NOTES FROM THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL DROP-IN HELD ON 02 OCTOBER 2013

PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice-Chair Pam Freegard, Treasurer John Freegard, Secretary and Archivist Kevin Leakey, Diana Banner, Muhammad Chaudhry, John Clark, Vi Clark, Paul Izquierdo, Kate Johnson, Cluniford Mason, Madge Sutton, Roy Townsend, Pat Townsend, Bob Walter, Bob Wedge, Robert Williams and 1 other resident

ALSO PRESENT: PCSO Rogers, PCSO Millarvie, Tim French, Councillor B Wright



APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Kay Malko, Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Ros Timlin, PC Atkinson - Broad Street Area Beat Manager, PC Kuklinski - Vice Manager, Mark Walker – SBC, Councillor J Wright, Frances Barrone – SBC

The following issues, points and information were raised and discussed

• · It was hoped that Ray Read from SBC Parking Enforcement would be in attendance to answer parking concerns, but he was unable to attend at the last minute.
• · Parking – issues still continued with illegal parking connected to Manchester Road shops and in the side streets directly off of there. Mosque parking on a Friday afternoon and also when they held events in the evenings were also causing ongoing problems. It was felt that there was a lack of parking inspectors in the area at these times. – Cllr. Wright - parking was under review in the area, but was making slow progress due to issues with changes at Swindon Commercial Services, . A consultation meeting was coming up concerning County Ground event parking. At any one time there were about 12 Parking Services staff working, they had been tasked to cover Manchester Road and Mosque parking, but not at any specific time. The Mosques had their own wardens telling people where to park, one of them being Cllr. Junab Ali, but it must have stopped, they also had a deal with SBC to park on the top floor of Carlton Car park, but would often arrive late leaving them no time to walk to the Mosque. Cllr. Wright agreed to approach Cllr. Ali and the Mosques about this and also Parking Services concerning the times they patrolled the area.
• · Fly tipping, litter, empty spirit bottles and beer cans in alleys and shop bins on the pavement, these issues were ongoing and never sorted out.
• · Planning issues surrounding temporary canopies being put up on the front of shops – look untidy.
· There would be no meeting in January, as the first Wednesday was New Years Day.

CORRESPONDENCE : Kevin Leakey

RECEIVED – Police and Crime Commissioner Angus McPherson may not be able attend the November meeting as he now has a personal engagement in Bristol until 7pm that evening.
– Ray Read, Operation Manager, Highways and Transport SBC, unable to attend drop-in due to operational commitments.

PLANNING – S/13/1404 - 7-9 Corporation Street SN1 1DS (Vegland) - Change of use from greengrocers (Class A1) to takeaway and restaurant (Classes A3/ A5) and installation of extractor fan/ flue to rear (Sammy’s Turkish Pizzas) - Application Pending Consideration S/13/1341 - 117 Broad Street SN1 2DS - Erection of a garage - Application Pending Consideration
S/PRIORH/13/1196 - 36 County Road Swindon SN1 2EW - Prior Approval Notification for the erection of a single storey rear extension measuring 4.25m (from original rear wall), 2.9m (maximum height) and 2.9m(height to eaves) - Prior approval not required

TREASURERS REPORT - to 02 October 2013: John Freegard

HISTORY REPORT: Kevin Leakey

• · The Central Library yearly autumn event ‘Heroes & Villains’ was held on Saturday 21st September and the Broadgreen & Queenstown History Group attended, along with the following - Alfred Williams Heritage Society, Mechanics’ trust, Purton Historical Society, Roger Trayhurn – Empire Theatre history, Swindon 105.5, Swindon Civic Voice, Swindon Society, Wiltshire Family History Society (Swindon Branch), Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre and Wroughton History Group. The afternoon was quieter than previous years, possibly due to the Swindon V Bristol City football match and associated problems in the Town Centre, however it still attracted many people and gave all the groups the chance to show what they were about. Swindon 105.5 broadcast a show live throughout the afternoon and gave good coverage of the event, as did the Adver and Swindonweb. Our display included images and information about Les Horn, Frederick Hawksworth, Jimmy Thomas, George White and Swindon Town players including Jock Walker who ran a fish and chip shop in Manchester Road – many thanks to Paul Izquierdo who kindly passed on his memories of Jock in the 1950’s. A huge thankyou to Bob Walter and Karen Leakey for the support and help they gave on the day, it was very much appreciated.
• · We attended the recent Swindon & District History Network meeting held at the Central Library. These quarterly meetings are organised by staff from the Local Studies and Family History department and have proved very successful in bringing together all the various historical groups within the borough, enabling them to share information etc.
• · A query was recently raised concerning the location of a skateboard park somewhere behind the County Ground, possibly by the old Wills factory, sometime in the mid to late 1970’s. Does anyone remember it, as research to date has failed to uncover anything?
• · The latest copy of the Swindon Heritage magazine was out now (£4.99) and could be purchased at a number of outlets, including the Central Library and Havelock News.

NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM REPORT: PCSO Rogers and PCSO Millarvie

3 prostitutes were currently in prison.

Police related issues raised by residents –

Did the Police provide personal safety and home security advice? – The Bobby van could visit victims of crime and elderly or vulnerable people to offer advice on safety and security issues and replace locks and chains. Would arrange a suitable time for Bobby Van to visit BSACC - www.wiltshirebobbyvan.org.uk.

Drug dealing was taking place in the Alfred/Gooch Street area. – Please report this via the 101-phone number; patrols could then be stepped up in those areas.

Drinking outside shops in Manchester Road and around the area, often after the Breakfast Club – Action was taken against Abbey’s last year, when they lost their alcohol licence for 28 days due to selling alcohol to an intoxicated person. It was recommended that people seeing this problem reported it to the Police via the 101-phone number, this would allow evidence about the issue to be gathered and if the person had an ASBO against them, other action could be taken.

Cycling on pavements, particularly in town centre – dangerous to pedestrians. – The Town Centre Police ticketed people as and when they saw and could stop them they also carried out regular action days against this problem.

Part of the current NPT tasking between 8am and midday, is to look out for drinking issues, drinking outside shops and urinating in alleyways.