Those present: Wigi Uiguarajah,Vajira Uiguarajah, Hillary Box, Graham Lane, Philip Barcham, Nazmoon Persand, Dai Lewis, Pelle Kraft, Elizabeth Owen, Christine Duuren (treasurer), Sara Leon, Janet Paske, Tmima Tash, Irene Osbourne, PC Jeff Turner, Anne Brown, Roger Blantern, Bruno Romanelli, Nick Berry, Emma Lawson, Lie Litosseliti, Shields Russell, Maria Koutsoubou, Peter Clasen and Tim Sutton (secretary)

1. APOLOGIES of absence were received from Barney Mayhew.

2. Temporary chair In the absence of Garry Turnbull, Sara Leon kindly offered to chair the meeting.

3. TREASURERS REPORT: Chris reported that there was £3,064.00 in the current account.

4. Street environment - report by Chris Van Duuren: 

JAG has facilitated a number improvements to the street during 2004, mainly with regard to lighting and consequently the group's long term aims of increasing safety for pedestrians on both the public highway and private carriage-ways of Josephine Avenue.

Following requests from JAG the council upgraded the light bulbs in the street lights which has greatly improved visibility to pedestrians at night. The council has also promised to fit brighter bulbs in the carriage-way lamps and re-paint the posts black.

Ideally the group would like the council to conduct a survey of all the lighting in Josephine Avenue to determine ways of making the street brighter at night; maybe additional lights in the main street and replacement of the converted gas lamps with brighter, modern equivalents. A task for 2005 perhaps.

Chris also reported the group had requested, from the council, a litter bin at the Brixton Water Lane end of the Avenue. This has been agreed and should take about two months to arrive.

5. FUND RaisinG and urban art - Report by Tim sutton:

Urban Art 2004 raised over £2,000 pounds for the residents and, despite the rain, the number of artists exhibiting was up on 2003. Weather permitting, it is likely that next year's event will be totally full. This will mean more work for the JAG, both in terms of publicising the event (if we have more artists we will need to attract more visitors) as well as volunteers on the day itself. We call on all residents to help.

(As far as we are aware all residents, apart from one, have donated their £20 'hire of railings' back to resident association funds. However, if other residents still wish to claim they need to do so by 31st January 2005 otherwise JAG will assume this money has also been donated to the resident association.)

6. CONSERVATION ISSUES - report by elizabeth owen:

Residents are reminded that Josephine Avenue lies in a conservation area and certain restrictions do apply regarding the pruning of trees. Please consult with the council before carrying out any tree surgery work.

7. PARKING - report by Tim Sutton:

The council are still in the early stages of consultation regarding the proposed Controlled Parking Zone for Josephine Avenue and surrounding streets. JAG has been informed that the process has been delayed due to suspect forms returned from Appach Road. This is likely to delay the process until the start of 2005. However, the majority of residents of both Josephine Avenue and Helix Gardens have voted in favour of the scheme.

8. CRIME - Report from PC Jeff Turner:

There has been a large reduction in drugs related crime in the area due to the successful implementation of new 'Anti Social Behaviour Closures' which allows police to close down crack houses quickly. The police are also in the process of tackling the drug dealing problem on Tulse Hill Parade and this should result in various actions over the next few weeks.

Crime figures for the street in 2004 so far are: 7 robberies, 2 bag snatches, 6 burglaries, 21 dumped cars, 6 cars stolen, 1 indecent assault, 25 prostitution, 3 kerb crawling and 6 drugs possession.

Lambeth police are in the process of implementing the government 'Safer Neighbourhood' scheme, to be completed by 2007-08, which aims to equipped each ward with 1 Sergeant, 2 PCs and 3 Community Safety Officers. Compared to other wards our crime statistics are low so we are unlikely to see such a scheme implemented in Tulse Hill ward for some time. At the moment we only have one full time PC.

9. Suggested use for JAG funds:

• 'Street Garden' at 58 Josephine Avenue. • Street Party

• Charity Donation • 'No Parking' Signs

• Dumped Car Removal • 'No Parking' Road Markings (e.g. white lines)

• Paid JAG worker

18. THE NEXT JAG MEETING will be held on

13th October, 2004