Minutes of Burton Green Residents’ Association Committee Meeting
September 25th 2023
Present:
Dianne Adams; Hilary Cox; Paddy Deeley; Andy Gibbs; Judi Hibberd; Janet Hickinbottom; Rona Taylor; Mary Webb.
Apologies and minutes of the last meeting (July 24th 2023):
Apologies had been received from Helen Hehir, Bron Putnam and Faith ward.
Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising
See Minutes of July 24th 2023 meeting
Matters Arising from the previous minutes:
Check with Marlene Hills about examination of accounts. Marlene agreed.
Purchase book tokens for girls who have watered the tub in Red Lane. Completed.
Check with PC clerk about use of CIL. Paddy and Andy to check further
Investigate costs of “entrance gates” Agenda item.
Check with VH trustees about purchase of chair trolleys. Agenda item.
Suggested sites for bird boxes – request in the Bugle. No response.
Details of geocaching request on Facebook to see if anyone is interested. No response.
Expressions of interest to be sought via the Bugle for an Open Gardens event in the summer of 2024. Several residents have volunteered to be involved.
Add AGM details to the Bugle. Completed and agenda item.
The minutes of the July 2023 meeting were approved.
Village Hall:
Cheryl had sent her apologies. Paddy and Dianne (who are also Village Hall trustees) said discussions were underway to get further communication with Deeley’s to sort out remaining snagging list. Locks were to be put on the cupboards in the corridor. Bookings were going very well, even into 2024. Bulbs were to be planted in the grounds.
Treasurer’s Report:
See: Treasurer’s Report
A report had been circulated as follows:
BGRA Accounts as at 22 September 2023
Current Account net balance: £5012.23
Deposit Account net balance: £1,012.36
Total Funds: £6024.59
Major Expenditure Since Last Meeting
Book tokens for children watering plants - £40
Hire of hall £22.50
Income Since Last Meeting
BGRA Lunches ticket monies received BACS - £320 (More to be added)
Outstanding Parish Funds to be used by 31 March 2024 - £1,479.92
Thanks were given to Dianne for her efficient handling of the accounts.
Residents’ views/concerns:
Number 24 bus no longer runs through Burton Green. Discussions have taken place regarding the IndieGo+ bus, a facility which can be contacted by phone or an app and if there is capacity, the bus collects passengers.
Rona had been in touch with Warwickshire County Council Transport team to see if the IndieGo+ bus route could be extended to cover Red Lane. Stuart Kocan-Payne had replied and promised to look into it. “However, it's not an easy or straightforward decision to make and will need some careful consideration and investigation to make sure that any extension such as this does not adversely affect the rest of the already busy service.”
A further response was as follows:
Unfortunately, the IndieGo+ scheme is a trial being financially subsidised by the Department of Transport (DfT). As it is a trial, we are supplying data to them on a monthly basis in exchange for their financial support. This means that any changes to the scheme have to be approved by the DfT as it could affect the data comparison within the trial.
I will write to our contact within the DfT to ask if this would be possible and we will get back to you as soon as we possibly can.
Passenger Transport Team
Meanwhile the 87 bus is well used but Red Lane residents without their own transport, have only 2 buses a week into Kenilworth.
Update on and discussion of Residents’ Association initiatives and issues:
Community Fund from BBV – Judi reported that Burton Green is still not a priority area and as such cannot apply for funding. It was agreed to wait to see if the situation changed.
CIL fund – entrance gates. Judi had investigated at length. The cost of the number of gates required was estimated at a minimum of £8k. The project involved not only the purchase of the gates but erection, permissions from verge owners, inspection of services beneath the verge etc. It was agreed this was too big a project for the Residents’ Association. Could the Parish Council be involved as this is a traffic calming measure? Judi agreed to write to the clerk of the Parish Council asking for this item to be added to the next agenda.
Action: Judi
Excess funding - There were excess funds remaining from the Warwick District grant. Chair trolleys for the Village Hall could be purchased and Paddy had agreed to check this with the trustees. Other ideas were welcome. – The Village Hall committee accepted the idea but needed to work out how and where the trolleys could be used. If the cost exceeded the amount remaining in the WDC grant, the committee agreed further funds could be found.
HS2 issues - Rona had spoken to Sara Louise and George of HS2 on several matters.
The top of the tunnel – what would be done? Rona was told the landscaping could not be discussed until next year and decisions would be made by the Local Authority. Jeremy Wright MP was arranging a meeting for interested parties to find out more about plans and to enable residents to see if they can influence the landscaping. Cycle paths are also planned throughout the area.
Lighting of the underpass. This would be only the width of the road and street lighting would provide sufficient light.
Frequent road closures although the Select Committee had assured residents that this wouldn’t happen. HS2 had said it would compensate the community generously by providing the Christmas tree for the Coronation verge, a defibrillator in Hodgett’s Lane. Could we ask about the gates too?
Another drive-through event was planned for September 26th at 4:30. Mary Webb agreed to go along and Peter Stanworth was also planning to take part.
Planned housing development Red Lane. A meeting had been held and a working group established chaired by Cllr Kyn Aizlewood. It was necessary to look at access to various parcels of land that had been offered. The WCC decision about the next steps was awaited before further progress could be made. Paddy noted that land between Birmingham Road and Hollis Lane looked ripe for development too and this would impact on Burton Green.
Defibrillator update
Judi gave a report as follows:
The defibrillator is now active.
Alice has registered it and is the guardian and I am the deputy guardian.
If it is needed and a 999 call made, they are given the location and lock code to open it.
If it is used then Alice is notified and she does a follow up welfare visit to the person who used it and she replaces the pads. The Residents’ Association will be asked to pay for the pads at around £60 each. Failing that, the ambulance service will pay for them and she suggests we ask the parish council for the money should we need it.
It will eventually go up on the posts outside the old village hall that had the notice board on. It will have power from the lamppost and HS2 will put up signs.
That is scheduled for the end of this month.
The deputy guardian goes once a week and checks it’s still active and once a month fills in details on an app called Circuit. If I forget the app will remind me until I do it.
Only the ambulance and Alice have the lock code.
So, we have a cabinet and a defibrillator and it’s awaiting its final placement but HS2 don’t know that so let’s just keep it that way till it’s in its final place.
Following Judi’s discussions, further correspondence had been received saying that the Parish Council was now involved in decisions about the defibrillator but the parish councillors present at the Residents’ Association meeting said the Parish Council was not looking to take ownership of the defibrillator and it was agreed the Residents’ Association would retain control of the Hodgett’s Lane defibrillator.
AGM arrangements. Rona would unfortunately be unavailable at the time of the AGM. Janet would chair the meeting and Dianne would take the minutes. Actions from the previous AGM had been completed. Mary and Hilary had agreed to take care of the refreshments. Details were finalised to include a presentation about the Village Hall and another about Speedwatch. Thanks were given to Alan Deeley for erecting the banner at the top of Red Lane.
Representatives from HS2 would be available to answer questions from 7p.m. Resident Ana Aliverti had volunteered to join the committee. Her application needed to be nominated and seconded at the AGM. Janet agreed to contact Ana to explain this.
Action: Janet
Christmas – Santa’s Sleigh, charity, Christmas cards, Christmas tree -Mary was liaising with Balsall Common Lions regarding Santa’s sleigh 2023. Janet had suggested Coventry Food Bank as the charity and Hilary would add Compassion for Kenilworth, Action for Children and Zarach. The committee would vote on these suggestions at the next meeting on November 27th.
Action: Judi
Faith was arranging the Christmas card competition with the school. Judging would take place on November 24th. The Christmas tree was to be supplied, erected and decorated by HS2.
Flower tubs – These continued to look good. Thank you to Hilary and Mary for planting them and to volunteers for watering them.
Priorities for precept money – nothing to add.
Bugle funding
Bulbs
Coronation verge maintenance – strimmer
Open Gardens 2024 – several residents had volunteered to open their gardens. Further details would be arranged.
Parish Councillor's Report:
A presentation about battery storage plans had been held prior to the most recent parish council meeting. A point has been raised that in Norfolk a proposed storage facility has been rejected because of potential fire hazards and the problems of toxic fumes. Could this argument be used in Burton Green? Will the application continue?
Any Other Business:
A bulb planting session would be held on September 27th at the Coronation verge. All volunteers would be welcome.
A funding application had been received on behalf of a Junior Stitch Group. The committee noted that it now had a policy stating it was not a grant-giving organisation. However, it was agreed that if a sufficient number of children expressed an interest in the Group, the Residents’ Association would be prepared to purchase the items highlighted in the application (totalling a price of £86.68) as long as they remained at the village hall and belonged to the Residents’ Association. Janet agreed to email the applicant to explain this decision.
Action: Janet
Thanks were given to Andy Jones for creating the small garden table for George Illingworth, to be presented at the lunch on Friday September 29th. The committee awaited Andy’s invoice (the cost to be shared with the Parish Council).
Rona thanked committee members for attending and for their work during the year.
7. Date of next Meeting:
The AGM would take place on October 9th.
The next committee meeting was scheduled for November 27th 2023.
Judi had sorted out dates for 2024 and 2025 and would now book the village hall on those dates.
Action: Judi
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