PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice-Chair Pam Freegard, Treasurer John Freegard, Secretary and Archivist Kevin Leakey, Muhammad Chaudhry, John Clark, Vi Clark, Paul Izquierdo, Kate Johnson, Kath Jones, Cluniford Mason, Madge Sutton, Ros Timlin, Bob Walter
RESIDENTS PRESENT: Waleed Ahmad, Mohammed Khan, Imtiyaz Shaikh
ALSO PRESENT:
Mark Walker – SBC Town Centre Locality Lead, PC Atkinson - Broad Street Area Beat Manager, N. Ahmed, Tim French, Kathryn Hawke, Azim Khan – Thamesdown Islamic Association, Mansoor Khan, Ishak Mogul
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Diana Banner, Kay Malko, Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Ishmael Stevens, Pat Townsend, Roy Townsend, PCSO Millarvie, PCSO Rogers. Frances Barrone – SBC
MEETING MINUTES, 04 JUNE 2014: Confirmed Pam Freegard - seconded Muhammad Chaudhry
MATTERS ARISING from the 04 June minutes : none.
Mr. Ishak Mogul said he was new to this meeting and wanted to understand about it, and asked if the BSACC was owned and funded by the Council (SBC) – The BSACC is neither owned by nor funded by Swindon Borough Council.
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM REPORT
PC Atkinson reported on the neighbourhood crime statistics.
COUNCILLORS REPORT: No councillors were in attendance.
CORRESPONDENCE
SENT – None
RECEIVED – Kath Jones resignation from the BSACC.
PLANNING
S/14/0864 - Tesco Superstore Ocotal Way - Part change of use from shop to restaurant (Class A3) and community room within existing store -
Application Pending Consideration -Case Officer - Mr Tom Buxton
S/14/0959 - Change of use of part of car park to hand car wash and valeting operation including the erection of an office and canopy - Case Officer - Mr Tom Buxton
TREASURERS REPORT - to 02 July 2014: John Freegard
Proposed - Muhammad Chaudhry, Seconded - Madge Sutton
MARK WALKER REPORT
Met with Manchester Road traders re. amendments to new experimental traffic order. The new proposals included additional loading bays in Manchester Rd. and the loading bays in the side streets being converted back to limited waiting bays. Since the experimental introduction of a clearway (no stopping at any time) in Manchester Road, the enforcement team have had to issue a high number of tickets, but it is now much clearer and not as congested as it was.
Late August/early September the Zone J residents parking amendments will be reviewed, and residents engaged with.
Broadgreen Centre – The block bookers have been met with, the future of the centre was outlined and the feedback about the centre was very positive – the staff were polite and helpful, the facilities good and accessible, it was close to the bus station and there was a good car park. The Council have put money aside to improve the centre and regular users have been asked what they would like to see improved. When a plan had been put together, the users would be consulted. Regular users of the centre were also asked if they would like to be regularly involved in discussions about the centre, and lots of people wanted to be involved, which could help with how the centre was run in the future.
The waste initiative was continuing, there would be an updated version and the community would be consulted. It was hoped that 2 ‘hoopla’ bins, that make sounds when people put litter in them, might have arrived before the BSACC event on the 19th, at which the waste team will be in attendance.
The Probation Trust will be sprucing up the outside of the building shortly.
The following questions and concerns were raised:
The area was going down hill, and many of the shops in Manchester Road were looking messy, with rubbish and cardboard outside shops, and as this was a main route into the town centre, it gave a bad impression for the whole area.
The shop on the corner of Lagos Street was still using the path in Corporation Street to display their goods, and vehicles were parking on the path, causing difficulty for pedestrians to pass, where was the boundary line between the shop and pavement?
Community garden would be launched on 19th, any update?
Why were vehicles still being parked on Manchester Road?
Why do some back alleyways have double yellow lines and others do not?
Vegland in Corporation Street still have a sign directing customers to park in Armstrong Street.
When would the Broad Street parking review happen?
Answers:
With regards to shops and rubbish, there was legal action pending, on some of the shopkeepers. All of the shops had been visited and spoken to by the Council.
The shop in Lagos Street had been visited and the shop display in Corporation Street was on their land and was not infringing the public highway.
The community garden – Mark had met with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and there would be some raised planters at the front of the building, with potentially 3 or 4 more to come. The Wildlife Trust would be at the event on the 19th, supported by the Probation Trust. A sketch of the rear of the centre would also be available to allow residents to see what could be done in that area, and to comment and add suggestions to it.
Most of Manchester Road was a clearway and £60 fines were being issued to vehicle owners illegally parked. The fine was reduced to £30 if it was paid within a certain time. But if illegal parking was regularly noticed at a particular time and place, it should be reported so enforcement could look into it.
As part of the parking review, alleyways were now under a gated scheme, meaning vehicle owners could be fined for parking there, even if there were no double yellow lines. In some of the alleyways, parking had been abused more than in others, so the double yellow lines were painted to highlight no parking.
Vegland parking sign - the shopkeeper had been informed that there was no longer limited parking bays in Armstrong Street.
Broad Street parking review was part of the Zone J review to be carried out in late August/early September.
MEMBERS - Any Other Business:
The Chair spoke to the meeting about the following:
The BSACC would be having a stall at the Goan event at the County Ground on the 12th July and requested help.
Our event on the 19th July was aimed at families from Broadgreen, and it was hoped that residents would engage and share what they would like to see happen in the area.
The Broadgreen Centre’s future needed to be looked at, to ensure its continuity; this could mean users, including the BSACC, coming together to run it.
To ensure that the BSACC continued into the future and to allow more people to be involved, drop-in’s were probably the answer. From talking to residents, set times and formal meetings were not something that currently fitted easily into peoples lives, drop-ins would allow flexibility to the times people could attend and would be of an informal nature, which is something that also put people off.
It was agreed that the August meeting would be a drop-in between 7.00pm and 8.00pm.
Meeting closed 7.55pm
