East Brunswick Residents' Association
23, Waterloo Street, Hove, BN3 1AN
Committee
Meeting Minutes held on 28th March 2009 at Flat 2, 23 Waterloo
Street, Hove.
Committee Street Representatives Present:-
Bill Cowell, Co Chairperson
Richard Gamper, Co Chairperson
Eleanor Gamper, - Brunswick Street East
Geraldine Diggins, - Western Street and Golden Lane
Susan King, Treasurer
Mark Harris, - Cross Street
Rhondell Constantine, - Upper and Lower Market Streets
Peggy Thomas - Waterloo Street Community Garden
Hassan Khabbazeh
Guests:-
Michael Akins – Neighbourhood Watch - Waterloo Street and roads off
Apologies received from:-
Richard Oxford – Farman Street
Gerald Featherstone – Secretary
Peter Browne – Neighbourhood Watch – Norfolk Square
Wayne Schofield, - Web Master
Reggie Vincent, Norfolk Square Gardens
Minutes of the meeting held on 11/10/08
The minutes of this meeting were read and
agreed as being correct.
Changes on the Committee
Bill reported that Kerri Burns, who
represents Norfolk Square, was stepping down and that Peter Browne had
volunteered to replace her. The committee thanked Kerri for her support and
wished her well for the future.
Waterloo Arch Garden
Peggy reported that, whilst the garden had
suffered during the winter and some plants had been lost due to the weather,
she felt it “was speaking for itself”. All present agreed that the garden
looked wonderful and Peggy was thanked for all her hard work. Unfortunately
there have been some setbacks. Two olive trees that were to have been planted
in the ground were unable to be so due to ground conditions. They have now been
planted in large pots. Two pots full of tulips worth circa £220 have recently
been stolen. This was despite them being secured with wire. The garden requires
constant cleaning, due to people dropping cigarette ends and not clearing up
their dog mess.
Bill reported that whilst the Old Market had
agreed to pay £60 per month towards the upkeep of the garden, they were
currently £240 in arrears.
Bill was also thanked for all the hard work
he put into the maintenance of the garden.
Bicycle Racks
Geraldine said that she had not received a
reply from Paul Elgood concerning her request for bike racks to be installed in
Western Street. Bill undertook to establish who in the council Geraldine could
contact direct with her request. Geraldine undertook to establish locations
where bike racks could be installed.
Marketing EBRA
Geraldine expressed concern that EBRA were
not doing enough to advertise the association and recruit new members. She
suggested we should publish a brief leaflet setting out our aims and objectives
and how to join EBRA. The leaflet should aim to be personal and inviting.
Leaflets could then be distributed to doctors’ surgeries, the Old Market, The
Sanctuary Cafe etc. Geraldine would draft a copy for Bill’s approval.
Dog Fouling
Geraldine asked if she could get a supply of
leaflets from the Dog Warden. The ones currently on display in the Community
Garden would be perfect. Bill will arrange.
Noise
Richard explained that, where people were
creating noise in the street, whether or not they were party-goers from
adjacent properties, the council was not empowered to take any action. Any such
action was the responsibility of the police. The council can only take action
where noise is coming directly from a property or its curtelage (not the
street). In general, where incidents are reported to the police, they do
not attend such incidents unless a breach of the peace (i.e. fighting,
drug-taking etc.) is taking place, or is likely to do so. Richard said that in
his experience, such street parties generally lead to these incidents and
therefore, where street parties are being reported to the police, the informant
should say that such incidents are taking place if they wish the police to
attend.
Refuse collection
For information, Richard reported that
weekly street refuse collections were still being undertaken in Brunswick
Street East. Paul Elgood was still negotiating with the council re locations
for street refuse bins to be installed in Upper/Lower Market Streets and
Brunswick Street East. However, to date no suitable locations had been
identified.
Old Market Planning Application
EBRA supports the aims and objectives of the
The Old Market but many members had reluctantly submitted objections to the
planning application. Concerns surround the overbearing size of the proposed
penthouses. They are not considered in keeping with a conservation area.
It is likely that the planning application will be considered by the Planning
Committee at their scheduled meeting on 29th April.
Business in the area
Gerald Featherstone has recently e-mailed
the committee with his concerns about what he considered to be EBRA’s “negative
attitude” towards local businesses. Unfortunately Gerald was unable to attend
the meeting and most of those present had not read the e-mail. It was therefore
decided that it would be inappropriate to discuss this matter and it would be
better to defer it to a meeting when Gerald was present. However, the committee
wished to record that it supported local businesses. The committee also
appreciated that, on occasions, there may be conflicts of needs between
residents and businesses.
It was noted and welcomed that the owners of
the new Italian take-away on the corner of Waterloo Street and Cross Street
were much quieter than the previous owners. However, concerns were expressed
about noisy pub customers standing outside pubs drinking and/or smoking.
Geraldine volunteered to draft a letter for Bill to sign on behalf of EBRA
welcoming the new owner of the Bedford Tavern (opposite her house).
One-way traffic
Concern was expressed yet again about
vehicles ignoring one-way street signs and driving up the wrong way. Michael
Akins asked that details of any vehicles ignoring the restrictions should be
reported to him and he would pass details on to the police. E-mail Michael
giving vehicle’s index number, name of street, date and time and if possible a
photo.
AGM
Bill will contact Gerald to see if the Iron
Duke would kindly host the AGM on either 25th or 26th
April. Bill to e-mail details to all members when agreed.
Vote of thanks
The committee wished to record a vote of
thanks to Tom Chavasse (Brunswick Square and Terrace Residents Association) for
all the time and hard work he contributed towards common issues affecting all
local residents associations.
Bill
Cowell
Co.
Chairperson
East Brunswick Residents’ Association