Middlemore Residents Association AGM
Tuesday 15 November 2015 @ 8.00pm
Present: Alan & Rosemary Brown, Ian & Kate Campbell, Pete Douglas, Jean Gosling.
Apologies: David James, Karen Tweedale, Nathan Chettle, Michael Gosling.
1. Summary of the last 12 months
1.1 Two successful events
a) Queen’s birthday party celebration. Secured £500 grant from DDC Community Event Funding to help with costs. Raised £481.75. A donation of £150 was made to the British Heart Foundation.
b) Superhero party for Ethan’s wheelchair fund. Sheaf St.Healthstore kindly paid for the DJ and did leaflet printing. Raised £1026 and Ethan’s wheelchair has been ordered.
1.2 Defibrillator Kit– grants received from both NCC and DTC. Installed February this year and has been used twice.A training sessionwas carried out by East MidlandsAmbulance Service at Middlemore Farm PH and 2 training kits are out on loan. KT has a list of people interested in borrowing the kit.
1.3 Insurance – Public liability insurance organised in July.
1.4 Treasurer’s report – Shows details of Summer Party, Ethan’s Wheelchair Fundraiser, Defibrillator Project and expenses associated with the above.
1.5 Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) – Went live at end of February and membership is now 70 with one more in progress. Grant application has been made for NHW signs.
1.6 Public Art – Bellway Radio wave, leaflet drop and public consultation regarding this and new artwork. Planning Application for Radio wave made in August.
Last consultation for additional art was 1st November at Middlemore Farm PH – poor turnout. Wendy Briggs is artist. Lack of local input so far but School workshops are planned to gain local teenager’s involvement.
1.7 Bus link – leaflet drop completed by MRA on behalf of council. Overwhelming support – 243 For (95.6%)/11 Against (4.33%). Against had no particular trendnor was it limited to any particular area of the estate. It will be a matter of time for the work to be done due to changes to existing planning and funding. No update since end September.
1.8 Clean ups – Two Clean ups have taken place this year March and June. ‘Paint means pooh’campaign also seemed successful in reducing dog waste.
Bellwaydog waste bin update – nobody is claiming ownership. Council have advised that we contact Bellwayto see if bin can be re-sited.
1.9 Cycle path to Braunston – £1 million Community Infrastructure Levy monies earmarked. Initial feasibility completed and further assessment required. Plans still ongoing – meeting due before Christmas.
1.10 Horsegate at end of Bridleway improvement completed
1.11 Street lighting – Monitor on anongoing basis, Steve Whelton up to date. Harron Homes are a problem at the moment.
1.12 Parking – Previous leaflet drop – community safety partnership. Continues to be an issue. Areas have been identified as possible parking areas. Business Manager Simon Bowers at DDC – can he go around site with us? No response as yet.
Response from 13th September by Simon Bowers suggested that the areas we had highlighted were too far away from homes and no funds are available to provide additional parking.
1.13 Roads and pathways – barrier removed, no feedback. Hidcote Way/Claydon – kerb work taking place prior to top-dressing which will take place next financial year. Temporary “Construction traffic only” signs – not being removed.
1.14 Retirement village – initial consultation late July (Crown Care), some concerns raised (height of buildings, loss of view, accessibility, impact of more cars). No update since.
2. Election of committee for 2016/17
We would like to thank existing committee for their contribution over the last year.
After proposals and seconds the committee members elected for the forthcoming year are:
Chair- Kate Campbell
Vice Chair-Jean Gosling
Treasurer-Alan Brown
Secretary-Karen Tweedale
Vice Secretary-Ian Campbell
3. Matters carried forward from previous meeting
Initial question: Do we want to have the meetings earlier?
New time of 7:30 pm acknowledged.
3.1 Updates from Councillor Malcolm Longley
Braunston Cycle Link – no other info apart from what was in summary.
NHW Grant availability – have now applied for grant for NHW signage. Need to chase this.
3.2 Heartlands bus exit feedback
See summary above – no new information.
3.3Public art consultation
Latest email from Tim Cantwell/Wendy Briggs – plan school workshops, possible weekend event before Christmas with treasure hunt, food, other activities to promote Public Art Project.
Suggested that article is added to Middlemore.co about the project, encouraging people to come forward with suggestions.
3.4 Retirement village – remove from ongoing matters until further news.
3.5 Ongoing Estate management matters- litter, dog waste bins, litter bins, repairs needed, play-park issues, street lighting.
Booking a date for next clean up was deferred until Jan 2017 meeting.
Lack of dog waste bins – Karen to contact Bellway to see if their bin can be re-sited.
Litter - contact Enterprise, more litter picking required but it should be noted that this has now taken place in the last week.
Playpark issues –no update as yet so we will carry over to next meeting.
Hidcote way play areas badly lit and damaged benches.
New issue – small park on Bellwaysite also has an issue with one of the mushrooms having lost its top. KT to report to Bellway contact.
Street lighting - continue to monitor(Steve Whelton).
3.6 Parking Issues
Parking and the associated problems generated by parking continue to be a problem. Chase DDC Business Manager Simon Bowers.
3.7 NHW update – Alan -Lamp posts need to be identified for the location of the signs for a budget to be produced.
3.8 CPR Training kits–2 kits on loan, need to be returned. Karen has list of interested parties andwill progress.
4. AOB
A Middlemore resident who has previously attended the MRA meetings, but could not attend this meeting, asked the recent antisocial behaviour to be raised. Children moving cones, emptying dog bins etc. We all agreed that the best strategy is to report every issue to the Police via 101. This is not something that the MRA or individuals can tackle.
5. Dates of Meetings for next year:
10th January
14th March
9th May
11th July
12th September
14th November(AGM)