MINUTES
OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF
HELD ON THURSDAY, 28th APRIL 2005 AT RICHINGS PARK SPORTS
CLUB
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Mrs. Squires, Mr. Scott, and Wendy Morris
MINUTES OF THE
LAST A.G.M. The Chairman
ran through the minutes of the 27th April 2004 A.G.M.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES: The minutes were approved for adoption.
MATTERS ARISING: There were none that would not be dealt with
later in the meeting.
ACCOUNTS: A Statement of Accounts could not be
presented and adopted as the treasurer was away on business. However, there was a healthy balance of about
£4,000 and paid-up membership this year stood at 53%. Peter Martin was thanked for his work as Hon.
Auditor. Unfortunately, he is leaving
Iver so we shall be looking for a new auditor next year.
ELECTION OF COMMITTEE: The following were due to retire but were
willing to stand again - Alan Barrett, Tony Connolly, David Coppen, Susie
Davies, Wendy Morris, Margaret Wilkins, Maureen Worrall. The committee was elected en bloc. Pene
Hamilton does not wish to stand again so we are looking for a replacement Road
Steward for
CHAIRMANS REPORT:
The Chairman thanked all the
Committee for their hard work, and particularly the Vice Chair, Secretary and
Treasurer. Also thanks to Rose and
George at the Post Office for letting residents leave their membership subs.
with them.
GUESTS – Welcome to Bill
Lidgate (our County Councillor for the past four years), to Mike Hillyard (our
local Beat Officer) and to two representatives of British Transport Police.
PUBLIC INQUIRIES - Bucks
C.C. Minerals and Waste local plan, which proposes a multi-modal waste transfer
station on land near Bisons in Richings Park, to serve the Grundon
Incinerator. The Chairman is going to
attend the enquiry to object, and is presenting his evidence on 6th
May.
Cross Rail had presented an
exhibition at Thorney Golf Club for this project, which would entail enlarging
the station, increasing the trains and destinations, altering local
infrastructure and re-building bridges.
PLANNING – There is general
concern at the amount of extensions and alterations to housing in addition to
several demolitions and re-builds, thus changing the face of Richings
Park. Residents might like to put
together a document to present to SBDC expressing their views. The main building developments currently are
in North Park.
R.P.R.A. ASSETS – The
resident’s garden is being kept smart, thanks to the voluntary efforts of Tony
and Carol Symes. St. Leonard’s Mound is
being cleared and improved gradually by working parties organised through
Maureen Worrall and the Parish Council, and the loan of equipment from Bill
Lidgate.
106 THORNEY MILL ROAD – This
site, once occupied by gypsies and re-claimed by SBDC, has received a nearly
£24,000 grant from Living Spaces and Groundwork Thames Valley hope to have
completed the new landscaping by July 2005.
HIGHWAYS – The road
narrowings in North Park continue to be controversial, and because proper
foundations were not put under the road surface as promised, we suffer
continual potholes and sunken drain problems.
Temporary patching is unsatisfactory and despite a letter written in
March telling us the promised permanent repair could not be undertaken due to
lack of budget, we are now informed by Bill Lidgate that a Category 1 repair
will be carried out on a Sunday in June or July.
TRAFFIC SPEED - A Speed
Limit Review was undertaken by Bucks C.C. and it was promised that North Park and
part of Richings Way would revert to 30 mph.
However, due to sudden deficit in budget the whole scheme has been put
on hold indefinitely.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES –
Incinerator at Colnbrook –
We were sent a copy of the stringent environmental conditions that Grundons
would have to comply with but this only covered the main incinerator. A Japanese company has just been given the
contract to build the plant and it is believed they may have sufficient
contracts for waste to process to make it viable, even though Bucks C.C. will
not support it.
Railway land – The motorbike
nuisance has reduced, but there is still concern at the amount of vandalism,
graffiti and litter being inflicted in the station area, also various cases of
arson.
At this point the Chairman
invited the police representatives to come forward and for residents to address
any issues to them.
Concerns included arson on
outbuildings in Bathurst Walk, wilful car damage, illegal clampers, three
particular cars speeding in Wellesley Avenue, and lack of response to phone
messages to traffic police. Also
mentioned were requirements for additional CCTV cameras at the back of Bathurst
Walk and the shops, and the need for improvement at the station – very often the
ticket office was closed and the platform area was covered in litter and
graffiti. We would also appreciate a
Sunday and Bank Holiday service.
Mike Hillyard said there had
only been a handful of crimes reported since Christmas. The CCTV on the platform was monitored at
Reading, and any suspicious movement should be reported to British Transport
police.
The person on duty at the
station is responsible for the cleanliness of the station and the British
Transport police will report our findings to Eddie Slaven who is in charge of
the station.
Mike Hillyard said that he
acted as a point of contact for community policing and would look into minor
problems, anti-social behaviour and driving.
Terry Quick, the police community support officer, whose role is similar,
cannot arrest or charge criminals.
BILL LIDGATE was then
invited to speak.
He began by thanking
everybody for giving him the chance to be our County Councillor and wished his
successor luck. He said that he had
tried to fight for us but often had difficulty in getting a response from Bucks
C.C. He had been pleased at getting the concrete crushing plant stopped on
Bisons site, but disappointed at the freezing of the Speed Limit Review. There has been no further news on the Cape
Boards/Trade Sales development, but suspicion is arising over the purchase of
all roads in the Uxbridge Trading Estate from Hillingdon Council.
He referred to Cross Rail
and its advantages and disadvantages.
Work should be carried out on Thorney Mill Road bridge during the
summer.
Mike Sullivan commented on
dying trees on verges and it was pointed out that the C.C. does not want to
replace trees on verges as they are considered a liability.
Bernard Jacobs commented on
the fencing that has been erected all along the back gardens in the cul-de-sac
of Bathurst Walk.
Alan Barrett mentioned that
the sculpture in Thorney Park is going to Denham. He thought the Park was being neglected and
there was a lack of dog litter bins.
He’d like to see the park being put to better use.
Pam Sprules said it would be
nice to make the room a “smoke free” zone for occasions such as these meetings,
and maybe it could be considered for future.
Tony Symes proposed a Vote
of Thanks to the committee and the Chairman.
The meeting closed at 9.40 p.m.
There were about 90 residents present.
DMW
1.5.05.