Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Burton Green Residents’ Association held on October 10th 2022 at the Village Hall
Rona welcomed everyone, especially all the councillors.
Apologies:
Apologies had been received from Adrian Hickinbottom, Lesley Tacon, Pat and Helen Hehir, PC Ed King, Peter and Janet Stanworth, Cllr George Illingworth, Tracey Grant, Bron Putnam, Hilary Cox and Cheryl Wall.
Minutes of the last meeting:
The minutes of the last Annual General Meeting of September 2021 were accepted.
Proposed: Deirdre Vernon
Seconded: Barbara Noronha
Matters Arising:
There were no matters arising.
Chair’s Report:
A report had been circulated in advance as follows:
The Residents’ Association has been working hard over the year, responding to residents’ concerns, organising activities and events and liaising with the Parish Council and Local Authorities.
The highlight of the year was the Platinum Jubilee celebration, organised by the Platinum Jubilee Group. The community gathered on the Green for the beacon lighting, as part of a national event and the Picnic on the Green with Circus Mash was enjoyed by old and young. These celebrations were our first community use of the Green and showed what potential this space has. Plans are already underway for an exciting event there next summer.
The tradition of a Christmas tree on the Jubilee Verge is now well established and this year it is being provided by the HS2 contractor who is also arranging an electricity supply for the Verge. The children of Burton Green Church of England Academy will again be taking part in a Christmas card competition and your card will be delivered on our Santa Sleigh evening, Friday December 16th. Last year’s collection at this event raised £250 for Riding for the Disabled and £250 for the Tile Hill Food Bank. With the return of door knocking this year, we anticipate an even more generous sum. If you have any suggestions for the charities we should support, please put them forward. We always need stewards for this evening, so please let Mary Webb know if you can help. We are really grateful to the Balsall Common Lions for their meticulous planning and organisation of this evening.
Lunches for the retired and friends of Burton Green have been enjoyed for almost a decade and many thanks are due to the team who have worked so hard over the years to deliver this top-class service. The team is no longer able to undertake the catering, but we have booked external caterers for a lunch in March, when we will be able to celebrate the use of the new Village Hall. We hope to provide a 3-course lunch with wine and tea/ coffee at a reasonable price.
The Bugle has continued to keep us informed, with four editions a year. This is the only Burton Geen publication which goes through every door, thanks to Mary and the delivery team.
Treasurer’s Report
Dianne had submitted a report which was available.
BGRA Accounts as at 21 September 2022
Current Account net balance: £ 3595.00
Deposit Account net balance: £1006.33
Total Funds (A): £4601.33
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): £4451.77
Major Expenditure Since Last Meeting Annual hire of hall £45.50 for BGRA meetings
Income Since Last Meeting None
Outstanding Parish Funds to be used by 31 March 2022 - £ £1841.02
There were no questions but Paddy noted that we are covering our costs.
Rona thanked Marlene Hills for arranging examination of the accounts.
Election of Independent Examiner
Marlene Hills had agreed to arrange the Independent Examiner.
Proposed: Andy Gibbs
Seconded: Liz Saxon
Unanimously agreed.
Election of Committee members:
Janet Hickinbottom, as Joint Secretary, conducted this agenda item.
The constitution required that the officers and three committee members should stand down. All the officers, Rona Taylor, Mary Webb, Janet Hickinbottom, Judi Hibberd and Dianne Adams were re-elected
Proposed: Caryll Green
Seconded: Jenny Bailey
Unanimously agreed.
Three committee members also stood down and agreed to be re-elected:
Bron Putnam, Andy Gibbs, Hilary Cox, Helen Hehir
Proposed: Deirdre Vernon
Seconded: David Line
Unanimously agreed.
It was reiterated that new committee members or those willing to volunteer for specific projects would be most welcome and should approach a current committee member to discuss this.
Discussion of key Burton Green issues:
Village Hall
As Cheryl Wall, Chair of the Village Hall trustees, was unavailable, Deirdre Vernon, one of the trustees, explained that the scaffolding had now been removed from the new build, the windows had been installed and work inside had begun. The sound system and blinds were likely to be fitted early in 2023 and so the hall would be in use by Easter 2023. There were some final decisions to be made about fixtures and fittings. One of the stained-glass windows designed and created by Vicki Aizlewood had now been installed with others to follow.
Rona thanked the trustees for all their hard work in managing such a huge project over several years.
A question was asked about the future of the current village hall and the land it stands on. As yet, no information was available on this but it was felt local residents would like the land to be used as a car park for visitors to the Greenway in the future.
Speedwatch
Speeding through the village was a perennial problem. The late Cllr. John Whitehouse had been instrumental in setting up the 30mph speed limits and 20mph near the school and the Speedwatch team had tried hard to get motorists to adhere to the limits. Pat Hehir was unable to attend but had forwarded the following report to Rona:
After a lapse of some years due to a lack of volunteers and Covid, we are in a position to start up Speedwatch activities once again.
Those of us who have been involved in the past strongly feel that our activities made a difference in educating some motorists to reduce speed through the village. Unfortunately, some motorists take little or no notice of our speed limits. We are fortunate that 6 or 7 members of the community are concerned enough to help restart Speedwatch and will be trained in the next week or so.
I am not in a position to say exactly when we can begin Speedwatch sessions as this will depend on the training having taken place and the necessary equipment being available.
As a community we must thank our volunteers for their commitment. I would also like to thank our Community Police Support Officer Ed King who has not only been hugely supportive but has also taken a very keen interest in helping with the formation of the team.
Paddy added that the speed indication signs on Cromwell Lane hadn’t been working for some time but the Council had declined to repair them, saying they felt they weren’t effective. A new resident had spoken to our MP about this and now, for whatever reason, they seemed to be functioning again.
When he was on the Parish Council, Terry Heyes had drawn up a plan to monitor speeding and there were now plans to reinstate this once the Cromwell Bridge opened again on November 7th. This will provide statistics as a baseline.
Burton Green allotments
Rona said she had visited the allotments for a Parish Council meeting in the summer and felt it was an amazing facility of which she had not been fully aware.
Alan Deeley had kindly agreed to make a presentation to the meeting about the Westwood Heath Leisure Gardens and Allotments Association, of which he is chair.
He explained that the association had been established in the late 1970s when Cannon Park allotments were moved to make way for the Cannon Park shopping centre. The allotments were created on a continental concept of leisure gardens. The land is leased from Coventry City Council and the lease needs renewing very soon. The association is managed by a committee of members who meet regularly. There are 90 plots and half plots; a pavilion with tearoom and toilets; a trading shed, 20 poly tunnels; an orchard of 15 fruit trees and an apiary which this year produced 500 pounds of honey.
Members represent a cross-section of the community coming from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. They have diverse growing styles and produce. Climate change is presenting challenges with wet, cold Springs and hot, dry summers. Rainwater is harvested across the site.
Although the land is “safeguarded” in the Local Plan, it is safeguarded for future development. The members have a hard task to ensure the allotments remain as a community facility, especially as knowledge grows about the positive impact growing and green spaces have on People’s physical and mental health. Visitors to the site would be welcome on Sunday mornings between 10 and 12.
The” Village Green” on the Burrow Hill site was discussed. Residents were reminded that a condition of the planning permission for this development was the provision of a car park and playing field for all the community. The Parish Council would soon be taking over responsibility for this area, after a lengthy legal process. There were problems with mowing the grass on the village green but these would soon be sorted when the turf would be weeded and dead trees replaced. It had been decided, following a consultation with residents, that no play equipment would be erected and no dogs would be allowed.
Rona thanked the Parish Council for their involvement and said what an excellent facility this had proved to be for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee event.
The Parish Council was also thanked for its care of the Red Lane playground which one resident commented was kept in excellent condition.
Any Other Business:
David Line raised the issue of the failure to repair streetlights on Cromwell Lane. He had first raised the issue four years ago. Rona reported that several of the lights had recently been fixed and one which was still not working was dependent on work on the power supply. Rona promised to follow up with Ryan at WDC who was now responsible for street lighting.
Action: Rona
Cracks had been reported in some properties with residents blaming the vibrating machinery used on the Greenway. This led to some discussion about whether the culprit was the very dry summer weather and its impact on clay. HS2 had been contacted by some residents and had been told to complete a specific form after which a surveyor would be sent out.
A defibrillator refresher course was being offered on Wednesday October 26th and Rona asked people to sign the sheet available at the meeting if they were interested in attending.
Archie Taylor explained that there were changes about to happen with the Parish Council. The link with Warwick University was being reduced and so there would be vacancies for three more councillors. He said that at such a time, when Burton Green was under threat in so many ways, the Parish Council served a vital role.
Thanks were extended to Mary and Faith for arranging the evening’s refreshments and to Mike Hibberd for assisting with the technology. Janet was thanked for taking the meeting minutes so competently.
All residents who were in attendance were also thanked for their support.
10. Date of Next Annual General Meeting:
The next Annual General Meeting would be held on October 9th 2023 at the new Village Hall.
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