WILFORD COMMUNITY GROUP
The Tenants and Residents Association for Wilford
Minutes of the 3rd Annual General Meeting
held at the Wilford Bowls and Social Club, Main Road, Wilford
Chairman, Roger Steel, opened the meeting by
welcoming invited guest, Councillor Andrew Price, who would be acting as
Independent Chair and overseeing the election of Officers and Committee
Members, Residents and Committee Members.
1. Approval of the 2004 Minutes of the 2nd Annual General Meeting
2. Annual Report
A written report has not been sent to the committee due to work commitments but will vote on the spoken report.
Clean Up Campaign – The council have targeted areas for the second year running and has been successful in keeping Wilford free of graffiti and rubbish. The WCG have built up a good relationship with Dave Stretton who is in charge of the Clean Up Campaign and we will continue to reap the benefits in the future.
Pillar Box - The WCG successfully campaigned to have a new replacement pillar box on the corner of Holly Avenue and Main Road, this was eventually replaced by Christmas 2004.
School Transport – this was an issue taken up by the committee and we are still in discussion with the local council and will continue to be an on-going issue.
Motorbikes – two local residents have photographed and identified riders and was followed by a successful prosecution. Residents must continue to be vigilant and notify the police of any offenders. The WCG have built a good relationship with PC Brown.
New Boundary - With the new properties expected on Ruddington Lane, (The Becket School area) the group would like to expand its’ boundary. Before this can happen the residents beyond our current boundary have to be asked also the council have to approve the change.
RS said his aspirations for 2005 were to preserve the unique environment of Wilford this ‘Village in the City”. With all the new developments taking place we must guard against any moves to develop the allotments, Dorothy Boot Homes etc.
Library – another issue taken on board, particularly by Brian Hardy and Jonathan Shewell-Cooper, who attended a meeting with local councillors and officials from the Library. Article 106 seems to be the issue when asking for money for this type of project. Article 106 is mainly about green space for children. Andrew Price explained the best way would be to expand the list to add what is useful to local residents. JS-C commented the library would be making the Anniversary of Wm Wilberforce and his Act of Abolition of Slavery a special event in 2007 and as this was written in Wilford, this may be a way of persuading the Council to improve the library. We need some innovative ideas to move forward. RS felt it is more a political issue than one to be dealt with by a local community group.
Open Gardens – This year there was a big take up from local groups and more gardens were open. RS thanked everyone on the gardens committee and we may build upon the success of this year. JS-C suggested the Open Gardens and Fete could generate money for the WCG to use as a ‘fighting fund’ if we ever need the use of solicitor’s etc. as do the Lady Bay Open Gardens Committee.
Neighbourhood Watch – I am aware of only 1 small group joining as to its effectiveness it has to be questioned with recent burglaries. Residents appear to be reluctant to join there has been little take-up of our initiatives.
NET Tram – there are ongoing issues with Net and I see this as a number one priority for the coming year. We need community mobilisation with more positive protests rather than letter writing. We need to be on our guard as NET intend to spend £1 million reducing the embankment between Holly Avenue and Wilford Lane (450 metres) which will open up the village to noise and intrusive views from the new schools. A simple solution is to run the line at the back of the embankment. This will preserve mature trees and wildlife habitat and the peace and tranquillity of residents of the village. Also a stop at the Ferry Inn could have disastrous effects upon the residents.
Ferry Inn – The Spirit Group will apply for an extension of licensing hours. If anyone wrote about the previous application these will be disregarded and we need to write again once the application has been posted. There is a ‘drop dead’ date when all applications have to be in by the 6th August.
New Flight Paths – noise pollution is already there and will be increased in the future. Also the police helicopter is a nuisance particularly at week-ends. Can anything be done?
The automatic noise alarm from Experian is also a nuisance at week-ends.
Bell Lane Housing Development – Have storage areas been provided for bins? Bin storage and car parking are proving a problem with regard to new developments. What needs to happen is a change to planning briefs, which are made up to 5 years in advance. How can we influence this Policy Document?
This concluded the Chairman’s Report
Treasurers Report-
Sheila Atherton presented the finance report that has been audited by Deborah Rivers, ACMA. Sheila Atherton asked that Deborah Rivers be retained to audit next years’ accounts and that the Financial Statement for the year ending 31st March 2005 be accepted.
Proposed - Jonathan Shewell-Cooper
Seconded - Brian Hardy
The committee stood down and Andrew Price, as Independent Chair, took over the formalities of the meeting.
There were two nominations for Chair, Roger Steel and Brian Hardy. Roger Steel suggested Brian Hardy might like to say a few words on his ideas for the future of the group. BH said his priority would be a new library, work taking place with the flood banks, Ferry licensing hours and would like to have regular meetings with dates set in advance. On a show of hands Brian Hardy was elected as Chair.
There were two nominations for Vice Chair, Roger Steel and Bill Roughton and on a show of hands Bill Roughton was elected as Vice Chair.
Sheila Atherton remained as Hon Treasurer and David Boulton volunteered to be the Secretary. Nominations for Committee were Chris Alsopp, Kate and Brian Clark, Maggie Hamilton, Jonathan Shewell-Cooper, Roger Steel, Steph Taylor and Frank Wakelin. Josie Foster resigned from the committee.
Andrew Price gave a short speech and handed over the chair to Brian Hardy.
Brian Hardy thanked everyone who voted for him and said thank you to JF for her time on the Committee.
The meeting continued after a short break.
SA suggested that the cost of £80 for the banners purchased this year be set against this years’ two charities and the future events in the sum of £10 per charity per year plus the cost of altering dates, rather than claim it all from one event. This was agreed.
The donation to RS for his previous purchase of banners, to be discussed at the next committee meeting.
The next committee meeting is on the 18th July, 7.30 pm at the Bowls and Social Club.
Presentation of the cheque from the Open Gardens and Fete day was arranged for the 21st July at 7.30 pm at 85 Main Road, Wilford with all members of the Sub-Committee being invited to attend. JF will e-mail all participants from the sub-committee to invite them to join in the presentation.