Broad Street Area Community Council: October 2009

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice-Chair Derek Sutton, Secretary and Archivist Kevin Leakey, Treasurer John Phillips, John and Vi Clark, Karen Coulthard, John and Pam Freegard, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Cluniford Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Pam Montgomery, Peter Newson, Val Purvis, Madge Sutton, Ros Timlin.

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor - Broadgreen Community Plan, PC Diffin, PCSO Bird, Councillor Derique Montaut,

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: John Banville, Celia Cotton, Kath Cridland, Elizabeth Grady, Kath Jones, Mike and Lindsay Ponting, Evelyn Mason, Sue Osbaldstone, Roy Townsend, David Webb, PC McIntyre, PCSO Turner, Angela Clack – Swindon Core Strategy, Tim French, Nazma Ramruttun.

CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES – 5th August 2009 meeting.
These Minutes were confirmed and signed a true record. Proposed Derek Sutton and seconded by Val Purvis.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE AUGUST MINUTES: None.

COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT – PC Diffin: Made enquiries into the Old Town 20 mph zones, and it has been funded by £80k of 106 monies.
Problems with Rosebery Street/Bathurst Road and accidents, there have been no recent complaints so it is possible this may be isolated.
ASB - For the whole of August there was only one case of anti social behaviour, so either everyone is behaving or it is not being reported. It was put to the Police that it is more likely that people are not reporting it because it is too much hassle trying to get through on the phone. PC Diffin responded by saying it could also be because people might want to keep things private or they might not like the Police, he went on to say that if people email or leave a phone message for the BG Police Team they will get back as soon as they can, The most important thing is by reporting in the problem or crime, it is logged and the logs are checked every day, this also shows that there are problems, if they are not reported then it looks like there are no problems or crimes happening. The Chair gave out a file to everyone present a file with Police and Council contact details because it seems that many residents are not reporting in problems, we as residents have to also take our responsibilities seriously and if we continue to not report problems, will we keep our 2 PCSO’s?
Litter - An update from the council – they have cleared Alexander Road and seem to be on top of the problem now. The council are doing the best they can within the budgets that they have, but if people continue to keep fly-tipping then it cannot be resolved easily.
Speeding – not been a lot of it, but yesterday gave out a section 59 notice to a young man who was driving in Salisbury Street like a lunatic, this means if he is caught again doing this in the next 12 months then he will have his car taken away.
Car parking on football days is causing a problem once again, so the parking department are sweeping the area on match days.
The Police team now have a post at St. Josephs School and will be working more from there now, as it is more central.
There is a big drive to upgrade Neighbourhood Watch and have a Neighbourhood Coordinator; Karen Leakey has volunteered to take on this role.
A number of problems were brought to PC Diffin’s attention: Cars are turning across County Road to go down Elmina Rd, Broad St, Bathurst Rd etc. and nothing seems to be done about it Ans: We have drug dealers and prostitution in the area so we have to prioritise what we do, can it be justified putting the PCSO’s on this problem? Cycling on the path is still a big problem. Ans: There appears to be a need for education as many of the people doing this are from the ethnic groups in the area. The Chair said she would contact the leaders of various groups to see if they will speak to their communities about this. People are parking in alleyways and causing obstructions. Ans: The Police were not aware of this, this is why it is so important to report problems in every time it happens, it might be worth asking Cllr. Montaut if the Council could put DY lines in all alleyways, as the ones that have them already don’t seem to have problems. Cllr. Montaut said that he would ask but not confident it would happen, as realistically the SBC engineers do not want to put in something that is un-enforceable. The Chair asked if he would take this forward as there seems to be evidence that DY lines work in the alleyway. He replied that people expect an immediate response to a local bureaucratic system that grinds on very slowly with its discussions, it’s right that we continue to place demands on it but it’s a very long winded process. Whilst councillors might be able to raise this at a more strategic level, unless there’s a ground swell of opinion saying we are not going to tolerate this within the community it weakens the case to be able to get it changed.

GUEST SPEAKER – HM courts: Unfortunately no one from the Courts turned up.

CORRESPONDENCE:
Sent:
· Father Leslie – email (sent 05 Aug) with attached 2nd letter (originally sent via post 9 June) asking for info about his proposals for the Broad St. Trust.
· Problems with fish sales at shop in Broad St, fruit and veg storage – Chair had meeting with Louise Doughty from SBC food safety. Chair to report back.
· Rod Bluh – ideas about areas behind white hoardings – open it up - green it over – use for an open air market
· Southbrook Inn – Bob and Tina Downing - thanks for the loan of the marquee for the street athletics.
· Overgrowing brambles etc at rear of Stratton Bank (STFC) – Chair to report back.
· Community Garden – what areas can be used? – Chair to report back.

Received:
· Rod Bluh – Asked relevant officers to investigate our ideas for regen. areas, and will reply again when there are more details as to if it is feasible.

· Father Leslie – 17 August – email - So far I have had two positive responses from two of the Trustees, and I have just written to Mrs McCue to get a response from her. If she is in favour then the plans we have will be passed unanimously, and we can proceed along the lines previously discussed

Vice – Chair Derek Sutton requested that if the meeting agreed, we should send a letter of thanks to the McCue’s for the continued work they are carrying out at the Lunch Club. This was agreed.

PLANNING APPLICATIONS:
S/09/1488 - 124 - 125 Broad Street - Installation of roof lights and insertion of new window in rear elevation - Application Pending Consideration
S/09/1305 - 148 Rosebery Street - Erection of a single storey rear extension - Application Pending Consideration
S/COND/08/2201 - Land At Aylesbury Street - Discharge of Conditions from planning application S/07/0298
S/COND/08/1890 - Land At Aylesbury Street - Discharge of conditions 11 and 12 from planning permission S/07/0298
S/09/1092 - 110 Rosebery Street - Erection of a single storey rear extension - Application Granted – Delegated

TREASURERS REPORT: Proposed by Pam Freegard and Seconded by Derek Sutton

With regards to the letter sent to former Treasurer Richard Coates by recorded delivery, concerning the satisfactory accounts showing the outstanding monies owed to him, which could very well be around £1000. No reply has yet been received, nor has the letter been returned and Richard has not contacted any of the Officers about this matter, therefore it has to be assumed that Richard is in receipt of the letter and has chosen not to act upon it. John P proposed that the accounts be audited to the end of September as they are, allowing the BSACC to apply for funding for other projects in the pipeline.

CHAIR REPORT:
· Chris Hunt has informed us that Education Dept. have replied and they are happy for the two area’s – in front of their entrance and in front of the hut, to form part of the community garden – A meeting will be arranged to sort this out further.
· Had a meeting with Louise Doughty last week from the food safety team regarding the storage of food in the area and the following information has been passed over –
Question: What are the storage of fruit and vegetable laws, and also the storage and sale of fish, as fish is being stored in polystyrene boxes and sold on the shop curtilage next to the pavement. When the fish defrosts – the oil leaks onto the street and drains. There have been many complaints regarding smell. Rubbish from businesses in area is also not always stored in a healthy or responsible way
Reply:
The fruit being sold from the front of shops – fruit being displayed outside is very low risk and little can be done about this.
The shop had an inspection recently. Officers will be returning.
If the thoroughfare is blocked it is a problem and we must inform the highway department – goods can only be sold on own curtilage of premises.
All perishable goods must be refrigerated.
There are 4 fruit and vegetable food standards in the 1990 act – it is then covered by European Law – which has set regulations.
8522 deals with premises – hygiene/walls/floors etc.
2006 Eng Reg deal with the temperature control – raw fish and meat fall out of this scope.
The 8522 reg can then be used perishable food = micro bacteria growth.

An SBC Officer is going to visit shops to find out how they are selling fish – if its frozen – it should be kept frozen and if it’s defrosted on the street and advertised as fresh – then it’s being sold under false pretences.
The smell of the fish can be dealt with as a statutory nuisance – the enforcement pollution team would deal with this.
· Andy Reeves from the Com Hire Team has been working with us regarding the BG Centre etc – he has passed over three dates when the centre is going to be used for parties - I will be sending out an update to residents living in the near area. Andy is putting up dog fowling signs at the green area, and signs are also to be put up about the noise coming from the centre. The caretakers have been given more empowerment to deal with problems at BG.
· Attended a Street Athletics de-brief meeting on 27 August, they are coming back next year – this is fantastic news.
· There will be a community Cricket day next year – PC Diffin has set this up and Doug (Imrie) is setting up what will hopefully be annual Athletics event. To fund these things I hope to arrange an auction for the young people. I have spoken to Doug/Lindsay/William/Ruston and John Taylor and they are on board to help and take part.
· Had a 40 minute meeting on 1st September with Rod Bluh, Brian Mattock and John Taylor: Asked how talks are going with STFC – RB replied that they have been approached and they will not allow any green space to be built on etc – the same as previously. The new people at the club are better to work with and are working on plans. Asked for written permission for young Goan people to be able to play Volleyball at the County Ground Ext.
Showed them photo’s of the brambles at CG etc – Brian Mattock is going to have a meeting with Martin Buckland regarding this. Showed photo’s of the Pond area and asked that it be cleaned up – Kevin found some Ariel photos of the area – we requested some of the bushes be taken away to open the area out a little – so it will be safer and can be used by more people.
Relayed the real concerns about Broad Street being used as a major road in the future – it is in the CAAP as a major alteration. RB looking into this.
Asked about the green area at the end of Medgebury Road - can we use it as a community garden. BM will look into this. RB will also look into us having use of the green area at the top of Manchester Rd and County Rd.
Asked about the BG Centre rebuild and if SBC and BSACC could work together to secure funding for this – RB will look into MUSE and where they are and if we can work together.
Requested that the following SBC departments be thanked for their tireless work with our community: Lifestyle unit – Doug, youth team and Lindsay, Enviro. Enforcement team – Richard Palacio, the community hire team and the BG caretakers.
· Mark Walker has invited the BSACC to have a promotion stand in the Town centre on the 3rd Oct. as SBC Central Cluster is having an engagement event. Volunteers for the event were requested.
· I Had a meeting with Jo Osario regarding Carfax St surgery – basically it was about filling in a questionnaire –feed back was promised.
· We will be having a meal at Jury’s Inn on 18th September.

VICE-CHAIR REPORT: Nawaz in Broad Street are not storing their rubbish properly, when it was windy recently it was blowing into the street, the smell and flies are also very bad – The Chair said that SBC Officers will be revisiting this shop shortly.
Mrs Sutton has written a letter to the Adver concerning the terrible state of the County Ground extension.
Twenty is Plenty: The hope is that ’20 is plenty’ will go ahead as planned in the Core Strategy, where it is proposed that 20mph speed limits will eventually happen in all residential areas, but it will probably take a long time. Cllr. Montaut said he has a meeting planned later this month with a senior traffic engineer to discuss 20 is plenty

YOUTH REPORT: Sent in by Lindsay Poole Broadgreen Youth Worker
Skeetz youth club has been continuing over the summer holidays with steady numbers and some success in encouraging a large group of Afghan young people into the sessions and working with the young people to share the space and resources appropriately! We are also getting some young women into the session, which is really positive, and we are fast outgrowing the small room at the community centre! There was not a large take-up for an organised ice skating trip and so we have decided to postpone if until after Ramadan. Like last year, we shall be closed during Ramadan - the first 2 weeks will be staff holiday and team meeting and then the final 2 weeks we shall undertake 'outreach' in the area and especially focus on building our relationships with the young people who hang around at the County Ground. We shall then we open every week until Christmas when we usually close for one week.
The young people have expressed an interest in doing another art project so we are looking for opportunities to do a community mural of some description - please get in touch if you have any ideas.
Youth workers were present at the Street Athletics event and supported the team with getting evaluation forms completed...all the young people who we spoke to felt it was an excellent event, despite the poor weather and hope that it becomes an annual event!

BROADGREEN HISTORY PROJECT: We will be having a Committee Meeting before the December BSACC meeting. Plan to visit the Library next month to have a guided tour of the Local Studies Collection.
The Coat of arms that was on the demolished bus garage building was to be saved, what happened to it? – No reply from Rod Bluh, Steve Wakefield thought it might be at commercial services at Cheney Manor, so we emailed Bill Fisher – he did not know where it was, so is investigating it.
Golden Lion statue – moving to Bridge St. As part of the Canal Walk regeneration the Golden Lion was going to be moved further down towards the Murray John building in front of Faith Shoe Shop. This seemed a ridiculous idea, as moving it there would have placed it far outside of the context of its historical location. Following a suggestion put to Peter James of the New Swindon Company www.newswindon.co.uk and councillors by Kevin, suggesting that it might be a better idea to move it just around the corner into Bridge Street - as that was closer to its original location - above the Golden Lion Pub, It was decided this would be a sensible idea and this is where it is going to be relocated.
Took along the collection of ‘Then and Now’ photo’s for residents of Cockram Court to see. This was very successful and brought back many memories to the residents. Keith Watts gave Kevin a number of Victorian GWR engine photos.
Monthly request - if anybody has any old photos or events of the area– VE day celebrations, Queens silver jubilee, street parties, fete’s etc then we would be happy to scan them to add to the archive.

BROADGREEN COMMUNITY PLAN: The BSACC could assist SBC with the delivery of Connecting People Connecting Places (CPCP) through our community plan, and following the meeting with Cllrs. Bluh and Mattock it would seem they are looking forward to the launch of our community plan for that very reason.
It is proposed that we have a smaller batch of good quality documents of the finished plan printed for people like the Leader of the Council etc, and a larger amount of good quality summary leaflets.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: Problems with inconsiderate parking by visitors to the area during Ramadan – parking on double yellow lines and in alleys has been rife. The community Garden has also been used as a car park.
The neighbourhood watch signs at the south end of Gladstone St. should be put up soon.

SHRIVENHAM ROAD REPORT: Lorries are still driving down Shrivenham Rd from the Magic Roundabout, unaware that it is a dead end.

COCKRAM COURT: Karen, Kevin and John T visited Cockram Court recently. The history group photo’s were shown, as well as info about our community plan. John was able to arrange an interview for ‘Central Voices’ with 2 residents.

WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT: Councillor Montaut commented that the 40 minute meeting the Chair had with Leader of the Council, Rod Bluh, was very good and said that Cllr. Bluh was very receptive and listened to people and communities, although he was under great pressure financially to be able to do things. The Chair pointed out that we didn’t expect the Council to come up with everything.
Cllr. Montaut has been appointed to the New Swindon Co. (NSC) as a Director. Much of what he has to deal with is confidential foe example having to deal with developers’ contracts. He recently had a 3-hour one to one meeting with the Chief Executive and underlined the concerns the BSACC have and the need for the NSC to engage with us and improve the area through 106 monies.
Work on Union Square is expected to start in January, but it’s all down to money and Govt. finance. There should be around 40 sheltered housing units on the site.
The Chair said we have given you a clear remit as Councillor to chase 106 monies from the regenerations for Broadgreen, as a Director of the NSC is this not a conflict of interest? Other residents agreed, as what the NSC wants may be very different to what we want. Cllr. Montaut said the council had appointed him on the Board and as such he would try to influence what happens in our direction to improve this area. Once at a senior level in the Council, you get put on various boards. He is also on the Fire Authority and has recently been in talks about the closure and moving of Drove Road fire station.
An Indian take-away in Moredon is looking to raise some money for charity by donating the profits from 2 nights takings, Cllr. Montaut put it to the meeting that he could put forward the BSACC for this. It was felt that whilst it was a nice thought, we would have to decline the offer, as the take-away was not in this area.

B.O.N.D: No report this month

ANY OTHER BUSINESS: The Core Strategy is out for consultation and can be viewed in libraries and road shows they are organising.
Polystyrene fish boxes are not being disposed of properly 97-11 shop) – they blow around and are put back the next day by a resident – is there anything that can be done to stop them?

Meeting closed at 9.35 pm.

Broad Street Area Community Council

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Broad Street Area Community Council meeting minutes - 2nd September 2009

Monday, 5 October 2009

AGENDA - BSACC monthly meeting 07 October 2009

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