The meeting was held virtually via Zoom because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
Present
Dianne Adams; Paddy Deeley; Helen Hehir; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom; Rona Taylor; Faith Ward; Mary Webb.
1 Apologies and Minutes of the last meeting (March 11th 2021)
Apologies had been received from Bron Putnam and Andy Gibbs.
| Summary of actions following the meeting | Responsible |
| Set up fund-raising page for Children in Need ramble | Dianne |
| Turfing bare patches on Jubilee Verge – local contact to be approached | Rona |
| Contact Parish Council suggesting noticeboard on Cala Estate | Hilary |
| Approach local businesses to sponsor 2021 Christmas card | Mary |
| Query local sculptor for wooden installations | Hilary and others |
| Investigate route for Children in Need ramble | Mary |
| Speak to Deirdre about art installations and a proposal to HS2 Community Fund | Rona |
| July agenda item to look in detail at proposals for HS2 Community Fund and precept spending | Judi |
| Update Welcome leaflet | Judi |
| Create diary of annual events for discussion at meetings | Judi and Mary |
Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising
See March 11th 2021 meeting
Matters Arising from the previous minutes
- Find out about emptying of bins (Paddy)- Bins were to be emptied each Monday. Discussions were ongoing.
- Purchase long-handled litter grabbers (Mary)- Completed
- Set up fund-raising page for Children in Need ramble (Dianne)- Carried forward
- Ask LM about turfing the Jubilee Verge (Rona)- It was agreed Rona would ask a local contact to carry out this work.
- Contact Parish Council suggesting noticeboard on Cala Estate (Hilary)- Carried forward
The minutes of the March meeting were approved.
2 Village Hall
Paddy said there was little to report. Discussions were still ongoing and no start date had yet been agreed.
3 Treasurer’s Report
A report had been circulated as follows:
Current Account net balance: £3727.53
Deposit Account net balance: £1006.12
Total Funds (A): £4733.65
Ring Fenced Funds (Balance remaining of monies donated/allocated for specific purposes but not yet spent): -
Defibrillator: £ 149.56
Freely available/unallocated Funds (A – B): £4584.09
For Information: Major expenditure since last meeting:
Litter picker and flowers for Mr and Mrs Doyle £32.48 Printing March Bugle £450 BGRA Public Liability Insurance £196.48
Income since last meeting:
Funding from Parish Council £2625
Outstanding Parish Funds to be used by 31 March 2022 - £1978.52
Thanks were given to Dianne.
4 Residents’ views/concerns
- Access to and use of Greenway – compounds were gradually starting to be established.
- Indoor bowls at the new village hall – this had been suggested by a new resident and was a matter for the Village Hall trustees. It was mentioned that a petanque pitch had been considered outdoors as part of the Village Hall design but matters about access and usage would need to be considered.
- Publication of new circular walking routes in BG – Chris Langton had been approached to see if he would update his earlier work on village footpaths now that so many of them had been closed by HS2 work.
- Rona reported problems with the 233 bus service to Kenilworth. She had received conflicting information about whether the service had been axed and was now told it was no longer running on a Thursday. The only remaining service was the 10.56 to Kenilworth on a Monday. A demand response service was not available on this route. Rona would add information to the Bugle and asked WCC to ensure it consulted residents and kept us informed of changes to bus services.
- A complaint had been received about the noise from a machine thought to be a stone crusher on the HS2 route.
- Post meeting note: Paddy had investigated and this was not a stone crusher but a stump grinder /woodchipper removing the trees that were cut down at the end of last year.
5 Update on and discussion of Residents’ Association initiatives and issues
- Sponsor for Christmas cards – a number of local businesses were suggested to approach. It was agreed if one business could not fund in entirety, smaller donations from a number of businesses would be welcome. Action: Mary
- Wooden sculptures – discussions were still taking place. A number of sculptures plus some benches had been promised along with wood for use by a local sculptor. As the Hickinbottoms had agreed to receive some of the wood for the latter, Janet asked if a local sculptor had been sourced but the answer was negative. Further requests would be made, including by Hilary. Other wood was to be stored by the Hubbards on Waste Lane but details of all this had been delayed.
- Sandstone blocks from the Greenway bridges to be saved for plant troughs – it was reported that a verbal agreement had been reached to save and store coping stones as bridges were demolished.
- Children in Need Ramble – the date for this fund-raising event was set for June 27th at 11a.m. Mary would work with her contacts to investigate a suitable route. Action: Mary
- HS2 fund- what should we ask for?
Entrance gates
Trees around the village
Top of the tunnel ideas
Village hall signage recycling
Car park where VH car park was
Mosaic to be developed with children from the village school – discussions had begun on this.
Metal sculpture to reflect the history of the village. Deirdre and Thea would be asked to develop their idea and a costed proposal could then be given to HS2
- Priorities for precept money- ideas so far
Bugle funding
Lots of Spring bulbs
Jubilee verge maintenance
It was agreed to look in more detail at proposals for HS2 Community Fund and precept at the July meeting. Judi would add this to the agenda.
- Bugle
Thanks were given to Mary for her work on the Bugle. The next edition would be published early in June with a deadline for articles of May 24th.
6 Greenway Trust Update
There was no report.
7 Parish Councillor's Report
The Parish Council had been discussing building matters, especially the development on Westwood Heath Road considering recent national reports that population growth figures, including those from Coventry, had been inflated. There were concerns about increased traffic and pressure on local schools.
8 Any Other Business
- Thanks were extended to the local police force who had been in evidence in the village, for example putting fixed penalty notice on cars parked across pavements.
- A question was asked about the progress of a planning application for a house on land adjacent to Broadwells Park on Red Lane but no further information was available.
- If anyone is interested in joining the Westwood Heath History Group for a whistle stop tour of the history of the area please email westwoodheathhistory@gmail.com and they will send you the Zoom link - Tuesday 18th May at 7:30pm
- Judi volunteered to update the Welcome Leaflet. Action: Judi
- It was agreed to create a diary of annual events and the appropriate meetings at which to discuss each of these. Action: Judi and Mary
- Ditch clearing in Red Lane had resulted in piles of debris left on the verges but Hilary had been told this would be removed the following day.
9 Date of next Meeting
All meetings would be held via Zoom until further notice.
The next committee meeting was scheduled for July 15th.
Further meetings:
September 9th
Monday September 27th AGM
November 25th
Thanks were given to Judi for arranging the Zoom call and to committee members for attending.
