Minutes of Long Leys Residents Association (LLRA) 2017 Annual General Meeting
Tuesday 23rd May 2017 at 7.00pm
Discovery House Cafe, St Georges Hospital, Long Leys Road
Chaired by: Gary Stimson, LLRA Chair
Minutes by: Jon Davies, LLRA Secretary
Attendees: 6 committee members + 41 residents + 2 councillors (Rob Parker – county & Tony Speakman – city) + PCSO Peter Davies = 50
The LLRA AGM was quorate.
1. Introduction
The meeting observed a minute’s silence to show respect for the victims of Monday’s Manchester bombing. Gary Stimson (GS) introduced the existing LLRA committee and explained the origin and purpose of the Residents Association. See A Quick Guide to the Long Leys Residents Association for details.
2. Follow Up On Action Points From 2016 Minutes
Note: The Chair’s report included discussion with residents on additional matters raised and these continued in the open floor discussion. To avoid fragmenting discussions, only specific 2016 follow-up actions are reported here, with additional information reported under Matters Arising/ Open Floor Discussion.
Albion Close Development: The pond area has now been adopted by Anglian Water who are responsible for its upkeep (also see matters arising).
Carram Way Parking: No evidence or photographs were provided by residents to support the LLRA taking action on problem parking (also see matters arising).
Street Lighting: Adjustments were made by the county council to turn street lights off at midnight rather than the previous 10pm (also see matters arising)
LLRA furnished notice board adjacent to St Georges hospital: Thanks were given to John Shipton for varnishing the noticeboard.
Mobile library service: Times and dates have now published by Deb Lisseman on the LLRA noticeboard. They are also available on the website
3. Financial Statement
The LLRA has £137.56 in the bank before the cost of the 2017 AGM publicity. This is down from £593.58 at the 2016 AGM. Discretionary contributions from local councillors are no longer available. The accounts were independently checked.
For futher details see LLRA 2017 account summary pdf.
4. Election of Committee Members
Deb Lisseman, Janet Walker and Gary Lisseman did not seek re-election this year. The meeting thanked them for their contribution to the community over the last 12-months and indeed for many years of service before that. GS noted that Deb Lisseman had been a founding member of the LLRA.
The following Long Leys residents were individually nominated, seconded and then elected by a majority at the meeting to the LLRA committee:
- Gary Stimson (Chair)
- Megan Cox (Vice-Chair)
- Jon Davies (Secretary)
- Keith Newsome (Treasurer)
- Tony Wass
- Chris Taylor
- Emma Olivier-Townrow (LLRA Commons Advisory Panel representative)
- Alex Rosen
GS highlighted that other residents who wished to get involved in LLRA projects would be welcome as ad-hoc committee members.
5. Revisions To Constitution
No changes were proposed to the existing constitution
6. Chairs Report Matters Arising / Open Floor Discussion
Albion Close Development: A query was raised on the responsibility for maintenance/grass cutting of the various areas around the Albion Close pond.
Action: Jon Davies (JD) to investigate who is responsible for maintaining these areas and with what frequency.
Cemetery: Action GS to investigate the status of the Garden of Remembrance which was in the original plans but has never been created with a specific focus on whether some seating, at least, could be provided within the cemetery grounds.
Old SEC Site: The land was purchased by Tanglewood Care Homes in 2014 who planned to build a nursing home. No start date for building work has yet been communicated. The situation will be monitored by the LLRA.
St. George’s Hospital: The Long Leys community enjoy positive relationships with the hospital who are supportive.
Higson Road Steps: Originally refurbished during the development of St George’s. The lower part of the steps can get icy in cold weather.
Carram Way Parking: Residents raised a number of safety and poor visibility concerns created by parked cars in Carram Way; both between the Utopia Hair salon and the bend at the turn-off to Manrico Drive as well as the north turning off Long Leys Road. Traffic turning off Long Leys Road onto hospital end of Carram Way has to drive on the right hand carriageway at times and be prepared to stop and then reverse at the last moment as cars come round the Manrico Drive bend. At the north end of Carram Way, parked cars had previously been leafleted by the police with a reminder on safe parking; there had been improvements for a while but had deteriorated again. GS advised that the bus company had not raised any issues over parking when contacted. Residents feared an accident due to parking which contravened the highway code.
A number of suggestions were made by residents including painting double yellow lines, enforcement action against parking on the bend and introducing a one way system. Rob Parker (RP), our local Lincolnshire County Councillor, advised that with 5,000 miles of roads to maintain across a wide road network, County Council priorities tended to be where accidents or other incidents were reported. Any proposals by residents should ideally be supported by clear evidence of the problem (eg reported accidents or photographic evidence).
Action: The LLRA will add a page to the long-leys.org website to gather any evidence to support action. Photographs can be emailed to info@long-leys.org. The LLRA committee will also review what can be done in response.
Action: Peter Davies (PD), the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) attending the meeting, noted the parking problem and will examine whether further leafleting of cars can be done and what other enforcement action could be taken.
Long Leys Road Traffic Problems: Concerns were raised at the excess speed of vehicles on Long Leys Road, particularly those leaving Lincoln from Yarborough Road driving down the hill and between the junction to the Travis Perkins site and the bend 80 metres further along. In January 2016 a car left the road here and damaged a house on the bend. A flashing sign is used to highlight excess speed to west bound traffic and a local resident said this flashed continuously. RP advised that sadly the speed enforcement team seemed to prioritise income from speeding fines over reducing accidents as their focus was on busier roads with no accidents. The County Council was aware of the previous accidents and action was planned. PD will alert the speed enforcement team to see whether Long Leys Road can be given some focus. One resident also raised concerns over vehicle pollution; this issue has been raised at the Carholme Community Forum and some emissions testing is proposed.
Action: The LLRA will ensure a focus on the speeding problem and push for appropriate traffic calming measures.
Action: The Carholme Community Forum minutes will be published by the LLRA on the Long Leys community website when they are available.
Long Leys Road Parking Issues: Parked cars on the eastbound carriageway by the St. George’s estate were also mentioned as a safety issue. Vehicles, particularly heavy lorries, had to pull into the opposite carriageway to avoid parked cars and creating potential for a collision, especially as riding school horses are ridden along this stretch of Road.
Plymouth Brethren Church Site: A planning application is in progress to build 10 houses on the site. The LLRA have raised specific concerns over the provision of parking to avoid an overflow onto Long Leys Road. No other concerns have been raised. Traffic levels should be appropriate given the 100 plus cars who currently arrive in a short period of time at the Church for events.
Street Lighting: There were mixed views on the midnight switching off of street lights with some residents happy and others concerned about the additional risk of crime and traffic accidents. RP mentioned that in an academic study it was found that turning off the lights had no demonstrable effect on accidents or crime. However it may deter people from going out when they otherwise would. The County Council are consulting on this and residents can give feedback to RP on this. A specific concern was raised about Anti Social Behaviour at the West Common end of Mitchell Drive. PD commented that this was not a significant “hotspot” although two incidents had been reported by residents to him in the last few months. A query was raised on whether the Higson steps were lit throughout the night. Deb Lisseman (DL) thought that they were.
Veolia: The planning application for a Waste Transfer Facility at the existing Veolia site on the Albion Works was refused by the County Council planning meeting on the 6th February 2017. Veolia have 6 months to appeal this decision but it is unlikely that they would appeal. It is more likely that a new application with revised plans would be raised by Veolia.
Chris Taylor (CT) had a written response from Keith McGurk, Veolia Regional Director: “Thank you for getting in touch regarding your upcoming Residents Association AGM meeting. At this stage we are still considering a range of options regarding our operations in the local area and have reached no firm conclusion on next steps. I can assure you that if and when we decide to proceed with any activity relating to the Long Leys Road operation we will ensure details make their way into the public domain.”
The land Veolia occupy is on a long term lease with the land owned by the Suthrell sisters. Thanks were given to the StopVeolia campaign organisers for co-coordinating opposition to the planning application which was refused. GS mentioned this as a good example where the LLRA did not have sufficient resource on its own. Having a separate “guerrilla” group not constrained by the LLRA constitution to fight Veolia had worked well and could be used to fight similar inappropriate developments in the future.
Section 106 Money: Following the SEC site sale, around £70,000 was being held by Lincolnshire County Council which required LLRA signatures to spend. The community have 7 years to spend this on projects that benefit the community (not things the city/county councils should do anyway). The original idea had been to gain access to a “community use” room on the NHS premises without the LLRA having to maintain premises. Unfortunately, when the hospital was re-purposed this was not possible and other projects would now be considered.
There are a number of existing suggestions including:
- Higson Steps: (Joint County and City), Non slip tarmac, Bike lip, Pram ramp
- Nature area/trail adjacent to Higson Rd steps
- Upgrade footpath from Long Leys Road to Burton Road: (Joint County and City). City in agreement in principle with widening some of the path, stone chippings. Hand rail on steep bit at the top
Whittons Park – additional play equipment - Maintain Albion to Whittons Park path (could also get it adopted)
- A lump sum kept aside for community activities
- A scout hut if anyone would like/is considering starting a scout group
- 15/20mph Speed Limit sign for all the residential area entrances off Long Leys Road
- Upgrade reactive speed sign on Long Leys Road to one showing speed
- More (verge) trees
- A building for meetings/functions etc.
GS explained this money had not already been spent as the community meeting room at St George’s was part of the plan and this fell through. Residents now have the opportunity to propose projects that we are allowed to do by the council, that deliver community benefits and that the majority of the Long Leys community support.
Action: This will be a priority focus for the new LLRA committee in the next few months. Chris Taylor proposed that the LLRA meet with Kevin Kendall at the County Council to understand what type of projects the money could be spent on and RP agreed to organise this.
Central Lincolnshire Plan: This was adopted in April 2017 see Long Leys & The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan) and determines amongst other things the broad house building plans for the area upto 2036. The biggest significant development nearest Long Leys is on the other side of the Foss Dyke Navigation to the South of the A46 (described as CL819 – Western Growth Corridor, Lincoln – in the plan). The new plan recognises that whatever developments are proposed for Long Leys should respect the character of the area and neighbouring land uses. The specific mention of Long Leys in the Planning Inspectorate’s report on the examination of the Joint Strategic Plan was helped by the petition organised and supported by residents and gives clearer grounds for residents to oppose any unsuitable new planning application by Veolia.
Carholme Gala: This will run from 12noon-4pm on Sunday 18th September 2017 by the racecourse Grandstand. Rob Parker suggested it was a good event for all Long Leys residents and that the LLRA might like to consider a physical presence to promote its activities to residents.
Action: LLRA to consider approach to Carholme Gala.
Allotment land behind St. Georges’s estate: Residents raised the issue of grass which should be cut in May and October by council contractors. Every year this does not happen until residents phone the council to complain. Despite the council believing otherwise, the contractor only cuts the grass once a year. In the past, fence panels have been damaged by contractor. GS asked affected residents to provide the specifics on this so the issue could be highlighted further.
Seats On West Common Are Missing: The bench seats on the common have been removed for unknown reasons.
Action: Tony Speakman will find out where they have gone (through the Commons Advisory Panel).
7. Thanks to Outgoing Committee / Meeting closed
CT proposed a vote of thanks to the outgoing committee who received a round of applause from the meeting.
Residents were asked to sign the attendance sheet and offered the opportunity to add their email address to receive LLRA communication. Thanks were given to the Discovery Cafe staff and volunteers for their kind assistance in making the event possible, as well as manning the cafe for refreshments.
The meeting closed at 8:50pm.
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Last updated 25 May 2017