Cloudesley Association - Minutes of Meeting

Venue: New River College School

Date: 18 November 2014

Purpose

There are a number of purposes of the Association.

At present, the primary aim is to ensure that the redevelopment of the school is done to the satisfaction of the surrounding residents. Once plans are complete, it will be to monitor/deal with noise pollution/builder related issued and disruption. Once the building works have been completed, the Association could/should be used to manage any issues that arise as a result of the schools on the site.

In addition, the Association can and should be used for the following:

-          Monitoring, shaping (and if necessary objecting to) local planning applications;

-          Monitoring/reporting/liaising with the Council in relation to general behaviour/crime in the neighbourhood (summer scooter issues or theft (from cars or otherwise), for example);

-          Other local issues.

Set Up

Constitution:      The Association needs a constitution in order to be taken seriously. Amanda to put together, with the help of Barbara Rich if a suitable template from another local residents association cannot be obtained. The boundary of the Association should be set out therein.

Secretary/Treasurer:      The Association needs a secretary and treasurer. Amanda to ask residents for nominations.

Bank Account:   Apparently the Association used to have a bank account that contains approximately £300 in it. Amanda to try and establish (possibly with the help of Fred Reynolds) whether we can access/use it. Amanda asked residents to consider the question of whether we want to try and raise some funds in the future (which could be used to fund some IT advice on the website, a pot of cash to access in case there are local planning issues, etc).

Street Representatives: There is still a vacancy for the position of Cloudesley Road street rep. Amanda to ask residents on Cloudesley Road if they might fill the role.

Frequency of Meetings: It was concluded that twice a year is an appropriate number of meetings per year (for no longer than one hour per meeting).

Website

A previous resident of the area, Nick Atkins, has kindly offered to lend us the domain name “cloudesley.org”. Amanda asked if anyone was an IT expert who might be able to help set up a site for us to use.

Nick Collin kindly offered to help with initial set up. Amanda asked residents to consider what it would most like to see the website being used for.

Specific Issues

Cloudesley Square:          The cladding on the Cloudesley Square church towers was discussed. Nick Collin and Linda Payne have had various correspondence with the Council and church over the years to try and get the cladding removed. In order to do so, funding needs to be found in order to repair the towers. It is unclear where the funding will come from. The present occupants have just renewed their lease for the next 20 years. However, this is merely a lease. The Church of England (freeholders), English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund are all potential sources of funding. Amanda to try and establish contact with the Council to try and push this forward.

School Redevelopment:                 It was widely acknowledged that the Council have been useless at providing residents with notice of proposed consultation meetings.  Amanda to send around a letter to local residents once the date for the next consultation meeting has been confirmed. All residents who have not already seen the plans are encouraged to attend the next meeting.

In addition, the Association is to ensure that (a) landscaping (low level shrubbery in particular) is included as a planning condition and (b) external building works do not take place on Saturdays – especially as building works will take place over the summer and residents will wish to use their gardens

Amanda to ensure that the Association is given the contact details of the project manager once construction begins, so that instant dialogue can be had in case of issues.

One question that was raised was whether the Council might change traffic flow/street directions during construction (and possibly beyond). For example, it may be considered sensible to change the direction of the flow of traffic on Richmond Avenue to avoid the need for construction traffic to go through the area. Amanda to investigate.

Other Issues:      Excessive number of foxes. Pest control to be discussed with the Council.

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