Minutes 3rd August 2000 AGM

Minutes of Annual General Meeting
held at 8 pm on Thursday 3rd August 2000
at the South London Theatre, Norwood High Street
(by kind permission of the Theatre)

Present:- In the chair - Anne Orange
Guest speaker - The Mayor of Lambeth, Cllr. Mrs Clare Whelan
Committee (as at beginning of meeting) - Rod Brown, Bernie Bullbrook, Jeremy Galloway, John MacDonald, Dave Maddix, Helen O'Brien, James Slattery-Kavanagh, Linda White, Grahame Fearon Wilson.
Members and others attending - Simon Berlyn, Marion Cavanagh, Gabrielle Garton Grimwood, Michael Grimwood, Ron Holder, Keith Langton, Cllr. Robert McConnell, Richard Moore, Mary Sexton, Daphne Slaughter, Gerald Slaughter, Teresa Szczotka, Paul Tobin, Joe Ward, Clover Williams.

1. Welcome from South London Theatre
Bernie Bullbrook, on behalf of the South London Theatre, gave a warm welcome to all attending the meeting, and wished the meeting well.

2. Apologies were received from:-
Jane Pickard, Cllr. John Whelan.

3. Address by the Mayor
Mrs Whelan welcomed the major contribution which the Norwood Action Group (NAG) had made to securing the maintenance and improvement of the local environment and its services.
Five key aims of her mayoralty were:-
To encourage voluntary groups;
To encourage youth activities;
To protect elderly, disabled and vulnerable people;
To increase local pride in the borough; and
To promote the sense of community within the borough.
The achievement of these aims within the borough was a great challenge, in a borough with such a diverse population, with many different faiths and cultures, with 136 different languages, and with the largest population - at over _ million people - of any London borough. She felt that her aims were wholly consistent with those of NAG, and she hoped that the Group would live up to their acronym in ensuring that their joint aspirations were not neglected or diluted. She and her colleagues were grateful to NAG for providing an important stimulus to maintaining the desired environment, regeneration and services, and wished the Group well for their future activities.
The Mayor's address was received with thanks from the chair and acclaim from the floor.

4. Minutes of the last AGM and matters arising
Simon Berlyn observed that, in the minutes of last year's AGM, a number of significant contributions to the discussions by individual members had not been mentioned or specifically attributed to the relevant speakers. Anne Orange replied that the aim of the minutes was to record conclusions and to reflect the broad views expressed at the meeting. She hoped it would be generally accepted that the minutes had achieved these ends.
The minutes of the 1999 AGM were agreed without amendment.
Arising from the minutes, Keith Langton referred to the recorded discussion about the "link member" which Cllr. Dickson had said would provide a link between the board/forum and the council cabinet. Anne Orange confirmed that the arrangements envisaged last year had been later modified to secure that the partnership board would include a link member for each of the three political parties concerned.

5a. Chair's report
Anne Orange outlined a number of the Group's achievements during the past year, including, for example, those relating to the Gateway proposals (round St Luke's church), St Martin's estate, Thameslink 2000, and the establishment of a website. She also referred to the new arrangements for local democracy, covering the establishment of the forum and the partnership board and their meetings and working arrangements, and emphasised the need for the Group to strive to make those arrangements work to the best possible effect. This should not however detract from the need for the Group to define and carry out its own roles, both proactive and reactive, in as non-political a way as possible.
Anne stressed the importance of the job of the Town Centre Manager, whose job had been made increasingly difficult in recent months, and to whom it was vital for the Group to give encouragement and support.
Anne thanked the members of the Committee for their efforts during the year in providing the services needed to make the Group an effective unit. They had frequently to dig deeply into their time, energy and resources to service the Group's wishes. Without detracting from the contributions to the Group's functioning made in this way by other Committee members, she paid special tribute to Jane Pickard and Linda White for their secretarial achievements.

5b. Transport Co-ordinator's report
Rod Brown presented to the meeting a written report, copies of which were distributed to those present. The salient points covered in his report were:-
NAG had, at a meeting addressed by a representative of the East London [Underground] Line Extensions project, indicated its top preference for the option which would extend the line through Tulse Hill to Wimbledon, the least popular option being the extension to Clapham Junction.
NAG had also been addressed by a representative of Railtrack's Thameslink 2000 project. At that meeting Nag expressed its dissatisfaction with the total absence of any improvements for the overcrowded Tulse Hill arm of the Thameslink rail service in the Thameslink 2000 proposals, while huge sums were to be spent on other arms and on improving capacity between King's Cross and Blackfriars.
Lambeth Council had advised the Group that out-of-service buses were legally entitled to use side roads; a better option on behalf of aggrieved residents might be to request the bus companies to use other routes.
Complaints had been made about the reliability of the 315 bus service.
Bus services serving West Norwood provided a less comprehensive service than those serving neighbouring towns.
Discussion of the report suggested that the 315 bus service had improved since the said complaints were made, and was now satisfactory.
[Copies of this report are obtainable from the Secretary.]

5c. Membership Secretary's report
Helen O'Brien presented to the meeting a written report, copies of which were distributed to those present. The main points covered in her report were:-
The Group now had 62 members, compared with 65 in November 1999.
Members who were in arrears with their subscriptions and who failed to respond to a reminder sent to them with a monthly agenda notice would have their name removed from the circulation list for agendas, minutes, etc.
There were indications that some loss of members might occur during the autumn, partly because of the emergence of the forum, and partly because of dissatisfaction by some members with the small amount of progress often made in the Group's discussions, where these were impeded by repeated interventions and other practices which diverted the Group's attention along unproductive avenues.
[Copies of this report are obtainable from the Secretary.]

5d. Treasurer's report.
The Chair observed that the Treasurer, Bill Clifford, who had been advised of the date, time and venue of the present meeting, was not present. Nor was there any evidence that he had arranged for anyone else to attend and present the accounts or financial statement on his behalf. The Chair further reported that he had not replied to recent letters she had sent to him, and she had not been able to find any other way of getting in touch with him.
It was agreed in discussion that, in these circumstances, the presentation of the Treasurer's report and of the accounts could not be taken further at the present meeting. Paul Tobin said that it might be necessary to adjourn this item on the AGM agenda until the annual accounts and financial statement were available.
The Chair pointed out that it would be necessary, under a later item on the agenda, to elect a Treasurer. Further discussion of the current item (5d) was held over meanwhile.

5e. Safety and Crime Co-ordinator's report
Bernie Bullbrook reported that it had been a difficult year in the Group's relations with the police. Liaison and consultation arrangements with the public had been progressively and seriously eroded; this affected facilities, statistics and other information, sincerity, public access, and long-established procedures. As the Vice-chairman of the revamped Norwood Sector Working Group, Bernie expressed the hope that matters would improve.
The proposed "cop-shop" for West Norwood, to be open for two hours each working day, was a small but worthwhile improvement, but there were still insufficient police stations in the area as a whole, and the situation would be exacerbated by the closure of the front office at Gipsy Hill station at weekends. Bernie felt that a permanent police presence in the Crystal Palace vicinity was essential, being in a population centre with considerable activities in a locality impinging on five different boroughs, and he had written formally on behalf of NAG to complain about the reduction of public access to this police station.
Too many changes of posts within the police had alienated many police officers. A number of officers had left the force, many of those remaining were disillusioned and had low morale, and recruitment figures were very inadequate. Bernie closed his report with his assessment that the policing situation in West Norwood, while now starting to improve slightly, was still serious (though not as bad as the horrendous situation in Brixton).
Cllr McConnell reinforced the points made by Bernie about current police staffing. The level of confidence among existing police officers had recently been at a record low, with only minimal recruitment being achieved.
The question was discussed how to exert more pressure to improve local policing, particularly in relation to staffing and presence levels, including the long-standing question, referred to by Simon Berlyn, why West Norwood had no police station. Continued approaches to the Metropolitan Police authorities (advocated by Michael Grimwood and others) were regarded as desirable, but not enough to secure the necessary resources for the police. Pressure needed also to be exerted on central Government, eg through local MPs (as suggested by Paul Tobin), and possibly (as suggested by Marion Cavanagh) on the London Mayor, and by persuading interested MPs who were not Government Ministers (eg Simon Hughes, suggested by Cllr McConnell) to ask Parliamentary Questions. Linda White suggested that the Lambeth Community Police Group should be invited to any future meeting held by NAG on policing problems.
There was also discussion of CCTV in the West Norwood/Tulse Hill area. Marion Cavanagh expressed concern about the adequacy of the proposed monitoring arrangements. Also, the need to cover the alleyway between Tulse Hill station building and the Norwood Road/Leigham Vale/Palace Road intersection was stressed by several members (including Jeremy Galloway and James Slattery-Kavanagh), bearing in mind (as suggested by Simon Berlyn) that, if the difficulties of covering it from Norwood Road were insuperable, it might be covered from the station end if the authorities in question were agreeable.
The discussion revealed a general consensus that the subject of safety and crime was important enough to merit devoting the whole, or most, of a meeting to it. A special speaker might be invited to such a meeting.

5f. Business Co-ordinator's report
Jeremy Galloway, in presenting the annual business and commercial report, said that, after a shaky few months which had seen shop closures and other setbacks, there were now signs of an improvement. The proposed residential development on the site of the old Lambeth College building in Knight's Hill had failed to get planning approval, and new development proposals were being sought which would provide employment opportunities. Two new cafés had now opened, and a new fishmonger had restarted the business vacated last March. Matters had been improved in some respects by the new parking arrangements and - though this might not last indefinitely - by the virtual absence of traffic wardens following the departure of Drakes.
Jeremy felt that, by and large, business in West Norwood could be expected to make a gradual revival provided that it followed the general trend towards larger retail and commercial units and/or better-identified "niche" businesses. The process might however be painful for some small businesses, a few of whom were now in difficulties, and there might be some further failures.
During the discussion which followed Jeremy's report, Ron Holder said that the Government's New Deal was not working in West Norwood. Better youth employment facilities were needed. Facilities and premises were required for more youth training, and for the conduct of surveys designed to ensure that acquired skills would match demand. Better engagement of youth in the life and work of the area would help to deal with other social and economic problems. Youth in the area wanted to get involved in any discussions aimed at addressing these problems, so as to enable the whole community to work together. Ron's points were echoed by other speakers.

5g. Secretary's and Newsletter Editor's report
The Secretary and Newsletter Editor, Jane Pickard, had apologised for her inability to attend the AGM, and had arranged for her written report to be distributed in advance to all members, along with the agenda for the meeting.
Her report included notice of her intention to stand down as Secretary.
The report was received by the meeting, and a vote of thanks for her unstinting services as Secretary for the last three years was passed with acclamation.

6. Amendment of Constitution
In introducing this item, Anne Orange referred generally to the document distributed to members before the meeting indicating the Committee's proposals for amendments to the Constitution, and particularly to the proposed amendments [vide, eg, paras.4-7 of section 7 of the draft amended Constitution] which dealt with the conduct of NAG meetings. Anne emphasised the need for NAG discussions to be useful and constructive, and was anxious that, in order to achieve the aims of the Group, the most effective use should be made of the limited time available for such discussions. She considered that too much time was being consumed by discussions on points of order, interruptions, repeated interventions, etc, at the expense of time for discussions relating directly to the Group's aims. She was aware that many members and prospective members had been put off by the tone of recent Group discussions. These particular proposals for amendment were designed to remedy this situation.
Simon Berlyn proposed that this item should be deferred to a separate meeting, to give more time for consideration of the proposals and for full discussion of them. Keith Langton supported this view. Several other members disagreed, however, emphasising the need to devote as much as possible of the group's time to discussion of the needs of the community and the other aims of the Group, in priority to any protracted quest for a Constitution which was as near to perfect as possible. The meeting decided, by a large majority, to maintain this item on the current evening's agenda. At this point Keith Langton expressed his dissatisfaction with the discussion and left the meeting.
In discussions on the proposed amended Constitution, the following additional amendments were agreed:-
(a) The references in section 3 and in para.1 of section 4 to "West Norwood" are to be altered to "Norwood".
(b) In para.2 of section 4, the words "any annual subscription" are to be altered to "an annual subscription".
(c) In para.3 of section 4, the words "or affiliated body" are to be inserted after "Every member".
(d) In para.7 of section 5, the words "the permission of" are to be altered to "having notified".
(e) In para.1 of section 7, the word "this", in both places where it occurs, is to be altered to "such a".
(f) In para.1 of section 7, "possible" is to be altered to "desired".
(g) In para.6 of section 7, the words "or item" are to be inserted after "a speaker".
(h) In para.7 of section 7, the words "endeavour to" are to be inserted after "The chair will".
(i) In para.8 of section 7, all the words after "9.30pm" are to be deleted.
(j) In paras.1 and 2 of section 9 , the words "or any person acting as chair" are to be inserted after the word "chair".
(k) In para.5 of section 9, the words "and the agenda for the next monthly meeting" are to be inserted after the words "ordinary open meetings".
(l) In para.5 of section 9, the words "shall be available" are to be altered to "shall be aimed to be available".
(m) Section 10 is not to refer specifically to three accounts, but should leave to the discretion of the committee any question as to the number and purposes of accounts, and the opening and closing of them by the treasurer.
(n) Para.1 of section 10 is to be amended so as to limit cheque-signing powers to the treasurer and two other named committee members appointed by the committee, and so as to require all cheques drawn on any account of the group to be signed by two of those three people, one of the two being the treasurer unless he or she is absent or unavailable.
(o) At the end of the last para. but two of section 10, ie after the words "the objects of the group", there are to be added the words ", and only with the specific approval of the committee or in accordance with a budget agreed by the committee.".
(p) In para.2 of section 11, the words "7 days' notice" are to be altered to "14 days' notice".
(q) In section 12, after the words "10 members" there are to be inserted the words "or 10 per cent of the total membership, whichever is the larger,".
(r) In section 13, the term "officers" is to be limited to the key posts of chair, both vice-chairs, secretary and treasurer.
(s) Para.13 is specifically to permit the addition to the committee of co-ordinators for new or revised matters determined by the committee.
For each section of the Constitution affected by any of the above amendments, a vote was taken on a proposal from the Chair that the section as so amended should be adopted as part of the Constitution. On each vote, the proposal was carried by a large majority, there being in every case at least 18 votes in favour, at most 2 votes against, and - in some cases - one or more abstentions. On a vote carried nem. con., the Chair declared that the Constitution was thereby so amended.
Richard Moore recommended that, after the new Constitution had been working for six months, the Committee should report to the group on its working and on any conclusions to be drawn therefrom.

7. Election of officers
Nominations for the officers and other Committee members were proposed and seconded as indicated in the following table. As all the nominees were willing to stand, and as there were no other nominations for any of the posts, all those nominated were declared elected.

8. Other business
No other business was discussed, and the meeting closed at 10.57 pm.