Alresford and District Partnership

General Meeting Minutes

 

Date: 16th November 2009

Location: ARC

 

Attending: Cllr. Ken. Yeldham, PC Stoneley (Hampshire Police PC 1464), David Pain (ADNWA), Don Meadwell (ADNWA), Brian Kent, Clive Surry (Perins School), Helen Armour (Perins School), Barbara Holyome (ADP & Bramdean Parish Council), Peter Pooley (ADP & The Alresford Society), Cllr. Roy Gentry (NATC), Cllr. Ernie Jeffs (WCC), Anthony Oxley (Alresford Chamber of Commerce), Cllr Margot Power (ADP & NATC), Dr. Nigel Paterson (ADP), Cllr. Jackie Porter (ADP & Hampshire County Council)

 

Apologies for Absence: Stuart McCullough, Sgt. Wayne Curzon, Cllr. Barbara Jeffs, Cllr. Simon Cook

 

Agenda

Comment

Action

1.               Welcome and comments from the Chair

Dr. Nigel Paterson (NP) welcomed everyone present and thanked them for attending.

 

2.     Minutes of AGM and matters arising

The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as a true record.

 

David Pain from the Alresford and District Neighbourhood Watch Association (ADNWA) brought up the matter of the change of name of the Alresford Town Partnership to the Alresford and District Partnership.  He was concerned that when NP met with the ADNWA about 18 months ago, it was said that Safer Neighbourhoods would only appear on the agenda for two more meetings.  He was concerned that it was on the agenda again at this meeting and felt that if both the ADP and ADNWA were covering the same topic perhaps their resources were being diluted.  NP said that he would like to give a more measured response than would be possible within the meeting, so he would write to him. He did however reassure the ADNWA that the change of name from Alresford Town Partnership to Alresford and District Partnership was to help relate people outside of the town to what was happening within the Partnership.  As part of that, NP is beginning to visit the parish council meetings to help inform the parishes of the work of the ADP.  He is beginning with Bighton and will thank them for contributing a significant amount of money towards the new car park and footpath at Perins School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NP

3.               Safer Neighbourhoods

PC Stoneley reported that the bid for the CCTV for Alresford had been turned down.  He informed the meeting that Hampshire Constabulary website has a new section that is now active, called Safetynet.com.  This allows the general public to inform the local police what they feel should be the police’s priorities and also enables them to find out what the current priorities are. As this is a new initiative, he was not yet able to describe its capabilities in detail.  

 

PC Stoneley reminded everyone that all crime should be reported.   He explained that, by reporting crime, the statistics are recorded which will allow the police to have a continuing presence in the town and surrounding area.  If no crime is reported then there is a very real possibility that the police allocated to Alresford could be taken back to patrol in Winchester.  NP asked if this also included the reporting of the suspicion of crime.  PC Stoneley concurred that this should also be reported as the response time from Winchester is about 15 minutes: by the time the police arrive they could easily disturb a crime in progress.   Waiting could mean that, with the response time, a crime could be missed. The 999 number should be rung if a crime is in progress but 101 or 0845 045 45 45 should be used for non-emergencies.

 

PC Stoneley also reported that Sgt. Curzon would be moving back to Winchester Police Headquarters where he would be in charge of the custody suite. He would be replaced by Sgt Amanda Smith in January.  On behalf of the Partnership, NP expressed his thanks to Sgt Curzon and for all he has done for the area, wishing him well in his new role.

 

 

4.               Report from the Chair of the Children and Young people’s Working Group (Stuart McCullough)

Due to Stuart McCullough’s (SM) absence this report was undertaken by Cllr Margot Power (MP) who is also on the Children and Young people’s working group. 

 

Margot reported that the working group has been focusing on a number of areas: 

·         New toddler playground equipment - Proposals for new toddler playground equipment, which has been requested by the childminders association and arose from the ADP AGM.  It has been highlighted that the playgrounds locally only have equipment for older children who are able to balance and climb better than toddlers so a bid has been submitted to the town council to gain some extra money to buy new equipment for younger children.

·         Sun Hill Recreation ground - There is a doorstep consultation in progress via the schools and young people that use the Sun Hill recreation ground. This report will be published in January on the ADP website. 

·         Preschool places in 2015 – Preschool division are working with the Early Years and Childcare Preschool Partnership who have highlighted that preschool places will be short in 2015 due to the amount of new houses and developments being built in the area.

·         Safer route to schools – This is about working with the schools on safer routes to schools, which overlaps with the Traffic and Transport Working Group.  A task of mapping all footpaths on the town map has begun so that it can be distributed to new people who move in to the area.  This should give people more knowledge of the local footpath network and allow people to use the footpaths more and give safer travel to and from school.  Clive Surry mentioned the matter of the crossing on the Avenue and if the speed limit sign will be moved.  Cllr Roy Gentry explained that the speed limit sign is being moved 200 metres which should help with the crossing.  It was felt that the Jacklyns Lane / West Street corner needed some thought on how to improve it for pedestrians and school children.

·         Activities for young people in Alresford -  a longer-term strategy for Alresford is being developed on things for young people to do. It is on the list from the action group to try to have more things for young people to do over the age of 10. 

·         Swimming pool - SM has had a consultation with Perins pupils who have indicated that  they would like to be able to swim locally. At the moment, they either have to go to Winchester or Alton to do this. Therefore it is being re-investigated about the idea of building a swimming pool in Alresford.  The biggest problem with this idea is that, after building the swimming pool, it would cost at least  £140,000 per year to run the pool. Cllr.Ernie Jeffs confirmed that the suggestion by Barbara Jeffs of a temporary swimming pool during the summer was her own idea that she was pursuing.

·         Youth Chapter  - The ADP is discussing introducing a Youth Chapter to try to get the views of the young people of Alresford and District.  This might be achieved by involving existing groups in Alresford, ie local uniform groups and the school council.

·         Raising the profile of volunteering in Alresford.  This does not get enough positive press and it was thought that a stall at the Watercress festival might help raise the profile of what can be done also.  Clive Surry (CS) suggested that there was an opportunity for young people at Perins to volunteer. The Duke of Edinburgh Award  has a volunteering element to it. MP said that Solent Youth Action are able to provide corporate partners who will help give financial support to some of the volunteering done by young people.  As Alresford is so rural then it can be difficult and expensive to travel, but if there is  some funding this could help.

 

NP asked if there was a serious need for more volunteers in the town and if so how do we engage them? The first question was answered very affirmatively. Cllr Ken Yeldham (KY) suggested a list of what is needed and who is looking might be the way forwards.  MP said that WACA have a volunteer exchange and she would like to use that more, or at least find out how well it works.  However Peter Pooley suggested that it could be the Leadership volunteers that are difficult to engage, as their work involves much time and effort over an extended period.  There was lengthy discussion about the necessity to have a CRB check. It was said that you only have to have a CRB if you are working with young people, the elderly or vulnerable adults.  It is a common misconception that you have to have a CRB to volunteer at all. NP will investigate the possibility of gaining funding for the promotion of volunteering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NP

5.               Report form the Chair of the Traffic and Transport Working Group (Cllr Jackie Porter)

Cllr Jackie Porter reported that the Traffic and Transport working group had discussed the following:

·         Improving footpaths – this will encourage their use.  It was thought that if the surfaces were kept in a good condition, they were free from litter and not over grown then people would use them more.  KY has a list of all the local footpaths, which EJ will hand to WCC to ensure that the map is up to date.

·         Town Trust bus – the possibility had been discussed to use the bus for trips to the cinema in Winchester.  The Screen has been approached. There may be a collaboration where a ticket might be cheaper if the TTB has been used to get there. 

·         West Street Improvements – It is now apparent that there is no money forthcoming from Hampshire County Council.  However JP is still pushing for money to be invested.  She is keen for the improvements to be done as whole rather than as individual projects.

 

The new car park at Perins was discussed and the signage associated with it.   The feeling was that the parking sign on Jacklyns Lane was too small and the sign on the main road through Alresford also needs to be changed.  It was felt that the signage needs re-examining. and it was agreed that JP would organise this. RG requested that the Parking Warden was discussed.  He said that the warden arrangement so far was not as effective as hoped.  It was suggested that the warden was not working for the hours originally requested.  These hours were 20 per week, ie 4 hours for 5 days a week.  JP will set up a meeting that will discuss the budget for the parking wardens, the parking sign and the hours that the wardens work. 

 

JP is attending the Small Rural Towns Seminar in Odiham, where they will be looking at parking issues.  JP thinks that she will be able to liase with people who have similar problems to Alresford and maybe able to share ideas. JP will report back on this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JP

6.       Shared Space

Discussion about shared space was started by Dr Nigel Paterson, who said that it  was first raised in the Alresford Healthcheck 2008.  On P.43 of this document it was mentioned as an opportunity in relation to Putting Pedestrians First and Traffic Management.  Shared space was also raised in the Winchester District Framework Issues and Options document (Dec. 2007) where on p.33 Option 2 step change option it  refers to an “opportunity to relinquish some road space to create shared road surfaces where all users have equal access” and p.70 an Option 2 more radical option “ More roads in town centres would be remodelled to reflect the shared space principles or used for public transport, cycling or walking routes.”

 

The idea originated in the Netherlands and was developed particularly by a designer called Hans Moderman.  In this country it has been pioneered especially by an architect called Ben Hamilton-Baillie who was consulted in the shared space experiment in West Meon Village.  Some main principles of the experiment are:

·         use chevrons and roadside markers only where the bend is out of character for the road

·         use appropriate furniture

·         use traditional signposts wherever possible

·         enforce against illegal advertising.

 

The idea has been pioneered on a larger scale in South Kensington. The Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea website (2008) defines shared space as follows:

 

Shared space … incorporates a set of principles for the design, management and maintenance of streets and public spaces, which aim to create a better balance of priorities between drivers and pedestrians.  The most recognisable characteristics of shared space are the absence of street clutter, such as conventional traffic signals, barriers, signs and road markings.  This encourages motorists to slow down, engage with their surroundings and make eye contact with pedestrians – resulting in higher quality and more useable street area, with enhanced road safety.

 

www.rbkc.gov.uk/exhibitionroad/shared

 

NP concluded by asking the meeting to think carefully about the possible application of these ideas in and around Alresford, most particularly in the town centre.  He felt that it would bring us up to date with some forward thinking going on around us and may provide a helpful way forward to put pedestrians first, as suggested in the Alresford Healthcheck. 

 

The intention is that Ben Hamilton-Baillie with come to one of the ADP General Meetings to get people to thinking about shared space and have an opportunity to ask questions from the expert.  Peter Pooley is discussing with the Alresford Society making this a joint event with the ADP and getting some finance generated for this occasion.  

 

 

 

Future meeting dates

Steering Committee:

 

Monday 4th January 2010

Monday 12th April 2010 (NB revised date)

Monday 6th September 2010

Monday 1st November 2010

 

General Meetings:

 

Monday 18th January 2010

Monday 26th April 2010 (NB revised date)

Monday 20th September 2010

Monday 15th November 2010