Founding Meeting Newsletter |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
HOLMEWOOD
NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION
Report
on Founding Meeting on
Monday
19th June 1998 at Friends Meeting House Redlands Way SW2
Stuart Dixon from the Lambeth Community Development Unit
was introduced and complimented us on the initiative and the turnout.
We are welcome to
use their office facilities although we are not eligible for any council
grants. PC Darren Kirby our local beat
officer was introduced.
Derek Hoare ran through the draft constitution item by
item and it was passed with the following amendments.
2 a. to represent the interests of residents. (delete and
users)
8 No two or more
officers or Committee members shall be elected or co-opted from the same
household.
9 The quorum for
the committee is four including 2 of the 3 officers
The constitution was then unanimously passed.
The election of a committee then followed presided over by
Stuart Dixon of Lambeth Community Development.
Chairperson Duncan
Law
Secretary Marion
Schumann
Treasurer (no
nomination)
Committee members
Kristin Stott, Derek Hoare, Sylvia Jones,
Lynn McCormack
The Duties of Committee Officers and Members was then
discussed and the guideline document prepared by Derek was minuted.
The meeting then discussed some of the issues raised in
the last newsletter, updating on developments. It was decided that the next
meeting should deal with Traffic as a matter of priority and that there should
be an Election Meeting at which we could meet all the candidates for election
as our local ward councillors in the May Local Government Elections.
Roads
& Traffic
Kristin Stott reported back that she has met with Maz Khan
the Lambeth Transport Planning Officer responsible for our area. Residents
concerns have been put to him in a bid to improve our position as 109th in a
list of 190 traffic calming plans in the Borough. It was felt that the issue
should be the subject of a special meeting at which all the issues are
presented and solutions proposed. It was again noted that the Gardens are used
as a race track by drivers and as a testing ground by Pinewood Motors. PC Kirby
said he would raise this matter with Pinewood which he has since done. Duncan
reported that on the previous Saturday night a stolen car had speeded into the
lamppost at the top of Holmewood Road. PC Kirby said he would supply any
relevant traffic figures for the special meeting.
Crime
Prevention / Neighbourhood Watch
Everybody is warned to be on guard for suspicious callers
masquerading as community/voluntary workers. There has been a spate of such callers
in nearby estates recently. Please contact the police immediately if you are
suspicious. Approximately 1 burglary a month is reported to the police in our
area. PC Kirby is contactable on 0181 649 2061 and the Brixton Police Station
number is 0171 326 1212. If it is a matter of urgency dial 999. A Crime
Prevention officer is available to talk to residents and give an evaluation for
the security of your property if required. Call Barry Thomas on 0181 649 2070.
Prostitution
Duncan informed the meeting of a letter sent by a local
resident about prostitution in the area. The problem has been moved out of
Streatham by police activity and out of Brixton by the CCTV cameras. Brixton
has recently formed a vice squad and a number of arrests have already been
made. They will respond to any complaint made by residents who see prostitutes
plying their trade. It was agreed that kerb crawlers should also be reported.
Council
Services
It was agreed that street cleaning had improved. Derek
Hoare moved that the local councillors be written to asking that Holmewood Road
be upgraded as soon as possible to the same level as the other three roads.
Kristin Stott noted that her local street cleaner was being asked to take a pay
cut. It was agreed to check on this situation and if appropriate to write to
Team Lambeth objecting to this. Residents were asked by a partially sighted
resident to keep bins and plastic refuse sacks off the road and pavement as
this can cause accidents. For the same reason residents are asked to keep their
hedges and roses trimmed. Some residents have hedge cutting equipment which
could be lent under the skills/resources share scheme. If you need equipment
urgently call Duncan who will try to arrange a loan. Any residents having
problems or complaints to do with street cleansing should contact Keith Naish
on 0171 926 0060. The same number applies for Bulky Waste removal.
Holmewood
Gardens Maintenance
Derek Hoare mentioned that every playground in the Borough
has something wrong with it. There is no money to rectify. It was agreed to
publicise this issue to the local Councillors and to get a commitment from
present and future councillors to do something about it. It was agreed to use
the Noticeboard in the Gardens to publicise future meetings. Resident should
use it for their own notices too but be sure to remove the notices when they
were finished with.
Trees
Agreed to postpone discussion of this to another meeting.
Newsletter
& Publicity
A Directory of Useful Addresses appears at the back of this
newsletter. It will be updated as necessary. The newsletter may also be used to
encourage you to take actions like contacting the council, writing letters..
Social
Interaction
It was agreed to set up a Skills and Resources Register to
facilitate sharing within the local community.
Liason
It was agreed to liaise with local schools, churches and
community groups and to send them newsletters and invite them to meetings as
appropriate.
Local
Democracy
Agreed to invite local councillors to all general meetings.
It was stressed that we must work with the councillors and the Borough as much
as possible. It was agreed to invite all prospective councillors to a
Pre-Election Meeting in March.
Social
Events
If you have any ideas for social events please send them
to Lynn at 37 Holmewood Gardens.
Future
Meetings
The next Holmewood Neighbourhood Association meeting will
take place on Tuesday 24 Feb at 8pm at the Friends' Meeting House in Redlands
Way. The main item on the Agenda will be Traffic Calming Measures and Roads.
The ward councillors will be invited to this meeting. Please come. Bring any
ideas, information that you may have.
AOB
Other Issues Raised
Maplestead Road. It was noted that there is a builder's
yard in constant use with a skip permanently in the road outside. Rubbish
overspills and had gone on people's cars. There are building works taking place
on the site which may be workshops. Objections have already been raised by
local residents with the Planning Department. It was agreed for the Committee
to take this up and to consult with local residents who are affected.
Meeting ended at 9.35pm
Roads
& Traffic
Kristin has had an on site meeting with the Council
officer responsible. He has taken note of a number of factors that were not
taken into account when prioritising traffic calming projects in Lambeth and
will report back to our meeting on 24th February.
Experience from other traffic hotspots in the borough
shows us that we have to 'drive' the decision making to ensure that we get a
solution appropriate to the problem (which after all we know better than
anyone). The Council officer will then take back to the planning meetings the
fruits of this manifestation of local democracy.
Please therefore bring your your problems, your knowledge
and your ideas of possible solutions to the meeting and be part of improving
the local environment. It may be necessary to design and carry out some simple
traffic survey so that we have fugures to prove that people are using these
roads as a 'rat-run' between Brixton Hill and both the South Circular and Tulse
Hill.
Planning
A new application for the demolition of the Church Hall
behind the United Reform Church has been received. Given that it is a listed
building and in the conservation area it is unlikely to be passed. It will then
almost certainly go to appeal (the developers won their planning permission
before only by going to appeal). We must show that there is continued
opposition to the destruction of this fine building. There are other plans in
existence to develop this site whilst retaining the building. Duncan and Sylvia
have contacted the planning department to register our opposition and Duncan
has written to the records department to register the Association as an
organisation that must be notified of any local planning applications and be
part of any consultation process. A Petition has been prepared. Please sign and
circulate among all local friends (and any architects you know). If you would
like more copies to circulate yourself please call Duncan on 0181 678 6617.
Roupell
Park Estate
Duncan has had two very amicable and productive meetings
with the Geoff Brown and Paul Wright of the Roupell Park Tenants Management
Committee. They passed our last newsletter around their recent committee meeting
and a unanimous vote of support and encouragement was passed. They have offered
us the use of their facilities for committee meetings, have donated a copy of
the Lambeth Directory, would like to invite anyone interested to join their
mother and toddlers group and are generally interested in cooperating in any
way possible. Having toured the estate with Geoff I was very impressed with the way things are being managed there
now. They are planning a new playground and picnic area on the bit of waste
ground beside their estate office.
They also informed me that Tom Franklin, one of our ward
councillors and the chair of the Housing Committee, has a Surgery in the
committee room of the Roupell Park Office at 1 Tanhurst House, Redlands Way
between 7-9pm on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month.
Social
Events
Lynn McCormack has produced a very go-ahead proposal for
organising events in the Gardens and in local halls. She has plans for
fund-raising. Anyone interested in helping organise these exciting events or if
you have suggestions for events please get in touch with Lynn on 0181 674 3082.
As she said, 'Social interaction generates the feeling of belonging, which in
turn makes a person more caring and that is what being a neighbour is all
about.'
Derek Hoare will give a short guided tree walk around the
gardens. Alan Piper of the Brixton Society, who has written the history of
Brixton, has agreed to come and address a meeting in September. He has pictures
of the Gardens as they used to be and no doubt would be interested in any
reminiscenses, documents or pictures you may have of how things used to be.
Among the suggestion for events put forward so far; Fetes, International Evenings, Pot Luck
Suppers, Dinner Dances, May Fair and Maypole dancing, Summer Barbeque, Market
Days, Jumble Sales. Any more ?
Newsletter
This Newsletter is your Newsletter. Please make use of it.
A small ad, a request for a good plumber, an Article on local history,
issues.... If there is anyone who would
like to edit it and has the skills and the technology please get in touch.