OHRA Meeting

29th Feb 2012 – Horse & Groom – 8pm

 

Present:

Lottie & Simon Prescott – Church St

Lis Meyland Smith - PM

Chris Goward – PM

Mary Anstey - PM

Steve Roberts – Church St

Lesley McHugh - PM

Constance Elliott – Church St

Glynis Cracknell - PM

Clair Pike – Old Hertford Rd

Paul Habben - PM

Sarah Cassidy – PM

John Penney – Fore St

Michael Baker – Batterdale

 

 

Apologies:

 

Nan Mitchell – Fore St

Tom Mercer - Batterdale

Mary Rathbone – Park Close

 

 

 

 Numbered as per agenda items;

 

1.      Introductions and apologies

 

2.     Following the meeting held in November 2011 where we discussed ideas for a Mission Statement, we reviewed what was produced.  Constance asked for the removal of the second bullet point (Foster an environment in which residents feel connected to their local community) which was agreed.  Otherwise it was decided that it was representative of our aims and objectives.

 

3.     Thank you to everyone who took time to door to door knock to drum up members.  Giving up your free time is much appreciated and the response was considered very good.  Approx 45 email address’ were gained from PM alone.

 

4.     We read through the ‘Good Practice’ guidelines. Comments as follows;

 

(1)  It was decided to extend the response time from 3 days to 7/14 days depending on the issue and timeline involved.                                        

(9) Discussed the difficulty on deciding whether to support/act on an issue, for example a planning application.  There was a case argued by several people that not stating a case could make it less influential but on the other hand it was argued that we should be acting on majority opinion or just to simply state observations.  Michael Baker suggested carrying out an online poll which was a good idea if our website can support this function.   It was agreed that we would add an unsubscribe line at the bottom of any email communication.

 

5.     Jobs, responsibilities & structure.  Michael Baker would like to see a formal Committee structure in place to include Chairperson/Secretary/Treasurer etc.  The rest of the group agreed, for the time being, that a Committee/group style approach would be preferable but on a more informal basis without the titles.  Lis suggested that we could share responsibility in other ways, such as taking turns Chairing the meeting or taking minutes.  This was welcomed.   John Penney suggested a revolving Chairperson could leave the RA without a contact between meetings so for now, it was decided Simon should keep this role.  We thought that the term Residents Action Group (RAGS) would be an accurate and light-hearted acronym to describe the group.

 

·       Steve Roberts has offered his assistance to helping with the newsletter.

·       Paul Habben has offered door to door and letter drop help

·       Michael Baker has offered to print out newsletters and deliver to houses in Batterdale

·       Constance Elliot offered to carry out letter drops and encourage  members to join from Jacobs Ladder and Mary Church

·       Chris Goward offered his services to keep and update membership lists

 

6.     Communication. 

·       There is currently a poster in the Laundrette, Northcotts and Costcutter

·       The Town Council have agreed to put a few lines into the next few issues of the quarterly ‘Community News’ to create awareness of OHRA.

·       It was agreed it is important to try and stay visible.  Leaflet drops to households not on our membership lists every 6 months or so.

·       Constance will ask Father Philip to put a few lines in the March Church newsletter

·       Chris Goward is area coordinator for NHW so contact Chris for any news to pass on

·       to email a brief news item to Myra Morley for inclusion in the PMMC
newsletter which is delivered three times a year

 

7.     Relationships. 

·       OHCF meetings are held quarterly.  Several people volunteered to attend on behalf of the OHRA to take onus off Simon.  Lis agreed to attend the next meeting with Simon on April 17th.  Chris Goward and Nan Mitchell (absent) also have volunteered for future meetings.

 

8.     OH issues to respond to.  There were several ideas discussed.

·       Church St rubbish collection routinely forgotten.  Contact Council.

·       Job centre/Salisbury square.  Letter to be sent to Grant Shapps stating the general neglect of the Square and services around the Job Centre.  Letter to be circulated to group members for comment.

·       Snow plan for OH.  We are very badly neglected and need to get on Highways priority list.

 

9.     Social events. 

·       Sarah discussed the plans for PM which will be similar to the Royal Wedding do.  Celebrations could be held on the grassy area.  There is an idea to light a Beacon on Monday 4th June in line with national beacon lighting. Date/time/place to be confirmed but will most probably be bring your own picnics. 

·       St Eths are holding ‘The Big Lunch’ which is a nationwide Eden Project scheme and will be held on the Sunday.  This will probably be held in the Churchyard and all residents will be welcome.

 

10.    Date of next meeting:  Wednesday 25th April (week following OHCF meeting).  Location to be confirmed.

 

11.   AOB

·       Railway station.  Just prior to the meeting we were emailed the first official Quarterly newsletter  compiled by FCC, Network Rail, Dept for Transport and Herts Highways.  This was handed out to attendees.

·       Chris gave everybody a synopsis of what he was going to say in front of the Planning Committee the following evening regarding the Salisbury Square redevelopment.  The majority of people agreed to the points that were made about a) parking and parking space allocation b) protecting existing retailers c) developing Salisbury Square and the Station in conjunction and d) destruction of existing green space. 

 

Michael Baker objected to any representation being made as he was in favour of the development.  A heated debate followed with most attendees agreeing that change and some development was welcome but that there were several issues that many residents would like addressed.  Namely that the station and S Square should be developed in conjunction with one another.  Michael stated the residents of Batterdale were also absolutely in favour of the development and did not approve of any representation made by the OHRA. Lottie explained that it is very hard to gauge as every other member at the meeting had not had a similar response from their representatives, and what Chris had outlined also reflected the letter that was sent to the council as part of the feedback received from the letter drop last year.

 

The debate reiterated the point that the OHRA must be visible and open to everybody.  The larger the membership number the better the representation.  It was also acknowledged that a number of people are apathetic and people cannot be forced into giving an opinion.

 

·       Chris explained that the "Our Hatfield" website http://www.ourhatfield.org.uk/ was being updated and expanded.  Steve expressed interest in getting involved in the project: anyone else interested should contact Chris.