Minutes of the AGM of PPRA held Thursday 12th May 2011 at Gorsey Bank School.
Present - Committee Members Jane Hardy, Sally Hu, Karen Carsons, Yvonne Morris.
Also present Councillors Rob Menlove & Gary Barton,
Susan Lees opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the 7th AGM and thanked the residents for showing their support by coming.
Apologies - from several residents & Susan Garrod, HM Gorsey Bank School.
Susan then gave a brief resume of the aims of the PPRA - to promote & safeguard the area of Pownall Park & its residents. Also that it is a non political, non profit making association.
She then went on to add
Susan Lees to be reappointed Chair - Proposed Sally Hu
Seconded Peter Sampson
Review of previous 12 months - Susan Lees
It has been a quiet 12 months with not many issues to be dealt with.
Financial - As can be seen from the accounts, donations are up and we have managed to reduce our main expenditures – the website and the printing of the newsletter. The surplus funds can now be used for the benefit of the residents.
Thanks were given to Tim Potter for auditing the accounts & he has agreed to remain auditor.
Tim Potter to remain auditor – Proposed - Yvonne Morris
Seconded - Martin Jones.
Street Reps report - Jane Hardy
Thanks were given to the Street Reps for their continued hard work in distributing the newsletters and collecting the donations. A request for a street rep for Gorsey Road & the bottom end of Kings Road near the Rugby Club was made. It was pointed out that we are trying to collect email addresses to enable us to reduce the number of paper copies of the newsletter we have to deliver.
Newsletter – it was then discussed with the residents about emailing the newsletter & the meeting decided that this was a good idea . Any residents who still wished to have a paper newsletter should let us know, otherwise it will be sent out by email with one annual paper based newsletter being distributed to everyone.
The idea of a notice board being erected somewhere in Pownall Park had been suggested by the Committee & this was discussed by the residents present & thought to be a good idea. Councillor Menlove did not foresee any great problems as long as it was a” tasteful” notice board. The meeting gave its approval for the erection of a notice board.
Planning - it has been a quiet 12 months for planning but there is always the worry that developers will move into the area. Rob Menlove confirmed that the Pownall Park Planning Guide issued by Macclesfield BC still remains in force. Susan stressed that PPRA will not get involved in individual developments - only where it impinges on Pownall Park as a whole and is out of character for the area.
The development at the Dower House was raised by a resident and Gary Barton said that new scaled down plans were being prepared for resubmission to the Council. Concerns were raised about the access onto Gorsey Road & this was said to be a highways issue. It was said that the planning Committee may make a site visit to see the access problem.
Parking - the new restrictions have been in place for several months now & comments were invited from residents.
Several residents from Alton Road stated that the parking restrictions on Broadwalk have resulted in the parking moving onto Alton & causing problems there, particularly parking on the bend which is extremely dangerous. Following discussions with the Councillors it was agreed that the parking situation would be monitored – possibly counting the number of cars parked all day. However it was also said that the residents were consulted before the restrictions were put in place & that the Council acted on what the majority of the residents said they wanted.
Highways - Due to budget cuts only the main roads are regularly swept. Other roads are swept & the verges cut on a rota basis. Residents need to ask the Council if the gullies need emptying. Rob Menlove says there is a new plan in force for all the maintenance & residents should email him with any issues. Budget cuts have resulted in a 20% reduction in funds but fewer staff with better machines should improve the maintenance. There are now no plans to resurface Hawthorn Lane because of the budget cuts - there are many roads in Cheshire far worse!!
Gorsey Field - Residents claim that the field has not been mowed this year. Since the fence went up it has not been cut on a regular basis. The field comes under the jurisdiction of the school & PPRA are to contact the school to request it to be mowed.
Security & Homewatch - Most residents have received a card to put up about not buying from the door & many are now displaying it. Most of the people who come round selling goods do not have a licence & residents are encouraged to call the police if they feel intimidated by them.
New Homewatch signs have been ordered because the old ones cannot be cleaned. The new ones are laminated & should be easily cleaned. All roads have a Homewatch Co-ordinator.
Website - this is used by residents and the newsletter & other items will be posted on here. Unfortunately we are unable to put Homewatch Co-ordinator details on here due to data protection.
Re-election of Committee members – Jane Hardy, Sally Hu, Karen Carsons, Yvonne Morris
Proposed - Martin Jones
Seconded - John Eagle
AOB
Rob Menlove as our outgoing Councillor was then invited to give an over view of what Cheshire East has achieved in the past year.
£40 m has been saved by Cheshire East over the last year through job cuts & savings. Most of the job losses have been through voluntary redundancies. In addition a lot of the clerical work has been streamlined & unnecessary procedures removed. Social care & child care accounts for 50% of the budget.
A regeneration plan is in hand for the centre of Macclesfield & Crewe by 2030 & also Congleton. There may also be plans for Wilmslow in the future.
£2m has been received from Central Government for road repairs following the bad winter, but this will still not be enough to repair all the roads.
In October we will receive new silver recycling bins in which all recycling items be put - plastic, tetrapaks plus all the usual cans, bottles etc. The bins will be emptied & then sorted later at a facility in Shotton before being sent for recycling. Green bin collection & rubbish will still be on a fortnightly basis.
Street lighting - Every other street light will be turned off between 12-6 am & lights on main roads will be dimmed by 40% to save on power.
Gary Barton was then invited to say a few words as our new Councillor.
Town council - The first meeting of Wilmslow Town council will be on Monday 16th May in the Parish Hall when its responsibilities will be decided. It will have a budget of £200,000 to be spent on projects in Wilmslow. The Council is waiting for input from local residents. We have two Pownall Park residents on the Town council - Christopher Dodson who lives on Carrwood Road & Hilary Shepherd who lives on Broadwalk.
Altrincham Road - After many years of campaigning the speed limit is in the process of being reduced to 30mph.
Stamford Lodge - A planning application has been submitted for its redevelopment but no answer has been reached. Residents should write with any concerns to the Planning Dept. The main concern for Pownall residents is increase in traffic but there will be a roundabout by the entrance which should slow the traffic down.
Gorsey Field – The Village Green application has still to be decided and because the Council has a vested interest, it is going to an independent Tribunal. There is not expected to be an answer in the foreseeable future.
Lifestyle Centre - this is a plan for the future so not many details are known
Jim Evison Field - A concerned resident raised the disgusting state of the fields after football matches. Parking & security are also areas which need to be addressed particularly if the gate is left unlocked. This would enable Travellers to gain entry to the fields. There are no rubbish bins provided & no fine for the teams if they fail to clean up after a match. It was suggested that a fixed penalty be levied on teams that leave rubbish. Gary Barton promised that the Town Council would look at this.
Also raised was the matter of the footpath from Kings Road to the Jim Evison Field. A sign has been erected next to some land saying Keep Out - it was wondered who owns this land & whether they can put this sign up.
The missing Carrwood Road sign has finally been replaced & other missing ones including Priory Road have been reported.
Pownall Park Tennis Club is inviting residents to come along & try out the many facilities on offer.
Susan thanked the Friends Of The Carrs for all the hard work that its volunteers do & we will put a note in the next newsletter asking for more volunteers. Also a plea was made to keep the area tidy & to collect any litter that may be lying around. Any overhanging hedges should be reported to Highways who will write to the owners and if nothing is done will trim the hedge & send the owners a bill.
Susan closed the meeting by thanking the Councillors and residents for coming & invited everyone to stay & have a drink.