WERA Committee Minutes
Monday 17th November 2014, 7:30 pm West End Tap
Agenda
- Approve Minutes For Previous Meeting Held On The 20th Of October 2014
- Matters Arising
- Committee Christmas Dinner
- Council Executive Meeting 15th December
- Possible WERA Article for The Lincolnite & The Brayford Post
- West Common
- FOI Request/Property survey
- Street Wardens
- Request from Landlord
- Car Parking Survey
- Any other business
Apologies
Gary Hughes (GH)
Kaare Hansen (KH)
Chris Hyslop (CH)
Present
Nigel Manders (NM)
Ray Bristow (RB)
Ros Stone (RS)
Sandra Lewis (SL)
Rob Lewis (RL)
Joshua Ost (JO)
George Woolfenden (GW)
Meeting Minutes
1. Approve munities from previous meeting
Minutes were approved from the previous meeting held on the 20th October. Minutes of all WERA meeting are available online: http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/westendresidentsassociation/section.asp?catId=32028
2. Matters Arising
No matters arising
3. Committee Christmas Dinner
RL & SL suggested a committee social dinner on the 17th of December. The venue was Elena’s Kitchen and members were asked if they would be interested in attending.
The venue is capable to fit 14 and as such it was discussed to invite others to the event.
It was decided to invite local resident Maria & the 2 local councillors Karen Lee & Neil Murray.
- RL & SL are to invite & finalise plans for the event. NM can not attend the entire meal due to a meeting & KH has not replied to e-mail.
4. Council Executive Meeting, 15th December 2015
Following the City of Lincoln Council (CoLC) policy scrutiny meeting an executive meeting is to be held on the 15th of December to make the final decision on HMO’s and which option the council will take, most notably Article 4.
It is encouraged that local residents attend this meeting. While audience participation is not allowed. Attending shows the council executive how engaged residents are in the issue of HMO’s.
The committee discussed the previous policy scrutiny meeting. Present members were pleased with the outcome of the meeting and RL, who spoke on behalf of WERA, praised Maria Lyon on her presentation. It was pointed out that Brian Alcorn’s presentation against article 4, and the figures used, reflected nothing against the case for Article 4. The contribution in student volunteer hours which he referred to roughly worked out at 2 hours per head and was not therefore particularly significant. It was also pointed out that only 2 litter picks had taken place. JO pointed out that there have been others across the city and not just in the West End. These included Abbey Ward, Monks Road and the Brayford Clean Up, which JO was a part of.
NM suggested new publicity to raise awareness of the Executive meeting. It was agreed to print more posters & pin them in the local area.
- NM is to contact Mark about getting new flyers posted.
JO raised the point that the previous posters listed the old name of the Venue. (New Life Church) when the venue is now called the Alive church. It was agreed to change to the new name but bracket the old name for convenience.
5. Possible WERA Article for The Lincolnite & Brayford Post
RL suggested sending a letter to local media outlets to present the positive case from WERA about Article 4. He was concerned local media had not focused enough on the positives of Article 4. Instead RL was concerned media showcased WERA & residents coming out as anti-student, which is incorrect.
RB agreed, and noted when reading the Lincolnshire Echo’s report on the matter he was not pleased by the lack of positives for Article 4.
JO mentioned how it was reported on campus. Saying University of Lincoln (UoL) lacks a standard newspaper such as other universities have. The most popular campus paper, The Linc, does feature credible reports & praises the fact it is all run by volunteers, but is inconsistent with the amount it covers. As a result he pointed out that the most awareness of Article 4 was via the Students’ Union which has publicly stated it is against Article 4.
RL says the letter should included statistics such as the increase in students numbers changing the balance in the community.
SL & NM pointed out that maybe a joint letter to the press from other residents/community associations.
RL is to talk to contacts in the Abbey Resident Association.
It was also discussed using other residents/community associations to join up more on campaigns and have a stronger force when lobbying both the CoLC & Lincolnshire County Council (LCC).
- RL & NM to draft up a letter to send the press.
6. West Common
GW opened the discussion on the West Common.
A proposition has been created to restrict car parking on the West Common for 4 hours at a time. This is to prevent people who essentially ‘park & ride’ into the city centre for free. Players at the golf club are to be not included as golf requires more than 4 hours to play.
The meeting was then interrupted by a local resident, he wanted to add his view about parking saying he now struggles to park on his street. He also added that he is having issues with anti-social behaviour. He also added that students have been great for the city and enjoys living in a vibrant community.
SL politely said that this was a committee meeting.
The resident was by this point finished with his comments and left.
The committee then discussed parking within the west end. RS agreed parking has become an issue and that her & other residents find it difficult to park on the same street as their property.
- GW finished discussing parking on the west common by finalising details on the west common 4-hour parking. It will operate 8am – 6pm and will be regulated by a ticket machine. Consultation on the proposition ends 1st December.
7. FOI (Freedom on information) request/ property survery
NM contacted the CoLC using FOI powers to request a list of properties in the Carholme ward that are listed as HMO’s and/or exempt from paying council tax.
Only limited information was released, as the council were concerned on privacy issues caused with releasing address lists. They are to clarify this in-house.
GW & RB suggested doing a property survey within the ward to get information.
- NM & GW to do remainder of the ward property survey, this will be combined with the list from the CoLC which only covers 22% of properties.
8. Street Wardens
SL is leading the set up for street wardens. Committee agreed it was too late to get anything sorted before Christmas. Instead wait until New Year for initial meeting of registered people.
SL is to call those to register their interest to be a street warden.
It was also pointed out large areas remain without coverage, most notably Carholme Road.
JO suggested listing the volunteering position on the University of Lincoln Students’ Union (UoLSU) website. JO also addressed concerns of the conflict of interest between WERA and UoLSU over article 4. Saying the volunteering department is not related to policymaking and is managed by full time staff. No action was taken on the suggestion.
9. Request from Landlord
A Landlord has been in contact with WERA and showed his interest to join. SL pointed out the constitution requires members to be a resident of the West End to join.
Out of topic, NM asked about updates on the West End Working Group (WEWG) , and WERA to join. SL is to raise issue at the Carholme Forum in which the members of the WEWG are present.
GW also discussed the Open Spaces Society (OSS) issue on keeping a horse on the common. It now costs £150 per horse and the CoLC requests a lot of paperwork, of which was felt to be unnecessary. GW did praise the benefits of some of the paperwork including medical check-ups.
10. Car Parking Survey
Recent planning committee raised the idea of doing a car parking survey on May Crescent. A car parking survey was meant to be conducted by the CoLC & LCC in 2006. That survey was delayed until 2014 but has still not been done. A car parking survey would benefit local area as increased use of cars by residents has seen limited parking everywhere. SL pointed out a new development of flats which is being built has only 4 parking spaces.
- NM to follow up
11. Any other business
-RL is to send a WERA branded letter to the planning inspector involved in the Carholme Guest House appeal. This was to seek advice on the studio conversions currently taking place in the West End and whether the Resident’s Association had any powers to oppose this type of development.
-RS is to apply for a grant to improve gardens within the West End. This is to aim to improve front gardens of properties to improve the look of the area. RS is to achieve this with practical workshops for residents. SL pointed out the original ambition for the grant providers was for use in personal homes (plot plants etc) . However this would not provide a huge boost for the area.
- GW then asked about funding for the Victorian fencing on the west common. RL suggests speak to Neil Murray to find funding. RL asked whether the Section 106 money could be used. GW says all £160,000 of Section 106 money is going towards the replacement of the cricket pavilion and the refurbishment of the changing rooms. RL asked whether any detailed budget for this work was available.
Next Meeting
Sometime in January 2015, date & venue to be confirmed.