Agenda for LERA Annual General meeting

Wednesday 30 April 2014 in St Andrew’s Church

The Church will be open from 7.00 pm and the meeting will start promptly at 7.30 pm

Agenda (Printed copies will be available at the meeting)

1.          Welcome and introduction by the Chairman

2.          Apologies for absence

3.          To receive and approve the minutes of the AGM held on 2 May 2013

4.          Matters arising

5.          Chairman’s report

6.          Treasurer’s report

7.          Election of Officers

-         Chair

-    Members of the Committee

8.           Appointment of the Auditor

9.         Open Forum

10.       Light refreshments will be served following the close of the meeting. Members will have the opportunity to talk to the committee members and any invited guests.

Reminder of LERA Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 30 April 2014 in St Andrew’s Church starting at 7.30pm

This will be Peter Skipp's last AGM as Chairman.  He has decided to stand down after serving for two terms and a total of six years.  He thanks all the members of the Committee and our Street representatives for their help and support and good company all of which he has really appreciated.

It is very important that we maintain a strong Residents’ Association to co-ordinate and represent the Links Estate’s interests in matters affecting our community and we really do need your support.  As always LERA needs new committee members – and a new Chairman! – so, if you would like to get involved, or know of anyone who would like to help even in a small way, please get in touch.

Breaking News - there is a candidate for the position of Chair so please make every effort to attend the meeting where you can meet the candidate and cast your votes for the various LERA officer posts. 

Copies of the Agenda and the Accounts will be available at the meeting.

We do hope you can come along to our AGM.  You may be assured of a very warm welcome even if you are not currently a member of LERA.  Light refreshments will be available after the meeting.

A particularly nasty scam

The National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) reports that emails are being sent out at random saying that the recipient's blood sample shows a low white blood count and may have cancer.

The email tells them to download and print out an attached file and visit their GP. The downloaded attachment may infect the computer and could then be used to steal data, such as passwords and usernames, or to take over the computer and use it to scam other people in your mailing lists.

Anyone who had recently taken a blood test would be likely to be deeply distressed. People who have not recently had a blood test could be puzzled and alarmed.

Blood test results are never sent out in this way and the email should be ignored. Never download any files from someone you don't know or who claim to be from an official body.

Even emails from someone you know may be the result of their computers being hacked. A recent message from an acquaintance claimed that he was on holiday in Kiev (of all places), had been mugged and needed some cash to help him get back to Bromley. Even ignoring the fact that Kiev was in the middle of violent protests at the time the language used did not ring true. If you suspect an email it is worth ringing the person up to ask if they sent it. Do NOT click the reply button as scammed emails will send your reply to the scammer.

A useful list of current scams can be seen at this website :- moneywise.co.uk/scams and rip-offs

You can also report scams or other frauds at :-  http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Plaistow and Sundridge Community Advisory Panel Web Page

Each of the London wards have an active Community Advisory Panel. The panel is made of people representing different areas of our community. 

On our panel we have the local vicar, our ward councillors, neighbourhood watch representatives and of course the police. We discuss all issues that affect community life and through the police and the councillors make sure our ward is a safe and pleasant place to live and work.

You can keep up with what's happening by regularly reading this page. If you have any comments or want answers please do use this page to communicate. You will get an answer.

At the moment there are before and after pictures showing the demolition of St Andrew's Church Hall. You can view the page at :- https://www.facebook.com/PandSCAP?ref=hl

Hopefully a member of the panel will be able to provide a little more information at the Annual General Meeting of LERA (Links Estate Residents' Association) to be held at St Andrew's Church on Wednesday 30th April at 7.30 pm.

Theft of contents and catalytic converters from cars in Ridgeway Drive

Late last night (17th /18th April) five cars were broken into and contents stolen. In at least one case the catalytic converter was also removed from beneath the car. The owner of one of the cars saw the thieves and called who arrived very quickly and were able to arrest two of the thieves.

The thieves got into a grey Volkswagen by drilling the lock as shown in the picture below. They also broke into another Volkswagen by the same method.

Click on the picture to enlarge it 

You should check your cars before trying to drive them away. Never leave anything of value or any bags or parcels which look that they may contain something of value. The thieves won't worry about damaging your car if they have a chance of stealing something.

Catalytic converters are very expensive to replace and a previous post made on 1st December gives more details about similar thefts. Click on this link to view it:- theft-of-catalytic-converter in December

PROPOSAL FOR REORGANISATION OF BROMLEY LIBRARY SERVICE -

As part of the budget setting process for 2014/15 Members put forward a number of
recommendations across a range of services in order to achieve the necessary budgetary
savings required to achieve a balanced budget for 2014/15. This included a proposal to
reduce the Library service budget by £300 000.

On 1st April a report was published and can be downloaded and viewed at the following link :-

Proposal for reorganisation of Bromley Library Service

The document is 144 pages long but you don't need to read all of it. The section of the report about the library service can be read  starting at page 42 but most useful entry about Burnt Ash Library is in the entry for Hayes on page 49. On page page 73 there are tables showing the proposed changes to opening hours for all branches. On the the next few pages two charts show how staffing will be cut.

The good news for Burnt Ash Library is that although it only opens for three days per week it accommodates a greater number of visitors than Hayes does over four days. As Burnt Ash Library is only open for 3 days per week and it is felt that any further reduction would not be viable. However it  should therefore be possible to open Hayes for the equivalent number of hours as Burnt Ash.

Although Burnt Ash Library seems to be safe for the moment we can all help by using it more than we do now to make sure it will remain open in the future.

LERA is looking for a new Chair of LERA

LERA is looking for a volunteer to be the new Chair

After 6 years Peter Skipp will be standing down as Chair of LERA at this year’s Annual General Meeting in April and we are looking for a volunteer to take over the role.

If you would like to get involved in local community issues affecting the Links Estate and are interested in becoming the Chair or you know a resident who would be, please contact Peter - Tel: 020 8857 0300. 
Peter will explain what the role involves and how the Committee operates.

LERA NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Wednesday 30 April 2014 in St Andrew’s Church starting at 7.30pm 

Once again we are holding our AGM in St Andrew’s Church.  The old St Andrew’s Hall has been demolished and we are pleased to hear that behind the security fence building work on the new Hall has started. You are very welcome to attend even if you are not currently a member of LERA.  Our AGM provides a good opportunity to talk about local issues, so come along and tell us what you like about living on the Links Estate and what you think could be done to make things better.

As reported last year we continue to have a strong working relationship with our Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) with members of our Committee and our Street Representatives linked by email to our local SNT office for regular bulletins on policing issues. Through membership of our local Safer Neighbourhood Panel we have been aware of the tremendous amount of work involved in the re-organisation of the Metropolitan Police following cuts imposed by the Mayor of London.  The new structure is now in place. 

We have maintained contacts with our local Councillors and Bromley Council officers.  We have represented LERA’s interests on the Bromley Council Road Safety Consultative Panel, which discusses road traffic management issues within the Borough.  We have had meetings about street cleaning and also arranged for fly-tipped rubbish to be removed.

This will be my last AGM as Chairman.  I have decided to stand down after serving for two terms and a total of six years.  I would like to thank all the members of the Committee and our Street representatives for their help and support and good company all of which I have really appreciated.

It is very important that we maintain a strong Residents’ Association to co-ordinate and represent the Links Estate’s interests in matters affecting our community and we really do need your support.  As always LERA needs new committee members – and a new Chairman! – so, if you would like to get involved, or know of anyone who would like to help even in a small way, please get in touch.

Copies of the Agenda and the Accounts will be available at the meeting.  Please let me know if you would like a copy in advance. I do hope you can come along to our AGM.  You may be assured of a very warm welcome.  Light refreshments will be available after the meeting.

Peter Skipp, Chairman

81 New Street Hill, Bromley, BR1 5BA

Tel: 020 8857 0300 email: skipphouse@ntlworld.com