Minutes from meeting of 25th January 2007

NEWTOWN AREA RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
HELD 25 JANUARY 2007 AT WESLEY ROAD CLUB AT 8:00PM
Attending: Fran Markotic, Claudia Huwald, Joan Whalen, Drew Thomas, Mark McLauchlan, Graham Hedley Steve Cladingboel, Lisa Etherton, Nicola Horrell, Sharon Draper, Colin Stanswick, Paula Hayden, Brian Francis
Apologies: Jamie Crompton, Rich Etherton, Justin Hodds

There are still no nominations – or volunteers – for the position of Chair, following SC standing down. In the circumstances, FM chaired as well as taking minutes and suggested that until we had a permanent chair, it could be shared on a rota basis within the membership. There were no objections and whilst it may not be constitutionally “normal”, it is necessary.
FM welcomed those new to the meetings, and started by asking everyone to read the minutes of the December meeting which were subsequently approved.

Matters arising: FM stated that although she and CH had attended a Neighbourhood Partnership meeting and a Trowbridge Community Area Futures (“TCAF”) meeting, they had both forgotten to network with other residents’ association representatives with regard to sharing a stand at the West Wiltshire Show.

M FM SCM is still investigating how to put an entry about NARA and Newtown generally onto Wikipedia – he has received some suggestions as to assistance he might get. FM is to get a copy of the Newtown Trail to him. SC is to send him a summary of NARA’s history and projects
PCSOs and the future – CH briefly summarised what had been learnt at the previous TCAF Community Safety Team meeting – in essence, whilst the Neighbourhood Policing Teams are to be rolled out this year, they will not be at full strength until the funding issues have been sorted out with Central Government. GH advised that the Police are wanting Councils to further contribute towards PCSOs, but the Councils are reluctant to do so.

Neighbourhood Partnership Scheme –the recent meeting on 22.1.07 was about litter, rubbish, graffiti, etc. Graham Lawes from WWDC had attended and explained his role and the various things he and his team were doing to improve collection. There is to be a new rubbish collecting contractor (FOCSA) by end of this year; hopefully their contract will allow collectors to pick up the smaller bags of rubbish from the ground when the bin itself is overloaded. He and his assistant (Paul) have been going round themselves to clean up where necessary and FM thanked them for ensuring that the rubbish outside the old Roses Bakery on Wesley Road had been completely cleared following the festive season. Mr Lawes also confirmed that he and Paul would be visiting all the areas in Trowbridge to talk to people about recycling and they are getting leaflets printed in Polish so that that community are fully aware of the need to recycle and how to do it (i.e. what can and cannot be recycled) and how to make their rubbish smaller – e.g. crush large plastic bottles before putting them into bins. BF expressed some scepticism about whether the new contractors would in fact be any better, since they are likely to be employing the same people as Cleanaway has done. However, there will be a different contract so that where Cleanaway did not allow their collectors to pick up bags from the street, FOCSA will. The collectors will also be asked to report any premises which consistently overfill their bins. SD said she had heard that those rules were relaxed over Christmas. GH advised that the recycling company, Hills, were complaining that too much cardboard was being put into the green bins, which is making the composting rather slow and they are threatening to ban cardboard. They may even decide to take garden waste only; SC wondered if they could do that as it would in effect be breaking their contract.
BF volunteered to do a TOP TIPS list for how to reduce the volume of your rubbish - many thanks.

With regard to smaller problems remember that the Parish Steward (see minutes 14.12.06) may be able to deal with it - Therefore, IF YOU HAVE AN PROBLEM IN YOUR STREET, email Claudia on claudia@huwald.freeserve.co.uk with details and we will put it to the Parish Steward.

There was discussion about how in the past people were more responsible about the pavements and streets outside their own front doors, and kept them clean and tidy. Whilst no legislation can bring that back, individuals who do this may be able to inspire others to follow suit. To kick off this initiative, FM put to the meeting that perhaps a Community Litter Picking and De-Weeding Day followed by a party may be something we could do, possibly in late April or May. WWDC would be able to provide equipment (gloves, bags, etc). The meeting was enthusiastic about this and Joan said that once a date had been set, she would get the information into her Church’s newsletter. This item will be discussed and arranged formally at the March meeting, ahead of the Spring Newsletter, so that the information can go into that.
It was also suggested that the mechanical street sweepers (supposedly coming round every 8 weeks or so) should come later in the day when there are fewer parked cars, and to also give the area a few days advance warning so that we can at least put up a few signs so that car owners have the option of cooperating and parking elsewhere for the day in question. (at the time of typing these minutes, CH has already emailed G Lawes with this suggestion).
CH also explained how a One Stop Shop was assisting by not only taking on the emptying of street bins on a daily basis, but also providing a large container on their premises so that the Council need only visit once a week to clear rubbish from street bins.

Weeding – English Landscapes are the contractors for WWDC in this matter; part of the problem is that they are not allowed to use the old weedkiller due to its high toxicity and the new, acceptable stuff is too weak to do the job in one application. CH suggested that if we have our own weedkiller, we could do the work at least around our own front gates.

Dells Builders, Bond Street – Unfortunately, in spite of Jeff Osborn and Graham Hedley having done what they can through Environmental Services and the Planning Departments, there is little that can be done officially to get Dells to be more neighbourly: they have not broken any laws or planning regulations but their staff are still behaving with rudeness, blocking access to residents’ homes, leaving motors running, and generally making life miserable for those living next to them. This is a civil issue and can only be dealt with through solicitors now. Alternatively, their behaviour could be brought to the media’s attention and possibly through “naming and shaming” something may improve. We regret the inability of local government to do anything, but they are not godlike in their powers.

Cars – DT said he had seen several untaxed vehicles in the local area that had been clamped, and NH said she believed some may have been towed away. BF wondered why people who park on double yellow lines were not ticketed and FM explained that the police don’t bother anymore because any funds raised go directly to Central Government now, and not to local police. SD thought that she read that Trowbridge was to get some 13 new parking wardens. It is believed that in due course, PSCOs will be able to give tickets.
The meeting closed at 9:00am
NEXT MEETINGS: WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2007
THURSDAY 22 MARCH 2007

F I O: Notes from TCAF Meeting 19 September 2006:
It was stated that WREC and CAB are carrying out a detailed scoping exercises on the numbers of migrants who have come into Wiltshire and where they are and there own concerns. The initial survey work should be completed by December and this will be followed up by employing a Development Worker to work with them. Doug Ross stated that the Police had taken the initiative in addressing the issue of the influx of migrant workers by forming a West Wiltshire Migrants Forum to defuse problems before they arose and in educating the migrants about our laws and practices. Much advice has been provided by the various agencies involved and this has been published in Polish. The Forum is also looking ahead to the next possible influx from Romania and Bulgaria next year when these two countries become members of the European Union.