Minutes of the meeting on 10 November 2014

Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 10 November 2014 at 8pm
at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.

1. Present:, Avril Allen, Richard Barran, Kate Barron, Bernadette Blade, Pamela Johnson, Cathy Jones, Linda Mathewman, Roger Morton, David Sillitoe, Eric Thurston

2. Apologies for absence: Cllr Alun Davies, Cllr Alec Campbell, Cllr Simon Grover, Annie Burroughs, Douglas Davidson, Charles Davies, Anthony Hyde, Angela King, Mary Plackett

3. Minutes of last meeting: Accepted subject to the following corrections:

  • We had £294.22 in our bank account
  • Katie Barron was elected as Vice Chair
  • Richard Barran was continuing as webmaster

4. Matters arising: None

5. Vacancies for the roles of Secretary and Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator remain unfilled.

6. Finances: No change from the previous meeting

7. Neighbourhood Watch:

  • Roger has registered for OWL and is, by default, the NW co-ordinator for Albert Street.
  • No NW messages had been received since our previous meeting
  • Catherine Hieatt, NW co-ordinator for St Peter’s Ward, was to have addressed us but had to cancel at short notice. We will invite her to attend our next meeting.

8. Our environment:

  • Cross-pavement rainwater gullies continue to be a problem, especially in Sopwell Lane. Chris White has arranged a meeting on site with Council Officers & contractors for Wednesday 12th November. Roger, Angela and Mary will participate.
  • Chris White continues to work towards a 20mph speed limit for Sopwell Lane and Albert Street. This should help to reduce damage by heavy lorries in Albert Street (a lorry ban would be great but is unachievable). This will be covered in the meeting on 12th November.
  • Roger is working with an informal group of local businesses that is attempting to get the Keyfield Terrace car park to be once again available for short term parking. It is also hoped to create extra (free) short term parking spaces in Keyfield Terrace itself. This will also be covered in the meeting on 12th November.
  • Several residents of Saracens Head Yard had received an anonymous note complaining about a disturbance, although no-one present at the meeting had been aware of it. However some residents nearby had been troubled by noise and other nuisance. It was mentioned that it is always better to complain at the time about such matters - either to the District Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour team on 01727 819566 or, if it is a police matter, by calling 101.
  • Cllr Simon Grover has offered to help resolve the problem of rubbish being dumped in a void in Albert Street (opposite back door of Café Rouge) by using funds from his locality budget to provide a permanent planting scheme in the space. It was agreed that we would ask him to go ahead.

9. City Neighbourhoods Committee: Roger is a co-opted member of the committee representing SAPHRA. The committee had not met since the previous SAPHRA meeting (it meets quarterly).and will meet again on 11 December.

10. Christmas meal: The final arrangements for our Christmas meal were agreed.

11. We agreed to hold a pub get-together for all residents in our area on Monday 12 January at 8 pm in The Goat, Sopwell lane.

12. Any other business:

  • The speed cushion at the lower end of Albert Street has virtually disappeared due to the recent micro-surfacing. Cllr Chris White is aware of the problem.

13. Next meeting: Monday 2 February 2015 at 8 pm at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.