Minutes of November’s meeting 2017

Minutes

BROCKHILL RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Committee Meeting Thursday November 16th

Minutes of Meeting Thursday November 16th 2017 held at Alestones 

Those Present:

David Dallaway                                                      DD

Lynn Dallaway                                      LD

Sylvia Collinson                                                      SC

Julie Vincent                                          JV

Tish Greenway                                      TG

Gemma Monaco                                  GM1

Gemma Moore                                     GM2

 

Apologies were received from Pattie Hill (PH), Emma Fletcher (EF), James Doble, Stephen Siddle (SS) & Anita Clayton.

 

Guests in attendance: – WCC Brandon Clayton (BC) and WCC Robin Lunn (RL).

 

DD welcomed GM2 to her first meeting.

 

The Agenda:

 

  1. Actions arising from meeting on 27.7.17
  2. Pointers Way progress with Persimmon
  3. Anti -social behaviour near to derelict barns
  4. Update on new Holyoakes Field First School
  5. Carthorse Lane tightening of chicane
  6. Deep dip in pavement at top of Low Field Lane
  7. Murder Mystery Evening
  8. Quiz Night profit
  9. O.B.

 

  1. Actions from last meeting:

 

The litter bin for the pathway adjacent to Greenford Close remained an outstanding issue. PH will be asked to pursue.

The blocking in of the gap under the gate at the top of the steps leading from Brockhill Lane into the Nature Reserve has now been done. PH was thanked for expediting this. There is however another problem at the bottom of the wooden steps. After a period of rain one of our members descended the muddy and slippy steps. When she got to the bottom two steps on the flat that are not covered with anti-slip metal wiring, she slipped and fell. This resulted in her sustaining considerable bruising, a painful coccyx, sprained arm and soft tissue damage. In addition to the two steps not being non-slip, the lowest step leading into the road is also slightly angled pointing downwards so again making it easier for an accident to happen. PH has since spoken to the injured person and will investigate what can be done to improve the safety of the steps.

Adoption of the Nature Reserve continues to be held up, seemingly by Persimmon’s lawyers. It was commented that Persimmon and its staff are becoming increasingly difficult to contact and obtain feedback from. One of our members is threatening to report the procrastination to the press.

DD is now in possession of a copy of the parking covenant for Pointers Way residents.

The website hosting had been renewed with the same supplier but at a substantially discounted rate compared to the previous year.

The support grant of £250 from Worcestershire County Council had now been received. BC was thanked for this generous donation.

RL confirmed that speed measures etc. had now been carried out for the crossing near the junction of Oaktree Lane into Brockhill Park. He now awaited notification of a start date.

JV had duly booked the Batchley Community Hall for the Quiz Night.

  1. Pointers Way progress with Persimmon:

GM1 met Olly Pocock, a Persimmon Planning Officer, a few weeks ago. She led him on a tour of Pointers Way to point out, amongst other things, the appalling state of the land between Burrington Close and Mettis Aerospace. They talked about having a new spur in the path that runs alongside the wasteland, as at present the path leads nowhere. Several residents came out to speak to the officer when they realised who he was, asking him about Persimmon’s plans for the area. Not surprisingly he then endured somewhat of a hard time!

A few days later workmen cleared the wasteland and deposited topsoil to make it look better. Several more speed bumps have been installed along Burrington Close to slow down traffic since the next phase of the housing development has now started. Two new dog litter bins have been installed and the lamp posts, which had not been working, now have electricity connected to them. A new path with kerb stones has also been constructed. GM1 informed us that the Marketing Suite is now open for ‘Meadow View’ as the new development is called. Plans for the site are now on show there. RL expressed surprise that the next phase was now imminent as it was not scheduled to start until after the new school had been built. He asked to be notified the moment the first brick was laid and will contact Kevin Dicks, RBC’s Chief Executive, with regards to the section 106 money that is paid by the developer to the Council for the benefit of the area. (See also item 4. Below)

GM1 was congratulated for her ‘never say die’ attitude in the pursuit of obtaining action by Persimmon.

 

  1. Anti-social behaviour near to derelict barns:

We have received reports from residents, walking their dogs on the land near to the derelict barn on the edge of Pointers Way, of youths on scrambler and quad bikes who were causing a disturbance and setting fire to the barns. Firefighters and police have attended the scene on several occasions. The owner of the land has been contacted by Richard Waterhouse, Redditch Community Safety Projects Officer. It is hoped that the owner will repair existing or install better fencing, as at present the entrance to the barn is still easily accessible.

A scrambler bike rider has also been seen riding up to the fields surrounding the barn. He appears regularly from Wheelers Lane and roars up Cookridge Close wearing no helmet and without lights, even though it is normally dusk or night time when he ventures out on to the public highway. On occasions he has also been seen speeding down the public open space from the barns down to the Red Ditch, an area regularly used by walkers. PH has informed us that the police are aware of this and have been patrolling regularly.

The issue of the young scrambler bike riders in the Nature Reserve appears to have been resolved satisfactorily following a visit by PCSO Edward Wood to one of the residents in Plumstead Close.

  1. Update on new Holyoakes Field First School:

RL had met with the Head Teacher of Holyoakes Field First School on 27th September to discuss the building of the new school. We had been told at July’s meeting that there were problems with the land where the entrance to the School should be, as it did not belong to Persimmon. RL said that he had been told at a planning meeting that this was not a problem as Persimmon still own enough nearby land to be able to divert the entrance slightly. BC said that he thinks that the entrance will be in Dovecote Close but will inspect the plans at the Town Hall this week. RL said that now that we know that Phase 2 is due to commence and the Marketing Suite has been erected, he will be able to contest how the developer has been granted the authority to proceed, when the school hasn’t even been started and as the plans state it should be built before the next wave of houses. It may be that the Marketing Suite has been set up, but the houses will be sold from plan. RL said that a colleague of his, Nigel Wilson, has a good rapport with Persimmon and would ask him to see if he can find out when the building of the school would commence.

  1. Carthorse Lane tightening of chicane:

BC has been in touch with a new WCC Engineer, Paul Green, who has informed him that the work to tighten the chicane in Carthorse Lane has been agreed and should be completed before Christmas. There will also be some ‘Slow’ signs painted on the road on both approaches to the chicane.

  1. Deep dip in the pavement at top of Low Field Lane:

RL was reminded that the dip in the pavement near Rhymes Nursery still had not been repaired. He was under the impression that the pavement had been investigated and repaired. RL will now report back to the Highways Department and progress the matter.
Murder Mystery Evening:

SS had informed JV by email, as he was not available to attend the meeting, of details for the Murder Mystery evening. JV said that the event will be held on two consecutive evenings, Friday March 9th and Saturday March 10th 2018, at Alvechurch Village Hall. The two performances would be for the benefit of four separate organisations or charities and consequently, if we sold all our allocation, we would receive a quarter of the total proceeds. Ticket prices are expected to be £8 per person and attendees will be able to bring their own drinks, although tea and coffee will be available. The capacity of the hall with the audience seated is 80, so teams of 8 people at each of the 10 tables will be set up. The aim will be, therefore, to sell a total of 160 tickets over the two nights. BRA’s target sales would therefore be 40 tickets. Clearly the fewer the tickets that are sold overall, the less are the shared proceeds. Members are asked therefore to keep one of dates free to support what will be a most enjoyable evening and provide additional funds for the Association.. All members will be contacted about the event early in the New Year.

  1. Quiz Night Profit:

The Quiz Night held on October 16th was a success, thanks to our Quiz Master DD and his assistant LD. Six teams of six and one of four people had an enjoyable evening with a variety of topical questions put together well by our host. A bar was served by two of our members, Matt Collinson and John Dallaway, and that, together with ticket sales and raffle ticket proceeds, raised a profit of just over £200. JV had sent out letters of thanks to our raffle prize sponsors and arranged for an article to be printed in the Standard Newspaper.

DD did however express his disappointment regarding the number of members who attended this annual fundraising event. The profits go a long way towards enabling us not to have to charge a membership fee. Of the seven teams, two were organised by DD and consisted totally of non-members.  JV and BC both provided a team and the team of four people included SC, TG & RL. That meant at least five of the seven teams were organised by committee members and councillors.

  1. O.B.

JV informed Committee Members that Robin Dennis, one of our members who has a bicycle sales business, has most generously donated a brand new small girl’s bicycle for us to auction again this year. Bidding will start at £40 and will have a cut- off date of Thursday December 14th. This will make an ideal Christmas present for a lucky little girl. The contact details are on our website and on the posters displayed on our notice boards. Also JV will request EF to email all members with the details.

JV was talking recently to a disabled lady who rides a motorised wheelchair around Brockhill Park/Wetlands. She was having difficulty to get her wheels up on the tarmac surface on the bridge, as it has dropped at the one end. RL said that he will put in a request for the tarmac to be raised.

GM2 told us that the pond, at the side of the pathway leading off Carthorse Lane by the post box, is full of overgrowth and rubbish which needs clearing out. BC said that this is a job that is done over the winter.

 

 

Actions from this meeting:

  • PH to chase up the long outstanding request for a litter bin on the pathway adjacent to Greenford Close.
  • PH to pursue the possibility of making of safety improvements at the bottom steps leading from the Nature Reserve down on to Brockhill Lane.
  • RL to find out when the building of the Holyoakes Field First School will commence.
  • RL to chase the investigation and repair of the deep dip on the left hand side of the pathway leading from the top of Low Field Lane near to the last barn conversion by Rhymes Nursery.
  • BC to view the Meadow View Housing Development plans at the Town Hall, to confirm where the entrance to the School will be situated.
  • JV to run the auction of the donated bicycle.
  • RL to request the repair of the sunken tarmac on the Brockhill Park/Wetlands bridge.

Meeting ended at 9.35 pm.