Minutes of the Board Meeting of St. Mary’s Island Residents’ Association Ltd. (SMIRA)
held at the Community Centre on Tuesday 4th April 2017
commencing at 7:00pm
Present:
Chair: David Taylor
Directors: Chris Reynolds, Leslie James, Peter Haigh and Barry Woolford
Visiting Members: Dawn Elms, Barrie Davis, John Scott, Michelle Clark, Geoff Mountney, Stella Mountney, Colin Stevens, Les Parker, Gez Greenway, Katy Taylor, Simon Taylor, Sally Munn, Carmel Parker, David Low, Sarah Low, Brian Viney, Rick Roe, Eleanor Moffitt, Alan Bennett and Adele Fairman.
CMT Representatives: Dean Marsh.
Medway Councillors: Cllr. Andrew Mackness and Cllr Habib Tejan.
Guests: Helen Kristic (PCSO), Claire Brooks (Amicus Horizon) and Chris Harrison (Community Warden)
Apologies for absence: Allan Sneller, Lily Leaver (Treasurer), Peter Whatmore (Moat Housing) and Gary Page.
Abbreviations: CMT – Chatham Maritime Trust, CML – Countryside Maritime Ltd. (developers), HCA – Homes and Communities Agency (SMI landowner), MDL – MDL Marinas, SMI – St. Mary’s Island.
Item 27/17: Minutes of the previous meeting
Adoption of the minutes of the meeting of the 21st February 2017 were proposed by Chris Reynolds, seconded by Leslie James and unanimously adopted.
Item 28/17: Chatham Maritime Trust Report
Dean Marsh presented the report on behalf of CMT.
Central East Bund
Turfsoil will be starting work on some of the French drains using diggers. This is part of the ongoing maintenance work.
Basin 2
CMT have taken over the basin from HCA and so some activity from Arethusa and Medway Water Sports should be seen from today when their season starts.
Food & Drink Festival
The CMT three-day Food & Drink Festival takes place this year over the spring bank holiday of the 27th, 28th and 29th of May. There will be the usual music, food stalls and funfair. The Dutch Barge Association together with The Dunkirk Little Ships will both be berthed in Basin 1 this year on all three days.
Medway Sunlight Rotary Club will again be organising a Charity Dragon Boat Challenge on Sunday 28th May. Anyone wishing to enter a Dragon Boat team should contact Allan Smith now on 07956 452331 or email
In addition, this year Chatham Rotary Club will be organising a Charity 5K ‘fun-run’ around Chatham Maritime on Monday 29th May. Anyone can enter and more details will follow.
10K Run
There was a 10K run around the Island last Sunday which was well attended (about 380 runners). It is hoped to make this an annual event. It was organized by the charitable side of Run UK, entry fees were donated to charity.
It was noted that some spectators were picking flowers so Dean will review the CCTV camera footage covering the course.
Alan Bennett commented that Dockhead Road is generally filthy and not an attractive route to run. Dean Marsh said that part of the road is under control of the HCA and part the Dockside Outlet Centre. Chris Harrison (Community Warden) said that it had been brought to the Council’s attention that the restaurants weren’t clearing their rubbish properly. Environmental Enforcement have had a site meeting with the landlords of Dickens World and they’ve spoken to each of the food outlets on the site and they are aware of their obligations towards litter. Any further infringements will lead to them being issued with enforcement letters. It will be suggested to the food outlets that they pressure wash the areas outside their premises.
Rubbish
It was mentioned that rubbish was becoming a problem outside the Co-Op; the bins outside are overflowing. The CMT employee (Alan) who drives the road sweeper had asked the manager of the Co-Op if they could buy another bin but they won’t. He has had to tie up some of the bin bags which are left to be collected. A suggestion was made to buy a garden tool store to keep the bags in until they are collected to stop the foxes and rats getting to the rubbish. Dean Marsh said that Alan the road sweeper come around every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and someone picks up the bags of rubbish when he has finished, so there shouldn’t be a problem with foxes.
Central Lookout
Work has begun on the Central Lookout with Turfsoil removing some trees with the intention of planting new red and green shrubs to give the lookout a ‘softer’ look.
It was suggested that although the Island is very pretty it is becoming too manicured as far as the planting is concerned; perhaps there should be some wild areas to encourage biodiversity. Dean explained that CMT have provided the wildlife garden on Finsborough Down. However, the species of plant aren’t native which is a problem because they aren’t sustaining the diversity. CMT have installed bird boxes and bee boxes to encourage nature but the residents didn’t like the original wildflower area on Finsborough Down as they considered it too untidy. A suggestion was made that a wild meadow could be created on the eastern slope of Finsborough Down under the tree line, which fronts the industrial area and is out of sight of the residents unless they are on top of the Down. This would preserve the attractive views of the Down and increase biodiversity on the side nearest the industrial recycling units.
There is a narrow strip of land at the back edge of the school which gets mown in summer at the most inappropriate times when the biodiversity is at its greatest. There are species like wasp spider and lots of butterfly species which are quite rare and the plants they thrive on are being wiped out by someone with a strimmer. For years residents have tried to stop the cowslips being mown down and it has been the same with the bee orchids. Dean explained that CMT get complaints if an area isn’t mown and asked for a meeting to discuss this outside of the SMIRA meeting.
Post Meeting Note: Dean Marsh has met with the residents that raised this matter and constructive discussions are ongoing.
The Dutch Raid
The 350th Anniversary of The Dutch Raid on the Medway is a Medway Council initiative happening in June this year. It is expected to be quite a spectacle, culminating in a firework display (Medway in Flames) and a depiction of the Dutch Raid with Upnor Castle as the backdrop on Saturday 17th June. This will be the big finale to the week-long 350th anniversary of the Battle of Medway anniversary celebrations and will be a major public event with all day activities and entertainment.
The Raid on the Medway during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667 was a successful and daring attack conducted by the Dutch navy deep upriver targeting the largest English naval battleships at a time when most were virtually unmanned and unarmed. At the time, the fortress of Upnor Castle and a barrier chain called the 'Gillingham Line' were supposed to protect the mothballed naval ships anchored off Chatham which was the main English naval base. We lost.
Covenants
Grant Leathwhite has been appointed as the Residential Services Officer and will be dealing with all covenants matters across the estate. This has left the post of Estates Officer vacant but CMT are looking to fill in the near future. Currently the duties are being covered by Ward Security.
Ward have also been walking around the Island during the week and at weekends, sometimes with their own dogs, checking on dog walkers and making sure that dogs are kept on their leads. The majority of people do keep their dogs on leads but a few people had to be advised and they then put their dog on a lead. Chris Harrison (Community Warden) has also been round and had to challenge one person who then complied. Barry Woolford said that the lower east bund has lots of people with their dogs off lead in the early morning. In October 2015 Medway Council introduced a dog control order which says specifically that any dog walked on a footpath adjacent to a road, or in an area where there are signs to say that dogs must be on a lead (such as on SMI), must be on a lead. SMI has Estate Rules which state that all dogs must be on a lead except in the dog run area on Finsborough Down.
A resident from The Wharf asked if there were dog patrols in their area but Dean Marsh said that the patrols are only on St. Mary’s Island because of the Estate Rules.
Residents from The Wharf are concerned about the noise coming from the commercial units, such as FlipOut, the Ship & Trades with their late licence, the new wine bar and proposals for Machine Shop No.8.
Pump House No 5
The Copper Rivet gin distillery is open and the new deli now open within Pump House No 5.
Southern Bullnose
The area near the tugs is being resurfaced by CMT’s contractor FM Conway with 100% recycled materials.
Other
There is to be a 100 years commemorative service for the servicemen who lost their lives during the bombing at the Drill Hall in Brompton on 10th September between 11:00am and 12:00 noon. The event is from 9:30am to 2:00pm and the Navy marching band will be there. Rick Roe said that the archivist at the library has asked for knitted poppies so that on the day there could be 130 poppies, one for each of the servicemen who died. Please contact the archivist if you able to help with the knitting.
Peter Haigh asked if there was a list of recommended trees and shrubs which could be planted in people’s gardens. Dean Marsh said he would consult Turfsoil and then put a list on the CMT website.
Item 29/17: Chair’s Report
David Taylor invited Claire Brooks, from Amicus Horizon who will be managing Atlas Place, the new 62-unit extra care scheme on the new development, to address the meeting.
Claire thanked SMIRA for inviting her to speak to the meeting. She explained that an extra care scheme is not the same as a residential care home. It is independent living for residents over the age of 55; 24 units are shared ownership and 38 are rented through Medway Council’s housing register. It is due for completion around April 2018. All the shared ownership apartments are 2 bedrooms, 12 of which will have balconies. They have a full wet room, large lounge and kitchen area. Within the scheme there are communal areas. There is a home ownership team within Amicus Horizon who deal specifically with shared ownership. Regarding the shared ownership, people can purchase anything from 40% up to 75% of the value of the property. If 75% of the property is paid then the remaining 25% is rent free, other percentages below this figure will incur rent. For the rented properties purchasers must be over the age of 55 and have a health need (assessed by adult health services) and be on the housing register. There is a £12.50 a week wellbeing charge to all residents payable to Medway Council for the 24 hour carer cover. Service charges which cover the gas, electric and hot water are yet to be set. Water supply is charged separately by the Water Company. Included in the service charge is a charge for 5 three course meals a week in the communal restaurant which is also open to the public. There will also be a hair salon.
Atlas Place residents will have a video entryphone whereby they can let visitors into the communal parts of the building where there is then another entry system to allow visitors to enter the lifts to the apartments. All residents have key fob access and from 5:00pm entry to the scheme will be by fob only. Postboxes are within the communal area and there is a residents’ communal lounge accessible to residents’ visitors but not the general public. There will be a hobby and activity area and mobility vehicle storage rooms on the first, second and third floors. A laundry room will be provided which is primarily for carers to be able to wash bed linen etc. but it may be available for residents to tumble dry duvets etc. There will be one guest suite chargeable at £25 per night for residents’ family and friends. The shared ownership apartments are valued around £230,000 - £260,000 for 2 bedrooms.
Amicus Horizon are putting together an older persons steering group for Atlas Place to get the scheme as residents would want it. They are looking for volunteers to assist in selecting wall colours, art and other things within the scheme; meeting every 6 weeks or so.
If anyone is interested in Atlas Place or the older persons steering group they can contact Claire on 0800 121 60 60 or 01795 434 606. There has already been a lot of interest expressed in the development.
A resident asked how many parking spaces there would be at Atlas Place. Claire said that there will be 3 disabled bays, 31 bays and 11 visitor bays and will be on a first come first served basis but every resident will be given a parking permit.
A discussion took place about the need of Atlas Place residents for easy access to a doctor. Some residents still found it difficult to see the doctor the same day. The local doctor’s surgery is now out of special measures because of improvements to the service. There is also a very good out of hours’ service provided by Medoc. Claire mentioned that most healthcare in such schemes was provided by district nurses.
The attendees thanked Claire for addressing the meeting.
Item 30/17: Secretary’s Report
Bob Muid reported that we have another new member.
Item 31/17: Treasurer’s Report
Lily Leaver is on holiday but has reported that the total spend for the current financial year is £3,584.00. There will be a few more bills to come in; our financial year runs until the end of March. Our grant of £3,000 has been increased annually to £4,000 by Chatham Maritime Trust.