Broad Street Area Community Council AGM - 6th May 2009

We will be holding our AGM on Wednesday the 6th May at 7.30 pm in the lounge at the Broadgreen Centre in Salisbury Street. All Broadgreen residents are invited to attend.

Nomination forms for Officer and Committee posts are attached to the Broadly Speaking newsletters that have been delivered through residents’ doors.

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 4th MARCH 2009

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary and Archivist Kevin Leakey, Minute Secretary John Phillips, John Clark, Karen Coulthard, Stella Edwards, Pam Freegard, Tim French, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Cluniford and Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Val Purvis, Derek and Madge Sutton, Ros Timlin.

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor - Broadgreen Community Plan, PCSO Rees Turner, Councillor Mark Edwards - Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Derique Montaut, Nazma Ramruttun BOND representative, Dan Collins and Helena Lachowycz - Eastcott Community Council, Gena Old Town.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: John Banville, Vi Clark, Celia Cotton, Kath Cridland, John Freegard, Elizabeth Grady, Kath Jones, Pam Montgomery, Sue Osbaldstone, Mike and Lindsay Ponting, David Webb, Inspector Madge Lynch, PCSO Stuart Bird, PC Sophia McIntyre, Sergeant Kate Stalder.

CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES – 7th January 2009 meeting.
These Minutes were confirmed and signed a true record. Proposed Pam Freegard and seconded by John Phillips.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE JANUARY MINUTES: Broad Street Community Trust. Father Leslie has been contacted yet again to ask what is happening with the Trust and if the £2000 we are holding could be used for the community garden, but as yet he has not responded. It was proposed that a letter be sent to Graham Jenkins and ask him if he felt the money could be spent on the garden project.


COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT – PCSO Rhys Turner: There have been several ‘Dobbin’ operations during February - 16/17/18 they were conducted with both High Visibility and Covert Officers deployed. A Kerb Crawler was issued with an ABC (Acceptable Behaviour Contract) and a “Working” person was issued with a Prostitution Street Caution. Letters were also distributed to registered keepers of cars that are continually seen loitering within the area, one has been sent to an address in Portsmouth; Police there will deal with it. The Police have spoken to local residents and businesses and people are happy with the operations that are being carried out. At the moment the ‘Dobbin’ operations are planned out until June, then PC. McIntyre will look to see what the situation is and decide the best way forward, it may well mean stepping up the ‘Dobbin’ operations. There is a long-term commitment from high up in the Police to eradicate the prostitution problem and PC McIntyre is very dedicated to her job.
Alley way parking continues to be a problem in some areas and a van that constantly does so in the alley behind Manchester road has been given 2 tickets in the last couple of weeks and if it continues to be parked there it will be towed away, as alleys should be kept clear at all times to allow emergency services access should there be a need to do so.


GUEST SPEAKER - Councillor Mark Edwards – Cabinet Member for Resources: Thanked the BSACC for the invite to talk about the proposed residents parking permit increases, and gave apologies for Councillor Peter Greenhalgh who he had hoped would also have been able to attend the meeting.
Legally the Council are obliged to balance their books and although he understood the financial situation at the moment, the council cannot take out huge loans. Every year there has to be a budget and every year expenses increase while income does not, and although £8m savings had been found and they were coming close to delivering a balanced budget, unfortunately since the credit crunch at the end of last year, there had been a huge income loss to the council from things like planning applications and recycling. To balance the books they had to go back and look again at all the savings that could be made, and one thing that was put forward as a proposal for change was the residents parking. Looking at the current cost and income, the books don’t balance and the scheme is running at a net loss and is being subsidised. The proposal is to put the cost of permits up by the amount suggested and that will go some way to cover the gap between what it costs to run and what income is generated.

There then followed a question and answer session.
Q: Are fines included?
A: Yes, it’s all part of the income.
Q: Is this not simply a stealth tax, put up the cost of residents parking permits and keep council tax lower for everyone else?
A: Not at all, we want to be very honest and open about it, but this is a service that is costing money and a way has to be found to make it more efficient. There is to be a consultation process on it but has no the details as to how it’s going to run yet. One option that has been floated before, which makes it cost effective, is if there were no residents’ parking in place it would be cost neutral. Every time this has been proposed the answer has been residents want to keep the scheme.
Q: If as you say the increases are to balance the books, people are going to expect to see more for their money, i.e. more people managing the scheme because there’s already problems with inconsiderate parking and illegal parking in the residents parking bays. More patrols etc will Increase the cost of running the scheme and not generate more income. If it is not managed properly there will be lots of complaints.
A: Enforcement has been looked at and savings made by making it run as efficiently as possible. The Council need to know from residents where the inefficiencies are in enforcement. They are down to 31 officers from 38 but the scheme was running reasonably well with 31 officers, so that number is being maintained.
Q: If you want to make savings, don’t use so many vans. How many do the parking department use?
A: Not know.
Q: Could residents parking not operate on a Sunday? Surely the fines would generate more income?
A: It was looked at, but is not cost effective to operate the scheme on a Sunday; the most cost effective solution is to put the cost of permits up.
Q: It would be helpful to get a figure on the shortfall of costs for the scheme, but never the less, how much are you expecting to generate from the price increase?
A: £152,000
Q: One thing that defeats that figure, is the increase in Councillors Allowances which is understood to be costing an additional £370,000 but if only half of that was given back by Councillors there would be no need to increase the residents parking charges at all, would there?
A: This is a very sensitive subject and will no doubt be debated at many future council meetings. There are lots of ways you could work things out, but to be on call 365 days of the year to 8,000 residents, it works out to be 50p to £1.00 per hour. From a personal point of view, looking at the amount of work and hours Councillors put in, in terms of evenings and weekends etc, the reward does not necessarily balance up with those amounts of hours. For example today – up at 6am, at this meeting now and have to go to another meeting after, this is a typical day in amongst the day job. These commitments are relatively tough, where everybody is working very very hard here. Weekends and evenings - you never know how late. The only reason that some of the people actually do the job as a councillor is because they can balance their work/job life, which means you may not be able to get a job that pays sufficiently to have a life or that allows you to do both, you have to balance both against the cost. Considering the amount of work that has to be put in to these roles, it’s a fair balance.
Q: With regards to the allowances, many people do voluntary work and carry on with their jobs as well, and they don’t expect to get paid.
A: As Chair of School Governors, I probably give 20 to 30 hours a week so we all do the voluntary stuff as well.
Q: Do you consider parking increases of between 60% and 200% reasonable and can residents in the present climate of recession absorb this? Why were the charges not phased in, if there’s never been a situation of having to balance the budget for the scheme?
A: Taken onboard that it is a big increase all in one go, the only counter argument to that is that maybe it should have been done last year, the year before that and the year before that. To put it up to the full cost all in one go was considered to be far too much and these increases were considered to be a reasonable compromise.
Q: There is also another option, where there has been a windfall of income coming into the council coffers of approximately £429,000, which could have been used to accommodate the shortfalls and cuts.
A: Completely understand the point that has been raised about this money from the Government but it’s one off funding, while it is very welcome, if it’s used for the Park and Ride for example, we will be sitting here in a years time having exactly the same discussion. Using one of funding to try and sustain something for the long term is not practical and not going to work, all it is doing is delaying the problem.
Q: Why are more permits issued than actual parking spaces?
A: It is known that this is an issue, there are discussions on the number of parking spaces and believe there is some capital funding which will potentially be available this year to look at the number of parking spaces and see if the number can be increased.
Q: Houses in Multiple Occupancy – why, when one person in one flat pays the cost of a first permit, should a totally unrelated person living in a separate flat within the same building have to pay the cost of a second permit as if it was a second car in the same household?
A: It should be on a per household basis, will take it back.
Q: You said the current option of increases was the most cost effective, what are the other options because it would be useful if they could be shared with residents? And with regards to the consultation process, will residents be consulted or will it just be councillors?
A: Will make sure the BSACC has full details on the consultation process and on the other options. The cheapest option is to scrap the scheme but residents want it.
Q: It was said that these increases will still not cover the cost of the scheme, does this mean that in the next couple of budgets the charges are going to increase again and again?
A: Here’s your answer, let me give you a clue - ‘The proposed price increases in permits are expected to realise an additional value of £152,000. In order to recover the full cost of the service leaving visitors, second and third permits unchanged, the cost of a 6 month first permit needs to rise to £30 and a 12 month permit to £55 compared with a £25 to £40 proposed’ so in order to make the whole thing cost neutral, it would take that level of increase.
Q: Part of people’s aggravation about this is that it is such a huge increase coming in, seemingly through the back door via a section in the budget – ‘Amendments and Omissions from December Report’ Would it not be better to set out the future rises over the next few years, now?
A: My job is to balance the books and I have only been in this role for 2 months, if we were to put out the fees for the next 3 years it sets them in stone, when through other savings they may not need to be increased. If we do find a way to make this service run efficiently, at a far less cost and it works for residents, I would be the first one to say we are going to cut the residents car parking fees.
Q: As there are no local council elections this year, could this be the reason that the charges are being put up by so much?
A: If we wanted to run a political budget next year, by keeping the council tax to 3.5% now we are creating a huge issue for ourselves next year. The political gain would be a 4.9% budget this year, because people would have forgotten about it next year. A 3.5% budget this year was one of the most difficult things this council has had to do in terms of balancing the books, you can be rest assured this was not political and I am up for re-election next year so the job is going to be even harder.
Q: Going through the paperwork to the residents parking review in 2007, it states that in 2005/06 there was an operating surplus of some £6300 and this was based on the old charges of £12 per permit, so how in the last couple of years has the cost of running the scheme suddenly gone up so much?
A: That is one of the questions we are trying to find the answer to, exactly where the 05/06 numbers were derived from. They don’t actually make sense, we are trying to find out what costs were not put in, because the current fees and numbers are correct.
Q: Basically up until December time, when the economic problems hit, you were not really bothered that the scheme was costing extra money; in fact you didn’t even know did you? (A: No, absolutely.) and suddenly it’s allegedly going to cost lots more money to run this so therefore you are going to be ‘taxing’ everybody extra (A: Absolutely not) you weren’t looking at this before, a budget was put to cabinet in December and it wasn’t included.
A: We didn’t get to the budget in December and decide to punish the residents parking, there were a whole raft of things that happened in December and January. It was always on the list, but we don’t want to touch things we don’t have to, I want to make these things cost neutral, it would be very easy to say we’ve got plenty of money in the bank but we will punish you for that as well. We have to make a balance and that is, when times are economically tough you have to look at absolutely everything. This should have been looked at 3 years ago with far more scrutiny. As the budgets become tighter, everything has to be scrutinised and you have to square every asset you have got in order to balance the books. So yes, the prices should have gone up 3 years ago.
Q: It was suggested by the Lib. Dems. at the full Council meeting, that quite a lot of the increase is due to added administration charges that have not been included before, is this correct?
A: That is what I am trying to work out. I am assured by our Finance Director that we are apportioning costs appropriately for residents parking in the 2008/2009 budget that has just gone through.
Q: Have you compared the cost of residents parking in Swindon, with other towns?
A: I can get you the figures, but I can assure you if you look at res. parking in equivalent Unitaries, this is incredibly cheap. I will get some numbers and get some balance and make it transparent - this is what it costs and in an equivalent Unitary this is what they pay, so you can get a benchmark.
I will come back with all of the responses to tonight and if there are any gaps let me know, and Peter Greenhalgh will come back with a response to the letter sent to him from the BSACC.
Everything that has been said will be taken back and will make sure there is a full feed back on this discussion and full feedback on how the consultation is going to take place, the BSACC will be kept fully informed.


CORRESPONDENCE:
The overflowing guttering on the shop in Corporation and Lagos Street – Richard Palacio SBC environmental officer said unless the adjoining property complains, then there is nothing they can do about it.
Fish being sold at both the 7 to 11 shop in Broad St. and DeAngelos in Manchester Rd. - Richard Palacio and Karen L have both tried to get the food hygiene enforcement team to the tasking group but they will not go, RP has however written to both shops so things are in motion within the council.
Tried unsuccessfully to contact Gary Hewitt with regards to the S4L and the garden, left numerous messages and been told he would get back but he has not.
Informed Parking Enforcement about Scorpion Garage in Station Road valeting cars etc and also that they are using the residents parking bays to park the cars in.


PLANNING APPLICATIONS: S/09/0268 - 123 Manchester Road - Erection of a single storey rear extension - Application Pending Consideration


TREASURERS REPORT: Acceptance of Treasures report proposed by Derek Sutton and seconded by Val Purvis.

CHAIR REPORT:
We are putting on a Community Engagement morning on the 28 March. The Police will have their computer equipment to enable residents to answer a survey about prostitution, John Taylor will be on hand to talk about the Community Plan, Kevin will be showing his history project and there will be a table top and cake sale. Help would very much be appreciated.
Doug Imrie has a funding application – ‘Kick it Out’ concerning racism in sport and young people.
The dog warden has been contacted again concerning the dog that is being allowed to run around in the park. Residents are reporting that it is going for young people in the street, and is being let out with no adult supervision, this happens at various times of the day.
The Tasking Group have been invited to visit the Manchester Road Mosque. If the BSACC are interested in a visit, it may be able to be arranged.
The Adver recently carried a story about a mugging and used the headline ‘Man injured in Broadgreen mugging’ it was felt that there was no need to have mentioned Broadgreen in the headline, because mentioning an area in the headline it is not something the Adver normally do. The Chair has contacted the Adver and they said often crime stories come direct from Police information and are reported as said. On a positive note, the Adver have run 2 good news stories about this area in the last couple of days.
It has been reported that some users of the Breakfast Club are using some of the back alleyways in the vicinity of St. Luke’s as a toilet, this is not just urinating either. It is hard to understand why this is happening, because the Breakfast Club has toilet facilities on site.
There is to be a ‘Safe and Clean’ day later in the year, it will however be shared with the Railway Village. It was felt by the meeting that this area needs a clear up of its own, especially the County Ground which is in a terrible state.
An email have been received from Ishmael Stevens, got married on the 13th December and is working long hours, only seeing his family on his days off. He hopes to visit Swindon in June and sends his love to all. Grace Walker has spoken to Karen C. and said she has settled in very well in Spain, she says she has not got a donkey yet, but she is happy relaxing and sipping cocktails in the sun! She would be very pleased if people would write to her.
Next month, Planning Enforcement will be attending this meeting. They have requested for any enforcement issues to be passed to them before the meeting, so they have the right paperwork with them, to answer the questions.
Councillor Montaut has booked a room at the Civic Offices for this Friday morning, so the Tasking Group and members of the Mosque can discuss the Friday parking problems. The Councillor said that since booking the room, he has been having problems with holding the meeting on a Friday, because the Muslims go to prayer on that day and it is inappropriate to hold it then. The Chair pointed out that at the Tasking meeting, Councillor Ali, PC Sheikh and the Manchester Road Mosque representative all said Friday morning was a good time.



YOUTH REPORT: Doug Imrie: Over the next few Wednesdays Doug is hoping to do some sports with the youngsters and also to arrange some football matches between older youths and possibly the Fire Brigade and Police etc.
Lindsay Poole: Over the past month, young people who attend Skeetz youth club on a Wednesday evening have been engaging in an art project alongside No Added Sugar community artists. Young people have been working hard to create self-portraits and have had the opportunity to work with Sid who is a young Asian artist who has been coming over from Bristol to assist with the project. We have another 2 evenings with No Added Sugar to finish the pieces and then hope to encourage a few of the young people to come in on Saturday 28th March to create some group pieces which we hope could be auctioned or raffled off at the Community Cohesion Day to raise money for the Skeetz youth club.
Numbers at Skeetz are still really good with around 30 young people attending each session - from a broad ethnic mix including young people originally from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Poland, Afghanistan and Lithuania - which promotes some interesting discussions about different languages and cultures.
One of the young people is now attending the Duke of Edinburgh Open Award centre on a Monday night at Plus One Centre and is progressing well. We are still trying to encourage the young people to get involved in other Youth Work activities in other areas, such as football tournaments, pool comps and gym sessions.... but this is proving quite difficult as they are very attached to their area and don't seem too keen to venture out and mix with other young people. So this is something we shall be addressing in the next few months as well as helping them to identify and apply for funding for future projects.
For more information about Skeetz or youth work in Central south area, please contact Lindsay Poole (Youth Development Worker) mob: 07919 111539 or lpoole@swindon.gov.uk

COMMUNITY PLAN: The steering group, a sub-committee of the BSACC that includes a representative from the BOND – Kay Malko and Councillor Montaut as the Council representative, has met for the first time and agreed to drive the plan forward. It is the aim to produce a 16 to 20 page plan, available for the Borough to see in October. There are 2 areas of immediate action, the Adver and the ‘20 is Plenty’ campaign, which is being headed up by Derek and Madge Sutton. It is hoped to persuade the council to trial 20 mph for all roads in this area. It is also important to engage with the New Swindon Company, Kevin has agreed to represent the Steering Committee, Pam and Ros the BSACC and Karen L the Tasking Group.
With regards to the ’20 is Plenty’ campaign, Cllr. Montaut said he was charged with raising this issue within the Council and has been having ongoing discussions with traffic engineers and they say that it is not as simple as adopting a scheme that’s been used in other areas because a 20mph zone is not enforceable by the Police, they have problems with 30mph, so by enforcing 20 mph by having Police Officers there will not happen. One way to have 20mph zones is through traffic calming. They can have a 20mph zone by putting up a sign with it on; they are talking about piloting this in a residential area, but not Broadgreen. Through his discussions thanks to the interest we have shown in this, at least they can start a pilot scheme in one of the areas. The side roads will be easy to enforce because great speeds would not be built up, it’s the main highways like Broad St. or Manchester Rd, so it is being discussed and considered at a higher level.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: There are still problems with the Breakfast Club, with drinking outside and cans etc littering the path, there has been no improvement since the last time. It was pointed out that the opportunity was given at the tasking meeting for the problems to be put directly to the organisations involved, but they were told it had improved and there was no problem. Cycling on paths and cars parking in the alleyways are also continuing. Despite this area having a DPPO, a resident is purchasing alcohol and drinking it with friends in the Broadgreen Centre park, they are getting drunk and abusing people, and then leaving the empty bottles behind. The DPPO sign by the park has been spray painted over, but the PCSO’s would like to see more DPPO signs in the area.

WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT: Councillor Montaut talked about the Council Budget and the issues around saving services like the libraries, Park and Ride and the cut in Community grants etc. He feels that these things could be saved through other savings. There is also a figure of £429,000 that has fallen into the Councils pot from Government, it is for Authorities that have made certain financial achievements after their budgets have been delivered, but we are told it is a one off payout and cannot be used to subsidise services, but Councillor Montaut does not agree this is the right way to look at it.

B.O.N.D: The BOND put on a multi-cultural event on the 28th February; Nazma thanked Karen L, Pam, Kate and Rebecca for all of their help on the day.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS: Can there be another public toilet in the Town Centre, because the alleyway behind the Open Hands Fellowship is being constantly used as a toilet. This was passed over to Cllr. Montaut who said that it is likely that toilets will continue to be shut, with people having to rely on traders opening their toilets for public use.
The Chair thanked Karen Coulthard for going around with the Residents Parking petition.


Date of next meeting: Wednesday 01 April 2009 Meeting closed at 9.20pm.

AGENDA - BSACC monthly meeting 01 April 2009

1. Welcome and Housekeeping
2. Apologies for absence
3. Confirmation of the minutes – 04 March 2009 meeting
4. Matters arising from these minutes
5. Community Police report
6. Guest speakers:
7. Correspondence
8. Treasurers report
9. Chairs report
10. Youth report
11. Broadgreen History Project
12. Broadgreen Community Plan
13. Shrivenham Road/ Cockram Court report
14. Neighbourhood/Street Watch report
15. Ward Councillors report
16. B.O.N.D. report.
17. Any Other Business
18. Next Meeting: Wednesday 06 May 2009

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 4th FEBRUARY 2009

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Secretary Kevin Leakey, John Phillips, John and Vi Clark, Karen Coulthard, Stella Edwards, John and Pam Freegard, Tim French and Katherine, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Cluniford Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Sue Osbaldstone, Val Purvis, Derek and Madge Sutton, Ros Timlin, David Webb

ALSO PRESENT: John Taylor Broadgreen Community Plan, Doctor Richard Carter – Whalebridge Practice, Councillor Derique Montaut, Dan Collins and Helena Lachowycz - Eastcott Community Council.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, John Banville, Celia Cotton, Kath Cridland, Elizabeth Grady, Evelyn Mason, Pam Montgomery, Mike and Lindsay Ponting, PC Paul Crouch, PCSO’s Stuart Bird and Rees Turner, PC Sophia McIntyre
Brian Jones, Kath Jones, Nazma Ramruttun BOND representative

CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES – 7th January 2009 meeting.
These Minutes were confirmed and signed a true record. Proposed Pam Freegard and seconded by Derek Sutton

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE JANUARY MINUTES:
With regards to the Mosque parking problems. Last Friday (30 January) there was a very heavy Police presence in and around Broad Street, cars were being driven around and around being unable to park on the double yellow lines nor in residents parking bays, although 7 cars did manage to park in the alleyways after the Police had left the area. There has never been a Police presence for parking problems like this before.
Councillor Montaut said that the situation with the Police created some problems, the initial issues raised about parking in residents parking spaces and the enforcement that local Councillors had asked for, to be applied equally without any privileges for anybody, amounted to an email being sent to Councillor Ali informing him that the Police would be out in some force. When they did come out in some force he didn’t know what the objective of so many Police was for. There are two factors, resolve this within the community in a way that meets everybody’s needs and from the enforcement aspect the Councillors have asked the Enforcement Officers to apply it rigidly but fairly. From what Councillor Montaut can gather there was an overwhelming presence of Police, taking away limited resources from other areas and he wondered what the value of the exercise was.
Although he didn’t know how many Police were involved, Cllr. Ali had raised an issue with the Leader of the Council because of the overpowering presence of the Police in the area, as representations had been made to him from within the Mosque concerning a feeling of intimidation and that there was some type of terrorist threat. A resident informed him that the ‘overwhelming Police presence’ actually only consisted of 1 police car, 2 Police Officers and 2 PCSO’s. As far as residents are concerned the Councillors position on the enforcement aspect of this is totally unchanged.
It was pointed out that Councillor Montaut has been suggesting that it was a recent problem with residents complaining about the misuse of resident parking, but the record needs to be made clear, residents have infact been complaining for many years about inconsiderate parking in the area, which includes illegal parking in the residents parking bays, yellow line parking, pavement parking and parking on corners. It is a shame that Azim Khan didn’t turn up tonight, as he had agreed to do, to explain to the BSACC what was/is the Mosques position and what they would like to see.
A letter written to the Mosque in 2002 from the BSACC was read to the meeting, in it concerns were relayed about how some of the visitors to the mosque abused the parking restrictions and it requested that if only for reasons of safety, users be more considerate to residents that are neighbours to the Mosque. It shows that these are long-term problems that the BSACC has tried unsuccessfully to address in the past.
The law needs to be exercised fairly for everybody - residents parking is for residents, yellow lines are not parking for anybody, pavements are not parking for anybody and causing obstruction by parking on corners is not acceptable.
In the past, a deal was struck with ‘The Range’ by the Police to allow Mosque users to park in their car park and all they had to do was put a small notice in their cars to say they were attending Mosque, but nobody took up the offer. The Chair has contacted the Manager of ‘The Range’ and they are happy to discuss the possibility of this arrangement once again.
Councillor Montaut spoke this week to the Leader of the Council about the parking issues and the need to get the users of the Mosque and the Muslim community to respect the current regulations, and he is quite happy to join the Councillors and BSACC Officers and meet with the Mosque Leaders to discuss this. Nobody is talking about privileges being given to anybody. The Chair, with the meetings approval, said that the BSACC would organise a meeting to include all people concerned, to discuss what has become an intolerable situation.


COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT: No Police were present at the meeting. Apologies were given.


GUEST SPEAKER: Doctor Richard Carter, GP at the Whalebridge Practice, Carfax Street. Dr. Carter thanked everyone for the invitation to speak about the Government named ‘GP led health Centres’ better known as a polyclinics. This new idea has come from one used in Germany where they have clinics that are open between 8am to 8pm - 7 days a week, people would go along and see a Doctor and be told to come back when ever they needed to, when they did go back they would have see another Doctor, which people didn’t like, so they now publish the times each Doctor will be available to be seen, just like GP surgeries operate now! A Health Minister called Lord Darzi is now taking the idea forward, and whilst he is a specialist surgeon, he never actually trained in the UK and has never worked within the NHS, and yet he is the person redesigning General Practice.
The idea behind this is to improve access, which is something that everyone wants when it comes to health care. It would appear that people want greater access when they want it, which seems to be a little bit different from what some Doctors are saying – there should be more access when it is needed
The WB Practice works by saying if anybody needs anything, it’s given, which can be difficult but basically people are offered the first available routine appointment and if they cannot wait until then, they will be fitted in on the day, meaning that on some days they may have more work than on others.
What has been decided is that money will be taken away from every surgery in Swindon and use it to set up a clinic in the centre of the town. The new service will begin on the 1st of April and will be down stairs in the Health Centre in Carfax Street. The Walk in Centre and the Primary Care trusts (PCT) own surgeries are to be amalgamated and it would appear that all of Doctor Shad’s patients are to be amalgamated into it as well.
The Whalebridge Practice has known for a long time this was coming, and over the last year they have tried to find out more information about what is happening. They are also very grateful to some of their patients and residents who have also tried to find out more. Doctor Carter has himself met with the local MP and the Swindon PCT but has managed to get very little concrete information out of them.
With regards to the Whalebridge Practice, they are not planning to leave the centre of Swindon, they envisage staying where they area, although they are aware of plans to relocate the Health Centre to the old Police Station site. They have tried to also talk to the New Swindon Company about this, but they have not been very forthcoming with a time scale or info about this.
They were invited to put in a tender to provide the polyclinic, they told the PCT they would be prepared to open 8am to 8pm - 7 days a week, manned by doctors with support from Nurses, but it was rejected as the PCT has decided to run it with their own staff which will be mainly nurses, this has never been tried before. Doctor Carter is very interested in hearing from anybody that is willing to talk to the PCT and MP’s about putting the case forward to how this project might be expanded in the future, because although it’s too late to do anything about the new service starting on April 1st, if it turns out to be a disaster there could very well be a strong case for the Whalebridge Practice to take it over and improve upon it.
A number of questions were then put to Doctor Carter:
People become comfortable seeing their own Doctor, one of the rumours about Polyclinics has been that you would have to see any Doctor that was available rather than your own Doctor, who knows all of your medical history. If the Whalebridge Practice took over the running of the Polyclinic, would this be the case?
The WB Practice is completely separate from the Walk In Centre, but they have had students and Doctors work with them, who have also worked at the Walk In Centre. They have said that the staff there have found it difficult having to start each patient they see, with a blank sheet of paper. If you are coming to the WB Practice then things will remain the same, but if the surgery is open 8 until 8, 7 days a week it would be very difficult for any individual Doctor to be available for all of these times. This is the difficulty with Polyclinics; you will not be able to see the same Doctor time and time again.
Will the Polyclinic be open to anyone that cannot see a Doctor at their own surgery straight away?
The idea behind this is to improve access for people to see somebody; they will have registered patients from Doctor Shad and the existing Daniel Gooch Practice, which belongs to the PCT and also be available to see anybody from across Swindon either as an emergency or booking ahead and people will also be invited to register there as well. It may work out extremely well and everybody from Swindon wants to go there, flooding the place with patients.
Will a Polyclinic be offering what is basically a GP surgery, or will they be offering a service that you would have originally gone to a Hospital for? If it is going to be so great, could it affect the WB Practice?
It’s about access, if it provides what people want, then it is likely to do very well. But it would seem unlikely that they would be able to provide the sort of service a GP surgery can provide now. You are however not likely to see a GP and whilst there are plenty of other Health Professionals that can do some of the things GPs do, but what has been discovered is that with walk in centres and other practitioners seeing patients, things are being duplicated. The health economics seem to show that a consultation with NHS Direct or at a walk in, costs anything up to £30 per one contact/health issue but with a GP It’s under £25 and they often have more time to deal with more than one problem in the allocated 10 minutes. There is a trend now, that if you go to the hospital they seem to be doing less and less and you will be told to go and see your doctor. This has a knock on effect because access to the surgery is reduced because it is being taking up by people that should have been dealt with elsewhere. When the new building is built, possibly 2013 (old Police Station site) there are grand plans for lots of services to be included, it is unclear exactly what this might be, but a guess would be some sort of Hospital Clinics, for example you would go there for dermatology rather than the hospital.
The WB Practice has been looking at a vacant premises in the Town Centre, upstairs next to Boots, with a view to possibly relocate the Practice there and move away from the new proposed clinic. It would be bigger, offer more services and have better access, but to do this financial resources will be required. Unfortunately it would appear that instead of supporting practices in Swindon, money is being held back and being put into the Polyclinics instead. They would however welcome any comments on this possible move and are seeking permission to explore it further. Residents that were at the meeting and go to the WB Practice felt that it would still be within easy walking distance and had no objections.
. The WB Practice is the longest established surgery in the Town Centre and they try and base the service on what has been provided in that time, i.e. you book an appointment to see the Doctor that you know.
These were Doctor Carter’s own personal opinions and he was not necessarily talking on behalf of the other partners at his Practice, although he felt that most of his partners would agree with what he had said.

GUEST SPEAKER: Mr. Azim Khan from the Broad Street Mosque was given an invitation at the Tasking Group meeting to attend tonight’s meeting and he agreed to come along and talk about the problems the Mosque users are facing with parking arrangements. Unfortunately despite being reminded about this meeting, Mr. Khan did not turn up and sent no apologies. It was felt that his non-appearance showed a complete disregard to the community as a whole.

CORRESPONDENCE:

Sent
To Breakfast Club, DHI and Threshold Housing informing them of the problems outside St. Luke’s hall, brought up at last months meeting.
Email sent to Breakfast Club, DHI and Threshold Housing informing them of the problems outside St. Luke’s hall brought up at last months meeting. – Action to improve on the problems was taken by these groups and Mrs. Jones reported back to the Tasking Group that things were now much improved.

Received
Thank you reply from Steve Harcourt for the gift and best wishes we sent to him.
SBC Planners are updating the Access for All policy and are looking for people’s thoughts and ideas on inclusive design (Inclusive Design is about making places that everyone can access). Set up an ‘Inclusive Design Access for All’ Workshop – Thurs. 26 Feb. 2009 10 am –12.15 pm. At Haydon Centre – Haydon Wick.
Received the latest ‘regeneration news’ from Carol Heneghan of the New Swindon Company.
Concerning the dog being allowed to run free at the BG Centre, Mr Eamus the dog warden has been spoken to and he will send a letter to the resident concerned, stating that people have been complaining for a while and point out that the dog should be properly looked after when in a public place. Usually this method works - if not Mr Eamus will further investigate and heavily patrol the area - if there is enough evidence a control order can be obtained.
With regards to a dog poo bin, we can have one but in the present climate it’s not very likely. It costs £20K to maintain the bins in the Borough about 300 of them and all are being used at this moment in time. Broadgreen will be put on the waiting list and they will be monitoring the situation.

PLANNING APPLICATIONS:
S/LBC/08/2392 - Former Paragon Laundry, Aylesbury Street - Partial demolition of buildings and making good of resultant openings, to include new roller shutter door. - Application Pending Consideration
S/09/0117 - 76 Manchester Road - Installation of new shop front - Application Pending Consideration
S/08/2142 - Signal Point, Station Road - Change of use of part of ground floor from office (class B1) and cafe ancillary to the office use to cafe (class A3)/Retail (class A1) - Application Granted
S/LDE/08/2204 - 32 Manchester Road - Lawful Development Certificate (Existing) for the use of dwelling as 2 no. flats - Application Granted


TREASURERS REPORT: There was no treasurers report this month, apologies were sent by the Treasurer. It should be noted that we are still holding £2000 pending the reinstatement of the Broad Street CommunityTrust.


CHAIR REPORT: The Chair welcomed Dan and Helena, Chair and Secretary of the recently formed Eastcott Community Council www.eastcottcc.btik.com
Greatest news probably of the year John Taylor has offered to be Project Manager for the Broadgreen Community Plan.
Have a meeting at the Fire Station with Graham Wellar regarding community working together.
Met with Mark Feeney last Friday to explain how we spent the Community Grant last year.
Met with David Wetherall from Innerflame who are doing empowerment courses for young people.
Lifestyle unit gentle exercise and walking group training?
Attended a ‘Cohesion Masterclass’ on 27/1/09 called ‘How does belonging to a place enhance community cohesion’ it included a presentation by Beverly Taylor from Manchester Council. It was really interesting, with lots of ideas to improve things. There is to be one more Cohesion Masterclass and it is titled ‘semtex or superglue’.
Attended community safety consultation group last Wednesday – thanked Mr Howlett for meeting with us and giving us a dedicated vice officer.
Recently there was a meeting at Drove School about what was believed to be their plans for a Youth Club, but it would seem that they now want to set up a charity-funding group, separate from the school itself. They want people to be on the committee who can look for funding, they will then hold the monies and decide whom to give it out to. The original idea and meeting last year was about providing youth provision and it now seems to be going off at a completely different tangent. Councillor Montaut asked that people looked back to the origins of the project, citing the aftermath of the hammer attack and the need to address the problems as the starting point. Nick Capstick then brought some of the issues together as a project looking to see how best to get funding locally, the scheme now being proposed is considerably larger than he originally anticipated where it was localised issues meeting localised needs, it now incorporates a lot of schools in a much larger catchment area, If it is to work children will need to bussed there and back. He thinks the idea is a sound one if problems and issues of practicality can be sorted out, but he does have reservations although he isn’t opposed to the idea. The Chair felt that at the first meeting last year, the media were fully involved and the problems surrounding the hammer attack and problems in Broadgreen were shamelessly used in the promotion of the ‘good’ Drove School could do. She did not expect to turn up to a meeting that was supposedly held to help with the problems in this area, and find tv cameras there and also reports on the radio and in newspaper. It was also pointed out that at the initial meeting, Nick Capstick did say he wanted a music room and various other things for his school out of this, so he was upfront about things in some way. Nick Capstick has been invited to Skeetz to talk to the young people and see what they want and also to a BSACC meeting to tell us what is going on, but he has never consulted with the young people, which is surely the most important thing to do if you want to provide youth provision, nor come to one of our meetings.
On May 16th we will be holding our annual Broadgreen Community Festival/event. There will be a committee meeting shortly.
We are re-asking if anyone has any music from other cultures and countries that we could add our collection, which is growing.
Swindon Federation of Community Organisations meeting – the Chair has become a trustee to make sure Broadgreen has a fair say - they are holding a conference on 14/2/9 at the Health Hydro, concerning Real People/Real Power.
The Children Fete at Faringdon Rd Park and the Caribbean carnival are taking place once again this year. Anybody wishing to help will be most welcome.
The Tasking meeting on 10/01/09 was attended by John Phillips, who has offered to sit on the group on behalf of the Community Council. Mrs Jones and Pam Freegard also attended – many thanks for that.
Attended SCF last night @ Steam – we-organising the group !!
On Saturday 28/3/09 we are having a Broadgreen Community Engagement morning 10am to midday. There will be a small History project exhibition; the Police will be in attendance with state of the art equipment to survey people on the prostitution problems. We will also be launching some community initiatives – street ambassadors etc. A tabletop sale is also planned to make some money for the Community event on 16th May. Volunteers and bric-a-brac are required.
It is our intention to set up an editorial team. We already have good links and training opportunities with Swindon 105.5 radio and Swindon Advertiser. Volunteer are needed for this.
Community payback – Offenders doing work in the community - can we use any help in community – perhaps re-visit in future.
Bail Hostels on your doorstep – a report from a newspaper. The Government intends to put bail hostels in lots of areas, SN1 being one of them. Councils, the Police and Probation Officers must be told if one is to be set up, but Councils will have no right to refuse planning permission unless they breach planning regulations. This could be of great concern to this area, as we have already fought off the one proposed for the old White House pub site a number of years ago.
The Selecta DNA kits are to be delivered by the Police from the 2nd March and street signage and cctv signs are to be put up along County Road, and the Crime and Safety Partnership are hoping to introduce Neighbourhood Watch into that area.
Race coalition event – The Community Council asked for some tickets but we were refused because the BSACC is not a BME group, despite being in the most diverse area of Swindon! It was requested that Councillor Montaut take to take back to the Council, that the older white people of Broadgreen have become a minority group in the area, and minority groups are not just different colours and cultures. – The Chair asked for permission to highlight this issue as and when it is appropriate.

YOUTH REPORT: There was no report given this month.

COMMUNITY PLAN: John Taylor has volunteered to become the project manager, this will ensure that all the paper work and documents are on the Leader of the Councils desk by the end of October, because it is important that people do not think the work done over the last year is wasted, and to also now engage with all of the people that want to be engaged. A steering group has now been formed with Stella Edwards, Tim French, Karen Leakey, Kevin Leakey, Kay Malko, Peter Newson, John Phillips, Derek Sutton, John Taylor and Ros Timlin forming the group, and a series of meetings will now be held to make use of the work done with Holly Huber over the last year. Councillor Montaut has also agreed to be on the group as a Ward Councillor, giving us a voice within the Council. We will have to work closer with the Council, Police and Fire Service. It will also be important to work with the New Swindon Company because they have got plans for the Union Square development and it is important that we know about them in as much detail and as early as possible. One of the longer-term aims is also for greater traffic control in the wider Broadgreen Area. A scheme is currently running in Carlisle at the moment called ’20 is plenty’ this would be a good phrase to adopt in the Broadgreen Area.
If people were wondering why is all this necessary, John read out a paragraph from a 1983 Thamesdown Council community planning report ‘relating to environmental standards set in other residential areas of the borough, the Broad Street Area has been neglected. An upgrade in the physical environment in combination with other forms of assistance might help the apathetic acceptance of the existing limitations of the area’ He sees no apathy in Broadgreen now, and that is because changes and improvements have been made thanks to the drive of the community council and others. It is very important that we have a strategic plan to guide this area into the future.
The Chair thanked John for coming forward and offering to be the project manager, and asked the community council if the BSACC could use £300 of the bottle bank money to give an initial boost towards room hire and printing etc. It was agreed that £300 should be made available towards the project.


SHRIVENHAM ROAD REPORT: There are still problems with overgrowing at the County Ground (Stratton Bank). Councillor Montaut said that the last time he got an officer to look at the problem, they said there was not an issue, so they accepted no liability for it.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: In the icy weather, the yellow coloured paving slabs on the street corners become extremely dangerous and slippery but they are not gritted. Councillor Montaut said this was a general problem, the council could be chased up about it, but they are not gritting paths. 7 to 11 shop in Broad Street are still storing fish in ice, in open polystyrene boxes on the floor next to the pavement on Saturdays, this is causing quite a bad smell and the oil etc is leaking out across the path making them slippery, it has also been witnessed that dogs are sniffing around the boxes. It is understood that food like this has to be stored at least 18” off of the floor. – Richard Palacio has dealt with this once before, he will be contacted again.

WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT: Had previously been asked to see if the old S4L office could be used by the BSACC but it is going to be used by a community development worker. Chris Hunt and the Leader of the Council Rod Bluh are aware of the need for an office. It was identified that a buildings list is available for voluntary action of Swindon and we have been put on a community assets list for when facilities do come up, so it is now on the agenda and things are being discussed.
Connecting People Connecting Places, Central Swindon and Eastcott will be in one cluster. Little is known yet about how it is going to work, but a lot of people have applied for the Cluster Director jobs, it will be a 2 day per week job, where all the problems in an area can be sorted out without councillors having to do anything!! Councillor Montaut is involved in the appointment panel for the Director jobs and the interviews will take 3 days. If there were meaningful engagement and empowerment to people, then Councillor Montaut would be prepared to go and sell it to communities.
It is probable that the Park and Ride scheme is going to be closed after the Council Budget, the impact this could have on this community is of concern, because it could mean hundreds of extra cars driving through this area daily, which would have quite an environmental impact. Councillor Montaut believes that as some of the bus services to new housing estates are already subsidised by 106 monies, could the Park and Ride not also be subsidised in the same way? What he has established is that there are £millions in the 106 pot, so at the next council meeting he will ask what is the total amount of 106 money, what has been identified at an expenditure level and how much has been identified to go to the Central Area?

B.O.N.D:There was no report given this month, apologies were given.


ANY OTHER BUSINESS: Problem with the old Scorpion Garage site in Station Road has started again. It has become a valeting service, the cars are being cleaned inside the building but are taken into the road for the outside to be washed. In the recent cold weather the water is turning to ice, making the road and paths very dangerous to use. The cars are also being parked in residents parking spaces.
The shop on the corner of Lagos and Corporation and Lagos Street has damaged guttering and when it rains, water pours over pedestrians.
With regards to the S4L area and Community Garden, John Freegard met with Gary Hewitt and passed on some of the outstanding problems to him, unfinished paving, unfinished fencing and cars parking or driving on the new garden. With regards to the paving, there have been sub-contractors working for Thames Water and they have not finished the stonework properly nor put back the double yellow lines.
The fencing is finished, open as it is, allowing dogs to wander around the play area.
The sand laid down in the garden is going to blow everywhere in the summer, and already children are digging it up! Apparently it has been put down to allow water to soak down to the tree roots. Last week a car was even driven around the trees.
John Taylor suggested that the Community Garden could be designated as a memorial to both Les Horn and Matt McCue, with an official opening on the Cohesion Day by the Mayor if possible, with plaques placed upon the benches. The meeting approved it.
The hedge in Gladstone Street along side the education centre has still not been cut
Dan from the Eastcott Community Council thanked us for allowing them to attend our meeting, they learnt a lot about what we are doing here and it was interesting to see both areas have similar issues and they were very interested in the 20 is plenty idea, which is something that could also be done in their area. They hoped they would be able to come to another meeting and learn some more.



Date of next meeting: Wednesday 04 March 2009 Meeting closed at 9.35 pm.

MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 7th JANUARY 2009

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.

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

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice Chair and Treasurer Richard Coates, Secretary Kevin Leakey, Minute Secretary John Phillips, Stella Edwards, John and Pam Freegard, Tim French, Kate Johnson, Alan Jones, Cluniford Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Sue Osbaldstone, Val Purvis, Ros Timlin, David Webb.

ALSO PRESENT: PC Sophia McIntyre Vice Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Capstick. Patrick Chaney - Steam Ahead Credit Union, John Taylor.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: John Banville, John and Vi Clark, Celia Cotton, Karen Coulthard, Elizabeth Grady, Olive Hitchcock, Kate Johnson, Evelyn Mason, Pam Montgomery, Mike and Lindsay Ponting, Derek and Madge Sutton.

CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES – 5th November 2008 meeting.
These Minutes were confirmed and signed a true record. Proposed Pam Freegard and seconded by John Phillips.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE SEPTEMBER MINUTES: The fence around the Broadgreen Centre has still not been joined up. The hedge on the Gladstone Street side of the Broadgreen Centre has still not been trimmed back.

COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT: Although there was no representation from our Community Police Team, Vice Liaison Officer PC Sophia McIntyre brought along her colleague DCI Kevin Capstick who is also involved in Operation Dobbin, which targets prostitution problems.
Around 20 successful operations have been carried out using Police Officers in plain clothes, not only targeting both prostitutes and kerb crawlers but also looking at the wider issues such as drugs and housing by offering help there and then from drug workers and other agencies in an effort to break the cycle they find themselves in. Prostitutes will not change their lifestyle overnight but a high proportion of them are now talking to various agencies.
Prostitutes are still being arrested and ASBO’s are being built up against them, if they break them then they will be put up in front of a judge and could be given a 5-year custodial sentence. An Anti Social Behaviour Contract has also been issued to a kerb crawler, he signed it and agreed not to approach prostitutes or drive around a set area (a map was issued to him). If he is caught again within the next 12 months, he will be taken to court and if convicted his name will appear in the Adver (it is not known if he is a Swindon resident). During these operations, warnings have been given out for possession of cannabis on the streets, cars and weapons have been seized, 1 driver had no insurance and a Police officer was also assaulted.
Concern was shown from a number of residents about a recent Adver report when they said that there were 30 prostitutes working in Swindon. PC McIntyre informed the meeting that over the 2 evenings of the operation around 15 prostitutes had been spoken to and only a couple had been seen on both nights. Some are regularly working but others only do the occasional night for some extra money. Back in the 1980’s and 90’s there were 30 plus prostitutes working here, many of them from outside of the town.
It was pointed out that whenever the Adver run a story about prostitution, they seem to sensationalise the problem and it encourages more people to come to this area, often just to look. PC McIntyre said that it was difficult to do without the press as successes needed to be shown and a clear message given out that if you come here as a kerb crawler or prostitute, then there will be consequences to your actions.
With regards to the sentences handed out by magistrates, it was the general feeling that more often than not a slap on the wrist was all that was given out, Karen said that at a recent Neighbourhood Tasking meeting a magistrate indicated that what may happen soon is that prostitutes will see the same magistrate every time they are in court which may then see tougher sentences being handed out.
Other towns run a course for kerb crawlers, which they have to pay £200 to go on. This addresses their behaviour and looks at the effects it has on their health, their families and on the neighbourhoods they drive around. It has been very successful in the places that offer this service and there is a re-offend rate as low as 1%. PC McIntyre is going to visit one of these courses on the 13th December, to see if it could work here.

GUEST SPEAKER: Patrick Chaney Secretary of the Steam Ahead Credit Union based at Cavendish Square - www.swindoncreditunions.co.uk.
The Steam Ahead Credit Union is one of two in Swindon, the other being based in Clive Parade, Cricklade Road, which serves the north side of Swindon the split being the railway line. At one time there were seven in Swindon.
Steam Ahead has been going for 15 years has around 600 members and now covers an area beyond Parks and Walcot that extends to Bishopstone and Wanborough.
Credit Unions are Co-operatives owned and run by it’s members, with a Board of Directors who have to be approved by, and are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
To join all you need is £1 and two forms of ID, then you can start saving as little or as much as you like, up to an upper limit of £5000. After saving for 13 weeks you can then apply for a low cost loan (@1% interest per month), up to twice as much as you have saved.
Although you do not get interest on the money you invest, members receive a yearly dividend from the profits of up to 8% of the amount they have saved.
There is no age limit on savers, but under 18’s do not have voting rights nor can they take out a loan.
If we want to set up a collection point from the Broadgreen Area, three people need to volunteer and be trained to deal with money and people. Val, Karen and Kevin said they would be interested in doing this.

CORRESPONDENCE:

· Should fires in town centre use smokeless fuels?
Reply: No part of the Borough of Swindon is a ‘smokeless zone’; so there is no absolute restriction on the use of standard coal or wood in fireplaces. www.swindon.gov.uk/streetsmart-bonfirenuisance
· Sent back Charities commission annual return form.
· Contacted Father Leslie for a second time, to see if we can use £2k for community garden and what progress has been made with Trust –
Reply: Thanks for your message. As I mentioned to you in an earlier email, I am at present in contact with the Charity Commissioners regarding the Trust, but I cannot speed up their responses, so I am not yet in a position to answer your letter, and I don't think I can answer all your questions without getting the position of the Trust sorted out first.
You will of course understand that this is an ongoing matter between the Trustees and the Charity Commissioners and, not wishing to offend you, you are not a Trustee. So therefore you will appreciate my dealings will be with them first, but hopefully soon I shall be able to let you know the outcome.
· Find out where the DPPO signs are placed – awaiting reply.
· People are using the Broadgreen play area to walk their dogs; can signs be put up banning dogs from this area and have dog bin?
Reply: There are 350 dog bins in use in Swindon It is not installing the bins that are the problem – it is maintaining them. If there is enough evidence we can go on a waiting list – so when a bin becomes redundant or very little used SBC will re-install elsewhere.
The Dog Warden has stepped up patrols in the area, especially the Broad St area. Signs can be put up, and are being looked into.
· Why are the fence panels not completed around Broadgreen Centre? Still awaiting a meeting with Gwillam Lloyd.
· Thank you letter to PC O’Sulllivan – see Chair report.



PLANNING APPLICATIONS
· S/08/1862 - Aylesbury House 10 - 11 Haydon Street Conversion and extension of building to provide 6 flats (Variation to Planning Permission S/06/0588) - Application Granted
· S/08/1966 76 - Manchester Road - Installation of new shop front and external staircase. Application Pending Consideration
· S/08/1623 - 2 Marsh Farm Cottages Shrivenham Road- Erection of a first floor rear extension. - Application Pending Consideration
· S/08/2058 – Tescos Ocotal Way - Erection of entrance lobby. (Amendments to approved planning application - Application Granted

TREASURERS REPORT
We are still holding the £2000 from the Broadstreet Trust that is left over from the monies given for new trees around the Broadgreen; this money cannot be spent on any other project. It has been asked if it could be put towards the running costs of the new community garden, but as yet there has been no answer.

Acceptance of Treasures report proposed by Val Purvis and seconded by Stella Edwards.

CHAIR REPORT:
PC O’Sullivan has left the Broadgreen Police Team and is now working in the targeted crime department. A letter of appreciation has been sent to him for the work that he has done in this area over the last two years. Without his input the area would be in a far worse state than what it is today. We now have a new Police Officer – PC Champion.
Karen is now a committee member and Trustee of the Swindon Federation of Community Organisations (SFCO) The Community Council is a member of SFCO.
Fran Pound from the lifestyle Centre has funding available for adults to become more physically active, the Chair has a meeting with her to see what might be organised in this area.
An application for a Community Grant has been submitted to the Council, this is the yearly grant we apply for, to continue our monthly meetings, cover insurance and our running costs.
The Govt. Inspectors report for the Central Area Action Plan has now been published. Apart from a small number of minor changes, the CAAP is ‘sound’ and awaits adoption by the Council. The inspectors report can be viewed online at www.swindon.gov.uk/swindon_caap_report_20_november_2008.pdf
Drove School are continuing with their youth facilities plan, the Chair is still very concerned that it could have a detrimental effect on youth provision in the Broadgreen area.
A newsletter, updating people about Drove Schools Community Cohesion was sent to the Chair. Karen voiced a couple of queries via email, both requesting the basis/source of information used in examples in the newsletter concerning (1) the threat of Islamic extremism in the Broadgreen Area and the fact that it needed reducing or eliminating (2) Drove young people's living arrangements, where most of whom – ‘live in multiple occupancy without gardens'
Skeetz is moving forward and has new members who are from a variety of cultures. PC Sheik recently paid a visit and was impressed at the difference he witnessed.
Following a meeting between the BSACC officers about an approach made to the Vice-Chair by a local developer concerning planning issues, it was decided that it was a serious matter that could put both the BSACC and SBC in a compromising position, so a letter was sent to the Borough Solicitor informing him of the situation. The Borough Solicitor has requested a meeting with both the Chair and Vice-Chair and they will be meeting him tomorrow (04 Dec. 2008)
The Cohesion Day 2009 will go ahead if people still want one, but a change of name may be a good idea. A number of ideas were put forward including – Broadgreen Knees Up, BG Family Day and BG Multi-Cultural Family Day. A meeting will be arranged for committee members in the early part of 2009.

YOUTH REPORT: None.

HISTORY PROJECT REPORT: Ros has loaned documents of her house to be scanned and stored for the history project. If anyone else has old documents, photo’s, press cuttings or stories connected with the Broadgreen Area then please bring them along to the monthly meetings to be copied. It is not the intention to keep your precious things, just to copy them for future use.
Swindon radio 105.5, run a weekly slot called Swindon Voices. The BSACC has a slot on Tuesdays at 4pm and so far, for this slot, John Taylor has interviewed Cluniford, John, Rebecca and Stella to name but a few, all who have talked about the Broadgreen Area.
After Christmas the Adver will be contacted to appeal for peoples help in documenting the history of this area by sharing their documents and photo’s etc.


NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT: The south end of Salisbury and Graham Streets are still awaiting the installation of their Neighbourhood Watch signs by the Council. A successful street party organised by a number of residents funded the signs.


WARD COUNCILLORS REPORT: No Councillors were in attendance.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS: There is a forum meeting with the New Swindon Company at Wiltshire Court on the 10th December. Carol Heneghan from the NSC will be attending the Tasking Meetings from now on. Tasking Meeting minutes can be viewed at www.broadgreen.squarespace.com
Nothing is expected to happen to the Carfax St.Health Centre until 2013 because of the credit crunch.
With regards to planning application decisions being flouted, in the last 9 years or so SBC have only issued 2 stop notices!
The new Jury’s Inn being built on the old Walker Jackson site in Princes St./Fleming Way seems to be very overbearing on the properties in Medgbury Road. Concerns were made that it may be higher than it has planning permission for.
The BG Police Team don’t seem to be in their office at the times advertised for their drop in surgeries. They have also not attended our monthly meetings for some time.
113 Broad Street is boarded up but people have been seen going in and out of the back gate, although it is unclear if they are actually entering the house.
Don’t forget the Xmas meal tomorrow! (04 Dec 2008)


Meeting closed at 9.30 pm. Date of next meeting: Wednesday 07 January 2009

AGENDA - BSACC monthly meeting 07 January 2009

WEDNESDAY 07 JANUARY 2009
7.30 PM in the LOUNGE, BROADGREEN CENTRE, SALISBURY STREET.

All Broadgreen Residents are more than welcome to come along, join in and bring any problems connected with the area to the meeting.

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Housekeeping
2. Apologies for absence
3. Confirmation of these minutes
4. Matters arising from these minutes
5. Community Police report
6. Guest speaker: None this month
7. Correspondence
8. Treasurers report
9. Chairs report
10. Youth report
11. Broadgreen History Project
12. Broadgreen Community Plan
13. Shrivenham Road/ Cockram Court report
14. Neighbourhood/Street Watch report
15. Ward Councillors report
16. Any Other Business
17. Next Meeting: Wednesday 04 February 2009