Ainsley Area Residents Association Minutes
Held Tuesday 19th May 2009
5.30pm Robert Shaw Primary School
Present:
Anthony Kelly (Chairman)
Michael Thomas (Secretary), Christine Thomas (Treasurer), Lyn Shepherd, Eve Earley, Jo Bride, Lyn Thompson
In Attendance:
Councillor Gary Long
Karen Coker (Head Teacher, Robert Shaw School)
Susan Ward-Rice (NAO, Nottingham City Council)
1. Apologies
Roger Codling
Chris Earley
2. Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes
These were agreed as a true record.
Southfield Road Garages
Councillor Long arranged for the remaining stump from these garages to be removed, which it now has been.
Arbrook Drive,/ Holbeck Road
Councillor Long took the information about the identified potholes on Holbeck Road to the Highways people. These holes have now been filled in.
Grassington Road Pavement
Work on the pavements has started and at the time of this meeting were nearing completion.
3. Possible Closure of Beechdale Road Library
The Council has been approached by a party interested in buying the building Beechdale Library is located in as well as the vacant building next door. No decision has been made by the Council as this was not a planned action. The money saved from this sale and closure has been identified as possibly being able to make improvements to other library services. At Councillors Long and Fosters’ recent surgery there was significant feeling presented against this course of action.
A resident from the Aspley area plans to start a petition to enable people to show their disagreement with this course of action so it may be presented to the relevant Council committee when any decision is made.
Karen is acting for the school as she feels this is a valuable local resource and is used by the school on many occasions.
Councillors Long and Foster are going to be leafleting the area to canvas local opinion. Residents will have a chance to meet and discuss this proposal with the Councillors at a meeting.
29th May 2009 at 6pm at Beechdale Library
The committee agreed to assist the resident from Aspley in trying to obtain signatures from any residents in the Ainsley Area that may disagree with the proposal.
Action: All committee members
4. Vale Crescent North Road Surface
Compared to the road surfaces on the rest of the estate, Vale Crescent North’s road surface seems to have suffered worse than others. Councillor Long informed the meeting that a technical inspection of road usually takes place about every 2 years. Councillor Long is going to contact the relevant department to see if the road inspections are due and if not ask if they could look at the worst portions of the road.
Action : Councillor Long
5. Robert Shaw Field Update
Through a lot of hard work everything other than the insurance has been put into place ready for the reopening of the field. The Parks department have agreed to insure the field as long as certain conditions are met. Councillor Long, Karen and Susan met prior to the meeting and see no issues with most of the demands as the agreements are already in place for these. There is only one issue on the list that seems over demanding and that is the daily check for glass. Councillor Long, as well as we, felt this was unattainable in any situation. Councillor Long was going to press Parks department for a more reasonable checking regime.
Another issue Councillor Long thought the Parks might require is for some form of checking during the holiday periods. It was agreed that the committee could do this checking on a rota basis with a contact number to ring should an extreme situation occur e.g. abandoned cars.
Hopefully the insurance issue can be resolved soon as the lead-time on the entrance protection gates may delay opening the field before the start of the summer holidays.
The Committee members can draw up a rota for the summer holiday when a rough opening date is known.
Action : Councillor Long
6. Annual General Meeting.
Leaflets were distributed at the meeting for delivery to advertise the Association and the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. It was agreed to post these leaflets roughly a week before with posters put up earlier to meet the 2 week notice requirement. Karen has kindly agreed to put posters on the school boards. One will also be placed in the library.
Councillor Long has agreed to preside over the election process of officers at the meeting.
Committee members volunteering for election;
Chairman - Anthony Kelly
Secretary - Michael Thomas
Treasurer - Christine Thomas
Action : Michael Thomas
7. Correspondence
Road Sweep on the Estate
Correspondence between the Secretary and Streetscene had taken place to try and coordinate efforts between the Residents Association and the street cleaning service to facilitate car removal to enable cleaning of the worst effected areas. The initial trial had not started well with the stated clean date of the 8th May not happening. A road sweep is meant to be every 2 weeks after this date. Unfortunately the clean then took place on the 15th May for which we were not prepared. Councillor Long had not been responded to on his request for the cleaning schedule. The Secretary was still awaiting clarification on the no show and will make further contact regarding the event happening a week later.
Action: Michael Thomas
Nottingham City Homes
Emails have been exchanged between the Secretary and Nottingham City Homes to arrange joint involvement in coordinated inspections. The program of inspections and an identified meeting place have yet to be forthcoming. As there are only a small amount of NCH homes on the estate a general report had been requested on any issues that have arisen and are currently being addressed. This has also, as of yet, not been forthcoming.
8. Any Other Business
Big Spring Clean
Karen thanked the Residents Association for its involvement in organising the spring clean around the school grounds. Everyone involved at the school and RA on the day made a big difference to the environment around the grounds. She also thanked a couple of the committee for returning on the following Saturday for some follow up work clearing foliage.
9. Date of Next Meeting.
Annual General Meeting, 10th June 2009 at 6pm Robert Shaw School
Meeting closed 18.10
