AGM 2009
REPORTS:
Chairman's Report
Secretary's Report
Treasurer's Report
Security Report
Ashburton Safer Neighbourhood Team
Shirley Safer Neighbourhood Team
Trees and Open Spaces Report
Planning Report & Any Other Business
Report Back by Elected Representatives & Question and Answer Panel
      Councillor Steve O'Connell GLAM
      Andrew Pelling M.P.
      Question and Answer Panel
     

AGM 2009
Minutes of the 86th Annual General Meeting of the Monks Orchard Residents’ Association held on Friday 24th April in St, George’s Church Hall.

Before opening the meeting Bob Akers referred with sadness to the passing of the MORA President Derek Loughborough. The post of Honorary President of the association is offered only to those special individuals who have made a contribution to the welfare of the community over a long period of time; Derek ably fulfilled this criteria. He attended most of our Annual General Meetings, first as Ward Councillor and more recently as President and his presence will be sorely missed on the top table this evening.

Bob Akers began by welcoming approximately seventy members to the 85th Annual General Meeting and said this is the twelfth year that he has had the privilege of acting as Chairman and it was pleasing that so many members and friends have attended this evening to show support.

The following were welcomed to the meeting; the elected representatives for the Shirley Ward, Councillor Janet Marshall, Councillor Mike Fisher, Leader of the Council and Councillor Richard Chatterjee and from the Ashburton Ward, Councillor Lindsay Frost, Councillor Steve O’Connell the newly elected member for Croydon and Sutton to the Greater London Assembly and Andrew Pelling, Member of Parliament for Croydon Central.

Also welcomed were Madawala Hemananda, Chairman and Marzia Nicodemi-Ehikioya, Secretary of the Spring Park Residents’ Association and Police Sergeant Paul Harrison from the Ashburton and Police Sergeant Rob Smith from the Shirley Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Election of Officers and Committee for 2008/2009
The Chair said that the association is managed and organised by a hard working team of volunteers that forms the Executive Committee who donate time and energy for the benefit of the local community. During the year George Mowforth has resigned from the Executive Committee but will continue to assist and advise on Tree and Green Space issues. Nicky Smith was co-opted to the Executive Committee in November.

He announced that the positions of Vice-Chairman, Minute Secretary, Planning Officer, Transport & Highway’s officer and Neighbourhood Partnership Officer, remain unfilled and it is important that these posts are filled. If you enjoy living in Monks Orchard you should seriously consider contributing something to the local community and help protect the character of the area. Difficult challenges lie ahead and it would adversely affect us all if there was no formal association to represent and forward the interests of the community.

He was pleased to report that all the present members have agreed to continue for a further year and the Executive Committee was re-elected en-bloc.

Rule Change
The Chair said that the association's rule number 8 requires the Annual General Meeting to be held no later than 31st March and this has been obeyed until recently. For years, probably since the formation of MORA, the Annual General Meeting has been held on the last Friday in March. Difficulties in meeting this requirement were encountered in 2007 and 2008 because the most convenient local venue, the hall of St.George's Church, is in demand, especially near holy week. Furthermore, our elected representatives often have other demands on their time at this time of the year.

In order to overcome these difficulties, in 2007 and 2008 the Annual General Meeting was held on the fourth week in April. It was found that this enforced delay offered advantages; there are more hours of daylight, and there is a reduced chance of wintery weather. No objections have been received and the Executive Committee has decided to formally regularise this practice by making a minor amendment to the rule.

The proposal was that the wording of Rule 8 be amended to read "The Annual General Meeting shall be held no later than 30th April." The annual financial report will still be compiled and audited by 31st March and published in the spring issue of the newsletter.

The change in the rule was approved unanimously.

REPORTS
Chairman's Report
Bob Akers (pictured left) said that much has changed since we gathered here for last year’s Annual General Meeting. Last April most of us were unaware that the banks were in serious trouble, interest rates and the value of the pound were steady. How quickly things can change and I am sure that most of us are now feeling poorer and worried if not for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren. It is becoming clear that past excesses will have to be paid for and we face years of increasing taxes and diminishing living standards.

Following the massive rises in Council Tax in past years there will have been a sigh of relief that this year as the Croydon Council Tax was increased by just 2.99% or 81p more each week for a Band D home. It might have been less had not the borough received the lowest increase in Government grant than any council in the country.

Nevertheless, if one looks at the table of tax increases in the London Boroughs, Croydon has the highest increase while many other boroughs have kept the rise to below 2%. At a time when residents are suffering from lower incomes coupled with higher food and fuel costs. It is now more important than ever to ensure that every penny of our Council Tax is spent wisely and not wasted. [Ed Note: Cllr. Mike Fisher challenged these figures during the Q&A session].

Turning to local matters, I am pleased to be able to report that membership remains steady despite properties having exchanged ownership. Time has been devoted to updating the membership database which has made it easier to identify those members whose fees have not been collected and to take action. It also provides a clear view of those roads where the association is thinly represented. Area Managers and Road Stewards have responded to the changes being introduced to ensure money is not wasted. I must emphasis that the database complies with the requirements of the data protection Act and only includes member’s names, address details and fee or donation payment data.

During the year MORA has established links with Spring Park Residents’ Association to work together on matters of mutual interest. Experience and knowledge will be shared between the associations and this has proved an advantage. Meetings are held to discuss issues of general concern and to prevent a conflict of interests. A combined action group was formed to prevent the loss of Metropolitan Open Land at Poppy Lane the result will be mentioned in the Planning Report.

Improvements have been made to the newsletter and it is now printed in full colour and the typeface has been changed to improve legibility. As we become familiar with the use of colour further improvements will take place. This is your newsletter and articles or items of interest and information to the local community such as history, changes, and community activities are gratefully received and will be considered for publication.

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Secretary’s Report
Dave King (pictured right) paid tribute to the valuable help provided to the association by Road Stewards and Area Managers who deliver the newsletters and collect membership fees and keep-in touch with members. He stressed that without their efforts the association would cease to continue to exist.

Replacement stewards are urgently needed for the following roads;

Wickham Avenue, Brookside Way
and Meadows Avenue.

There are a variety of ways in which members can share the burden of running the association and if anyone is interested would they please let him know.

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Treasurer's Report
Terry Greenwood (pictured left) began his report by referring to the advertising in the newsletter that was started five years ago initially with four pages and has since been increased to eight because it makes a valuable contribution to the association’s funds. If anyone makes use of the services provided by the advertisers it would be helpful if they mention that they saw the advertisement in the newsletter.

The annual accounts were published in the spring issue of the newsletter and copies were available at the meeting. Terry said the important news is that at the end 2008 there was £10,218 in the accounts and this year there was a surplus of £1,269 making a total of £11,487. MORA has done so well that Gordon Brown is going to ask him to help sort out the nation’s finances. Care is taken how the money is spent because we are aware this money belongs to the members. If anyone wants to have a say in how the money is spent they can always put their name forward to join the Executive Committee.

Security Report
Jean Cook (pictured right) reported on the Ward Panel Training Course held recently at the Town Hall. Adrian Roberts the Acting Borough Commander spoke about the Honeypot operation that targeted burglaries of residential and commercial properties which resulted in a number of arrests, stolen property being returned to owners and a general reduction in crime. Richard Billington spoke about the monthly meetings of the Croydon Neighbourhood Watch Partnership at which attendance is increasing. Part of the meeting was devoted to a useful exchange of views on crime prevention between each of the ten Ward Panels. The course concluded with a discussion of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.

Trees and Open Spaces Report
John Parry (pictured left) said that he had acted as Tree and Green Space Officer for eighteen months and the question he asks himself when looking at trees and open spaces is “can MORA make a difference? The answer is “yes we can! He has established a good working relationship with the Council, particularly on trees and open spaces and he appreciates receiving feed-back from residents to obtain some idea how we are doing. A photograph was screened showing a public open space that is well cared for but a lot of the smaller open spaces are owned privately. A photograph of the corner of Tower View/Orchard Way showed an open space that is far from well maintained and what can be done about that? Being privately owned the Council cannot do anything about it; the Street Scene Officer can enforce the cutting of foliage that overhangs the path but they will do nothing about the mess on the inside because this is the responsibility of Departmental Health which can issue an order to the owner to clean the site. He has gained knowledge of how the system works and intends to use the information for the benefit of local residents.

There are adopted and un-adopted roads in Monks Orchard and Tower View is a prime example of an un-adopted road where all the trees are privately owned and those needing attention are the responsibility of the residents. There has been a lot of success in getting deceased and damaged trees replaced but residents can help by keeping him informed of the trees needing attention because the Council will usually respond when a formal request is made. He has written in the newsletter how residents can help with trees such as watering newly planted trees during dry spells. The Council is responsible for thousands of trees throughout the borough and that includes pruning and they usually respond to problems with overgrown and dangerous branches. Concluding John stressed that MORA can only arrange for trees on public land to receive council official attention.

Planning Report
The Chair began by drawing attention to how an inappropriate development can change the character of an area. A photograph was screened of the site at 114 Orchard Way prior to development. The proposal to build a large housing block on the site was resisted on each application by MORA supported by our Shirley Councillor’s but after 3 applications and 2 appeals the planning committee finally gave permission because it generally complied with Planning Law.

A photograph showed the site after development, the new housing block is ill conceived, lacks any architecture merit, is completely out of character with its surroundings and is of low cost construction. No doubt that the owner that sold the site for development, the developer and the buy to let purchasers are much wealthier but local residents have to live with this eyesore that completely changes the character of part of Orchard Way. Housing blocks can be architecturally designed to blend with their surroundings but sadly this one is a blot on the landscape. The planning officers should be ashamed to have given permission for this development to proceed.

Recent Successes
The Chair said the Acting Planning Officer, Derek Ritson, has developed a remarkable ability to compile carefully researched, detailed and compelling reasons under Planning Law why inappropriate developments should be refused. As a result we feel we can claim some successes.

One such success was the proposal to demolish a semi detached house at the end of Ash Tree Close and to erect 6, two storey four bedroom terraced houses with accommodation in the roof-space and an access road along with parking. After leafleting the area to give wider publicity of the proposals, local residents indicated their opposition and MORA drafted a compelling objection which resulted in a refusal by the planning committee on 20/08/2008.

A further was the proposal to erect a three bedroom detached house in the front garden of 37 Woodmere Avenue was made during May 2008. The Planning Department only sent letters of notification out to those dwellings in close proximity. So again, MORA leafleted a wider area to bring the proposal to the attention of the local neighbourhood which resulted in a large number of protest letters to the council. MORA provided a similar compelling Objection on 05/05/2008 and Permission was refused by the planning committee on 04/06/2008. The developer then went to appeal and MORA provided a comprehensive submission to the Planning Inspectorate which helped to result in the appeal being dismissed on 05/01/09.

Another second application was received for the erection of detached four bedroom house in the rear garden of 48 Wickham Avenue was received during April 2008. An earlier application for the erection of two dwellings in the rear garden had been refused. MORA compiled a submission to the local planning authority which helped to get a refusal on 28/07/2008. However, the developer has appealed against the refusal and MORA has again compiled a case against the grounds of appeal. We currently await the decision of the planning inspectorate.

Metropolitan Open Land
MORA has always taken the view that it is unacceptable to build on Metropolitan Open Land for one simple reason. If speculative developers are able to purchase valuable urban open land at a fraction of the cost of undesignated land with the aim of overturning the restrictions and make a very large profit, all our open spaces would be under threat of development.

With the combined support of Spring Park Residents, Association and elected representatives the proposal to build an 84 bed care home on Metropolitan Open Land in Poppy Lane (see image on left) was refused permission by the Planning Committee. But the threat has not gone away because the owner has indicated that an appeal will be made against the decision. This developer devoted time, energy and financial resources to convince the local authority and local residents that the proposal would be of benefit to the borough and the community.

MORA has not experienced such an organised campaign in which dubious tactics were employed and the claims made by residents that supported the proposal were exaggerated, even the large number of letters supporting the proposal gives ground for suspicion. Members should be aware that once the protection of Metropolitan Open Land has been removed it opens the possibility of planning permission being sought for a much larger development or the original application being amended to erect a much larger building.

Land at Glade Gardens
It is pleasing report that the ongoing proposals to develop Land at Glade Gardens has been refused by the Croydon Planning Committee; we wait to see if the developer appeals. The local residents have made a significant application to class the site as a village green to prevent any further development on this small parcel of land.

Fast Food Outlets
Residents are concerned that fast food outlets are spreading from shopping parades to closer to their homes. Kandies in Woodmere Avenue has applied for permission to prepare and cook pizzas and the Card Shop in Orchard Avenue has applied to become a fish and chip shop. This may be welcomed by some but those living nearby run the risk of having their homes and gardens permeated by acrid cooking fumes and because of late trading hours there is a real risk that the take away will provide a meeting point and create opportunities for anti-social behaviour. MORA has distributed flyers to inform residents and many have taken the time and trouble to comment on the application.

Any Other Business
There was no other business..

Report Back by Elected Representatives & Question and Answer Panel:

Report Back by Councillor Steve O’Connell GLAM
Councillor O’Connell (pictured right) introduced himself as a Member of the London Assembly and a Croydon Councillor and reported on what has happened during the first year of the new mayoralty under Boris Johnson. He said that his task is to explain how important the mayoralty is for reasons that are close to everyone’s heart. The first is value for money, for example the Mayor did not increase the precept this year and instead cuts were made around the backroom staff because he is aware of the financial pressures on everyone. The second is protecting the character of the area and the Mayor is redrafting the London Plan which forms the opinions and decisions of the Croydon Planners and the Planning Inspectorate. The election pledge was to protect our back gardens and open green spaces, a task that cannot be achieved overnight because the plan is a complex document but at the end of the first administration the plan will be amended to give added protection to back gardens and open green spaces which are highly valued by local residents. The third is that of policing, as the Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority the mayor has a direct influence on policing in the borough and is committed to putting more police on the streets. Within a month of taking office he increased the number of police in West Croydon and other parts of the borough.

Councillor O’Connell said that the problems residents experience when dealing with Transport for London make up almost two thirds of his casework He sees his task as acting as a bridge between the local community and Transport for London and is happy to take case work from Councillors or individuals on topics such as road junctions and inappropriate positioning of bus stops.

We are now eleven months into Boris Johnson’s term of office and he has indicated that he will stand for a second term because it will take time to get the London Assembly fully responding to the needs of the community. The previous Mayor displayed no great liking for the Outer London Boroughs and Boris Johnson is committed to the interests of the outer boroughs because they gave him massive support during the election. He has established the London Commission and appointed Council Leader Mike Fisher as Chairman of the Commission a recognition that he smiles on Croydon.

Concluding Councillor O’Connell confirmed that his job was to ensure that the Mayor fulfilled his election pledges and to support him achieve these aims..

Report Back by Andrew Pelling M.P.
The Chair said that it is pleasing to welcome our Member of Parliament on his return to Monks Orchard and thanked him for the valuable help and support in defending our local green spaces from being lost to development. Prior to the mid-nineteen eighties Monks Orchard was represented by independent councillors sponsored by MORA. Since the ward was divided this is no longer possible, however, never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day Monks Orchard would be represented by an independent member of parliament.

Andrew Pelling M.P. (pictured above, left) began by stressing that it is important for politicians to maintain focus on local issues and he was pleased to support the work MORA did with Spring Park Resident’s Association. He welcomes the liaison between the associations and was pleased to support the opposition to the Poppy Lane development because once a proposal is agreed the flood gates could open to developers to come back and ask for something much larger.

He then moved to the issue of the traffic lights at Shirley Library. Subsequent to an unfortunate accident he asked the police if the lack of a secondary light had contributed to the accident. The response was that the accident did not relate to the traffic lights and the police support the action by Ken Livingstone in disposing of secondary lights. Drivers are very much at a loss at that junction as they do not know whether or not they have priority and that uncertainty is very dangerous. Transport for London is reluctant to reverse the decision but ultimately it is down to the Mayor to say that he does not agree with the change.

Andrew said that there are advantages in being an independent Member of Parliament; it allows questions to be asked without fear or favour. One of the problems with the House of Commons is that questions are asked along party lines. Attention was drawn to some of the issues he raised recently, for example the proposed changes to transfer the Hyper-Acute provision away from Mayday Hospital. There are several reasons why the proposal by Healthcare for London is not a good idea. One is that the unit at Mayday is in the top 10% in performance in the country. As mentioned in the advertisements by the Stroke Association, it is vital to recognise the symptoms of a stroke and to act quickly because every minute counts. He is opposing the proposal at Government level and a petition for people wishing to add their names is available on his website andrewpelling.org.uk. Copies of the petition were available in the hall for those without the use of computers and can be requested by contacting his office on 020 7219 8472 or pellinga@parliament.uk.