PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary Kevin Leakey, Stella Edwards, John and Pam Freegard, Tim French, Brian Jones, Kath Jones, Rebecca McIntosh, Derek Sutton, Ros Timlin.
ALSO PRESENT: PC Sophia McIntyre Vice Officer, John Taylor, Councillor Derique Montaut, and Nazma Ramruttun BOND representative.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Minute Secretary John Phillips, John Banville, John and Vi Clark, Celia Cotton, Karen Coulthard, Kath Cridland, Elizabeth Grady, Olive Hitchcock, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Cluniford and Evelyn Mason, Pam Montgomery, Sue Osbaldstone, Mike and Lindsay Ponting, Val Purvis, Madge Sutton. PC Paul Crouch, PCSO’s Stuart Bird and Rees Turner.
CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES – 3rd December 2008 meeting.
These Minutes were confirmed and signed a true record. Proposed Pam Freegard and seconded by Stella Edwards.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE DECEMBER MINUTES: PC McIntyre said that the reason our PCSO’s did not always attend our monthly meetings, was because they were often working day shifts and therefore could not attend an evening meeting.
Apologies were given to Derek Sutton who appeared on the minutes as present at the December meeting and also as absent. Derek was not at the meeting but had given his apologies.
The meeting between Karen, Richard and the Borough Solicitor Stephen Taylor concerning planning issues resulted in the problem being handed over to the Police Fraud Dept. Richard had not heard anything, but it was probably low priority. PC McIntyre said if we did not hear back soon, then let her or PC Crouch know and they would find out what was happening.
COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT:
· Although there was no representation from our Community Police Team as they were working a day shift, Vice Liaison Officer PC Sophia McIntyre kindly offered to take back any community problems to the BG Police Team.
· Operation Dobbin, which is concerned with prostitution in Swindon, continued with a covert operation on the 9 and 10 December 2008, carried out by Officers in plain clothes. The number plate recognition and drugs teams were also involved. A number of prostitutes were arrested and kerb crawlers issued with Anti Social Behaviour Contracts. There have also been a lot of positive results concerning traffic in the area with 3 vehicles seized, this could have been because the driver had no insurance and if that was the case the vehicle would have been immediately seized and held until such time as the driver produced valid insurance to drive it. Letters have been issued to vehicle owners seen driving around the area 3 times in a short space of time, they were warned that the Police suspected they were kerb crawling, it was not acceptable, would not be tolerated and people will be named and shamed if taken to court and convicted etc. To obtain a conviction lots of evidence needs to be gathered.
· With regards to communication with Residents and the Press to let them know how Op. Dobbin is progressing, a communication strategy was now being formed.
· A questionnaire was also being devised concerning prostitution problems, which will be put out to the Community. This will take the form of a touch screen questionnaire of around 10 questions and will be placed in an area that most residents are able to access it. People answering the questions will be able to leave their contact details if they want to be contacted and discuss things further, or remain anonymous if they wish to do so.
· There will be lots of high visibility patrols during January and February, as well as covert operations right through until June. Since Christmas there has been a slight increase in the prostitutes in the area, this was probably due to Xmas debts! But will be robustly tackled.
A couple of questions were then asked:
· Can the prostitutes that are on drugs not be moved away from Swindon for 3 months rehabilitation, so they are completely away from the chaotic life they lead and people they mix with?
· This was happening, although in one recent example a girl under 18 years old was moved up north to
· rehabilitate and through hard work by drugs workers she detoxed herself, but after her 3 months there, she made the decision to leave and was re-housed away from Swindon. Unfortunately she was now back in Swindon and associating with the same people as she was before she went away.
· Last month PC McIntyre was going to visit a kerb crawler’s rehabilitation course, how did it go?
A day was spent in Bristol, where 10 men who had been caught and cautioned for kerb crawling were undertaking the course, they all had different reasons why they had been kerb crawling. It was extremely effective and the men had to face up to what they had done and the possible consequences by seeing pictures of prostitutes for example with bleeding mouths and ulcers and being told about the diseases and illnesses that effect drug addicts and prostitutes and how they could pass them on to their partners and children. Although most of the men were aware that prostitutes were involved with drugs, they didn’t really know much about it and most were shocked about the diseases they could be carrying and the effects it could have on their own families.
They also had to role-play by pretending to be the closest female in their life, which could be their wife, partner, mother, sister etc. and how that female might feel if they found out what they had been doing.
It was hoped that a course might be started in Wiltshire later this year, although help may be needed as to where it may be located.
One of the residents informed the Police that a prostitute had recently approached him at 1.30 in the afternoon. PC McIntyre said those sort of things needed to be reported to her, the Police Team or Karen so intelligence could be collated. The Police should have a direct phone number later this week, which will be connected to an answer phone when no one is there. It is important to give as best a description of the prostitute as possible because it is likely that the Police will know who is being described.
A number of community issues were then put to PC McIntyre:
· There are still problems with the breakfast and luncheon clubs being held at St. Luke’s, it had been witnessed on numerous occasions that, although the area was a no drinking zone and alcohol was banned from being taken into St. Luke’s, which the Breakfast club was aware of, drinkers using these facilities were simply leaving their cans outside and collecting them after they had had their food. Noisy behaviour was also continuing, and so was spitting on the pavement along with cigarette ends and empty beer cans being discarded on to the pavement and over the new gate at St. Luke’s. It was felt that there should be a notice on the door of the hall reminding ‘clients’ that it is an alcohol free zone.
· Cycling on the pavement and Whale Bridge underpass, as well as cycling at night without lights was a continuing problem. It was suggested that ‘no cycling on the pavement’ signs could be put up. It would then at least give people the opportunity to point out to the offenders that they were breaking the law. Councillor Montaut was asked if this was something the Council could do? He felt that residents often saw signs as a way of resolving issues, the Council could be approached on this issue, but there was no clear evidence to show that signs deter people and the Councillor was not convinced that it would, but did suggest taking it forward to the next Tasking Meeting for discussion with people who may have solutions to this problem. If people still wanted signs then he would pursue the matter.
· At the Corporation Street end of Broad Street, cars were being parked on the pavement, causing an obstruction to people with prams and in wheelchairs.
· People are having problems crossing Broad Street because of speeding traffic and not being able to see properly due to parked cars. At one time there was going to be a proper crossing. It was pointed out that at one time some of the Streets for Living project ‘gateways’ were going to be moved into Broad Street, which would reduce the speed of traffic, but it never happened. John Taylor said the ‘gateways’ were still a live subject. The Chair pointed out that things like this could be put in to the Community Plan, which is why it’s very important that residents participate. If the residents don’t take the lead and say what they want, then other people will. The community needs to take this forward.
· Back alleys and the curtilage in front of garages were still being used as toilets. Despite using his garage to park his car, one resident had been told on more than one occasion to put a fence across his property to stop it being used as a toilet!
· There was a big noisy argument in Broad Street recently between two prostitutes who were using very bad language; during the argument, one of them also threw an orange recycling box at a resident’s window. The Police were called and attended the incident.
· PC McIntyre assured the meeting that these issues would be passed on to the Broadgreen Police Team and also the cycling problems to the Town Centre Police Team.
GUEST SPEAKER: None this month
CORRESPONDENCE: Letter received from Steve Harcourt, Director of Environment and Street Scene at SBC, to inform the BSACC that he is taking early retirement from the Council. He said “I have enjoyed working with you and your colleagues on the Broad Street Community Council over the last few years and wish you all the best for the future”.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS:
S/08/2011 - 123 Manchester Road - Change of use from Shop (Class A1) to Restaurant/Takeaway (Class A3/A5) and erection of a flue - Application Refused
S/08/2109 - 133 to 134 Manchester Road (Cash and Carry) - Change of use from Residential to Retail (Class A1) - Application Refused
With regards to the 133-134 Manchester Road application refusal, Councillor Montaut said that he had raised the problems of anti-social behaviour at the property and residents’ objections with planning officers and also that other sections of this community had expressed concerns and objections to the application. Despite the actual preferred usage as continued use of the flat as a private club, the application was very specific to conversion into retail usage, and as such that was all that the Planning Department could look at.
Discussions had taken place between the applicant and Planning Department and Councillor Montaut had suggested that a way to resolve this might be to curtail the hours of operation, the officers agreed but also felt that the disabled access was not adequate and on the grounds of this, the application was refused. If the access problem is resolved then a new application could be applied for, at which point the operating hours could be looked at.
Enforcement had told the people at the ‘club’ that they could not continue to operate this and if they did then the matter would have to be taken further.
The Planning Dept. will be invited to a future meeting to give them the opportunity to explain some of the difficulties within planning laws.
TREASURERS REPORT: There will shortly be a quarterly room hire charge of £42 to pay.
Note, £2000 is being held pending the reinstatement of the Broadgreen Trust. £300 is
Cohesion Event monies and £600 is bottle bank monies.
Acceptance of Treasures report proposed by Derek Sutton and seconded by John Freegard.
CHAIR REPORT:
· Karen attended the New Swindon Companies forum on the 10th December and also visited the Parks Community Shop on the 13th. The shop was very impressive and was something that we had thought would be a good idea for the Broadgreen Area for a long time now. She has also met with Fran Pound from the Lifestyle Centre and they discussed the possibility of holding Tai-Chi sessions, training so we could do our own walks with groups of residents, and learning how to do armchair exercises.
· Karen and Kevin were both on community radio for an hour last week (Swindon105.5) thanks to John Taylor’s ‘Swindon Voices’, Shirley Ludford offered free radio training for residents and Karen is also going to talk to the young people that attend Skeetz to see if some of them might be interested. The BSACC would pay for the room hire and it would be organised through John.
· A part of the Adver website is given over to different neighbourhood news, we now have a Broadgreen page and Karen would like to put together a small team that could gather Broadgreen news and publish it online. Ros said she was interested and one of the young people from Skeetz had also shown an interest.
· With regards to the Community Plan, we really need a project manager for this, rather than it being led by the Council and funding is actively being sought. A reminder to all who agreed to be on the Broadgreen Community Plan Steering Committee, (Stella Edwards, Tim French, Karen Leakey, Kevin Leakey, Kay Malko, Peter Newson, John Phillips, Derek Sutton, John Taylor, Ros Timlin) the next committee meeting will be on the 28th January between 6.30 and 7.30 pm in the Lounge at the Broadgreen Centre.
· A meeting is to be held on 30th January with Mark Feeney concerning our community grant for 2007/8.
· One resident in Salisbury Street has suggested that it might be a good idea to see if bird tables could be put up at the Broadgreen Centre, they would have to be cat proof though! We will make enquiries with the Council.
· The Swindon Federation of Community Organisations (SFCO) of which the BSACC is a member and the Chair is a Committee Member and Trustee, are going to be organising a meeting for Swindon residents interested in the Councils ‘Connecting People Connecting Places’ document.
· Thank you letters and gifts were given to the caretakers at the Broadgreen Centre and Wendy the street cleaner; in appreciation for the hard work they have done and help they have given over the past year. Derek Sutton wanted it to be noted that Wendy does a marvellous job despite suffering with some health issues and he is very proud that we have her here, working as hard as she does to keep the area clean and tidy; this was fully backed up by the meeting.
· Last year was a hard one for the BSACC a lot of time was spent dealing with major problems in the area and whilst nitty gritty problems would continue to be tackled, it would be the aim this coming year to further expand our engagement with the Broadgreen Community.
YOUTH REPORT: None.
HISTORY PROJECT REPORT:
· John thanked Karen and Kevin for their recent contribution to ‘Swindon Voices’ on Community Radio 105.5 and said that it is not only on at 4pm every Tuesday, but it will now also be repeated on a Sunday morning at 9 am. So far 11 interviews have been aired and this will be developed throughout 2009, building up an oral history of peoples experiences and history of the area.
· Drove School’s year 5 students have started their history of Broadgreen street names and it may be expanded to, for example, to St. Josephs where older students may be able to research it to a greater depth, John will approach them shortly.
· It is hoped that a small exhibition of old photo’s and documents etc that have been collected so far, will take place at the end of January or February. Councillor Montaut said it might also be possible to put on a small display in the foyer at the Civic Offices.
· Kevin thanked Ros for the loan of her house documents that have now been copied to disk and asked if anybody else had any photo’s, documents, press cuttings or Broadgreen history then please bring them along to a future meeting because we now have the facilities to scan them into a computer.
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: The installation of 6 Neighbourhood Watch signs at the south end of Salisbury and Graham Streets by the Council have now been completed. It was hoped that other residents might also start their own schemes.
WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT:
· Appeal to planning application by DHI in Maxwell Street. Despite objections by residents and submissions made by Ward Members, the objections failed and the appeal was upheld. The residents are very angry and feel the Council has ignored them and they want the decision challenged in the High Court.
· ‘Connecting People Connecting Places’ (CP2) the Directors to each area will soon be appointed but how it will operate is uncertain. Councillor Montaut is on the appointments panel and he will be looking very closely at the Directors that are going to be appointed to this area. How CP2 will operate has not yet been debated but it might be easier dealing with problems having only one head, although he was not totally convinced that there are the resources and the time to do it.
· Parking has been raised in the media about parking enforcement and the Mosque. It was probably picked up through minutes of these meetings and will hit the press in the next few days.
· There was a wider issue that concerned the Councillor, the BSACC described 2008 as a hard year but he described it as a successful year. The Chair said that what was meant by ‘hard year’ was the fact that we dealt with a lot of the hard problems that haven’t been dealt with before, achieved by getting the right people around the table. Now those people who can help with the bigger issues are at the table, we can look to engage closer with even more people in the community. In reply, Councillor Montaut told the meeting – “What you have got to recognise is it’s been a hard year, there’s been conflicts which are inevitable with people coming from different areas but the end result is there is a general recognition that this is the area that needs to be looked at as a model for other areas and when this is being said then we must be doing something right”. And also that he had “expressed the views by some community leaders because of the wide diversity of positions, that sometimes heads have got to be knocked together to make progress forward, in the interests of this community you cannot have personalities, cannot have conflict and part of the reason is if you are going to make this a good place to live, work and play in, in the end, and you are all doing some sterling work in your own area, then people like myself have got to facilitate it, but it’s very much you driving it through that’s making the successes in this area and we don’t want to stifle that enthusiasm in any way”.
· There have been a series of high-level Police meetings (GOLD meetings) over the last year that both Cllr. Montaut and the Chair have attended; which has led the councillor to believe that many of the problems, not necessarily in this area (Broadgreen) but outside of it, all stem from the Broadgreen area. There are some underlying problems in this area and to tackle this, at a GOLD meeting this week, the Police said they were going to set up community engagement with community leaders and SBC, before something serious happened. Cllr. Montaut said he was having problems defining who the leaders were within this community as often when he thought they had been identified they were no longer leaders or there had been divisions within communities. We could ignore these issues as problems that were happening, but there were major problems happening, sometimes out of this area, for example the hammer attack. Some of the major problems that were taking place outside this area only became known about because of information fed back from within this community (Broadgreen). He didn’t want to see any major incidents in this area and would like to see people contributing to stop this from happening; we all have a part to play in this.
The Chair pointed out that at a GOLD meeting last year she had suggested that a leaders type meeting was needed, where all could get around the table and it had still not happened and that all leaders had been invited to the Community Council meetings. With regards to the GOLD meeting this week when only 2 people turned up, including Councillor Montaut, neither the Chair nor Nazma (Asian Women Assoc) had been invited to attend. The councillor said he didn’t see all sections of the community sitting here and didn’t often see them coming and that’s not because there hadn’t been an attempt. The Chair said that as this was a residents association and many of the leaders did not live in this area, they might feel it was not appropriate for them. Invitations had been extended to people from the Mosque for example, and they didn’t seem to want to engage by coming to the meetings.
Cllr. Montaut was then asked exactly what the problems were that allegedly stemmed from this area? He didn’t want to be too specific, but said there were a wide range of issues. It was then put to him, that on one hand we (residents) needed to be aware and involved, but how could we if we were not made aware of the problems in the first place. It was felt more detailed information was needed to enable people to work with him on this. Cllr. Montaut said that he couldn’t be more specific because he had to sign indemnity forms to secrecy for the GOLD meetings because of the sensitivity of the issues and for when things go through the legal process. He asked that we take his word that when these incidents had taken place and community leaders called around the table, all the details were presented to them and fully examined and those major issues with a criminal aspect that had taken place outside of the Broadgreen Area, have their roots in this area and been carried out by people coming from here.
BOND: Nazma thanked the meeting for having her there and thought it was a step forward for the BOND and the BSACC to work together and she felt ok being at the meeting. The BOND is planning an event but as yet the date cannot be confirmed, but should be on the 28th February. It will be similar to a multi-cultural time with everybody participating. Karen, Stella and Pam are helping, which is great. Confirmation of the entertainment etc is still awaited.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS: Dogs using the green at the Broadgreen Centre, it was asked of Cllr. Montaut if it was Council policy to allow areas where children play, to be opened to dogs? Because it has been noted that at Spring Gardens rec. the fences have been removed and there are two sections of the Broadgreen Centre fence that has been uncompleted, both allowing dogs to run freely where children play. A resident approached the owner of an Alsatian that was running about in the Broadgreen Centre, and pointed out that it was a children’s play area and he was told by the dog owner that he had permission to be there. Karen said that the dog warden regularly patrols the area and hopefully once we talk to Gwillam the fence can be joined up and a dog bin put in place.
Date of next meeting: Wednesday 04 February 2009 Meeting closed at 9.20 pm.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
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