Ladywell Assembly Coordinating Group 01 November 2011

LADYWELL ASSEMBLY

Coordinating Group Meeting St Marys Centre

Tuesday 1 November2011

Meeting minutes

Chair: Councillor Vincent Davis

Minutes: John O’Reilly{Ladywell Assembly Coordinator}

Attendees:Gordon Cowie, Tom Herbert, Valerie Weber, Geoffrey Thurley, Elizabeth Ward, Tony Major

1 Welcome and Apologies
Cllr Davis opened the meeting at 6:30pm and thanked everyone for attending.
There were no apologies received prior to the meeting / Action Points
2 Minutes of previous Coordination Group meeting (18 August 2011)
Valerie asked that her surname is spelt correctly in the minutes. Weber not Webber.
With reference to page 2, item 4 Geoffrey asked the e- mail conversation to be noted which agreed the format of the voting. This superseded the agreement at the coordination group meeting. The outcome was that residents were asked to choose 3 from 13 projects listed on the ballot sheet. This was successfully implemented on the night. / John to note
3Review of previous assembly meeting (Thursday 22 September 2011)
Comments from the group were as follows:

the voting system worked well which was simple and straightforward
the groups presented their case in a very professional and competent manner
children were allowed to vote which caused some confusion. No 16 age limit which was not made clear on the evening of the vote
sometimes not clear if people are really living, working or studying in the ward and therefore eligible to vote
flexibility of voting rules can sometimes work in our favour
lively way of organising the meeting which fostered a good community spirit
the PA system did not work very well on the evening

Overall, the group felt that the event was successful and should be repeated in future years. The funding for 2012/13 is £18,750 subject to Mayor and Cabinet ratification.
4Taking assemblies forward event 24 October 2011
Comments were as follows:

first half of the meeting could have been shorter, in particular the presentation from the Chief Executive
Localities Bill section was interesting but needed additional time to develop more fully which was not permitted.
would like to see the assemblies team develop more ward based surgeries such as setting up an information table at Ladywell Station
Question and Answer worked well
It was interesting to find out about the other wards through the case studies
it is questionable if the taking assemblies forward event really has taken assemblies forward
the round table discussions were interesting and a good opportunity to meet other members in parts of the Borough
there could have been more time allocated for the table discussion with other coordination group members

John will feedback tomorrow to Liz Dart (Community Services Manager) who will meeting with the assemblies team. / John to feedback at next CG meeting
5Assembly schedule 2012/13
John explained that the assemblies team were starting to plan the schedule of meetings for 2012/13 and this was an opportunity for coordination groups to decide on the number of meetings. It was agreed that there should be 4 meetings next year, with possibly one of these being a social event. / Full schedule to be prepared in early 2012
6. Planning stages next assembly meeting to be held on Tuesday 22 September 2011 at the St Andrews Centre
Venue
The preferred venue is the CroftonParkBaptistChurch on Brockley Grove.John will carry out a health and safety audit of the building.
Draft Agenda

Localities Bill 2011 and it’s implications for the Ladywell ward
Brockley Design Festival November 2011 report
Update on the streetscape action plan
Safer Neighbourhood Team
Community Updates
AOB

Publicity
The door to door letter will be delivered through the services of Letterbox and the posters to be delivered to the usual locations
Who to invite

speaker with knowledge about the Localities Bill, and in particular the neighbourhood planning aspects
Clare Cowen, Brockley Society
Janet Senior to advise on possible streetscape action plan speaker
David Hawtin of the Safer Neighbourhood Team

Format,etc
Tables and chairs to be used
AOB
Jeffrey enquired about the credentials of ‘BrockleyCounty Football’ Club’. They practice on Hillyfields every Saturday morning and it is not clear that they use that name. John said that the assembles team closely monitor fund recipients and funding may be withdrawn if sufficient information is not provided. A visit will be arranged to the Brockley County Football Club.
Elizabeth also expressed concerns about the dog walking scheme in Dressington Avenue which was funded by the Localities Fund in 2010.
Elizabeth expressed concern about the door to door letter, for example 1 King Fisher Mews did not receive the letter in the last round. Gordon has also not received the door to door letter in Foxberry Road. John said that there was an 82% success rate in the 100 address survey which is carried out by Letterbox. It was agreed that there was a need to monitor the performance of Letterbox more closely to ensure transparency and value for money.
Some members asked about the devolved assembly budget. John explained that there was currently a small surplus in the Ladywell budget that needed to be spent by 31 March 2012. John will bring the budget details to the next coordination group meeting which will be tabled for discussion.
There was concerns expressed about the noise at today’s venue which resulted in being moved to an alternative room halfway through the meeting. This needs to be taken up with the facilities manager for St Marys Centre.
There being no other business the meeting was concluded at 8:30pm. Cllr Davis apologised for the meeting overrunning by approximately 30 minutes.
No declarations of interest were made at this meeting. / Monitoring visits to be arranged
Letterbox performance to be monitored and report at next meeting
Budget to be discussed at next meeting
John to speak to Roy, Facilities Manager