Minutes of the Committee of OADRA on Monday, 19th March 2012 at 8:00pm

Those present: Robert Lewis (Chair), Alan Manchester, Stephen Sinclair, Keith Revoir, Ken Wilkes, Ian McNicol, Graham Goldspring, Ian Wilson, Michelle Stone and Paul Ryan.

Robert started the meeting by opening the discussion on membership.  We need to increase our membership of OADRA.  We need to establish which roads we want to cover and we need to finalise a list of roads.  First and foremost, we need a strategy. 

This led onto the idea of a pamphlet.  It should be something to explain who we are and what we do.  Residential support would endorse our representation of this community. Robert had produced a first draft as a basis for discussion. 

The discussion moved onto our objectives as an RA.

Steven Sinclair shared with us his views on the matter, which, he admitted, were strongly held.

Firstly, there were difficulties if OADRA was going to engage with residents on the doorstep to obtain members.  Security is an issue and there is no good reason why residents would give money towards such a local, political cause.  Why would any of us give money to someone on the doorstep claiming to be a) part of the community and b) willing to engage on our behalf with the council, local politicians and the media?  

Secondly, we need to be clear about our objectives and what views are being put forward.  The question was raised as to whether we should we have a formal plan.  

Thirdly, one of our most vital key objectives would be to obtain RA Council members to be our voice where it mattered in local politics and decisions. 

This led onto a general discussion amongst us about membership and representation.  Robert said that after we gain members, we want to invite similar representatives from other communities.  Alan also mentioned that we need to use our email list and send a neighbourly newsletter about once a month.  We have a database of about 150 people already.  Paul suggested that we should have a mission statement and Stephen said that timescale, budget and getting a representative for us in the council should be our goals for now.  It seems as if we should approach this in a business-like manner.  If we aim to have an RA Councillor to represent us at the next set of elections then that would be a major step forward. 

The question was raised as to the effectiveness of RAs within the community.  What degree of control do we have over a selected member of the Council?  We would have the power to select or deselect them from the Council.  When there are key votes in the Council, we can intimate the way we want our councillor to vote.  Alan suggested a meeting to get RAs together.  In the Borough there are some very small RAs based on streets.  They start with an issue. Small RAs can come under the umbrella of a larger representative organisation.  It has to be considered though whether small views and minor issues are effectively represented by large umbrella organisations.  It would give us more clout but not necessarily more democracy. 

At present, we are not at all happy with our local councillors who operate on party lines.  We need RA members to watch and analyse the situation to feedback to us as a committee.  Robert stated that often, it is the council leader who tells the others how to vote.  Should we consider an over-arching RA group? 

Graham posed the question as to what aims do we have, now.  It was agreed that we should get the residents together, get their concerns on paper and then get their support for OADRA.   From a previous leaflet drop of 1500 we had a response of 80. Graham also mentioned that the Comet reporter was willing to do an article on OADRA and he was meeting him on Wednesday 21 March.  

We had a vote on several matters.  First, it was agreed that we should do a leaflet drop.  Secondly, that we should find out the top three issues affecting our local residents individually so that we could have a remit to start from as a committee.  We need a subscription and the delivery of the leaflets is aimed for April/May.  It was agreed that Ken would do a first draft of a revised aims and objectives and circulate to the committee for their comments

On the subject of finances we have £145 of which £68 was paid to Graham for his work on our publicity.  We currently have 33 Members.  Robert said we should open a bank account and it was suggested that the Unity Trust Bank, Birmingham, would be the ideal way to do this as they were dedicated to small organisations.  We can create a cheque book and provided we do not make more than £100k (!) per year the banking is free.  Robert has the form and Alan stated that we need to establish at least three signatories.  This was proposed by Alan and seconded by Graham.  Either Nat West or Barclays bank would be suitable.  There was no clear consensus at the time.  Paul suggested that the branch should be open on Saturdays as we need the most flexibility. 

The new Star and Garter. 

Susan Hartley, Marketing Officer and PR for the home said that she will update us.  She already updates Southborough RA and Graham will put Sarah in contact with Keiran, our webmaster. 

Tudor Lodge

Robert.  A plan has to be put in and the work has to be done by June.  A resin bonded gravel surface has to be laid down but nothing has happened so far. 

The new hospital

Graham mentioned that the building seems to look bigger than the plan.  Architecturally it is going to be out of keeping with the surrounding. 

AOB

New Schools

A politician on the radio was heard admitting that numbers for places in schools had been exaggerated.  We should pressure the council to re-consider the future of this development. 

Filter Beds

How are we in OADRA affected by the development of the filter beds?  A developer has put in various applications for this site for 64 luxury floating homes.  The homes will be below eye-level and a walkway will be created that is open to the public.  A big restaurant facility will be created.  We know, so far, that Ann Brown is pro this development.  Currently, the site provides a habitat for bats (who are a protected species by law - PR) and this may save our campaign if we are agreed on it.  There was some discussion about the Thames Landscape Strategy and about Boris Johnson’s support for the Thames Path to be continued.  Robert will draft a letter to us to get our agreement on the issue.

Diamond Jubilee Celebration.

Ken is also a member of the St Matthews RA.  He mentioned that one of his members, there, is keen on a Diamond Jubilee celebration.  It was suggested that we could exploit this as an opportunity for promoting OADRA. However it was agreed that the timescale was too short for OADRA to do anything.

Currently, Surbiton Hill ward has an estimated 10,700 residents (out of 39,800 in Surbiton Neighbourhood, and a total 157,200 in RBK).  Based on an estimated 64,900 households in the Borough, that suggests about 4450 households in Surbiton Hill, of which we counted about 1300 households within our Oakhill “borders”.

Committee meetings

Mondays or Thursdays for our Committee meetings?  We may have to find bigger venues and Alan has sought a few out.  Oaklands Baptist church (now, Surbiton New Life Baptist Church) will have a few rooms to hire in the future.  The New Prince was suggested by Paul a while ago but on investigation recently a Lib Dem meeting was taking place.  Alan prefers the Methodist church but we could have the Baptist church as well as a back up.   It will cost us £11 p/h for the Methodist church.

Dates for Committee meetings...

23^rd April

21^st May

18^th June                     

16^th July

August – no meeting

17^th September

15^th October

19^th November

Alan will notify us of the venue, and the meetings will start at 8pm. 

Name

Michelle asked if we could change the name of OADRA?  It sounds like ODOUR!  Alan asked if there was a national association of RAs.  ROADA?  Residents of Oakhill And District Association...

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10pm and we thanked Robert for his hospitality in accommodating the meeting for us in his home. 

---------------------------------

In summary, we have a lot of work on our hands if we are to get this Residents’ Association off the ground.  Committee members should make a note of the following:
We need to increase our membership of OADRA. 

We need to establish which roads we want to cover and we need to finalise a list of roads. 

We need a strategy. 

We need a publicity leaflet. 

We need to be clear about our objectives.

We need to aim to have an RA Councillor to represent us at the next set of elections.

We should have a mission statement.

We should get the residents together.

We need a venue to hold meetings.

We should find out the top three issues affecting our local residents individually.

We need more subscriptions.

We should open a bank account.

THE ROYAL STAR & GARTER HOME - SURBITON, update 23rd April 2012

Morgan Sindall Project Manager Robert Siddens reports on likely activities over the next two weeks: The excavation to the basement is approaching completion. Once it is complete we will have removed about 8,000m3 of soil which is equivalent to about five Olympic-size swimming pools.

The soil is being used to cap an old waste landfill site in Chertsey. The drainage to the new building has started and the foundations are continuing. This week sees the erection of the tower crane which is 38m tall (in order to clear the tallest tree) and 40m in length. It will be based directly in the centre of the site and will not over-sail any adjacent property. We have chosen a crane that is operated from the ground which has the benefit of avoiding any privacy issues. 

Kind regards,
Susan Harley
Marketing & Communications Manager

The Royal Star & Garter Homes
Richmond Hill, Richmond, Surrey TW10 6RR

THE ROYAL STAR & GARTER HOME - SURBITON, update 27th March 2012

Morgan Sindall Project Manager Robert Siddens reports on likely activities over the next two weeks: The installation of the deep piled foundations is now complete and the tall piling rigs have left the site. The next operation is to expose the tops of the concrete piles to incorporate them into the foundations. These are called pile caps; they are 1 metre deep foundations made of concrete and steel reinforcement which sit on top of the concrete pile columns to take the load of the building columns. We are also about to start the construction of the basement. The walls of the basement have already been built using a system called contiguous piling. Essentially this means putting in over 300 piles next to each other forming the perimeter of the basement. Firstly we have to build a capping beam on this line of piles, similar to the pile caps, then we can excavate out the earth from the area which is to be the basement. This is approximately 2500m3 of London Clay to be dug out and transported to an old landfill site where it will be used for capping of the landfill for landscape reclamation. April is potentially a wet month - although you wouldn’t know it at the moment - and there is a risk that we may carry mud onto the road during the bulk excavation of the basement. To avoid this we have installed a bespoke wheel wash system which cleans the wheels of each lorry as it leaves the site. The beauty of the system we are using is that it recycles and filters the water it uses and only occasionally needs topping up. The topping up will be carried out using harvested rainwater from the roof of the house we are using as our temporary site office, therefore not using any extra water during this hose pipe ban period.

Latest news from the Star and Garter Surbiton site

6th March 2012:

Morgan Sindall Project Manager Robert Siddens reports on likely activities over the next two weeks:

Activities on site will be intensifying with the introduction of a second piling rig for the main building foundations. The foundation piles are producing a lot of surplus soil which is having to be removed by lorry at regular intervals. Next week sees the introduction of a third piling rig. This is a mini version of the large machines specially designed to work in root protection areas. Also next week we will have finished the piles to the main entrance which allows us to install the wheel wash system. This is a ride on/ride off piece of plant which automatically detects when vehicles are leaving the site and cleans their wheels. It filters and reuses its own water to reduce water consumption and avoid sending any silt down the drainage system.

20th February 2012:

The installation of the piling mat is ongoing. This is a temporary bed of crushed concrete about 400mm thick and is necessary to provide a stable base for the piling rig.

To reduce the carbon output of the project we try to reuse materials wherever we can. An example of this is to reuse the material recovered from the deconstruction of the three houses previously on the site as part of the piling mat. The material has to be crushed down to a suitable size and this activity will be carried out on site over the course of a couple of days starting on 20 February.

27 February sees the arrival of the piling rigs. These are the machines which drill up to 20m into the ground to ensure the foundations for the new building are on solid material supported by the deep concrete columns. The type of piling that has been chosen is called Continuous Flight Auger piling. This is the quietest form of piling and involves drilling out of the ground and pouring concrete into the hole rather than hammering piles into the ground.

Minutes of OADRA’s 2011 AGM Held 1st December 2011

Minutes of OADRA’s 2011 AGM
Held 1st December 2011, 8pm,
at the Baptist Church, 6 Langley Road, Surbiton
Committee members present: Robert Lewis, Graham Goldspring, Alan Manchester, Ian Wilson, Ian McNicol (apologies from Ciaran Oates; Stephen Glands stepped down from the committee recently).
Also present: 38 local residents (apologies received from John Ibbett)

Welcome and Introduction by Robert Lewis, Chairman
Last year we outlined the area that OADRA covers. We are happy for those outside this area, but affected by the area, to join.
The Minutes of last year’s AGM, held 7 Oct 2010, have been on OADRA’s website for a year. They were approved.
My Chairman’s report for the past year has been distributed by email recently; if anyone wants a copy, there are some hard copies available. Most people know about our activities, in particular in relation to the new school and hospital.
Last year we circulated initial thoughts on what OADRA exists for. We have redrafted it, with the help of the committee and Stephen Sinclair. A copy was recently circulated by email. The main points are:

1. OADRA is the Association formed to speak for residents and businesses in the Oakhill neighbourhood. We aim to ensure that your voice is heard, your concerns are recognised and your values are properly regarded, in all the key issues that shape the character of the community in which we live.

2. OADRA has shown it has the ability and commitment to challenge major planning decisions. With your support we will continue to defend the interests of those who live and invest in our neighbourhood by creating widespread awareness of contentious Council initiatives, putting forward solutions which are a genuinely good fit with the needs of the neighbourhood, and rigorously opposing those which are not.

3. We believe that local interests will be best met if our elected Councillors are chosen from the residents of the areas which they represent, rather than selected by the established national political parties.

Regarding the final point, we recently met with several other Residents’ Associations (RAs). I can do no better than quote from the recent edition of “Focus” – which states that the new school and healthcare centre are being built despite opposition from the local Conservatives. There is no mention of the views of residents. Similarly, the new RBK Core Strategy (part of the Local Plan) makes references to several partners for future development, but hardly mentions local residents.

We can only succeed in our efforts if many local residents join RAs, and if we can communicate and hear your views.

Report by Ian McNicol, Treasurer
A financial statement had been circulated prior to the meeting.
In the Year to 30 Sept 2011, £185 income came from donations and membership fees, and we spent the money on hiring the hall for the AGM, photocopying and stationery. The £48.37 surplus no longer exists, because it was spent on publicity leaflets for this 2011 AGM.

David Widdup and Rosalynde Lewis proposed that the accounts be accepted. This was agreed.

Robert proposed that the subscription for 2012 be £5 per person, which was agreed. He encouraged everyone present to join or re-join OADRA, and to help in asking local neighbours to join. We need to build up funds, so that if anything comes up (such as in the Local Plan) that will negatively affect the area, we will have sufficient money to draw upon in fighting it. We need to be alert to issues affecting our area. If we have our own elected RA councillors, things might be different.
The OADRA committee meets about every 6 weeks, but we’d like those meetings to be open, as in some other Boroughs. E.g. in Epsom & Ewell there is an RA-led council, and open meetings are held monthly between the various RAs. So it is much more democratic.

Election of OADRA committee
Robert Lewis said he had agreed in 2010 to be Chairman for one year, and asked if there were any volunteers to be a new chairman. No one volunteered. He said we need someone younger soon.

Ian McNicol was re-elected as Treasurer.
Alan Manchester was elected as Membership Secretary.
Paul Ryan agreed to be Secretary.
Graham Goldspring was re-elected in the role of Publicity/ Public Relations.
Ciaran Oates was not present, but it was hoped he would continue as Webmaster.

Robert Lewis asked people to think about if they could join the committee, or do anything else, and to please let us know. For example, we need people on a rota to attend Neighbourhood planning meetings.

Silvina Bonasea-Ryan said that she usually attends all of them. Robert asked her to report back to OADRA on important matters. It would still be good if others could attend.

Robert stressed the importance of active Road Reps. We need to aim for 70 to 80% of all residents to become members of OADRA. We therefore need road reps who will help deliver flyers, and also involve their neighbours and encourage them to join. Road reps can attend committee meetings even before we open them up to all residents. More road reps would be a great help in enlarging the association. Please let us know if you could help!

Ian Wilson asked whether other committee members needed to be re-elected or elected.

Ian Wilson was re-elected.

Alan Manchester proposed that Ken Wilkes be asked to join the committee. He agreed, and was elected.

Alan also proposed Stephen Sinclair. This will be taken up with him later; no one objected to him joining the committee if he is willing.

Proposal to move towards to having RA candidates at future RBK Council elections
Robert asked for a show of hands to indicate whether residents supported the idea of RA candidates. It was a vote on the idea in principle, rather than on a detailed proposal about how this would be managed… There is still a long way to go on working out details. A vote was taken:

In favour – about 35 hands; Against – one.

Robert said it was clear that we should proceed along that line and continue to report back on developments.

Guest Speaker
The formal part of the AGM was closed, and Robert then introduced the guest speaker, Dr. Phil Moore, the leading physician at Central Surgery (one of the surgeries in Oakhill Health Centre that will relocate in 2013 to the new healthcare centre). He is very involved in planning local health services, as well as on some national bodies.

Several residents asked questions or made comments during the talk, and there were a couple of questions at the end.

Robert thanked Dr. Moore very much for coming, and for giving such an informative talk. All applauded.

The meeting closed at approx. 9.45pm, although some residents stayed longer to ask further questions to Dr. Moore.

Public Meeting and AGM THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2011 at 8.00pm

OAKHILL AND DISTRICT RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
WEB: oakhilldra.blogspot.com EMAIL: oakhilldra@googlemail.com

Public Meeting and AGM
THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2011 at 8.00pm

Every resident in the area is invited to a meeting at
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
6 Langley Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6LN


Guest Speaker
Dr Phil Moore

The leading Physician at the Central Surgery, Oakhill Road & one of the surgeries going into the new Health Centre will talk about and answer questions on The new Surbiton Health Centre and our Community - at odds or buddies?

preceded by
The Annual General Meeting of the Association

Agenda:
Receive the annual report
Receive a financial report
Fix the annual subscription for 2012
Elect Officers and Committee of the Association for the
Year 2011-2012
Consider a proposal to have Residents’ Association Candidates at Future Elections
Any Other Business
Close 9.45pm

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ON YEAR TO 30th NOVEMBER 2011

Oakhill & District Residents’ Association (OADRA), part of the Surbiton Hill Ward, came into being to help look after the interests of the residents of the area, specifically with regard to the environment and planning matters. At the first general meeting of the Association on the 5th May 2010 the need for an Association was overwhelmingly endorsed and an interim committee was established. At the first Annual General Meeting on the 7th October 2010 a committee was voted in and the meeting was addressed by members of the NHS and the Borough Council on the necessity of having a school and a health facility on the Surbiton Hospital site.

From late 2010 until the decision was finally taken on the Hospital site in March 2011, your committee and other committed residents have read hundreds of pages of reports and documents issued by the Council and have undertaken their own studies and demonstrated that there were viable alternatives to putting a school as well as a healthcare centre on the same site. This was argued at numerous meetings. However, in this and in other matters we received no assistance from our Councillors—quite the reverse—and, as you all know, the work on the site is proceeding.

Several things are interesting to note about this saga. The first is that certain Councillors clearly had not read the documentation and just voted for the scheme. Secondly, the parties voted as a group, nobody departed from the Party line either for or against the proposal—quite remarkable. Thirdly, although the plan was to move 8 GP surgeries to the site (and we were told they had been consulted and were in favour of relocating), only four have actually agreed to participate. Fourthly, although the Council argued that the need for a school on this site was overwhelming, because there were so many children in the area needing places, the published criteria for places at the school does not list children who live nearest the school as the top priority. The School Travel Plan assumes that children will come from within half a mile, and that 90% will walk to school. Fifthly, this project (costing some £25 million) has gone ahead despite only 121 local people responding in favour of the joint scheme, out of a claimed 36,000 consulted. Many homes in Oakhill received no consultation papers.

It was clear at last year’s AGM that many residents were strongly in favour of rebuilding the Hospital, but were not convinced about centralising almost all GP practices, by the “ambitious” travel plans, nor by failure to explore other options for a school. The people of Surbiton raised money originally to buy the land for healthcare, and a covenant on the land forbade a school. Now it seems we are buying part of the land again, for several millions of pounds (although details of the deal with the NHS seem to be secret).

Other matters in which the committee has been involved have been enforcement of the Planning Inspector’s decision regarding Tudor Lodge—still a live issue, despite the fact that councillors at a Neighbourhood Committee gave six months for works to be completed, one year ago. Also, the Police Federation Building and the road humps in Langley Road. In all of these cases, the Councillors were at the least ineffectual.

On a larger scale, the new RBK Core Strategy (part of the Local Plan), which will affect everyone who lives in the Borough for the next 15 years, has been through the Examiner’s review. Representatives from your Association attended some of the examination hearings, after making comments on the draft. We await the Examiner’s decision soon. One major impact in our area will be the proposed development of homes on Surbiton Station car park, and the likely reduction of car parking spaces there. The Association will keep a close watch on what is proposed.

The lack of care and attention to the views of the residents of our area has led us to consider the desirability of having our own Residents’ Association candidates standing for Borough election in 2014. They would be free of Party Political interference and able to concentrate on what is good for the Ward as well as for the Borough. Discussions have begun with other Residents’ Associations in the Borough to see if this idea will catch on. Our neighbours Epsom and Ewell have had a successful Residents’ Association-led Council for very many years, and Elmbridge and Mole Valley have Residents’ Association Councillors.

It has been a hectic year for the committee and I should like to thank the members for their hard work. Special mention must be made of the work done by Alan Manchester who really led the Association’s research on the Hospital site and the new Core Strategy, and spent very many hours reading documents and responding to the inconsistencies which lay therein. Special thanks are also due to Graham Goldspring as our Publicity officer who kept the OADRA name to the fore, with several articles and letters being published in the Informer (now defunct), Guardian and Surrey Comet newspapers.

In order that we can progress as an Association and monitor what is happening in the Borough and make our voice heard on behalf of the residents, we need more people to become members of the Association, and for some to give a few hours a month to serve on the committee or as road representatives. We hope to see you at the AGM on 1st December and to hear your views about the issues that concern you.

Robert Lewis - Chairman

oakhilldra@googlemail.com
or
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