Those present: Tim Sutton (Secretary), Chris Van Duuren (Treasurer), Graham Lane (acting Chair), Anne Brown and James Priestman (Brixton Community Safety Officer),.
1. APOLOGIES of absence were received from Jeremy Beer, Garry Turnbull, Elizabeth Owen and Wendy Hurst (London and Quadrant Housing Association).
2. Previous Minutes of the meeting held on the 10th September 2003 were approved.
3. Treasurers Report - £145.08 in the deposit account and £1,309.63 in the current account.
4. STREET SAFETY - James Priestman reported that an informal walk-about had taken place with Wendy Hurst (and Timothy Sutton) to review the garden properties of London and Quadrant Housing (L&Q) and their impact on safety in the street. Wendy again promised that L&Q were committed to a long term maintenance plan for these gardens but, in the short term, they would commission a local company (Dickensons?) to carry out immediate work such as hedge trimming and carriage-way repairs. It was hoped that this could be done before the next street clean on the 16th November.
James also reported that the police were well aware of the current problems of prostitution in the avenue and that they would be erecting anti-prostitution signs on some of the lamp posts on Monday 20th October (in the absence of any other volunteers, Tim agreed to be present to help direct where these signs should go).
Regarding the carriage-way lighting, James reported that the present lamps could not be up-graded with brighter bulbs and that if JAG wanted these improved they would have to be replaced. Concerns were raised over replacement of the old Victorian style lamps with modern ones especially with regard to the street’s conservation status. James agreed to investigate further following a survey carried out by Tim to ascertain the current condition of the lamps. Graham also raised the point that it was sometimes difficult to report faulty lamps on the carriage-ways as they are not numbered, unlike those on the pavement.
5. Keith Hill MP Meeting - Chris reported that Sara Leon, Shields Russell andl herself had met with Keith Hill MP to discuss problems currently facing residents of Josephine Avenue. Chris reported that the MP seemed very aware of the situation and in particular the problem of prostitution. Keith Hill agreed to attend a future meeting of Josephine Avenue residents and suggested that he could ‘facilitate’ things through ‘partnership’.
6. BIRD BOXES - Chris reported that she has spoken to Elizabeth Owen regarding bird boxes for the avenue and that the situation is still on-going. However, Tim pointed out that the original plan was to erect the boxes during the Autumn street clean and that time was rapidly running out.
7. TRADERS LISt - Having spoken to Elizabeth, Chris reported that the Brixton Water Lane Society have a written ‘Traders List’ which residents can apply for. It was suggested that Josephine Avenue residents should be made aware of this list in the hope that we can share information in the future.
8. AUTUMN STREET CLEAN - Chris has written to Frank Sarkodi (Lambeth Streetcare) to ask for their continued cooperation with the Autumn Street Clean on the 16th November.
9. NEWSLETTER - Tim reported that he had received all articles and would start work on the newsletter ready for distribution on the 1st November.
10. JAG AGM - Tim reported that Jackie Meldrum had offered to attend an Annual General Meeting of JAG if held on Thursday the 27th November. However it was at this point of the meeting that it became evident, with only three members present (Chris and James having left by then), and little hope of anybody volunteering, that the AGM would probably never take place. Tim Sutton then left and the meeting was abandoned. (ed. since then Chris has now offered to organise an AGM with a suggestion from Tim that we hold it in a pub and give one free drinks voucher to all those who attend, maybe this will get the ball rolling again!).
11. London and quadrant Gardens - (see item 4)
12. JAG notice board - (not discussed)
13. Derelict site 85 brixton hill - (not discussed)
14. Allied Carpets forecourt - (not discussed)
15. baf Tulse hill ward meeting - (not discussed)
16. baf crime working group meeting - (not discussed)
17. vice chair position - (not discussed)
18. other matters
HISTORIC TREES WEB SITE - Anne Brown informed the group that she had heard of a web site looking for ‘historic trees’ and suggested that we nominate the Oak tree outside number 42. Graham agreed to investigate further.
19. Volunteer To Do List:
James Priestman Investigate possibilities of improving carriage-way street lamps.
Graham Lane Nominate Oak tree to web site.
Tim Sutton JAG Newsletter, Advise police on placement of street anti-prostitution signs,
survey of carriage-way street lamps.
Wendy Hurst Organisation of L&Q garden maintenance, both long and short term.
(Chris Van Duuren Organise JAG AGM.)
20. The next JAG meeting will be held on:
Wednesday 12th November, 2003 at 13 Josephine Avenue at 8.00pm, PROMPT!
Meeting closed at 9.05pm