MINUTES
Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership
Charity Number 1112151
GENERAL MEETING
Tuesday 17 October 2006 from 6.30pm to 9.30pm
Present: M Bell, J Blackburn, J Blakey, K Calvert, S Colquhoun, R Cowen, P Dawe, M Dee, N Dixon, J Geyer, K Griffiths, K Haigh, J Halford, R Millerchip, S Raine, Maggie Robinson, Maureen Robinson, A Shutt (7.45pm), M Syer (7.45pm), S Thompson, R Walsh, S Walworth, A Wilson, J Wilson
In Attendance: C Feenan, M Ridley
1. Apologies for absence: B Bates, B Cockburn, J Eden, R Jackson, J Kane, A Richardson, J Tindale, D Whittaker,
2. Sgt D Turner, PC Cockburn: There was no report from the police.
3. John Tindale (Economic and Community Development Manager): As John was unable to attend the meeting Carol reported on the planning application for a retail area on Ogden’s site.
The Highways Agency is not happy with the application as it stands because of the access and the traffic flow from the motorway roundabout.
The City’s retail consultants are not happy with the proposed size of the units and they were concerned that they could affect other retail services in the area.
The city advised them to withdraw their application and revise their plans.
Carol reported that the City had refused a planning application from Hallam Land Management to develop the former Cape site. The City is to meet ONE North East to explore the possibility for funding to clear the site. They wait to see if Hallam will revise their application.
4. Carol Feenan (Community Development Officer): Carol announced that she will be leaving Bowburn as she has a new post as the Co-ordinator for the City Centre. She will be replaced by one of the existing development officers but Carol will be available for information during the hand over period.
The chair wished Carol luck in her new post and said that the City’s gain was the Partnership’s loss.
5. CCTV Link to Co-op – Proposal: The Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership proposes that the City Council is authorised to draw down funds, capped at £20K, for the purpose of delivering a CCTV scheme similar to that suggested.
After some discussion the proposal was passed by a substantial majority.
6. Park Development – Proposal: The chair explained the decision of the trustees to give a choice of three sums for the allocation of funds towards the Park development.
The following proposal was put to the members
The Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership proposes that the City Council is authorised to draw down funds, capped at (i) £720K, (ii) £600K, or (iii) £500K, for the purpose of delivering the Park Development scheme similar to that suggested.
A ballot took place to determine the amount to allocate to the Bowburn Park project from the Regeneration Pot of money for Bowburn.
7. Masterplan – Leader of each priority group to give an update.
There is to be a launch of the Masterplan on 28 November from 2.00pm till 8.00pm in the Community Centre.
The Partnership will provide a static display showing an update of the Masterplan Projects, the Community Chest Projects and the achievements of the Partnership.
Highways: Information has been gathered and costed.
Environment: The group has met and an appraisal has been carried out. Some of the findings are in the Park Development.
A member of the environment group thought that the City was coming back with costings.
Carol said that, if that was what the group wanted, it could be done.
Unadopted Roads: Residents from Grangepark Crescent, Neville Terrace and Lansdowne Road met to discuss funding implications and ideas for the project. If there is agreement from all residents in the three streets to have their stretch of road adopted, the group hopes to apply for 100% funding as all other funding options have been exhausted.
A member queried how any project could receive 100% funding, and it was explained that it was possible if all areas of funding had been researched and proved to be unsuccessful.
Another member felt that the residents of the three streets should contribute something towards the scheme. There was some discussion on payment by residents and the need for a possible unanimous agreement.
Another argued that if the County Council was going to adopt the road then they should be prepared to pay for it, but another member gave the explanation that he was of the opinion that the roads had to be made up to a certain standard and then adopted by the County Council.
Park Project: The result of the earlier ballot was announced as follows;
£500 000 = 6 votes, £600 00 = 7 votes, £720 000 = 8 votes.
The following statement will be sent to the City Council:
“The Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership has agreed that the City Council is authorised to draw down funds, capped at £720, 000 for the purpose of delivering the Park Development scheme similar to that suggested”.
Community Centre: The plans are being costed and will be brought back to the Working Committee.
Church: The plans are being costed to be sent to the Lottery Fund. The plans have been revised and are smaller than the original and are awaiting Diocesan approval.
Parkhill: Doubt was cast on Parkhill’s incorporation in the Masterplan and a member pointed out that any uncertainty could be overcome by checking the draft Masterplan Report.
Representatives from Parkhill had met the City Council to discuss the play area in Parkhill prior to going to consultation.
Youth: Carol and Steven Hawley are to meet the Youth Club working party on Wednesday (17 October) to discuss a feasibility study.
Heritage: W. Lavell is obtaining ideas and information on equipment for the Resource Centre.
The Book is at the planning stage.
Centenary: There had been a very successful Tom McGuiness Art Exhibition on 23 September and a competition which delighted everyone, viewers and winners alike. A room of Social Art gave the community a chance to see crafts, which had been made by local people.
The will be bulb planting in November and the Xmas dance on 15 December, opening at 7.00pm, featuring the Bush Big Band. Come and listen to live music, enjoy a dance and buffet for £5.00 a ticket.
When this part of the business was completed, Carol left the meeting.
8. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising – 17 September 2006:
The following corrections were necessary; Item 4, change the abbreviation CCTV to ‘cables’. It was ‘street lighting’ that was discussed that was discussed at the Parish meting.
Page 2, line 1, typo error; change ‘negations’ to ‘negotiations’.
Item 12, 12 Villages, add ‘at Quarrington Hill’ to the end of the report so that it reads, "There will be an inventory of the graveyard at Quarrington Hill".
When these corrections were made the minutes were taken as a true record.
Matters Arising:
Item 5 – Cape Site - A member asked if there had been a response to the letter sent to the City Council.
Janet replied that Hallam Land Management had contacted her to say that their questionnaires had not invited a response and they felt that the complaints had been addressed in the planning application.
9. Items of Any Other Business – Register title of issue for item 14:
Concerns were registered on the (i) road closure in Philip Avenue (ii) and the effect on the emergency services (ii) when will the roads be restored, (iv) dog fouling, v) vandalism.
10. Treasurer’s Report:
Amount to take forward: General Fund £450.97, Centenary Fund £2108.79, Community Chest Nil.
A member asked for a breakdown of costs.
Robin explained that the Partnership required at least £500.00 per year for running costs.
Community Chest: There were two applications from the BVC.
(i) 3 railings for the War Memorial so that wreaths can be tied securely at a cost of £105.75.
The treasurer questioned whether the railings would be strong enough to survive vandalism.
The chair of the BVC asked for the application to be withdrawn and resubmitted after further discussion at a BVC meeting.
(ii) The cost of a ceremony for the erection of a Miners’ Memorial at a cost of £607.88.
There has been an application to the Awards For All fund for this ceremony, and if successful then the above application would be withdrawn.
As the quotation for the Band is outstanding, it was asked if this application could be approved, subject to the receipt of the quotation. After some discussion this application was passed with no objections.
Flower Quiz: A draw took place to decide the winners of the quiz. They were as follows 1st J. Hutchinson, 2nd S. Sudder. 3rd E. Greechan. Profit for the quiz was £100.00, which goes into the General fund.
The new quiz gives a tune for a clue, and the answer is the title of a film.
11. Correspondence:
> From P Thorpe querying the use of the path through the allotments for a CCTV system.
>To P. Herbert indicating the views of the members concerning the planning application for the Cape site.
>To P. Thorpe explaining the misunderstanding that the path through the allotments is for cable ducts.
>To P. Thorpe requesting a meeting with the Parish to discuss the possibility of joint village noticeboards.
>To P. Thorpe requesting financial assistance from the Parish for running costs.
> Copy of email to Regeneration Working Group to confirm the Masterplan Public Launch Event on 28/11/12.
12. Report and matters arising:
Trustees 27 September 2006: Janet apologised for not bringing the minutes and will report on this next time.
Trustees 9 October 2006: After some discussion it was decided to put three prices (Item 6) to the vote for the Park at the General Meeting.
Noticeboards: Three members of the Parish Council and three members of the Partnership discussed sharing the funding of 5 noticeboards. It will be discussed at the Parish meeting on Wednesday (20 October).
Regeneration Working Group: The next meeting is 7 November.
The bungalows in Horton Crescent were demolished last week.
A member asked when the funds were coming on stream from the Regeneration Pot. Everyone realises that nothing can be done without the money but no date has been given.
Parish Council: Maggie did not have the minutes with her but would report next time.
Quarry Liaison Committee: There has not been a meeting, but Old Quarrington may discuss this next week.
LSP: No meeting
12 Villages/SRB6 Representative: Thanks were extended to all those who attended the AGM. The Dry Stone Wall course has been postponed because of an objection through a misunderstanding. The provisional date is for the last two weeks in March 2007. This includes indexing the graveyard at Quarrington Hill. Robin’s course on Churches is going ahead. Future courses include Committee, Powerpoint, and Asset based skills.
13. Group Noticeboard:
Banner: The new banner has been out to 3 successful meetings; memorial meeting, Houghton Feats, and Wingate. Bowes Museum on 26 October. HLF ends on 31 December, but an extension has been sought for the lighting and cases whilst the refurbishment of the Community Centre is pending.
BVC: The next edition in October is a special Banner paper, which will include adverts for events in November and December. The usual paper will be published early in December and articles can be submitted now. There will be an Ecumenical Remembrance Service at 9.45am in the Community Centre on 12 November followed by a ceremony at the War Memorial, accompanied by the Reg Vardy band.
A member asked for seating to be available at the War Memorial for the service, and Mike will attend to this.
Football Teams: The children’s teams are going well. The winter training starts on Monday and it is split between the Deerness Valley and Meadowfield floodlit pitches. Alan has spent the Community chest money and more. Alan is very annoyed at the state of the Bowburn pitch and would like something done about the dog fouling and the poor quality of line painting. It was suggested that the City should take a more proactive role to rectify the problems as this is important for FA support so that it does not jeopardise match funding.
History: Progress is being made on the Resource Centre and the 2007 Calendar.
Website: No report.
Youth Centre: No report.
14. Any Other Business:
> The road closure at Philip Avenue was scheduled for 6 weeks but could be longer.
> The Fire Service has contacted Mike to let him know that the operational crews have been informed of the road closure in Philip Avenue. A crew has made a site visit and reported that they can gain access to all properties. The District Manager of the fire service is very grateful that a member of the public contacted him and is happy to be contacted in the future if there is concern that the emergency access to homes is impeded.
> A member reported that the construction company had said it was not responsible for repairing the road surface.
Another member said she had photographic evidence of the damage to the paths, but was told she would need before and after photographs.
Another member stated that a path in Lawson Road had still not been repaired satisfactorily even though a leaflet distributed to residents stated that paths would be restored.
RW suggested that if anyone could produce that leaflet it would be useful evidence.
The sign for the Considerate Constructors is not obvious in the Philip Avenue site and PD will contact the site manager to see if this can be rectified. Otherwise the matter would be taken to the next Woking Regeneration Group meeting.
One member felt it was unacceptable that he should be without a reliable telephone connection for 7 weeks, and with no connection for 5 weeks at one stretch.
It was reported that the MP was investigating this matter.
> Dog fouling is a problem in David Terrace.
It was said that the neighbourhood warden needs to be informed of this.
> Vandalism to the cars in David Terrace is worrying.
The chair reminded all members that any illegal incident must be reported to the police.
The building site is insecure off David Terrace.
Again a member pointed out that such matters must be passed on to Haslam Homes otherwise they can say they do not have any problems on this site, if nothing is logged.
There had been a break in to the newly built houses, because there is no visible security lighting on the site.
This matter would be passed on to the Working Regeneration Group.
15. Date and Time of Next Meeting:
Next General Meeting is 21 November 2006
Launch of Masterplan is 28 November from 2.00pm to 8.00pm in Bowburn Community Centre