13th March 2012

__NOINDEX__ = WELLS WAY TRIANGLE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION =  Minutes of Committee Meeting held on 13th March 2012 

Committee members: Jenny Bentall (Chair), Richard Llewellyn-Davies (general secretary), Tom Tibbits (Deputy Chair), David Frost (Treasurer), Astred Niggeloh, Andrew Osborne, Mike Morris, Claire Sharpe, Aston Martin, Emily Woodhouse, ZLT, Rachel Goldsmith, Kapie Mzumara, Tessa Brown.

In Attendance: Donnachadh McCarthy, Simon Thomas, Jean Noel, Adrian Lukes, Karen Kidd, Kila Kamara, Richard Marshall.

 1.  Apologies: 

Jenny Jones, Suisie Giles

 2. Approval of the minutes of the November meeting  = There was a brief discussion about the scope of the WWTRA and the subjects covered in previous minutes and whether we were discussing issues beyond our remit. Jenny reiterated that we were able to discuss things happening outside of the WWTRA area if they impact on the quality of life of WWT residents. =  The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

 3. Matters arising  = Fly tipping = The fly-tipping and rubbish bins outside 1-11 Rainbow Street has continued.

= Southampton Way = The pavements along parts of Southampton Way are still wobbling. There is also an issue with dog mess in the triangle streets.

We discussed the possibility of photographing offending dog owners and pinning their pictures onto trees. We also discussed the possibility of signs to deter people from letting their dogs foul the streets.

 Noise from the Flying Dutchman 

 This refers to a complaint about noise in the early hours several weeks previously. There has been no further action taken on this.

 Transport petition and campaign 

Mike and Tom have stood at the bus stop but, possibly due to it being half term, there were no huge queues and only a small number of signatures were collected.

 The SE5 forum 

 We have received some emails pertaining to summer celebrations. We will endeavour to attend at least some of these.

 4. Planning Issues 

191-199 Southampton Way
The change of use application to turn the two retail units on Southampton Way into a religious meeting hall for 300 people has been approved. We had objected to the change of use on the grounds of a loss of a retail amenity.

Ian Wingfield explained that he had supported the change on the grounds that 25 people had written in support of the new development and only a few had written in to oppose. In spite of our disappointment we do not believe that there is any further action that we can take here.

BMX track
Some residents have written to the council supporting the BMX track but expressing a desire for the track to be moved from it’s planned location near Wells Way to Peckham Square. The consultation is still open. The more people who write in to the council suggesting this idea the more likely the location is to be changed.

The CPZ
The northern part of the WWTRA area will have a CPZ and the southern part will not have a CPZ – so we have a partial CPZ. We were not asked about the possibility of a partial CPZ so we are not happy about this.

The scheme is only experimental so has to be consulted on again a year after implementation. There was additional concern about increased numbers of double yellow lines and an increased pressure on road space as a result of the new development.

Tom suggested that we print tickets for WWT residents so that we can identify who is a resident and who isn’t. That way we will be able to see how many non-residents are parking in our streets. There was concern that we should not be viewed as harassing non-residents.

There was also concern at the number of leaflets that had been put through people’s letterboxes opposing and supporting the scheme. Jenny made it clear that the WWTRA had only distributed one leaflet which had provided information about the scheme but had not taken a position either endorsing or opposing it. All other leaflets distributed about the CPZ were the product of individual residents acting on their own initiative.

Action: We will devise a sticker that identifies residents that we can put through people’s doors for them to stick in their cars. This should give space for them to write a house number and street. Tom agreed to design this.

Elmington Estate
A letter has been submitted opposing the height of the building and asking for more cycle lanes. However the original plans have now been approved.

The only option left is to write to Notting Hill Housing Association with our concerns and inviting them to consider incorporating cycle lanes into the development and reducing the height of the building. The committee agreed to do this

Action: Jenny to write with our concerns to Notting Hill Housing Association.

'' Camberwell library. ''

The council wants to replace Camberwell Green library and spend £1.4m on a new building. They want to build on a piece of land which has trees planed as an orchard in front of the Law Courts. Following a planning meeting the council agreed to examine a range of alternative proposals.

5. Independent Commission on the Future of Council Housing in Southwark.
Richard introduced the issue. The Independent Commission on the future of Council Housing in Southwark, led by Jan Luba QC, invited us to attend a residents groups meeting on the 22nd March at 6 o clock at Peckham Settlement, Goldsmith Road, London, SE15 5TF as part of the call for evidence.

We felt that there would be a considerable mix of views and that people should be able to write in as individuals. We will circulate the letter sent to the general secretary about the commission and place this upon our website with some accompanying text.

We discussed the issues and concern was expressed about the potential for increased density and increased height of new buildings. There was also concern that the area from London Bridge to Burgess Park is being treated differently to Dulwhich and the south of the borough when it comes to height restrictions and there are very real concerns that any pressure on housing could translate into tower blocks all over the area. RLD agreed to attend the meeting to raise some of these issues and seek some further information. Others wishing to have their say are also welcome to attend.

It was noted that options for funding investment were being considered as part of the commission with a remit to tackling increasing demands with reduced cost. This is something that we should all have an interest in as it will affect us all.

Action: RLD will prepare some text to explain what the commission is about to accompany the e version of the letter on the website.

RLD will attend the meeting on the 22nd and will report back with any further information.

 6. Camberwell Community Council 

 Cleaner, Greener, Safer grant 

The Camberwell Community Council meeting on the 6th March agreed a cleaner, greener, safer grant to us for an application to plant trees and plants on the corners of Wells Way and Southampton Way – apparently for £1500. Jenny is seeking further information about how this money will be allocated and how we can be involved in the planning for how it is spent.

Vision group meeting
The working group on this have now had their first meeting and brainstormed some ideas about how to get the community involved. They agreed to have a main community meeting on this very issue on the 19th May from 2:30 to 5:00 – though this still has to be confirmed with Nicholas.

We have made plans that include getting speakers from Brixton and Sybil from the Loughborough junction to talk at the day. We agreed that we needed a sum of money for the day to spend on activities, speakers and other things that will be required for the day.

The committee agreed a maximum expenditure of £300 for the Greening the Triangle event.

Action
 The next greening the triangle meeting will be held on the 29th March at 6.00pm 

= 8. Summer celebrations = We are struggling to recruit enough people to organise this event. A suggestion was made that, rather than organising our own summer event, we could tag along to the SE5 forum party and promote this as an event for triangle residents. = Action: Based on the weight of social events calendar, and the fact that we’re already planning the “greening the triangle” community day, we agreed that the best thing to do would be to encourage residents to attend the SE5 forum meeting instead. We believe that this would be an effective means of pooling resources and creating a large event. = David Frost will agreed to write to Barbara, chair of the SE5 forum, notifying her of our intentions and offering our support for the SE5 summer event if she needs it.

= 9. Financial report =

The account
We spent £3 on photocopying. The account total now stands at £2,323.12.

A policy on expenditure
We have discovered that Southwark council have a financial policy in existence already for TRAs. David suggested some additional principles that should be added to this. Nicholas has informed us that he now wants to charge us to use the premises of St Georges Church. Jenny will ask Nicholas for details of likely costs and the room booking procedure.
 * That expenditure should be in accordance with the principles set out in the constitution of the WWTRA.
 * That expenditure should support local businesses where practical.
 * That payments should be made by cheque wherever possible.
 * There will be a financial report on every committee meeting agenda. This report will include the most recent bank statement, a list of creditors and commitments and a list of income received since the last report.
 * The committee needs to be made aware of all of the Association’s commitments and decisions on whether to pay need to be discussed and minuted.
 * The maximum level of expenditure that can be spent without the approval of the committee is £50. Any amount over this will require the approval of the committee
 * That petty cash of up to £20 can be held by the Treasurer for very small items of expenditure, which will be reimbursed on production of a valid receipt.
 * No expenditure can be undertaken without the prior approval of two officers, one of which must be the Chair or the Treasurer.
 * That the Treasurer specifically and the committee generally can be held accountable for ensuring that accounts are audited and presented for consideration annually at the Annual General meeting of the Association.

10. AOB

F or sale signs
There was a complaint about the number of signs that have been posted all over the area. We felt that many of these could be removed if people wanted to remove them. Estate agents can be approached and asked to remove signs when properties have been sold or let.

The state of the road on Cottage Green.

We are concerned about the number of potholes and the general surfacing. We have raised this before with the council and will continue to raise it.

= Retrospective approval for expenditure on WWTRA business =  Tom announced that he had already spent £29.64 and would like to re-claim this money from the accounts. We have agreed that this expense can be approved retrospectively.

 Local flooding 

 The community council meeting has identified the WWT area as a flood risk area. The council are looking for a residents association rep for a £1.3m project to examine how to make the area less flood prone.

 We agreed that a representative from this project should be invited to the next community meeting.

''' Action: Donnachadh will invite someone from the project. We will also invite Nicholas and a representative from the school and industrial estate. '''

 Proposed opening time for Burgess Park 

 There was concern about the delayed opening of Burgess Park. We agreed that we should push the council for a partial opening of the park, while the oil tanks are removed.

 Future meetings 


 * 17th April Committee meeting
 * 8th May Committee meeting
 * 19th May Greening the Triangle Community Meeting.