Minutes of the Meeting of the Albrighton and District Civic Society held at  Elwood House, Cross Road, Albrighton, on Monday 20th July 2009 at 4pm

 

Present :        Peter Woodman – Chairman

                        Rod Smith - Secretary

David Hughes -Treasurer

John Bulmer

                        Hugh Hughes

                        Paul Joseland

                       

                                                                                                         

1. Apologies received from David Harding, Peter Leigh, Malcolm Pate and Michael Ward

 

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 29th June May 2009 were approved

 

3. Matters Arising

a) There was agreement that the work of the Society should not conflict with but should be complimentary to the work of Albrighton Parish Council (APC) and Donington with Boscobel Parish Council (DBPC) and Boningale Parish Council (BPC). The Clerks of APC & DBPC had been invited to be ex-officio members of the committee to ensure a good working link between the Society and the councils. The committee was pleased that Michael Ward had joined us and our discussions had gone very well and the Society was now supporting several initiatives begun by APC eg the work at Albrighton station, conservation area etc. PW reminded the meeting that the Clerk of DBPC had initially felt that he may not able to attend our meetings so PW would write to DBPC to formally invite the Clerk to be an ex-officio member.

Action: PW

 

b) There were no others except those appearing as items on the Agenda

 

4. Albrighton Fayre. Members reported that the stall at the Fayre had proved more successful than expected with many buyers of the raffle tickets showing interest in the aims of ADCS and being positive about becoming a member. The £1 membership fee (or £2 for a family) seemed to be a very acceptable and small price for most people who readily joined. 101 memberships were registered on Fayre day being about 63 individual memberships and 38 family memberships, although we had not recorded them separately (we will do this in future). A few people paid for the raffle ticket but did not join. The Treasurer confirmed that £160 had been taken. It was agreed that we should have a similar stall at next year’s Fayre.

 

5. Rod Smith was appointed Secretary of the Society for the period up to 31st October 2009, which would take us past the first public meeting. Following that the Secretaryship would be taken up by other members on a quarterly basis.

 

6. Priorities for Action

 

Shrewsbury Arms

 

PW reported that following its sale to the Bromley family, who have a good track record running the Goldthorne Hotel in Wolverhampton and the Thornescroft  restaurant in Shipley, work had started on cleaning up the site and Perspex protection sheets placed over all windows. The signs were therefore encouraging.  

 

 

The Old Smithy

 

No further news reported since David Thompson has written to say it would be part of the Shaw Lane/Beamish Lane development. The situation requires monitoring.

Action: All

 

The Village Green Conservation Area

 

PL had contacted Brian Bennett of Shropshire Council regarding street furniture and lighting and requested that the necessary repairs/repainting as agreed with APC be done. PL reported no response from Mr Bennett. By this minute Michael Ward is asked if APC can put pressure on Mr Bennett to take action.

Action: MW

 

PW had written to ABP to express concern over the nuisance caused by the Lime trees. JB had surveyed the trees and reported that there were 40 trees in total, of which 30 No. were Lime trees. Many branches were too low and only 1m above the ground. He considered that 23 No. limes needed immediate pruning. PW reported that roots of many were now lifting the road surface and causing trip hazards. It was understood that APC is seeking quotations for the tree pruning and road re-surfacing. PW said that the roots of many would need to be removed prior to road re-surfacing or the problem would continue and he suggested that the Lime trees should be cut down and new more appropriate trees planted. Members agreed that this was probably the best technical solution but that it was likely to be unacceptable from an aesthetic or cost point of view if all trees were suddenly removed. PJ said that any replacement programme would have to be on a phased basis JB also agreed that to remove all would create a bad visual impact on the area and suggested that as a first step alternate trees be cut down and the rest pruned. This was generally thought a good working solution pending a long term plan being agreed. The Society should ask for details of the work, for which APC was seeking quotations, to check if the scope was in line with residents’ expectations. It was recognised that ADCS had no decision-making powers but were acting in an advisory capacity on this issue.

Action: PW

 

PW would write to BT concerning the phone box

 

Action: PW

 

Proposed development at The Hollies Cross Road.

 

RS reported that the school has continued its objections at a recent APC meeting citing anticipated problems with the bus (provided by the RAF for Cosford children) stopping outside the development. APC is organising a meeting of APC, Head Teacher, Chairman of Governors, SC highway dept, police and others at the school in September to see the problem at first hand.

 

Lea Manor Hotel

 

Nothing further to report at this stage

Action: DH to monitor

 

Fly Tipping in Abney Avenue

 

Tipping of rubbish between the “crescent” and Church Rd (on the area which used to be garages) had become common. By this minute Michael Ward is asked if the responsibility for dealing with it is with APC or Shropshire Council.

Action: MW

 

Lea Hall Cottage, Newhouse Lane

 

HH reported that he understood the owner lived in Cardiff and was the brother of Beryl Jones.

 

 

Albrighton Station and Bridge

 

JB reported that Michael Ward had informed him that refurbishment would go ahead.

 

 

Balti Kitchen High Street Albrighton

 

PW had written to the selling agents who had replied that it was about to be sold.

 

 

7. Consideration of the Brewood Civic Society model and to agree if and to what extent the Society should follow this.

 

RS handed out copies of the documents provided by BCS. RS would send copies to absent members.

Action: RS

 

It was agreed that the Society should generally follow the Brewood model, as it had proved successful over many years.

The Constitution of ADCS will be based on that of Brewood and the first draft will be made by the three officers (Chairman, Secretary & Treasurer) and then circulated to committee members for further development as necessary. This work will be done prior to the next committee meeting.

Action: firstly PW/RS/DH and then all

 

PJ’s suggestion that the Constitution should include the clause “The committee of ADCS should meet enough times to carry out the business of the Society but not less than quarterly” was agreed.

 

RS said that Brewood had explained that they review planning applications that are sent to them by their County Council. PW will speak to MP to find out the mechanism for ADCS to be informed by Shropshire Council of planning applications made in our area. It was agreed that ADCS would not intend to comment on all minor applications but to focus on major schemes such as the Shaw Lane/Beamish Lane Development or The Hollies Development, Cross Rd and any minor ones, which contain sensitive aspects.

Action: PW & MP

 

 

Subscriptions. The model already chosen was £1 individual and £2 for a whole family and this had proved successful at Fayre day. However to generate enough income many more members were needed. (Brewood has 875 members which is about 1/3 of the population of 2500. Its 13 committee members collect on the doorstep from approx 100 houses each. If we assume 3 to 5 minutes per house then it would take each member about 5 to 8 hours of collecting ie say 3 evening sessions).

DH suggested that we would need at least £1000 income per annum based on Brewood’s accounts – insurance alone was several hundred pounds. We had collected £160 from about 100 people on Fayre day and so we would need many more members at £1 to £2 each

 

The following options were possible:

 

a)     collect as at Brewood.  This would need the 9 committee members plus say 21 volunteers to collect from say 100 houses each – Albrighton having about 3000 No. houses (could Michael Ward confirm the number?) if it was intended to cover the whole village.

 

b)     a committee member to ask other Abrighton Clubs or Societies if they would allow the member to address one of their meetings for 5 minutes to explain what ADCS does and to ask for members to join there and then. The committee member to take the ADCS Leaflet and Membership Certificates to the meeting and to collect the subscription (probably need 2 people to do it, based on Fayre day experience)

 

c)      advertise in the Parish Magazine for members to come forward to join.

 

d)     set up a street collection on several Saturdays (similar to a flag day).

 

RS felt that c) alone was unlikely to get members in the sort of numbers needed to produce the income reported by DH and that a) seemed the better method, as demonstrated  by Brewood, but it would need to be on a bigger scale at Albrighton and it would entail a lot of effort by many members. We would also need to recruit about 21 volunteers to help. Members were not enthusiastic about a). It was felt we would need a license to do method d).

 

It was agreed that we would advertise in the Parish Magazine and that method b) be tried out as follows:

 

 

Club                                                    Committee Member to visit the meeting

Bridge Club                                       JB

Bowls Club                                         JB

Cinema Club                                     PW

Tennis Club                                        PW

Cricket Club                                       PW

Historical Society      PL and/or DH (action allocated in their absence so please confirm if ok)

Retired Mens Society                       HH

 

(Added post meeting) Other Clubs/Societies may include?:-

Abrighton Womens Institute     

Albric Womens Institute

Men’s Link

Ladies Link

AP Council (to recruit the Councillors)

DBP Council (              )

BP Council (              )

Action: JB and PW. Other volunteers

 

PW to ask Diana Crawford for her list of Albrighton Clubs/Societies and then we could add to the list above.

Action: PW

 

RS would print more of the ADCS Leaflet and Membership Certificates for committee Members to take on the recruiting drive to the above Clubs.

Action:RS

 

It was also agreed that if some committee members wanted to try method a) on a small scale then this would be a useful trial.

 

Brewood Civic Society also acts as the Historical Society and many of its open meetings have speakers covering the types of topics that are covered by the Albrighton Historical Society (AHS). It was agreed that ADCS should ask if AHS would like to hold some joint meetings – the programmes for the new season of society meetings is probably being drawn un now and so we need to act now.

Action: PL/DH (action allocated in their absence so please confirm if ok)

 

PW would also write to DBPC and Boningale Parish Council (BPC) to ask if there were any issues which residents wish to raise for the Society to look at.

Action: PW

 

RS felt that the committee will need to do most of the above work now before the next meeting as there is a lot to organise in order to present ourselves at the October Open Meeting as a solidly based organisation with most items resolved.

 

8. Plans for the Open Meeting October 209

DH confirmed that the Bar Room (with bar open) at the Red House has been booked from 7pm to 10pm on Monday 26th October 2009. The notice of the meeting will state: bar open at 7pm with the meeting from 7.30 pm to 9.30pm.

The meeting will include introduction to ADCS, presentation of Brewood CS by Peter Jackson, presentation of ADCS Constitution and vote by all members for its adoption, review of some of the issues we have already looked at and the outcome or status, open forum for attendees to suggest items for ADCS review. PW would borrow laptop, projector and screen for the event. The Brewood and ADCS presentations to include the use of PowerPoint to provide images.

Action: PW

 

RS to prepare a draft detailed agenda and circulate it for comments/suggestions

Action: RS

 

9. Any Other Business

 

It was also agreed at the last meeting that advice should be sought as to appropriate insurance cover for ADCS’s activities as the cover provided by the now defunct Civic Trust had now lapsed and MP agreed to obtain quotations for insurance.

Action: PL/PBW & MP

 

Publicity

 

It was agreed that further publicity in the Parish Magazine and in the local newspapers should be arranged in advance of the Open Meeting planned for October 2009.  MP said at last meeting that he would commence work on an ADCS website as soon as he could do so

Action: PW & MP

  

 

Date of next meeting Monday 7th September 2009 at 4pm at HH’s house

 

RS5.08.09

 

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