Minutes of Committee Meeting held on Wednesday 25 January 2017
Minutes of last meeting held on 07.12.2016
Minutes of last meeting proposed acceptance by Ray Marsh and seconded by Wendy Brown, Minutes adopted.
Matters arising
Paul has sent an email to FirstPort requesting a reply to his email within 2 weeks otherwise we will take further action and write to Solitaire requesting a better deal, with a spec etc. to find an Agent to provide value for money. No reply has been received.
Paul has written to Solitaire last week and sent the letter recorded delivery.
Action: Paul to await response from Solitaire.
Ongoing Action: Paul to reply to Chris Oldham at FBC to enquire what parking restriction
Ongoing Action: Paul to write an RA introduction letter to welcome new residents.
Ongoing Action: Paul to provide a soft copy of the new logo – made into a Template letterhead.
Ray provided the receipt books out to committee volunteers to collect the memberships – action closed.
Deana wrote to enquire with Hannah at FirstPort to provide the next site visits dates, these are as follows:-
Monday 20th February 2017 - Ray has agreed to meet with Hannah
Monday 22nd May 2017 – Paul has agreed to meet with Hannah
Monday 21st August 2017
Monday 20th November 2017
Treasurer’s Report
Balance to date £1859.44
£8.99 petty cash
+ £1.00 cash in hand
Management Fees
Paul has sent an email to FirstPort, requesting a reduction in the fees, and is still awaiting a response, Paul has also written to Solitaire requesting a better deal, and requesting they find an Agent to provide residents with value for money, await response from Solitaire.
New Committee Members
When Paul was collecting the membership fees on the Estate, Bob Tottle volunteered to be a Committee Member and was invited along to this meeting. Bob Tottle has not attended.
Action: Paul will send an email to Bob Tottle.
There are currently 4 places on the Committee to be filled.
Parking
Paul emailed Chris Oldham at FBC and offered to meet with him to discuss possible approaches to the parking problem. Chris Oldham advised that the Agency arrangement for Traffic Management which was held by FBC for some years is coming to an end due to funding cuts. Therefore most traffic & parking matters will in future be managed by Hampshire County Council from end of March 2017. The Residents Parking (RP) Scheme & parking enforcement will remain with FBC, any changes to the RP scheme would need to be addressed to the Planning Dept at FBC. FBC would not be introducing any further Traffic Regulation Orders beyond those which have already been publicly advertised. Chris Oldham advised with regard to parking opposite to driveways, HCC and the Police would all advocate reversing into driveways to enable a forwards manoeuvre into the road, but parking opposite a driveway does not help with reversing either but improves safety and is easier. Other than this, we are beholden to the traffic laws of the country which tend to be quite lenient towards on-road parking, not least because the press can be quick to criticise measures which penalise the ‘hard pressed motorist’.
Katrina Trott also replied to Paul’s email, advising that residents will be very disappointed by Chris Oldham’s explanation, this decision had been made by the Executive on 5th Dec 2016 regarding the Agency arrangements for Traffic Management to now be managed by HCC. HCC would not allow Traffic Regulation Orders permitting single or double yellow lines unless there was proven danger, they believe that the present system has served local residents well, although it could take as long as 3 years to reach the top of the list and now the situation will be very much worse.
Katrina Trott copied in Claire Burnett – Senior Planner whom she will consult with about the possibility of a Residents’ Parking Scheme the following week. The current parking restrictions were put in place before there were RP Schemes. Only 50% of the Estate Residents were in favour if any restrictions, but Katrina Trott and Alderman Jim Murray (who passed away 7yrs ago) were of the opinion that the parking situation would only become worse and as the yellow lines were the only possible option to address the problem, particularly from Harrison Primary parents and carers’ inconsiderate parking at the time, they were implemented.
Update on Subscription Collections
Subscription collections are on-going, Paul has collected from WPG – odd numbers, Deana has collected from WPG – even numbers. Paul and Deana to collect from Poyner Close. Ray has already completed Coghlan Close.
A.O.B.
Paul advised that someone in a high visibility jacket and hard hat were spotted on the landscaped area. The guy was from ‘Southern Water’. It seems that where the Park is now there used to be a lake, with a stream running out of it down what is now the North Boundary of the Estate. The lake dried up and was filled in, but the stream should still be there. In some places there is a pipe, but in others it is missing or the ditch has been filled in. In addition the storm drainage from the houses on Serpentine Road that back onto the Estate feed into this stream, as a result some of those gardens are getting very boggy and there is a risk of subsidence for the houses. Southern Water want to rectify this by digging a 1Mtr x 1Mtr ditch along the North Boundary, similar to the existing ditch on the South Boundary. They know H&M (Solitaire) own the land, but they have not responded to queries. Paul has put them in touch with FirstPort.
It was noted that there used to be a ‘gated area’ down the North Boundary side to stop people entering this area, it was suggested that the gate should be re-erected as there is pipework underneath in this gated area.
People have let their dogs off to run in this area and left the poo bags on the side.
No. 1 WPG, bushes are growing under eaves of the garage, the tree has been trimmed back that overhangs garage.
Action: Ray to mention the above to Hannah on the site visit on 20th Feb 2017.
Date of next meeting
Wednesday 1st March 2017 at 14 William Price Gardens at 8.00pm
Meeting closed at 09.15pm
Thank you to Paul for your hospitality for this meeting.
