Ainsley Area Residents Association - Meeting 4th November 2009

Ainsley Area Residents Association

Held Wednesday 4^th November 2009

6pm Robert Shaw Primary School

Present:

Anthony Kelly (Chairman)

Michael Thomas (Secretary), Christine Thomas (Treasurer), Lynn Shepherd, Chris Earley, Jo Bride, Brian Bird, Peter Dixon

In Attendance:

Councillor Gary Long

Councillor Alex Foster

Karen Coker (Head Teacher, Robert Shaw School)

Susan Ward-Rice (NAO, Nottingham City Council)

1. Apologies

Roger Codling

2. Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes

These were agreed as a true record.

David Lloyd Leisure Centre

Following a letter to David Lloyd a response was received thanking the committee for bringing the Grassington Road part of their property to their attention. Members of staff from the centre cleared the existing litter and they had asked their gardening company to trim back the vegetation. At the time of this meeting it looks as though this work has been carried out.

Grab-a-Grand Competition

The association was unsuccessful in its attempt to be shortlisted for this competition but Robert Shaw was. Robert Shaw Primary School was the winner within Area 3. Congratulations to the school for winning.

Football Match Community Event

Applications were received from residents of the estate and on this occasion there are sufficient funds from last year’s community chest application to send everyone to the match that applied. Tickets for the match are on general sale from the 21^st November. The Secretary will go to purchase the tickets at this time and it was agreed to distribute the tickets to the residents a day or 2 before the match.

Action : Michael Thomas

Arbrook Drive

Given the relatively small amount of traffic that would seem to be using Arbrook Drive, possibly as a cut through, an official traffic survey is unlikely to take place. There is always the possibility of the residents conducting a mini-survey in traffic volume themselves at the times they feel are the worst during the day.

3. Robert Shaw Playing Field Updates

With a great effort from the Karen, Susan, Gary and Alex the field has now been opened. The meeting has been informed that the field has started to be used already and Karen told the meeting that it already seems to be having a positive impact on the reduction in the illegal use of the school grounds.

A combined litter and dog waste bin is on order as well as a new sign for the gates and a notice sign for the school informing anyone thinking of using the school grounds that the field is now open.

A litter pick has been initially done around the entrance which seems to have been litter exposed following the ground works. Brambles near the entrance have been cut to the floor and one of the committee was hoping to try and remove these stumps this Saturday afternoon to neaten the area up further dependant on the weather. Any helpers would be welcome on any weekend.

4. West Area Committee Community Chest Application

A few suggestions were put forward for the application for this years Community Chest grant application. The closing date is 27^th November. It was agreed that the Secretary would put together a costed application from the previous year’s ideas or this years suggestions.

Action : Michael Thomas

5. Any Other Business

No other business was raised.

6. Date of Next Meeting.

Wednesday 6^th January 2010 at 6pm Robert Shaw School

A Bit More Work

The grounds people have done the best job they can so far with the field given the state that it was in. Whilst I was there at least 15 different children and a couple of Adults came on the field to use it and we have been informed that illegal use of the School grounds has dropped significantly which is fantastic.

Hopefully we can get some goal posts on soon and sort out the insurance issue regarding these. Who would have thought that had to be so exacting.

Whilst not essential to the use of the field, one of the Residents Association cleared up a bit of the debris where the brambles had been removed and cleared the entrance up some more to give them field a more inviting feel. A lot of the debris has been moved but while a couple of stumps were removed they are a little challenging to get rid of so this is a job for another day with a sharp spade.

It was gratifying that while the committee member was working several of the youngsters on the field were wanting to help out. They level of assistance they offered was debatable given their young age but the thought was there.

Southfield Road Playing Field

Thanks to a large amount (10 years) of effort by Robert Shaw Primary School, local Neighbourhood officers and the local Lib Dem Councillors the Southfield Road Playing Field is finally open again.

At the moment a significant square has been cut to enable football to be played on a marked mini-pitch. The ground is in an OK condition but now it is being maintained again hopefully it will start to recover and reach a better condition.

The entrance has been improved and cleared to enable access and as I was passing saw one young lad venturing on to have a look.

The company have cut away significant amount of brambles close to the entrance but hopefully with some assistance from other members of the Residents Association we can litter pick and weed this area to remove the remaining stumps and flatten the ground a bit more.

In the years to come, hopefully, with more council and school assistance we can make further improvements now that the ground work has been completed.

A big thank you to everyone involved.

Ainsley Area Residents Association - Meeting 9th Sept 2009

Held Wednesday 9th September 2009
5.45pm Robert Shaw Primary School

Present:

Anthony Kelly (Chairman)

Michael Thomas (Secretary), Christine Thomas (Treasurer), Lynn Shepherd, Chris Earley, Eve Earley, Jo Bride, Roger Codling, Brian Bird, Lyn Thompson.

In Attendance:

Councillor Gary Long
Councillor Alex Foster
Karen Coker (Head Teacher, Robert Shaw School)
Susan Ward-Rice (NAO, Nottingham City Council)

1. Apologies

None

2. Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes

These were agreed as a true record.

Arbrook Drive
The residents still felt that some cars users were still using Arbrook Drive as a short cut from either Grassington Road or off Western Boulevard especially during peark time and were asking about the feasibility of some speed reduction humps being installed on the road. It was agreed to ask Councillor Long or Councillor Foster to follow this up with the Highways Agency to see if a supplementary survey had been carried out following installation of humps on Grassington Road / Northdown Road and about the possibility of an additional survey during peak times on Arbrook Road.
Action : Councillors Foster and Long

3. Robert Shaw Playing Field Updates

The field is almost complete. There have been problems surrounding the intermittent weather and equipment problems leading to clearing company being delayed on all is commitments. Outstanding currently is the clearing of the entrance, a low cut followed by assessment of the ground and the marking out of the pitch. Should the ground require more remedial work after the low cut this may take slightly longer.

4. Football Match Community Event

A selection of matches was made available for committee members to choose for inclusion on to the new Forest Match Visit Application. The match agreed was against Leicester City on the 5th December 2009. The age range of the applicable children was also increased. A new set of application forms will need to be delivered at the beginning of October with the closing date being the last day of October. Successful applicants will then be randomly chosen at the next meeting.


5. Community Involvement Ideas

A list was drawn up to put to residents at some point to see if there is any interest from anyone to take part in community events and groups. This list contained a brief set of ideas and committee members were asked to think if there were any other suggestions to put to residents.

After the list has been compiled it was agreed to put this to residents and take forward any suggestion that shows sufficient interest.

Action : All committee members

6. Provisional Dates for Future Meetings

The following dates were agreed as provisional dates for future committee meetings.

Wednesday 4th November 2009

Wednesday 6th January 2010

Wednesday 3rd March 2010

Wednesday 5th May 2010 - Annual General Meeting

7. Any Other Business

Beechdale Library
It has been discovered that St Johns Ambulance Service are no longer interested in Beechdale Library although the issue of closure has not disappeared. There seems to be an issue with a reduction in the numbers of people using the library and now the possibility of a reallocation of services has crossed the Leisure Services minds the library problem is a matter of use it or loose it.

Grab a Grand / Community Chest

Both these grant application schemes are here with us again. The Grab-A-Grand is an application suggestion that is then open to public vote. Once the application has been made the more people that vote in the community the better the chance of there is of winning.

The Community Chest will be an application to the West Area Committee for an event, local improvement or activity that is for the benefit of the local community. If anyone one can think of ideas please bring them to the next meeting.
Action : All committee members

David Lloyd Leisure Centre Trees/Foliage/Litter

The condition of David Lloyds Leisure Centre’s property bordering Grassington Road was raised. The foliage is getting overgrown, litter is contained within this foliage and some of the trees have grown quite a distance in to Grassington Road. Given that this is a private property the Council can only really act if there is a hazard to the public. The only course of action is to write to the management of the leisure centre and see if they would address these issues.

Action : Michael Thomas
8. Date of Next Meeting.

Wednesday 4th November 2009 at 6pm Robert Shaw School

"Letter Before Action" from Local Police

Having talked to a resident it seems that some letters have been posted through some doors on the estate asking people to ensure they have a clear garden to bring the environment on the estate up to scratch.

Whether you agree with this approach or not it does seem to have pulled a few people to get some clearance done. A pile of rubbish, sofa or building rubbish never looks attractive and can bring an estates appearance down.

I would have prefered a dialogue first with the resident then maybe a letter as a dialogue has more nuances to community cooperation when a letter can come across brutal if not worded properly.

I'm sure we all agree that a good appearance is attractive for everyone.

Dates of Future Meetings

Dates have been set for the next meetings of the Residents Association and residents are more than welcome to attend.

Wednesday 4th November 2009

Wednesday 6th January 2010

Wednesday 3rd March 2010

Wednesday 5th May 2010 - Annual General Meeting


These meetings take place at 6pm before the Local Action Group at 7pm.

Usual location is Robert Shaw Primary School, Southfield Road.

Community Involvement Ideas

One future direction we hope to take is trying to get groups of residents together to become involved in community groups they are interested in and would hopefully benefit the area as a whole.

A few of the ideas we came up with were as follows;

Community Garden (Allotments)

- If enough residents were interested, make a request to the Council for use of an unused allotment for a community garden.

Friends of the School

- Any residents interested in getting together every month or 2 and volunteering to help the school with general gardening/tidying for a 2 to 3 hours.

Litter Patrol

- Once a month a patrol working together to litter pick in a more detailed way than the Council could ever hope to manage.

Road Island Gardeners

- Any residents interested in maintaining the appearance of the road island near number 4 Ainsley Road. The other island has planning permission for Severn Trent to improve the pumping facilities and landscape.

Street Champion

- Any resident interested in being the voice of their street in regard to resident’s thoughts. Preferable one per street with 2 covering both ends of Grassington Road. Even if not able to attend meetings would be a contact point for the committee to become aware of any issues.

We plan on leafleting the estate to get a feeling of the level of interest in any of these ideas and go forward from there.

Anyone else with any ideas or passions are welcome to come forward with those.