Birch Hill & Hanworth Neighbourhood Action Group 5 July 2010 6.00
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Birch Hill & Hanworth Neighbourhood Action Group 5 July 2010 6.00 - 8.00 pm Birch Hill Community Centre Present: Councillor Chas Baily, Bracknell Forest Council Mrs Sandra Baily, Resident Councillor Mrs Gill Birch, Bracknell Forest Council NSO Michael Foot, Thames Valley Police Pat Kennewell, Birch Hill & Hanworth Community Liaison Group Mr George Lagden, Resident Jo Legg, Chairman Councillor Mark Phillips, Bracknell Forest Council John Legg, Resident Tim Woods, Resident In attendance: Stuart Ballantine, Bracknell Forest Council Jan Carey, Bracknell Forest Homes Emma Harrison, Bracknell News Fiona Heston, Bracknell Forest Council Ann Pinkney, Bracknell Forest Homes Amanda Roden, Bracknell Forest Council Apologies: PCSO Hilary Hyslop, Thames Valley Police Sue Sarginson, Birch Hill Primary School David Young, Resident Fran Valentine, Headteacher, St. Margaret Clitherow Faye Theuma, Resident Action Points Minute Item 1 Notes of Previous Meeting The notes of the meeting held on 22 February 2010 were approved as a correct record. Minute 4: NSO Michael Foot would ask PC Bob Wade to clarify who had installed the archer strips on Ringmead and Birch Hill Road. Minute 5: Bracknell Forest Homes had yet to produce information for the suggested journals. This would be investigated further. (Action: Gill Birch/ Jo Legg) Bracknell News had been very supportive regarding the advertisement of ‘Ladybank Tidy Up Day’. Further information could be advertised in the Bracknell Forest Homes spotlight newsletter, which was circulated twice yearly. Residents had enjoyed the day. 2 2010 Priority Issues Parking Parking problems in Knightswood were the subject of a letter written to the local paper. A visit to the area had been undertaken and it was noticed that many residents did not use their garages. It was difficult to enforce having only one vehicle on the driveway from the deed as this was established in the 1970’s and many people had two or more cars now. There were narrow sections in Frobisher and Juniper where emergency vehicles could not pass due to parking problems. Further information on this would be passed to NSO Michael Foot who would investigate this. (Action: Mr Lagden/Michael Foot) Street works had been mostly completed in the area. Parking problems tended to occur in the evenings after 8pm. As the land was private, it was suggested that a letter be drafted from the NAG and hand delivered to residents in Juniper to encourage more considerate parking. (Action: Jo Legg) South Hill Park The restoration had not yet begun at South Hill Park. Thames Water had been approached as they owned the water in the lakes. It had taken nine months to receive a reply from Thames Water regarding this. Some residents, including some in Evedon, had raised objections with regard to the parking issues at South Hill Park. Overflow parking from events held at South Hill Park tended to affect local streets nearby. However, when events were well managed with stewards and directions to parking and overflow parking areas, this seemed to work well. An Asian music event (Asian Fusion) was being held at South Hill Park and it was not known if the organisers of the event had contacted the police to discuss any pertinent issues related to events of this size. Jo Legg would contact Ron McAllister at South Hill Park regarding this. (Action: Jo Legg) The Group discussed how to report noise incidents outside of normal office hours. The police could ask people to turn noise down but had no powers to enforce this. Bracknell Forest Council would be contacted regarding the out of hours process for statutory noise nuisance. (Action: Jo Legg) Engaging with Young People The age of the drop-in for young people in the area had been lowered and this had encouraged a greater number of young people to attend. There were 22 young people who attended the drop-in on a Friday night and this worked well. The drop- in had funding for a printer but one had not yet been chosen. It was suggested that young people could print off ideas for the local NAG to look at with suggestions and comments regarding how they would like to improve their local area. One suggestion was the creation of a skate board park. The Group gave their thanks to Pat Kennewell and the volunteers of the drop-in for their help. Pay Scheme The NAG had received considerable support from partners regarding the £500 police neighbourhood funding for the Birch Hill and Hanworth area. A poster type leaflet had been created with support to publicise it from Easthampstead Park School. Brakenhale had been contacted and Sue Boyce in the Communications Team at Bracknell Forest Council would issue a press release regarding the five summer projects which Jo Legg and Pat Kennewell were organising with the £500 neighbourhood funding. The reward for completing three or more of the activities would be held at the Oakwood Youth Challenge Centre. It was hoped that 25 children would be encouraged to take part in each of the individual events. Adults and PCSO’s would help at the events. There was a letter explaining the different events and each child who wished to participate needed to complete and sign a slip to confirm that they would abide by the rules whilst taking part. Children had shown interest in participating and it was hoped that the events could be used as a catalyst for future similar events. There would also be a barbeque at the end of the Oakwood activities day and there was the possibility of a permanent orienteering course at South Hill Park following on from the orienteering activity. It was suggested that there could be a notice board at the drop-in for young people to add ideas to. Summer Football Programme The police were organising a summer football programme for two age groups of children: 10 – 13 years and 13 – 18 years. An FA trained coach had been located to run the ‘FA Star Challenge’ on the Astroturf at the Birch Hill grounds two days a week from 2-5pm. Those children interested in taking part could pass their completed forms to Hilary or their youth worker. Leaflets would also be available at Easthampstead Park and the programme was open to children throughout the borough, not just those living in Birch Hill. There would be a maximum of 50 children on the Astroturf at any one time. Litter and Dog Fouling Stuart Ballantine, of Bracknell Forest Council, and Jo Legg had undertaken a walkabout with the cleaning team. The CADIS report contained figures on anti- social behaviour, dumped rubbish and flytipping. The community could help to tackle these issues in each ward. Litter in Birch Hill had declined in the past few years. There was a minor issue with graffiti in Bracknell Forest but it was costly to remove and difficult when private property was involved. The dog warden post no longer existed. Plastic bags of dog foul were sometimes found in bushes. This would be cleared up if it was on Bracknell Forest Council land. Jo Legg and Pat Kennewell had been given graffiti removing kit. Litter was a community wide issue caused by adults and children. A litter pick in Birch Hill and Hanworth on Saturday had resulted in 14 full bags, which was not considered to be much compared to previous years, and was a sign that there was a general improvement in littering in the neighbourhood. The street cleansing team had helped significantly. It was suggested that the Take Pride initiative should be moved forward again. Volunteers were encouraged to register with Bracknell Forest Council to help co- ordinate groups for litter picks. Birch Hill and Hanworth Community Liaison Group had been awarded a certificate by the High Sheriff of Berkshire for completing its 53rd litter pick and for the good work by the volunteers to help clean up the community over many years. The Group thanked Bracknell Forest Homes for their support of the Ladybank Tidy Up. The Big Tidy Up 3 would take place on 4 September 2010 and there would be an estate walkabout on 23 August 2010 starting at 2pm from the Community Centre in Birch Hill. 3 St Margaret Clitherow issue: update Mrs Fran Valentine, Headteacher of St. Margaret Clitherow Primary School, had given her apologies for the meeting. There had been improvements to Pembroke regarding speeding but the sump traps at the bus crossing point across the A3095 were not working as effectively as first thought as they were static. Higher vehicles could drive over them easily. They generally tended to catch people speeding on their way to work in the mornings. Police mobile CCTV cameras were out of date technology as they became full after only one week and so were very labour intensive. It would be investigated to see if it was possible to revive some form of a mobile camera. (Action: Michael Foot) ANPR cameras had been installed around the borough and there were three by the Coppid Beech Hotel already. 4 Neighbourhood Police Team Update Police Point The police point had been opened in Leppington at the Birch Hill Community Centre and was working well. Parents would drop their children off at the school next door and then come in to speak to the police. Speeding NSO Michael Foot was still tackling the issue of speeding, for example at South Hill Park. Speed enforcement undertaken found that not many people were speeding high over the limit. Police officers had been focusing on the morning rush hour. As part of the upcoming PAY scheme, when someone was found to be speeding they were given the option of a telling off by a child or a ticket.