered for a First Aid refresher course.

• Emergency services. There had been a delay in the arrival of an ambulance which had gone to Barford in error. It was pointed out that when the emergency services were summoned by phone, the location could be matched to the nearest phone mast but not necessarily to the exact location.

• Bulbs. A resident had suggested buying spring flowering bulbs in bulk and asking people to plant seven near their homes. A bulb planting day was suggested in the autumn. This would be considered at a future meeting agenda. Action: Rona and Judi

• Thanks were given to Mary and Hilary for maintaining the flower tubs.

• Draft minutes. In future minutes would be circulated to the committee after being checked by the chair and would then be sent to John Webb who kindly adds them to his website. It was agreed to ensure the minutes were published on the website as Draft minutes. Minutes had to be agreed at a subsequent meeting before they became final minutes. Action: Janet

9. Date, time and venue of Next Meeting

The next meeting would take place on July 11th 2017.