Community Garden

Street drinkers, have in recent years used this rather neglected corner of the Broadgreen Centre as a drinking haunt.

Unfortunately,as can be seen from these two pictures, they failed to see the need to dispose of their rubbish responsibly.


















The area has even been used as a car park for the Children’s Centre. Pictured Below



Which is one of the reasons some residents thought that the removal of the bushes, bench and fence by Council workmen, on the 13th of October, was in fact for a new car park. Below.



Thankfully, it turned out that the work was simply the beginning of the promised Community Garden, the very last leg of the Streets For Living Project. Unfortunately, the Council failed to inform the residents that they were going to be making a start on it!
Initial works, 15 October 2008 below:

BROADLY SPEAKING OCTOBER 2008

Having seen major alterations to both Gladstone and Salisbury Streets through the Streets For Living project, the final stage of work started a few weeks back. This came as a bit of a surprise to some residents, who thought the removal of old bushes and the digging up of a neglected corner of the Broadgreen Centre signalled the beginnings of a new car park, upon land designated for a garden. After some frantic phone calls fears were allayed when it was discovered that it was in fact being transformed into the promised community garden. When completed the idea will not only be to give residents a pleasant area to relax and socialise, but also to become an ongoing gardening project for the whole of the Broadgreen community to be involved in.
Police recently spent 2 consecutive nights carrying out high visibility operations to clamp down on prostitutes and kerb crawlers who still feel it is acceptable to carry out their ‘business’ on certain roads in the Broadgreen Area. The impact that prostitution and kerb crawling has on the community is devastating and the appointment of a dedicated vice officer is a very welcome move.
Police also recently closed down a property in the area, which had constantly been troubled with drug activity and anti social behaviour. The house is due to be renovated by the landlord, so a close eye will be kept on this house to make sure it is not used again for these purposes before the work is undertaken.
Reports to the Community Council (BSACC) concerning dumped rubbish have slowed a little recently. A couple of months ago the BSACC organised a residents ‘clean up’ day and since then, although pockets of fly tipping are still occurring, it does not appear to be as bad.
Skeetz youth club has now re-opened having been closed for six weeks by the Youth Service. Skeetz opens on a Wednesday evening 6.45pm – 9.15 pm at the Broadgreen centre – all young people between the ages of 13 and 19 are welcome to come along.

The next monthly residents meetings are on 5th November 2008 and 3rd December at 7.30 pm in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre. There is no charge to attend meetings, all residents in the Broadgreen area are automatic members and are invited to come along.

Regeneration at Union Square.

Way back in February 2005 the old Post Office building in Merton Street (which closed in October 2002) was demolished and the Adver hailed it as the start of regeneration in the town centre: HERE and believe it or not, the Police Station and bus garage hit the ground between January and April 2006, now over two and a half years ago.







Since then all we have seen is further demolition taking place, with Davis House being raised to the ground back in February.

No doubt we can look forward to the bus station, Carlton car park and the Health Centre going the same way in the not too distant future, as well. Unfortunately, anybody who may be hoping to see a vast array of new buildings quickly rising from the ashes on this site may be a little disappointed because if you read the New Swindon Company Chief Executive Peter James October update on his blog HERE you will see that he writes about Union Square as a:
very large scheme and will not be fully completed for at least 10 years as it will be built on a phased basis dependant on overall demand.

This regeneration lark certainly isn’t a quick operation is it!

Let’s hope when the new bricks are laid (or more likely concrete poured) it is of better quality/design and last far longer than the attempts to regenerate this area have been in the past. After all Davis House, the bus station and the car park, none of which were particularly inspiring in design, were only put up in the 1980’s and have not had a very long shelf life have they!

Wouldn’t it be nice if the now boarded up areas mentioned above were at least opened up and grassed over, albeit temporarily?
This is something a resident of Central Swindon posted some months back on the Talkswindon Forum to Councillor Phil Young whose responsibilities as a Cabinet Member include regeneration. Councillor Young said at the time it was something he was looking into, but it doesn’t seem to have moved on so far. HERE

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 3rd SEPTEMBER 2008

PRESENT: Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary Kevin Leakey, Minute Secretary John Phillips, Maria Carchedi, John and Vi Clark, Stella Edwards, John and Pam Freegard, Tim French, Olive Hitchcock, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Rebecca McIntosh, Sue Osbaldstone, Val Purvis, Peter Thelwall, Ros Timlin.

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor, Councillor Derique Montaut

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Chair person Karen Leakey, Celia Cotton, Karen Coulthard, Kath Jones, Cluniford and Evelyn Mason, Mike and Lindsay Ponting, Derek and Madge Sutton.

CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES – 6th August 2008 meeting.
These Minutes were confirmed and signed a true record. Proposed John Phillips and seconded by Val Purvis.

Because of the absence through illness of Chair Karen Leakey, Richard Coates acted as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE AUGUST MINUTES: Broadgreen Breakfast Club (BBC) and the Drugs and Homeless Initiative (DHI). There is a continuing unease with regards to the associated problems with the BBC, i.e. using the alleyways and park as a toilet and drinking area, rowdy and intimidating behaviour from groups of drunks, noise very early in the morning and problems with needles and other drug paraphernalia. The Vice Chair, Richard, relayed to the meeting that he had recently had to retrieve some used needles from his front hedge and was very thankful to the anonymous person who left a note at his home informing him of this problem and felt that problems like this were all part of the escalating problems.
Councillor Montaut felt that the dumped needles could be dealt with by DHI as they had offered this at the last meeting; they also made it clear that they would work from St. Luke’s for 6 months and in exchange they would sweep the area and clean up needles etc and we would see the anti social behaviour drop. He was also certain that DHI needed planning permission to operate from St. Luke’s and it should be an enforcement issue, although he hadn’t spoken to planning officers about it and now DHI are giving out methadone from St. Luke’s church. Planning rejected DHI’s Maxwell Street office and they have now gone to appeal. They are not allowed to operate from there, but residents in that area have told the councillor that they are continuing to do so, and were also using it as a drugs drop in unit, although DHI deny this. Finally, Councillor Montaut said DHI should not be based in a residential area and asked the question ‘Where should they be located’?
It was pointed out that Swindon Borough Council (SBC) were not consistent on their position concerning the BBC, as last year they still financed it through the Mayors Charities, but had previously stopped the BBC from operating out of the Broadgreen Centre because of the associated anti-social behaviour and the extra work put upon staff, who had to work very hard to make things useable for subsequent centre users.
With regards to DHI, they moved into the area covertly with no consultations with residents and although they said that they were only going to be there until October, as far as St. Luke’s were concerned the original letting until October was in fact an open ended contract
According to the Adver (2nd September 2008), DHI are working with Swindon and Wiltshire Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service (SWADS) who are based in Milton Road, but they (DHI) seem to be keeping a very low media profile which in 2008 is not acceptable, what people want is openness and not people conducting their business covertly.

A number of issues were identified from the discussions and a decision had to be made as what we wanted to achieve. Do we want DHI and the BBC in the area and are we and other residents happy for them to operate from this area?

Two votes were put to the meeting asking by a show of hands:

1) ‘Are we for or against DHI’s work at St Luke’s continuing long term’?
Residents voted unanimously against DHI continuing to work long term in the area.

2) ‘Would the meeting agree for the views of residents concerning DHI and the BBC to be put to the church?
Residents voted unanimously in favour of this action being taken.

The secretary or Chair will contact the Parochial Church Council (PCC) to arrange a meeting.


COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT: None.

GUEST SPEAKER: There were no guest speakers this month.


CORRESPONDENCE:

PC O’Sullivan has contacted us to say that the Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) signs have been manufactured and are ready to be installed in the locations identified by the police.

Ishmael Stevens sent an email keeping us up to date with his time in the Falklands.

Overgrown vegetation at the back of Shrivenham Rd. in the County Ground - reported.

PLANNING APPLICATIONS
S/08/1549 - 127 County Road - Change of Use of 1no. dwelling into 2 no. flats - Application Pending Consideration
S/08/1493 - 108 County Road - Conversion of 1 no. dwelling into 3 no. residential units and provision of single storey rear extension.- Application Pending Consideration
S/ADV/08/1169 - 57 County Road - Display of Advertising Board (Retrospective). .- Application Pending Consideration
0S/08/1258 - 128 County Road - Erection of external fire escape stairs – Application Refused
S/07/0298 - Land At Aylesbury Street - Erection of 20 no. dwellings and associated parking and landscaping. - Application Granted.

TREASURERS REPORT. 01 August to 31 August 2008:

Note, £2000 of balance is being held pending the Broadgreen Trust being reinstated.

Acceptance of Treasures report proposed by Pam Freegard and seconded by John Phillips.

The secretary was requested to contact via letter, Father Leslie and other Trustees of the Broad Street Community Trust in the strongest possible terms, so as to ascertain the current position of the Trust and the monies held by it. The Charities Commission is also to be sent a copy.



SHRIVENHAM ROAD REPORT:

Youngsters playing football on the County ground extension are leaving litter after they have finished playing, this could be because there are no litterbins provided. There have also been tree branches broken off, bottle smashed and other anti social behaviour happening, especially by the warm up area. It was felt that if there were bins provided they would probably be used.
Weeds and plants are still overgrowing at the back of Shrivenham Road in the County Ground, and the Blackberry bushes are still overgrowing at the rear of Stratton Bank. Councillor Montaut has contacted the department responsible for this, an officer was sent out to look at it, but couldn’t really see what the problem was, as it was looking better than it did in the past.
Cars and lorries are still driving down Shrivenham Road believing it is a through road, this is made worse with the lorries that do this because they cannot turn around and have to reverse all the way back to the Magic Roundabout, causing a danger.
Peter Thelwall and Maria Carchedi who live either side of the cycle track at the far end of Shrivenham Road attended the meeting on the recommendation of the PCSO’s in the hope something could be done with problems that have steadily increased over the last ten years. Although many letters have been written to Councillors and the Council, apart from removing graffiti nothing else has been done. Despite making more and more security arrangements, the vandalism, cars being scratched and break-ins have continued to theirs and other neighbours houses and property, and the perpetrators of these crimes have generally used the cycle track to make their escape on bikes, in the direction of Drakes Way. This is now making their life intolerable and

because these problems started when the cycle track was opened, they would like to see the cycle track closed, in the hope that it might stop these problems.
There was some surprise that the PCSO’s had directed Peter and Maria to the BSACC as it would appear to be a police problem, but never the less, a number of suggestions were made, including starting a neighbourhood watch scheme and seeing if security packs allowing them to security mark property could be given out. It was agreed that the issue would be taken further up the chain to Beat Manager Paul Crouch and also taken to the Tasking Group. Cllr. Montaut said he would talk to the council engineers to see if anything could be done to improve security make the cycle track safer for residents, rather than seeking its closure.



CHAIR REPORT: A written report was relayed to the meeting
· Hatts Coaches: Having been contacted again, are they now picking up passengers from the County Ground car park?
A resounding answer came back – no! The situation was much worse at one time; with the coaches parking in the evenings for up to an hour, not only in County Road but also Manchester Road, a driver even physically and verbally threatened Richard, because he was taking photos of the coach. Now the coaches are parking for 5 to 10 minutes, which is not an undue amount of time, but the passengers are still waiting for 15 to 20 minutes before hand, which is intrusive for residents because of the noise and litter generated. Richard was also concerned that the coaches, which are forcing scheduled buses to wait behind each other to use the bus stop, causing tailbacks and problems for other road users and residents are interfering with scheduled bus services.
The secretary will write to Thamesdown Transport to find out if Hatts Coaches are causing problems to their scheduled services and if they are allowed to use the bus stops.

· Swindon Advertiser: There was good news with a positive report about Manchester Road and Karen wished to thank all involved but there was some bad news following a report by Emily Walker in the 2nd Sept. edition. Sadly she once again labelled the Broadgreen as a ‘red light area’. We were assured over a year ago that this description would no longer be used and despite being invited to meet with us to discuss the issue, Ms. Walker has so far been declined the offer. Karen will be writing a strong letter of protest to the Adver.

· Neighbourhood Renewal Task Group: This has recently been reformed and the Broadgreen Area is part of it. One issue that has recently come up is some major concerns from many community groups about the new council document ‘Connecting People, Connecting Places’. The idea behind it is for communities and Councillors to be more empowered within their own areas. However there is a growing feeling that this is a ‘top down’ document that will have the opposite effect, actually reducing resident’s power and giving it to Councillors instead. The tasking group are writing to Gavin Jones, Rod Bluh and Neighbourhood Renewal Area Councillors asking for a full consultation on the proposals, before it goes any further.

· Karen has been looking at lots of funding opportunities and will hopefully be coming to next months meeting with lots of forms to complete!

YOUTH REPORT:
Skeetz is now closed for the next 6 weeks due to Ramadan and holidays; it is of some concern as to why it will be shut for so long.
There is a follow up meeting at Drove School on the 11th Sept. concerning the youth provision they want to provide as part of their cohesion plans they will also be forming an interim steering committee. We are concerned that if this youth club is successful, we will lose Skeetz, which operates from the Broadgreen Centre.
Community Sports Coach, Doug Imrie and the Community Council have put in a funding bid for a ‘Kick It Out’ grant for £1000, to encourage the young people of Broadgreen to be involved in sports.
Fran Pound from the Lifestyle Unit also has a funding pot of money for grants between £500 and £2000, so we will be applying for some of it!



HISTORY PROJECT REPORT:
Community Radio 105.5 want to start a new programme called ‘Swindon Voices’ where they will interview local residents about their experiences and views on Swindon, this could marry up with the history project as we want to record the oral history of this area and they have the recording equipment. Informal chats could be held before the monthly BSACC meetings and recorded for both the radio station, if people give their permission, and also for our archive.
This year, a class at Drove School are looking at the history of the road names in Broadgreen.
At the next Saturday Community Plan meeting, people will be able to bring along their history bits and documents so they can be scanned onto a computer for archiving.


NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: No report.


WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT. COUNCILLOR MONTAUT:
With the signing of £215 million pounds worth of investment into the town centre we need to raise issues with councillors, ask for a bigger pot of money and start putting on the agenda things that can make this area better and not let the New Swindon Co. or SBC take the lead, it is our area and it is up to us to say what is important. One thing Cllr. Montaut has been discussing with SBC Officers is public art for this area, it was pointed out that there were far more important issues to be considered before this, extending the Streets For Living area or CCTV for example.
Having the large amount of potholes in Broad St. has been something Cllr. Montaut has made an effort in and he is hoping to get the long-term programme for road resurfacing. Claims for injury due to potholes cost councils more money nationally than repairing them.
People in this area live well together but there has been an increase in tensions because some groups have wanted extra privileges, causing some heated problems with parking. There is one over riding factor here, and that is no one can have any special privileges Councillors have tried to help alleviate the problems with the Mosque parking but things are no better. It was brought to Cllr. Montaut’s attention that because of Ramadan, people visiting the Mosques for prayers in the evenings were parking on pavements and double yellow lines until very late in the evening.
Cllr. Montaut told the meeting that Councillors and residents needed to continue to push for this to be sorted out, as there can be only one community, but changes will only come in small bites. Having talked to a Director on this issue, a communication will be going out to all mosques and churches in the area relaying the parking rules and regulations, and pointing out that they will be enforced.


STREET WATCH REPORT: No report.


ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
· The hedge along the Gladstone St. side of the Broadgreen Centre has still not been cut back.
· Drinking is still continuing in the back alleys, particularly at the rear of Manchester Road. Cllr. Montaut said that the Police had made several raids on premises where alcohol has been found. One racial group in particular had a problem with drinking and the Council has taken the issue directly with the people concerned and the Landlord, who has tried to wriggle out of it. It has also been discussed with their community leaders who are aware of the problems and are trying to sort it out as it is not the way they want their community to operate; they have however disassociated themselves from the drinkers.
· With the extended residents parking hours now in effect, can the council be asked to issue extra visitor permits?
· People are now driving through the Streets For Living roads faster than the 20mph speed limit.
· Gully drain covers are being stolen form the alleyways, but the council are replacing them quickly.
· The next Community Plan meeting will be on 30th September 10 to midday.

Meeting closed at 9.35 pm. Date of next meeting: Wednesday 1 October 2008

Report on the Progress of the Broadgreen Community Plan

With thanks to Community Planner Holly Huber for this report.

On Saturday 27th September, Community Plan members met to look at Health and Well-being, both physical and mental, and why this is important for ourselves and the communities we live in. We had two guest speakers: Ann Mooney from SUNS, a charity promoting the rights and interests of people suffering from mental health illnesses. We also welcomed Cheryl Heynes from Lifestyles, (part-funded by the Primary [Health] Care Trust), who focus on increasing adult participation in activity or 'exercise', up to the recommended target of 30 minutes, 5 times a week.

They were both inspiring speakers. Those who were there said that they felt they now understand far more about mental health, (which can affect 1 in 6 adults at some point in their lives), and the knock-on effects that it can have on the lives of those around them. As well as being the Director of a charity, Ann Mooney is the first mental health patient in the UK to become the Chairwoman of a Mental Health Trust. This is by any measure an achievement, but even more remarkable for someone who very openly and honestly talks about her own situation: Ann has brain-damage, takes up to 50 pills a day, and still suffers from mental ill-health and a physical disability. The route to Ann's successful career was through becoming a volunteer, and Ann now has a very important - and paid - job which she loves.

Cheryl Heyne showed us all how easy, fun and social it can be to get involved in physical activities, whether this be walking, dancing, or swimming, or even just playing with a ball while sitting on your sofa watching TV! Any form of movement that gets you a little short of breath and a bit warmer, helps to build up strength, flexibility, mobility. Better health keeps you well in mind and body, and helps to prevent illness. You can also do 10 minutes of activity at a time, if that suits you better.

The aim of the day was to show how we all in our communities can use the Broadgreen Plan to promote better health, prevent ill-health, or reduce the inequalites in health experienced by people living in different areas. We can do this in two main ways. Firstly we can improve the environment and the factors which affect our health from outside. Secondly, we can take a lead in promoting good health for ourselves by ourselves by trying to meet the eating “five fruit & vegetables a day“ target, and taking some gentle form of exercise to built up our health to prevent, manage or reduce the impact of illnesses and conditions. Both of these aims are affected by the quality of environment around us, which is why the Plan can help support better health in Broadgreen.

The Community Plan Partnership meets again on the 15th October 2008 here, in the lounge at 6.30pm-7.30pm. All those who are interested in making a positive contribution to improving the area, and building up the strength of this community to see these changes through, or would just like to know a bit more about how they might be able to help will be most welcome. No one will be asked to do anything they don't feel comfortable with, and there are many different ways you can be part of the plan's success. We will start by forming small groups to tackle important issues like crime, traffic, litter, open space, local skills, and better activites or facilities for young people. Please join us if you want to be part of making a real difference to this area.

The next Community Plan Saturday event will be on Saturday 25th October from 10 -1pm, in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre, when we will be looking at the local economy of Broadgreen. Jobs, training, skills, and opportunities affect the earnings of people living in this community. Improving the chances and income of people would alter the reputation of Broadgreen, begin to chip away at some of the discrimination people living in this area might suffer from those outside it. Beliefs about the area affects market 'confidence', which IN TURN can affect house prices, local shops and services, life chances, jobs and earnings, among other things. We will also be doing an exercise called "The Yellow Brick Road" on how to set up a Community Shop/ Cafe/ IT point, which will be enjoyable, and your ideas are important, and will be valued.

So that's Wednesday 15th October 6.30-7.30pm for the Community plan group meeting and Saturday 25th October 10-1pm for the Improve your Local Economy event. I hope you can join us. If you want more information please call Holly Huber on 01793 466415.