Minutes of the Basingstoke & Deane Over 55’s Open Forum Meeting held on Wednesday 9th October 2013.
Present: xxx members attended, as indicated on the Register, with xx visitors.
1. WELCOME
The Chairman, Graham Finlayson (GF), formally opened the meeting and welcomed all members to the October Open Forum. He hoped that guests would find the session interesting and enjoyable and would, hopefully, join the Forum. There were some slight amendments to the Agenda which were shown on screen.
GF gave the usual reminder on H&S matters and asked members to turn off mobile phones. Thanks were due to all those who had generously donated so many raffle prizes, with special thanks to the volunteers who kindly sold the tickets, to those members who had set out the chairs and to our volunteers on car parking duty. He said that St John Ambulance were present for this meeting but he hoped they would not be needed.
GF went on to remind everyone about the book exchange scheme and if you did not have a book to exchange, a donation would be appreciated. He also gave a reminder that juices would be served at the front of the room, as at the previous meeting, to allow for more seating and to lessen congestion at the back of the room.
Finally, GF said that Forum member John Cook was comfortable but still very ill and would be starting radiotherapy treatment on Friday. We all send him our best wishes.
2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
Copies of the Minutes of previous meetings were available on the web site www.bdover55sforum.btck.co.uk but members could request copies from the Secretary, Gerald Merritt (GM). GF expressed thanks to Marian Wilson for her hard work in producing our Newsletters every two months.
3. MATTERS ARISING
There no matters arising but GF said that the Variety Show had been very successful and many people had commented on how enjoyable the afternoon had been. The Committee would consider if we could adopt a similar approach for next year's show.
4. DESTINATIONS - BASINGSTOKE & BEYOND
Joan Sullivan (one of our members) gave a presentation on the book produced by members of the Writing Circle. It contains both prose and poetry and Joan read out one of her own poems. Marian Wilson had read the book and enjoyed it so much that she read it a second time. If the book was purchased on the day (cost £5), 25% of the proceeds would be donated to funds for testicular cancer.
5. RECYCLING IN BASINGSTOKE
Cllr Elaine Still introduced the session and handed over to Chris Noble from Hampshire County Council. Chris said that his challenge was how to make a talk about rubbish interesting. He started with some figures: there are 758,750 households in Hampshire, Hampshire produces 740,000 tonnes of waste each year and it costs over £100m to collect and dispose of this waste.
Chris went on to describe Project Integra. Formed in the 1990s, it is a Waste Partnership between 11 District/Borough Councils, 2 City Councils, Hampshire County Council and Veolia Environmental Services. There is a lack of landfill sites in Hampshire and incinerators were highly used in the past but most have now been closed due to age and pollution factors. Chris showed a diagram with the various locations involved in the overall process.
What is in my bin? Paper & Card 32.5%, Metal 5.0%, Plastic 12.8%, Textiles 4.6%, Miscellaneous 10.6%, Glass 4.2%, Putrescent (kitchen/garden etc.) 2.0%. The following only should be placed in the Green Bin - plastic bottles, paper, cardboard, aerosols, food tins and drink cans. What happens to these items?
• Recycling is taken to a MRF – Materials Recycling Facility in Alton
• Different materials are sorted by a mix of manual and automatic means
• Then sent for reprocessing into new materials. Paper is sent to paper mills and metal and plastic are used to make other new items.
What is not wanted in the Green Bins (10 to 15% is contaminated)? Any plastic other than bottles – e.g. bags, pots, tubs and trays, Glass, Polystyrene and Clothes. These materials cost money to dispose of and are not recycled. Please note, anything in a plastic bag is not recycled as it cannot be opened for H&S reasons.
Other ways to recycle - composting, garden waste takes about 6 months to break down into compost - Kerbside collection for glass - Recycling Centres for clothes, electrical items and foil
Why Recycle? Prevents waste of natural resources – oil, metals and paper, reduces greenhouse gas emissions – by reducing waste going to waste in landfill, saves money – each tonne of waste avoided or recycled is a saving to the council and council tax payers, local environment – reducing traffic and the need for waste disposal sites.
What else can you do? Compost at home, reuse, reduce your waste, love Food, hate waste.
Where does the rest of the waste go? To Energy Recovery Facilities 3 ERFs in Hampshire – Chineham, Marchwood & Portsmouth. Waste unsuitable for recycling is safely burned to produce electricity - enough to power 52,000 homes (50 megawatts). This allows us to divert 92% of household waste away from landfill and bottom ash from the ERFs is recycled as a material which can be used in road maintenance.
What is happening now? Using waste as a resource, maximising diversion from landfill sites, improving value for money for Hampshire residents, increasing recycling, preventing waste and communicating!
Q: Can we recycle magazines?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I recycle cracked or broken glass?
A: Cracked can be accepted but broken has to go into the grey bin.
Q: Can I put shredded paper in the green bin?
A: No as it cannot be processed. It can be added to your compost, provided it is well mixed.
Q: What types of glass can be recycled?
A: Bottles and jars only.
Q: Do I need to sort out coloured glass?
A: No, this will be sorted.
Q: Should I remove the caps?
A: Not necessary but it would help.
Q: What can be done about excess packaging to reduce waste?
A: There are on going discussions with suppliers etc but you can always remove the packaging and leave it at the supermarket. If it is really excessive, you can report it to Trading Standards.
Q: People still put things in plastic bags.
A: Unfortunately, no amount of stickers can prevent this.
Cllr Still asked why the ash produced could not be included in the recycling figures. Chris said this was a government directive although it was being pursued.
6. BREEZE RADIO - 107.60
The presentation was given by Belinda Allen, Regional Director for Celador, who asked the audience when the first commercial radio licence was granted - 1973 to LBC/Capital Radio (Pirate Stations were not licensed). Breeze is your local radio station and is owned by Paul Smith who was a recipient of a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours List, for services to the media industry. He was the man who came up with the international hit TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. He also took Disney to court and won, £250 million!
The Breeze is your local radio station. The aim is to make you feel this is part of Basingstoke, with local traffic and weather information, transmitted from Festival Place. The Breeze covers a wide area but the information is always local - Basingstoke or Newbury or Andover or Winchester. This is achieved by specially developed technology. We keep people up to date with events, accidents, bad weather etc.
The Community Billboard sponsored by Newbury Building Society is where you can promote your local event, charity or not-for-profit organisation. We run features on-air and give people in North West Hampshire the chance to find out about your cause. We're giving local community groups and charities a voice. The Community Billboard gives local charities and community groups the chance to have a new voice in Basingstoke FREE OF CHARGE. The Community Billboard is only open to registered charities and not for profit groups that are of genuine benefit to the community.
Tony James is our Brand New presenter on our flagship Breakfast show (ex Radio 210). His high energy and engaging personality shines through to welcome our listeners to our Morning show. With a lot of excitement buzzing around, he will have you dancing round the kitchen. Tune in to the morning show with Tony James from 6AM-10AM.
The Breeze also does a lot for children's groups, donating some £30,000 a year to the Kids' Trust. To contact the Breeze, telephone 01256 694000.
7. HAMPSHIRE FIRE SERVICE
Community Safety Officer, Gary Sloan, gave this presentation. He is the Watch Manager at Andover and his main job is to make sure that people are safe in their homes.
It is good to plan and we have a Fire Service Plan for the next 5 years, looking at the risks and how to address them.
1. Prevention by giving talks, and carrying out checks on public buildings etc.
2. Response through the 999 system.
3. There are 51 Fire Stations in Hampshire, 12 manned 24 hours a day providing an 8 minute response time, and 39 part time stations.
4. There are 1,500 staff within the Service. There are some 50 volunteers.
Fighting fires is only part of the service which also has an animal rescue team, a water rescue team, an urban search and rescue team (in buildings), a technical fire safety team, an arson task force and Responders who act as a back-up for the Ambulance Service. There is also a Road Safety Team who aim to reduce the risks on the road.
It is just as important for you to have a plan for your home, in the event of fire etc. and the Service will help in building a plan, especially if you have a disability. Gary showed a video clip of an Xmas Tree Fire where it took only 40 seconds for the fire to take hold.
The main risks are from open fires, electrical faults, Chip Pans/Cooking, smoking and candles. The risks can be reduced by installing smoke alarms, checking chimneys are not blocked or need sweeping, using ashtrays, not smoking in bed, avoiding candles or not leaving them unattended, not putting tea lights on plastic containers, watching cooking oils, wearing an apron when cooking and turning off electrical appliances. Include pets in your plan.
It is important to have smoke alarms in the right place and to maintain them and to close doors (this gives you an extra 15 minutes), especially at night. Also, you must know where the door key is kept so that you can get out quickly. As a back-up plan, in the event of a fire, you should keep a phone to hand, ring 999, move to a special room and open a window (do NOT jump) but keep the door closed.
Q: Why fit detectors where you cannot replace batteries?
A: The batteries should last for years and we do not want people standing on chairs to replace them. Also, some people remove the batteries for use on other things.
Q: Some alarms fitted by the Service were faulty.
A: This problem has been resolved and any alarms would be replaced.
Q: Is damage to doors by the Service covered by insurance?
A: We do as little damage as possible but it is more important to save lives.
Q: Are multi block adapters safe?
A: Ideally remove them but only use the switched blocks.
8. OPEN FORUM MEETINGS AND OTHER MATTERS
GF said that the committee had received a short presentation about the refurbishment of the Top of Town and requested members to complete a short questionnaire for B&DBC. Core Fitness sessions recommence on 17th October for a further 6 weeks and New Age Kurling starts on 14th October at the Carnival Hall (free to members).
He said that the committee had also had a meeting with a representative from HCC about the closure of the home at Deeside and had been assured that the home would remain open until the requirements of all residents had been met. HCC was running the "Hitting the Cold Spots" campaign again and leaflets were available today.
9. EVENTS REPORT & HHFT REPORT
The Secretary, Gerald Merritt (GM) gave an update on the trips. There were 2 trips remaining - the Hawk Conservancy on Friday (£24 for members) and Petticoat Lane and Spitalfields. There were still some places for the Thursford trip. the New Year trip was now fully booked. Overall, trips continue to be well supported and GM thanked everyone for their support.
Trips being considered for next year were: Stourhead and Shaftesbury, Aylesbury Canal, Houses of Parliament, Bletchley park, Sandringham House and Gardens, Highgrove House and a Mystery Trip. GM was also looking at arranging a trip to France to celebrate the centenary of WW1.
The free trip would be arranged in the spring of 2014, to allow all the 2013 trips to finish, and may well be to Gloucester.
With regard to the Hospital, GM said he had suggested that a ramp be installed and that mobility scooters should be made available. Also, a notice or screen should warn patients if a consultant was running late or not available.
Finally, GM mentioned the Help for Heroes event on 10th November, with tickets available at £6.50.
10. CLOSE OF MEETING
Before closing, GF reminded members that subscriptions for next year were due and, if paid before the end of December, would be reduced from £6 to £5 each. He also said that collection tins were on the tables in the side room where lunch was served and donations were most welcome. The meeting closed at 12.50pm.
Diane Anderson – Committee Member
Graham Finlayson - Chairman
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