Minutes 14th March 2006

Notes of the meeting 14 March 2006
Attendance.
Jane Pickard, Bernie Bullbrook, Clover Williams, Jeff Avis, Richard Moore, Rod Brown, Anne Orange, Coun Gerry Evans, Chris Pointon, Ann Ridley, Pat Fisher

Apologies for absence.
Robert McConnell, Saleha Jaffer, Jeremy Baker
The minutes of the 14 February meeting were read and accepted

Matters Arising
A complaint by Saleha Jaffer was held over as she is seriously ill. The secretary agreed to send a get well message to her.

Tulse Hill campaign
Jane Pickard asked what had been decided at the last meeting following the presentation of survey results. It was agreed that disabled access was a priority to pursue. After discussion about who should pay for a feasibility study – Lambeth Council or the railway organisations responsible for the station – it was agreed the secretary should write to Southern and Network Rail to ask them what a feasibility study would cost and if they had any idea what disabled/pushchair access would cost. Gerry Evans agreed to find out the details of the 106 Agreement linked to the new flats development on Norwood Road to see if any of that money could help.

Minutes Secretary
JP asked if anyone would volunteer to be minutes secretary as Jeff Avis had resigned. She reminded the meeting that she had only taken the secretary’s job on again on condition that someone else did most of the minutes. Jeff Avis said he had resigned because he could not do the job without there being continuity in the chairing of meetings. Otherwise, he felt he was responsible for ensuring decisions were acted on.
Anne Orange said that if the group wanted her to chair every meeting, she would have to change the day of the meeting, as it nearly always coincided with governors meetings and other school events she had to attend as part of her teaching job. She pointed out that she had only stood again as chair because no-one else wanted to do it. Also, it had been agreed by NAG some years ago that having the same person chairing every meeting was not necessary.
Richard Moore pressed for a special meeting to discuss the kind of organisation NAG wanted to be and proposed we put off decisions about officers until then. This led to a discussion about the next item: how we get more members. Suggestions included putting an insert in Norwood Eye and following up on responses to the Tulse Hill survey. The discussion became heated as some people felt there was no need for navel-gazing –just more members and someone to volunteer to take minutes. Anne Orange tried to draw it to a close, but people continued speaking at which point she said she was not willing to continue chairing the meeting and left . Gerry Evans took over as chair.
Agreed to put off any further discussion about membership and that an appeal would go out for a minutes secretary to volunteer by the next meeting.

York Hill Junction
JP explained that Val Shawcross had been interested in getting officers together from TfL and Lambeth to a meeting sponsored by NAG. Unfortunately, the TfL officers hadn’t yet suggested a date and the Lambeth officers were about to go into pre-election “purdah”, so this meeting was likely to be delayed.

Idea for Election Hustings
JP said this had come from Norwood Forum officers who had asked if NAG would organise and sponsor a hustings for Norwood candidates of all parties in the May council elections. After a long discussion, it was agreed that, while the idea was good in theory, NAG did not have the resources to find a hall, pay for it, create, fund, print and distribute leaflets and posters and chair the meeting. It was suggested this could be done in association with the churches, but that was rejected on the grounds that such a meeting might be dominated by questions of interest specifically to their congregations.

St Luke’s Gardens Update
RM, Pat Fisher and JP, St Luke’s steering group members, reported that delays continued while planning permission was sought for the renovations. Also, the steering group wanted some of the work on the wall and pillars redone because it was crooked and poorly patched up. RM said that a council officer was now questioning who was responsible for part of the wall which he feared would mean further delays.

Any Other Business
1. Clover Williams said that Toni Blackwood, an active member of the Norwood community and former Norwood Board member had died. Toni had been active in the anti-gun crime movement and had fought for improvements to help young people, including the Old Library. CW suggested NAG made a donation to commemorate her. It was agreed that Jeff Avis and Bernie Bullbrook would liaise with the Lambeth Crime Prevention Panel to agree a joint donation to Age Concern or a similar organisation which Clover felt Toni would have liked us to support.
2. Chris Pointon said he was shortly to leave the area and we would need to find another treasurer. The group thanked him for his work on the treasurership and the Tulse Hill survey.
3. JA said we had made our donation to the Earthquake Appeal.