The LLRA AGM and Community Meeting will be on Tuesday 21 May 2018 at 7pm in the Discovery Cafe, Discovery House, St George’s, Long Leys Road, LN1 1FS. If you live, spend leisure time, work, or carry out business in the Long Leys area of Lincoln you are cordially invited to attend. Residents are automatically a member of the Association and able to vote. Local county and city councillors will be there to respond to feedback, along with our local PCSO.
Come Early for a Cuppa….
The Cafe will open from 6:30pm and complimentary coffees, teas and soft drinks will be available for attendees. At 6:35pm we will also be celebrating, by the yellow bollards, the 23 April closure of Benbow Way for vehicle access to the hospital.
Make your vote count
There are elections for (at least) three members of the LLRA management committee. There are a number of other decisions for the community to make:
- Approving the use of up to £500 from the LLRA legal fund to support LLRA operations in 2019/2020.
- Approval for LLRA to actively work with Community Speed Watch to put greater focus on driver education for those who drive at speeds in excess of 40mph on Long Leys Road.
- Approving two amendments to the LLRA constitution to strengthen oversight
Hear more and give your views on other topics….including
- Long Leys Neighbourhood Plan
- St. George’s Hospital plans & Cloverleaf Care Home
- West Common
- Lincoln Transport Strategy
- Whitton Park footpath adoption
- 2018/2019 LLRA accounts – for details see: long-leys.org/accounts2019
We look forward to seeing you at your Residents’ Association AGM.
Detail on Management Committee Elections:
We are always looking for residents who want to make a real difference in their community and are prepared to play an active role in the LLRA by spending time planning or leading community projects, as well as attending committee meetings. There is no constitutional requirement to have a committee of a specific number. Anyone wishing to stand for election to the Residents Association Management Committee simply needs to notify Jon Davies, LLRA Secretary, no later than the start of the AGM (by 7pm 21 May). If you would like to learn more about being on the Management Committee then please feel free to contact Jon Davies, LLRA Secretary (email jon.davies@long-leys.org tel 01522 853630) who will be happy to help. There is also the opportunity for any resident to be involved in some of the teams working on community projects, without standing for election if they so wish.
There are currently eight LLRA Management Committee members. See LLRA Management Committee for details. Current management committee members Gary Stimson (Chair), Megan Cox (Vice-Chair) and Chris Taylor are due to stand down at the 2019 AGM. All have indicated their willingness to stand for a further 3-year term and we would welcome further members of the community who wish to get involved.
Releasing £500 from LLRA legal fund to fund 2019/2020 LLRA operations
LLRA has no regular income but has to pay for items such as printing and public liability insurance for community events as well as ad hoc items.
It is proposed to release £500 from the ringfenced Legal Fund of circa £11,668 to fund 2019/2020 operations.
LLRA will also explore fundraising options for paying operational costs in future years.
Working With Community Speed Watch
SID, our new Speed Indicator Device, has been operating since 26 March and is already producing encouraging results, with speeding vehicles down by 26%.
It is proposed that LLRA seeks the approval and support of the community to work actively with Community Speed Watch on driver education for those who drive at speeds in excess of 40mph on Long Leys Road. This could involve activities such as active observation of vehicle speeds and leafleting of cars.
For details: long-leys.org/sid
Updating the LLRA Constitution
It is proposed that:
Clause 9b of the 2018 AGM be amended to: The treasurer must keep accounts of the Association’s finances and must operate a bank account in its name. Two signatories will be required for all cheque or similar transactions. One signature must be that of the Management Committee Chair OR Vice Chair; the other must be that of the Secretary OR Treasurer. No other combination is valid.
Two new clauses are added to Clause 8:
8h) No sub-committee or working group shall be allowed to include a working majority of the substantive Management Committee. If changes in numbers of the substantive Committee lead to this occurring, the sub-committee or working group membership must change accordingly.
8i) The Management Committee Chair and Vice Chair shall not take part together, beyond any ex officio entitlement, in any sub-committee or working group.
Long Leys Neighbourhood Plan Update
LLRA have set up a Neighbourhood Plan Action Group (NPAG) to organise how the plan is developed and apply for grant funding to pay for planning consultancy support. NPAG currently consists of Jon Davies, Jackie Ward, Laura McWilliams and Chris Taylor and oversight is provided by the LLRA management committee. It is likely we will start the official plan development process during July when grant funding is likely to be approved.
In the meantime, an initial survey of the community has been undertaken, with circa 50 responses received. These responses are being reviewed and a list of the key issues identified will be presented at the Community Meeting and then used to guide thinking on the plan.
How To Find The Discovery Cafe On Foot
To find the Discovery Cafe from Long Leys Road
- Turn into Carram Way by Utopia Hair & Beauty
- In 150 metres turn right into Manrico Drive
- In 30 metres turn right into Benbow Way
- In 100 metres, at the junction with the yellow bollards, turn left, continuing along Benbow Way
- in 75 metres, you will be at Discovery House
Alternatively if driving or walking use the main hospital entrance on Long Leys Road and navigate through the hospital grounds.
There are some double doors just to the right of the main entrance doors of Discovery House. Please use these doors to get into the cafe, as the cafe access via the main entrance doors is locked in the evening.
Please could I ask that you include on the agenda for the AGM on the 21st May, an update on Veolia and future plans.
It would be helpful to know the current situation from the City Council in respect of re-location of this Company to a more appropriate site. Relocation was one of the main thrusts of the City’s objection to Veolia’s previous application in that a waste transfer station should not be located in a residential area. To allow this Company to languish without serious and well meaning negotiation towards relocation, would be to let down this community badly and allow Veolia to perhaps sneak in another application. I would hope that the LLRA are actively pursuing this course of action with the City Council so may already have news to relay to residents. Perhaps even an invite to Veolia for an update on their plans for their Long Leys Road site would be informative for residents.
Veolia will briefly be on the agenda, although there is little to report. LLRA has had no direct contact with Veolia since they paid us costs last year and I think the same goes for the city council since 2017. Veolia had expressed no interest whatsoever in any of the sites offered and had not been willing to engage with the city council – Neil Murray will be at the Community meeting and may have further news but it would be a surprise to us if that position has changed.
LLRA’s approach is to actively address concerns on this via the Long Leys Neighbourhood Planning process. Veolia along with all Long Leys businesses have been invited to submit an initial survey response. They have been asked to do this by 1 June.
In addition we are still pursuing changes to their vehicle operating licence for their existing business at the Long Leys site. This comes up for renewal in 2020 and we will be pushing for the traffic commissioner to hold a public inquiry on this and to prevent vehicle departures before 6am.
We of course still retain the legal fund.