AGM 2006 Minutes

Minutes of the 32nd AGM held at St John's Church, Lynwood Grove on Tuesday 21 November 2006, starting at 7.45pm

Apologies

Mr R Neill GLA Member, Rev J Millington St John's Minister, R Healey Tree Warden and D Powell Federation of Bromley Residents Associations.

1.Chairman's Opening Remarks

Mr Fogden, Chairman, welcomed Cheryl Curr Town Centre Manager, Sgt J Kemp Petts Wood & Knoll Safer Neighbourhood Team Leader, Cllrs Tony Owen, Pauline Tunnicliffe, William Huntington-Thresher, Douglas Auld & Simon Fawthrop, Gareth Davies LBB Asst Director Environment & Leisure Services and representatives from our neighbouring Associations of Crofton & Petts Wood.

2. Minutes of 31st AGM Approved.

3. Treasurer's Report

Copies of the audited income & expenditure accounts to 30 September 2006¹, and balance sheet at that date, were supplied to all present. Mr Daniell drew attention to the larger entries in the analysis on page two. The building society balance stands at £2,213.40 and prepaid expenses (insurance) amount to £94.22.

4. Election of the Committee

The 11 existing members are happy to remain for 2006/07 and have been duly nominated & seconded². Mr Fogden appealed for a replacement³ to fill the vacancy that has arisen following Mr Wallace's recent move to Sussex.

¹ Proposed J Mangold, seconded C Tait.
² Proposed Mrs S Lilly, seconded Mr Collins
³ Mrs McCartney subsequently expressed a willingness to join the Committee 4 Proposed Mrs C Gray, seconded Mrs K Wilkins

5. Election of Accounts Examiner

Mrs T Mangold confirmed that she is willing to carry on this position.

6. Chairman's Report

Mr Fogden thanked all present for attending and for their unceasing support. The Association continues to act upon formal consultations and approaches from the committee members and residents. The Council Minutes are scrutinised for local issues and particular thanks go to Mrs Gray, Planning, for her relentless screening of planning applications, appeals etc.

The top topical issues are the Linden Homes proposals for Orchard Grove following their approach to the owners at numbers 1-23 and the impending Tesco development.

The membership is holding-up thanks to the Road Wardens who are the chief strength and life-blood of the Association. Mr Fogden added that the offers to fill the two recently advertised Road warden vacancies were both heart-warming & reassuring.

7. Sgt John Kemp addressed the floor

Sgt Kemp opened with a short DVD presentation explaining the rationale of Safer Neighbourhood Teams. He is pleased to report that the Petts Wood & Knoll SNT is now six-strong, there being two PCs & three PCOs with him. The main message is that SNTs work and are "here to stay".

The SNT target the issues as set & prioritised by, and are ultimately accountable to, the local ward panel. The panel consists of 17 people representing local businesses & residents etc. John Mangold & Ray Vaughan from the KRA are attendees. Currently the SNT are occupied with youth disorder, thefts from motor vehicles & residential burglary.

	Youth disorder - the use of dispersal orders and increased Police presence on the streets has had an impact on this nuisance
	Thefts from motor vehicles - this crime is most common at night, with satellite navigation systems a prime target. Sgt Kemp's team is currently working a week of night duties to address this.
	Residential burglary - again these crimes are decreasing as a result of the increased level of beat officers, particularly during the afternoon. Following LBB's appointment of a replacement Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Sgt Kemp is keen to relaunch this scheme. He would welcome an approach from anyone interested in becoming a NHW road warden.

Although the SNT has only been in place since April Sgt Kemp is pleased to report that achievements have already been made. To cite, the number of incidents reported across the ward in Oct 2006 was 60 compared to 104 for Oct 2005, a fall of some 44 incidents.

8. Cheryl Curr addressed the floor

Ms Curr gave a brief history of the career that led to her arrival as Orpington Town Centre Manager last April. The Council's priority & stated policy is looking at vibrant town centres. Although Bromley is the top tier the policy puts Orpington in second place followed by Beckenham and then the small towns as a cluster.

The High St is being affected with the emerging Nugent Park at one end and the forthcoming Tesco development at the other. Ms Curr has been out talking to businesses and has re-established the steering group with representatives from the library, museum & college as well as local traders. She is optimistic that the existing small shops can fill niches not covered by the major retail chains.

Although the expensive initiatives available to Bromley will not be replicated in Orpington there are plans for environmental improvements and a master plan for Orpington town centre. In addition the College is hoping to secure considerable funding to implement a refurbishment over the next few years. The prefab classrooms will be replaced and there will be a purpose-built area at the rear where the students can congregate.

The Xmas lights are to be switched on at 15.30 this Friday and the Italian Market is here again at the weekend. Copies of the latest Orpington Newsletter were made available as were copies of the new Orpington Restaurant & Pub Guide. Shops & businesses who have contributed to the Xmas newspaper & events have been given a display card in acknowledgement of their donations. Ms Curr also brought along the plaque awarded to Orpington for winning the 2006 Bromley in Bloom `most colourful town centre' award.

Questions to Ms Curr from the floor

	Mr Collins, Irene Rd would welcome a local butcher's shop & greengrocer. Ms Curr cited a similar plea from Beckenham residents when their specialist cheese shop closed down when in reality most shopped at the supermarket. There is no control over who freeholders give leases to.
	Mr Burton, Vinson CI asked what impact Tesco is expected to have and whether M&S are leaving. It is the Town Centre manager's role to be positive and Tesco will have 400+ employees. Prior to that construction workers are needed and the developers are working closely with the College & Job Centre to hone training & put local people in the best position to fill the posts. M&S are interested in relocation to Nugent Park but there are currently prohibitive planning constraints.
	Ms Curr accepted J McCarthy's point that the French & Italian Markets need adequate advertising.

9. Gareth Davies addressed the floor

Mr Davies began with the reasons behind the changes at the Station Road car park site. The London Borough of Bromley knew that the existing multi-storey car park was coming to the end of its economic life. If it was to be retained extensive repairs would be needed and the costs passed on to the taxpayer. The Council decided to market and sell the site and to get a private developer to rebuild the car park at their, and not the Council tax payers, expense. Having sold the site there is the benefit of a major new car park, as well as the rest of the development.

He accepted that the construction period would be difficult for local residents but outlined the temporary parking strategy. Firstly the existing car parks e.g. at M&S, the Walnuts etc will be utilised more effectively. The car parks will have the number of available spaces displayed on the variable message notices on approaching roads. Parking bays and meters have been installed in nearby streets and mobile telephone parking will be available.

Tesco currently have the construction contract out to tender. Whichever contractor they appoint will be bound by the exclusion zone for construction parking in the town centre and the permissible route for lorries etc travelling to and from the site. Tesco plan to be open in time for Christmas 2008. The temporary parking arrangements will be removed two or three months thereafter although the odd safety restriction, eg yellow lines, may remain.

Mr Davies finally added there is a planning application for enhancements and improvements at Priory Gardens. He sees that and the Tesco development as the start of investment back to Orpington.

Questions to Mr Davies from the floor

	Dr Hadley, Crofton RA asked if construction vehicles would be sent via Newstead Avenue. Mr Davies said no. It is intended that construction vehicles will use the main road network Crofton Road, Station Road, Spur Road and Sevenoaks Road. Newstead Road is only used as an emergency escape route or if the vehicles are too high to fit under the railway bridge as per the current over-height sign.
	A McCartney, Mayfield Avenue wanted to know what consideration has been given to the flow of traffic into and out of the development, once completed. Mr Davies said that the expected number of trips etc had to be considered at the planning application stage. The current application for increased retail space is subject to a further traffic impact review.
	In response to Rev Mustoe's concerns around possible plans to move the War Memorial Mr Davies said there are no plans to move the War Memorial. In addition, that Tesco have been asked to close the access road during the annual Remembrance Parade.
	Mr Burton wonders if Orpington will grind to a halt by Christmas 2008. There are already periods of heavy traffic congestion. Mr Davies acknowledged that there may be initial teething problems but he is confident that traffic flows will soon settle down.
	Mr Tait, Keswick Road asked if there is anywhere residents can see what plans etc are in place to monitor the traffic and that the monitoring is being honoured London Borough of Bromley committee reports etc are available to view at the Civic Centre and on line. Any traffic-calming initiatives are an expensive use of public money with regard to requests for additional traffic calming. It is too early to implement any now when there may not be any problems post-development.

10. Open forum

	F Drakes, The Drive - with Tesco at one end of the High St and Nugent Park at the other isn't LBB in the thrall of the developers and Orpington simply abandoned? Cllr Huntington-Thresher- Nugent Park has in fact had a bigger impact on Bromley than Orpington. In terms of footfall there has been an increase in Orpington although sales are down. Nugent Park has brought Debenhams & Next to the area. The Council does not have a huge amount of money available to change the High St but believe that Tesco will bring people in. Indeed businesses share this view and are gearing up accordingly. Another possibility is moving the library into the High St because it does not meet DDA accessibility rules in its present state. There are lots of issues to consider but we must look to the future.
	R Pudding, Irene Rd - a plea for wider zebra crossings, especially outside the Post Office. Mr Davies said that another benefit of Tesco is the extra money available for reinvesting back into the Borough's towns. Such a request can be considered. There is no limit to the size of crossing.
	In response to the remark from B Wilkin, Orchard Gr of `a pot of gold' from Tesco Cllr Huntington-Thresher said that the money from Tesco was £17m at present which will go into the Council's reserves for future capital projects. Mr Vaughan, St Kilda Rd wondered if the money would simply be set-off against the Councils' deficit The attending Councillors replied in unison that there is no deficit.
	S Lilly, Tower Rd - what is available for youngsters now when the original plans for the Station Rd car park site included a cinema and other leisure facilities? Cllr Fawthrop listed numerous activities available to young people, e.g. Scouts & Air Cadets, and praised the volunteers who provide such clubs. Cllr Huntington-Thresher said that it is not the Council's place to run a cinema, they can only do so much to encourage diverse businesses in an area. Cllr Owen said that when the bids for the site were put in the biggest sums offered were from supermarkets. He said that the Council decided not to be specific on what the development should include and thus the final choice was based solely on money.

With reiterated thanks to all for their attendance & contributions Mr Fogden closed the meeting at 9.25pm and refreshments were served.

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