Fern Avenue Residents Group
Minutes of the AGM held at Jesmond Cricket Club on 26th
November 2009
Present. Members of the FAR Group: Jonathan Barrie, Joe Beeston, Richael, Noel
Burton-Roberts, Tessa Burton-Roberts, Paul Cooper, Jane Cooper, Barrie Craven, Amanda Davidson,
Samantha Docherty, Peter Docherty, Suky Drummond, David Hickling, Grace Hodge, John Hodge, Les Hodgson, Mary Hodgson, Stephen Hunt, Claire
Lambert, Tricia McGraddie, Kerry
MacIver, Jeremy MacIver, Peter Nicholls, Janet Nicholls, Ian Purves, Nancy
Raskin, Mark Robertson, Pam Ranson, Storm Smith, Chris Sutcliffe. Guests:
Cllrs. Ron Armstrong, Tom Woodwark, Catherine Pagan, Bob Walker. P.C. Sharpe,
community police;
1. Introduction and welcome by the Chairman
2.
Apologies for absence.
David and Alison Priestley, Kyra and Matt Humphries,
Claire Ferraro, Lucy and Wes Wareing, Lesley Withers, Pat Evans. Cllrs: Peter Breakey, Chris Boyle. Student Accommodation Liaison: Alison Clemett & Colin
Bradley.
3. Adoption of the minutes of the last AGM 6th
November 2008.
The minutes were adopted.
4. Election of officers and committee members
All members of the committee who were willing to stand again were
re-elected.
Alison Priestley was
elected onto the committee.
5. Chairman’s report
Over the past year the
committee has met 5 times and discussed a variety of topics. We have aimed to
respond to issues raised by residents at the last AGM and also to any arising
issues that might affect Fern Avenue.
Covenants: Earlier
this year some members of the committee met with a solicitor to discuss the
feasibility of setting up restrictive covenants to prevent family homes being
sold to become HMOs. The result of this meeting was encouraging. Following this
a letter was sent to the street to gauge how much interest there was in going
ahead or at least finding out more. 21 households responded to the letter of
which 17 said yes, 3 wanted more information and 1 said no but suggested a
voluntary scheme instead. This was deemed to be a positive enough response to
arrange an open meeting for all residents and this was arranged to precede the
AGM.
Street Survey: At
the previous AGM it was suggested by a resident that the group could conduct a
survey of all households to build a picture of the precise demographic of the
street. The committee worked together with the resident and in early September
delivered a questionnaire to all households in the street. Of the 92 households
in the street only 42 returned surveys so our collected data is for 45% of the
street. However there were some strong trends apparent in the answers. For
example 97% of the respondents agreed that a list of recommended tradesmen
would be useful. 93% would prefer not to have fliers left on their cars. 83%
agree that the parking scheme has made it easier to park. 67% agree that having
students in the area is an asset although 76% believe that there are too many
students. 86% of respondents agreed that the neighbouring streets being blocked
has a detrimental effect on the traffic in our street and also that cars are
driven too fast in the back lanes. 62% do not feel that the local bars are an
asst to our area but 68% agree that we have a good selection of local
restaurants.
The feedback on the group’s
activities was encouraging with 88% agreeing that members of the household are
likely to attend a social event, 83% agreeing with the provision of a student
welcome pack and over 90% agreeing that we should lobby the police and
councillors when necessary.
Although this data only
represents 42% of the street we still feel that it can be used to focus our
attention on the areas people see as the most important. There were also some
written comments which we may be able to use as a focus for next year. These
included suggestions for children playing signs and barriers in the back lanes.
Also worries about visitors parking and taxis on Osborne Road.
There are copies of the full
results available, if anyone would like a one please let Suky know.
Social Event: A
hogroast was held at the cricket club in September and attended by around 90
adults and 30 children. Fascinating facts about past occupants of the street
from census material were kindly provided by Jane Cooper. A profit of £90.05
was made. Feedback from the event was positive and another event will be held
next year.
Finances:
Balance Nov 2008
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1130.23
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HOGROAST
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income
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expenditure
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tickets
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686.00
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room hire
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60.00
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tombola
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56.07
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hogroast
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480.00
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other food (Wareing)
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92.04
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other food (Drummond)
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9.06
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other food (Hodge)
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52.30
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Total
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742.07
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Total
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693.40
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other expenditure
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NORA
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12.00
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Totals
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742.07
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705.40
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+/-
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36.67
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Current Balance
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1166.90
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Information
sharing/gathering: Over the year it has been our aim to keep residents
informed of any matters that may have an impact on them or that they may find
useful. At the beginning of the year we tried to circulate as much information
as possible about the coming parking scheme. The group also aims to include as
many residents as possible. To this end an information leaflet has been
distributed to all households including, among other things, useful telephone
numbers. A full pack containing extra information leaflets from the council and
police was delivered to known student households and new residents. Various
planning and licensing applications have also been circulated as well as
information about student housing and the landlords’ campaign.
Bins on pavements. This was an ongoing issue last year which was taken up by our
councillors. This resulted in the street being clear of bins for the majority
of this year but sadly some are being left out again.
Jesmond Community Forum: The FARG is a member of the community forum and at
their request one of our committee members attended their AGM and gave a
presentation on setting up a residents’ group.
6. Report from Jesmond neighbourhood policing
team:
P.C. Sharpe gave a general
report re crime and anti-social behaviour. The main points were:
There are 17 PCs and 10 Community
Support Officers covering Jesmond and Heaton.
The statistics for “total
crime” show that there is a 17.4% improvement and incidents are down. Also
burglary is 48.7% lower than last year. It was noted that 90% of the burglaries
in our immediate area are on student households.
Parking is now a council
matter.
Operation Oak is the student
disorder patrol. This consists of 2 PCs on patrol 3 nights a week between 11pm
and 4am (5am on Fridays). If a household is reported to the patrol it will be
listed and revisited the next day. The police are working with the universities
on repercussions for anti social students and there is a “3 strikes and you’re
out” system in place.
It was mentioned from the floor that this system does
not seem to be working properly in that there are persistent offenders who are
not “out”. It was also suggested that this may be the universities not being
fully committed as they do not want to lose students. PC Sharpe felt that the
universities were being supportive of the scheme. It was also noted that the
noise team and environmental health seem to be disjointed.
At the beginning of the
academic year Operation Oak had a zero tolerance policy towards anti social
behaviour and they feel that there has been some improvement as a result.
The issue of Taxis illegally
parked on Osborne road was raised. PC Sharpe acknowledged that they were a
problem but also pointed out that the taxis remove the drinkers from the area
and having groups waiting for taxis is disruptive.
7. Report on covenant meeting.
A meeting to discuss
restrictive covenants was held before the AGM. The main issues discussed were
enforcement and cost. The solicitors present felt that enforcement would be
fairly simple and that most law firms would expect to be able to claim the cost
of the court injunction from the individual who broke the covenant. It was
thought that the set up cost for all the covenants together would be between £5
– 600 and that registering the covenants with the land registry would cost £90
per home.
For full minutes of this
meeting see Appendix A.
8. Register of recommended tradesmen.
Following the support in the
street survey for this it was suggested that the group secretary should hold a
list of recommended tradesmen for the rest of the group to access when
necessary. It was agreed that this idea should be implemented.
9. Re-evaluation
of major concerns of members/residents. The chair requested suggestions from members as to what
they felt the group could do next year.
Back Lanes.
It was noted that the back lanes are still seen as dangerous for children to
play in. It was suggested that the committee look into further options for
making them safer.
Traffic. This
is still seen as an issue. Fern
Avenue is over used due to Holly and Queens
being blocked. Suky reported that the council agreed to do a survey to see if
the parking scheme had any impact on the traffic volume. We are waiting for the
results of this.
Councillor Woodwark acknowledged that there is a
problem with traffic in our street and felt that some solution will be found.
It was agreed that the committee should continue to liaise with the council on
this.
Elderly. It
was noted by a member that a significant proportion of the street are elderly
and that this could be a focus for the committee.
10. Any other business
Central
list of key holders. It was suggested that we could compile a list of key holders
for properties in our street for use in emergencies. PC Sharpe felt that it
would be possible for the police to hold this on an informal basis in paper
form.
Appendix A
Minutes of the Covenant
Meeting held at Jesmond Cricket Club on 26th November 2009
Present. Members of the FAR Group: Jonathan Barrie, Joe Beeston, Richael, Noel
Burton-Roberts, Paul Cooper, Jane
Cooper, Barrie Craven, Amanda Davidson, Samantha Docherty, Peter Docherty, Suky Drummond, Claire Ferraro, David Hickling,
Grace Hodge, John Hodge, Les Hodgson,
Mary Hodgson, Stephen Hunt, Tricia McGraddie, Kerry MacIver, Jeremy MacIver, Peter
Nicholls, Janet Nicholls, Ian Purves, Nancy Raskin, Mark Robertson, Pam Ranson, Storm Smith.
Guests:
Jonathan Stokes and Jamie McGowan
Welcome by the
Chairman
Jonathan
Stokes invited questions from the floor.
Are restrictive covenants feasible and viable for Fern Avenue?
Yes
– it can be done.
It
will be more effective the more people that are involved.
People
could join after it is set up.
What is a restrictive Covenant?
A
promise, usually created when a property is sold. The restriction is on the use
of the property and registered with the land registry so the buyer will be
aware of it.
What is the mechanism for implementation?
A
court injunction would need to be applied for. This would cost around £2500 but
Jonathan suggested that most law firms would not charge the entire fee up front
as they would expect to claim it back from the breaker of the covenant.
How would it work in our street?
We
would need a deed of mutually enforceable covenants. This should continue to be
enforceable even as individuals move away as the covenants would be cross
covenanted.
Who would enforce the covenants?
This
could be individuals or a committee. Jonathan suggested that it would be easier
to leave it as individuals. Any individual in the covenant scheme could enforce
any of the covenants.
How would the covenant be worded?
This
was only touched on. It was suggested that it should not mention families,
rather single households. Multiple occupation or HMOs could be key terms. The
lawyers suggested not using the term HMO as there are many interpretations; Ron
Armstrong suggested using HMO as defined
by the 2004 Housing Act, as the Act stood on 31 December 2008. The lawyers felt
that it could be better to use the phrase “Primary Purpose” ie the property’s
primary purpose should be a home not income generation.
What would all this cost?
To set up a deed of mutually
enforceable covenants would be in the region of £5/600. To register the
individual covenants with the land registry would be £90 per property.