Minutes of the annual general meeting 16 May 2016

Minutes of the annual general meeting

Held on monday 16th may 2016 at 7 30pm

At st andrew’s hall, burnt ash lane

1.  Welcome and introduction

Stephen Hodges welcomed members to the meeting.  He extended a special welcome to the guests - Councillors Peter Morgan, Michael Turner and Ellie Harmer; Sergeant Neil Phillips, PC Amy Barnes and PCSO Peter Scott of Plaistow and Sundridge – North East Neighbourhood Team; Reverend Liz Davis; and Tony Isbitt (Chairman) and Cheryl Mulryne (Secretary) of the Safer Neighbourhood Panel - and to Andrew Martin who would be giving a presentation on local history.

Stephen said that this was a particularly special year as it marked LERA’s 25^th anniversary and he invited everyone to join the celebratory refreshments after the meeting.  He explained that the agenda differed slightly from previous years and instead of keynote speakers from community services, the latter part of the programme would be devoted to Andrew’s presentation.

  

2.  Apologies for absence

Apologies had been received from:

            

                        Kath Goodwin

                        Malcolm Goodwin

3.  Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 19^th May 2015 

The minutes were approved.

4.  Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

5.  Chair’s report 

Stephen outlined the Committee’s main activities and achievements during the past year. 

·      Community affairs and crime and safety

We have continued to work with our Councillors on a variety of issues and have represented LERA at Council events ranging from a crime summit to a consultative meeting on Bromley’s budget for 2016-17, and at a meeting of the Federation of Bromley Residents’ Associations. We have continued to represent LERA on the Safer Neighbourhood Panel (previously named the Community Advisory Panel) which provides a forum for local community groups to discuss crime and safety and other issues of concern with our Ward councillors and local police team. We have also voiced our concerns about the effect of the Met’s budget cuts and the implications for the resourcing of our local team which has resulted recently in the loss of a dedicated sergeant, and are seeking to ensure that lines of communication with the team and appropriate policing of the Estate will be maintained.

·      Street cleaning

We have held regular on-site meetings with the Council’s cleaning contractors and organised for them to carry out a special ‘deep clean’ of Ridgeway Drive.  We hope to be able to arrange a similar cleaning exercise elsewhere on the Estate.  Following the success of the manual clear up by LERA volunteers of the green at New Street Hill last May, we are planning to arrange another clear up at some stage.

·      Development on the Estate

We have kept residents informed of developments surrounding the planning applications to re-develop the site at the corner of Oak Tree Gardens and Portland Road.  Following the rejection of the developer’s appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in October with regard to the initial application, in the light of residents’ concerns about a 2^nd application for a slightly smaller development submitted in December, we sent an objection to Bromley Council and Stephen spoke on LERA’s behalf at the meeting of the Planning Committee in February.  Following the Council’s refusal of the application and the developer’s subsequent appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, we have since submitted additional evidence to the Inspectorate to support our objection.  A decision on the appeal is due to be made by 22^nd August.

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·      Communicating with LERA Members

We have kept members informed of news and other items of interest through LERA’s Newsletter, website and Facebook group which now has around 100 members.  Stephen encouraged members to make more use of the website (www.leralink.blogspot.co.uk) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/lerabromley/) to feed in their views and other information about the Estate.

Stephen concluded by announcing that we planned to mark our 25^th anniversary in other ways which may include the issue of a special commemorative booklet (which would cost in the region of £300 to produce) or planting trees on the Estate to replace those that have been removed or damaged.  Committee members had recently conducted a survey of the Estate with the Council’s Arboricultural Officer to identify where replacement trees were needed and we would consult residents as necessary.  He invited members to come forward with other suggestions.

The meeting accepted the report.

6.         Treasurer’s report

Diane Bex presented the accounts for 2015-16, copies of which had been distributed at the meeting.

LERA’s finances were in a relatively stable state with income over expenditure producing a surplus for the year of £197.  The main income continued to be the membership subscriptions which had been held at £2.00.  In addition to the donation of £2,500 to St Andrew’s Hall for the new chairs, expenditure covered the usual administrative expenses with printing costs being slightly higher than previous years due to the extensive leafleting required in connection with the proposed development in Oak Tree Gardens.

Total assets stood at £7,456 in the current account with NatWest.  This included the monies previously held in the deposit account with Santander which had had to be closed as Santander had discontinued this type of account.  The monies were being held in the NatWest current account pending a suitable deposit account being identified.

The meeting approved the accounts.

Diane proposed that the membership subscription should remain at £2.00 for 2016-17. However, it may be necessary to increase the subscription in future years. The meeting approved the proposal.

7.  Election of Committee members

The following were re-elected/elected unanimously:

• Paul Bellinfantie (Oak Tree Gardens)
• John Crutchlow (Ridgeway Drive and Treewall Gardens)
• Sandro Gor (Lead on Street Cleaning issues)
• Margaret Hearn (Leamington Close and Milverton Place)
• Pam Lucken (Leamington Avenue)
• Theresa McWhirter (Oak Tree Gardens)
• Michelle Pike (Upper Portland Road)
• Clive Robeson (Website Manager)
• Peter Skipp (Safer Neighbourhood Panel representative)
• Peter Smith (Briary Gardens).

All the above, with the exception of Sandro Gor, Clive Robeson and Peter Skipp, also serve as Street Representatives (roads are indicated in brackets).

In addition, the following serve as Street Representatives:

• Betty Donoghue (Broadlands Road)
• Irene Lambell (Ridgeway Drive)
• Jackie Taylor (Ridgeway Drive)
• Laurel and Roy Wretham (New Street Hill).

8.  Appointment of Auditor

The meeting approved the re-appointment of Steve Mace as Honorary Auditor.  The meeting expressed their thanks for his continued support to LERA by a round of applause.

9.  Open Forum         

·      Police Update

Sergeant Phillips introduced PC Amy Barnes and PCSO Peter Scott who were the Dedicated Ward Officers for Plaistow and Sundridge and were the first line of contact for reporting non-crime issues (Telephone: 020 8721 2613   E-mail Plaistow.sundridge.SNT@met.police.uk).  He explained that as a result of the latest round of restructuring, he was responsible for all 5 Ward teams in the north east of the Borough and there was no longer a dedicated sergeant for Plaistow and Sundridge.  Amy and Peter were normally based at Bromley police station and were posted out to the Ward.  They were supported by other officers who are brought in from elsewhere as necessary to deal with incidents.  Recent examples included the nuisance caused by off-street motor bikes as well as burglaries.  The team attended the Safer Neighbourhood Panel and also held open meetings quarterly where local residents could raise their concerns.  The shop on Burnt Ash Parade was now effectively closed and the lease would be re-let in the coming months.  The team were keen to recruit more Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators for the Ward.

In response to a question about training for cyclists, Sergeant Phillips said that there wasn’t any training available across the board.  He confirmed that it was illegal for cyclists to ride on the pavement.

Stephen thanked Sergeant Phillips for his contribution and members expressed their appreciation with a round of applause.

·      London Borough of Bromley Update

Councillor Peter Morgan explained that Bromley had a population of 310,000 and 50% of the Borough was within the green belt.  The Council had an annual budget of £195 million (excluding education).  Due to budget cuts, £60 million had already been saved and further savings for the following 3 years of £8.9 million, £12.5 million and £25.8 million still had to be found.  Also income would be affected as under the new ‘equalisation’ arrangements for apportioning business rates, Bromley would not be able to retain all the rates collected and the Council aimed to increase the overall income generated from the business rates to compensate.

The Local Plan was being reviewed as Bromley had to provide enough land to build 641 new houses a year for the next 20 years.  The Town Centre Action Plan was progressing – the re-development of the site at Bromley South should be completed in mid-2017; there will be further development at the site at Bromley North; the site to the south of the Churchill theatre had attracted interest from major developers; and the old Town Hall will become a hotel with apartments and car parking.

Viable community management proposals had been received for running the library service.  The outcome should be determined within the next 6 months.  However, if none of the proposals result in savings, the library service won’t be outsourced.

In response to questions, Peter said:

• on what was being done about the amount of parking, that Bromley had a significant problem with commuter parking but this wasn’t necessarily easy to remedy; and

• on improving transport links, that the Council wanted the DLR to be extended to Bromley South but the costs of £850 million were prohibitive.  Proposals to extend the tramline from Beckenham were being considered.

Stephen thanked Peter for his contribution and members expressed their appreciation with a round of applause.

• Other issues

A member suggested that LERA should issue a welcome pack containing local information for new members.  It was considered that this need would be covered by the ‘Welcome’ letter for new residents and the website and Facebook which provided the opportunity to exchange information about local suppliers etc.

10.  Local history presentation

Andrew Martin gave an interesting presentation with slides of the history of Plaistow and Sundridge from the 19^th century to the present day.

 

Stephen closed the meeting by thanking Andrew for his presentation and the members and guests for their attendance. 

The meeting formally closed at 9 00 pm.

Following the meeting, LERA members and the guests mingled informally and enjoyed 25^th anniversary refreshments including a special cake.  Winners of the raffle were Betty Donoghue, Jan Arnold and Shirley Rogers.

60 members and guests attended.