ACTON GREEN RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

11^th MARCH 2004

Attended by 57 residents. Apologies for absence from 12 residents. The Chairman thanked Mr. Andy Johnson for the use of Acton Green Church for the meeting.

Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting

Approved by the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

Treasurer's Report

The Annual Accounts have been circulated to all members. The Treasurer Geoffrey Rippingale gave an analysis of expenditure of which printing and allied costs represented 71% of our outgoings, although Committee members' own facilities had been used for smaller printing jobs. Other outgoings included subscriptions to organisations such as HACAN, Ealing Passenger Transport User Group and London Borough of Ealing Planning Department and the design, development and launch of our own AGRA website.

Lower membership renewal in 2003 had resulted in lower income, with expenditure in 2003 exceeding income by £135.78. Our reserves remain healthy but it is vital that we maintain a good level of membership. Briony Williams and Ann Denton agreed to act again as Account Examiners.

Membership

Total number of households in AGRA is about 1500 and paid up membership for 2003 was 196 households which is about 13% compared with 245 households in 2002 and 134 so far this year. Subscriptions remain at £5 per household and £2 for Senior Citizens.

Neighbourhood Watch

Elizabeth Dendy reported that bogus callers, mobile phone and bag snatchers and car theft were still with us, and the success of the police initiative on the South Acton Estate may rebound on us. We all need to be vigilant and keep everyone informed via the websites, the notice board in Marie's shop, street co-ordinators and by taking responsibility for the more vulnerable members of our community. She introduced PC Liz Huggins our local Home Beat Officer who spoke about Safety on the Streets. She explained that her beat extends from Ealing Common to Askew Road but there were also regular patrols by Police cars as well as some newly appointed Community Support Officers. She said that thieves were particularly targeting people coming from Tube Stations and warned pedestrians to keep mobile phones out of sight and women to put handbags under their coats and keys in pockets. Bags were being snatched by youths on bikes who were also targeting parked cars. PC Huggins suggested not carrying more credit cards and money than absolutely necessary. Cars at petrol stations should never be left unlocked while paying for petrol, particularly as they would not be covered by insurance. She also drew attention to the fact that the old Methodist church in Steele Road is occupied by squatters. Please ring Liz if you see anyone there. The Chairman thanked PC Huggins for sparing the time to come and talk to us.

Planning Matters

In the absence of Chris Hill, AGRA Secretary, Brian Prior reported on the following:

SKODA Works, Bollo Lane: there is no Planning Application lodged at the moment following the rejection of the previous plan. The developer has not yet submitted his new ideas to the Planning Department.

Chiswick Business Park: Planning Permission has been sought for a 9 storey building just inside the Bollo Lane entrance and a 12 storey block at that end of the site. Rising ground would make this the equivalent of a 14 storey building. We have lodged an objection and the plan will be discussed at the next Chiswick Area meeting. It will go before the Planning Committee in Hounslow and we will be able to reinforce our objection.

HACAN (Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise)

Barry McGovern reported under present plans in the Aviation White Paper a new runway at Heathrow will not happen until 2020. However one of the recommendations is to stop runway alternation, a system whereby all planes take off from one runway and all arriving aircraft land at another swapping over at 1500 hrs.

Street Cleaning

Susan Evans reported that all streets are swept weekly now and are therefore cleaner. The current contract with Cardinal ends in December 2004 when it is hoped that one company will undertake refuse collection, recycling and street cleaning which should result in a smoother operation. There is a new Investigation Unit which deals with dumped rubbish and fixed penalties can be issued. Back alleys will and must be cleaned by the Council. Any broken glass or other mess left by recycling teams should be reported as soon as possible (8813 3181) and they will send out supervisors to investigate.

Local Transport

Crossrail: Geoffrey Rippingale reported that latest plans include a tunnel from Wormwood Scrubs to a new interchange station at Turnham Green to be built under Chiswick Back Common. The tunnel would emerge onto the District Line behind Sainsbury's and the trains would replace current District Line trains to Kew, Richmond and beyond. It is possible that lack of funds may limit Crossrail to the East-West line from Liverpool Street to Heathrow.

West London tram: AGRA has been active in its objections to the closure of Acton High Street which would divert displaced traffic into our area. Final consultation is at the end of March this year but even if it gets approval and all the necessary finance it is not due to be operational until 2011.

94 bus route: we now have new larger buses and an enhanced timetable with a more frequent 24 hour service.

Acton Green Common

Our Committee representative Valerie Walker has had regular meetings with the Park Ranger for London Borough of Ealing. There have been complaints about the badly patched paths, trees which have been cut down and not replaced and the present lighting needs to be improved.. It has been suggested that AGRA, together with representatives of Bedford Park should apply for funding from Living Spaces for work that we want done on the Common and volunteers from AGRA are needed.

Mr. S.T. Johnston volunteered and one or two more people are required.

Playground on Acton Green Common

Unfortunately funds for upgrading the playground this year have not materialised but it is hoped that finance from S106 monies will be available. The Council landscape architect has drawn up an imaginative plan with new play equipment, a soft surface and timber fitness equipment around the perimeter. It could be ready within twelve months if funding is successful.

AGRA Website and e-mail

We launched our own website on 1^st September last year and have so far had about 2340 hits. It has been an entirely 'in-house' project undertaken by three AGRA members and has therefore cost very little. Geoffrey Rippingale has taken responsibility for both design and maintenance including updating of news affecting our area. He also issues regular news updates to all those residents who have e-mail addresses.

S106 Monies

We had originally asked for some of this money to be spent on new lighting for the area but it would appear that this will now be installed and partly paid for out of the Council's capital budget. Acton Green is entitled to £273,000 from this fund which will pay for part of the lighting, upgrading the playground and improvements to the 94 bus stand.

CPZ

This is now scheduled to start on 29^th March. Some residents expressed dissatisfaction with times allocated (9.30 to 5.30) but it is understood that there will be a re-consultation within twelve months.

Election of Committee

Existing members with the exception of Ann Williams and Brian Prior agreed to serve again and were elected unanimously. The Chairman expressed thanks to the retiring members for their past efforts on behalf of AGRA.