Those present: Garry Turnbull (joint chair), Sara Leon (joint chair), Tim Sutton (secretary), Elizabeth Owen, Barney Mayhew, Mr Ansari (owner of 85 Brixton Hill), Maria Koutsoubou, Lia Litosseliti, Pelle Kraft and Shields Russell.
1a. APOLOGIES of absence were received from Anne Brown, Jeremy Beer and Chris Van Duuren.
1b. PREVIOUS MINUTES of the meeting held on 11th January 2005 were approved, however it was noted that they were dated incorrectly which Tim agreed to amend.
2. Derelict site 85 brixton hill: The original building was bought in the mid 1980's at a public auction, however it was in a very bad state of repair and was subsequently demolished. Due to the market crash of 1988, and family circumstances, re-building work was delayed and it wasn't until the 1990's that Mr Ansari, the land owner, put in an application to replace the building with a high density block of flats, this was refused and Mr Ansari appealed. At the hearing (which both Garry and Tim also attended) the inspector upheld the councils's decision. The inspector also made several recommendations which Mr Ansari has now built into the new plans (see minutes of last meeting). Mr Ansari has shown these plans to the council who have agreed that they are vastly improved but insist on five floors, as in the original building, and not the six on the new plans. Both Tim and Garry agree with Mr Ansari that this was not mentioned in the inspector's recommendations. Mr Ansari informed the Group that he would again appeal if these new plans were rejected by Lambeth (this will need to be done within 12 months of the original application, e.g before the 6th April 2005).
Member felt disappointed that the inspector's recommendations had come to nothing and now all parties were back to square one. Garry informed members that he had asked Lambeth for a meeting between all those concerned (Mr Ansari, local residents, council planners, etc.) but this had been refused. Tim suggested that if Lambeth were not willing to organise such a meeting then JAG should. It was agreed to contact Jackie Meldrum to ask her advice on what could be done next.
3. TREASURERS REPORT: Chris reported (via Pelle) that there was £382.61 in the current and £2,705.16 in the business deposit account.
4. 'NO PARKING' SIGNS: Tim showed members a dummy for the proposed No Unauthorised Parking signs. These were approved (£19.95 each plus carriage) and Pelle and Garry agreed to help Tim put them up.
5. STREET Notice board: Jeremy reported (via Tim) that he was having trouble finding out where the new signs in Brockwell Park came from. Sara agreed to follow this up.
6. charity donation: Sara proposed the idea of JAG giving a one-off contribution to the Tsunami Appeal. Barney, who is professionally involved with the organisation, pointed out that both it and other relief agencies were saying that they had enough funds at the moment. The discussion then broadened as to whether JAG should make regular donations to charities and, if so, what type of charities they should be (e.g. Make Poverty History, drugs/prostitution related charity). Members agreed to investigate further and bring ideas to the next meeting where a decision would be made.
7. Street lighting: Tim reported that there had been some drastic developments regarding the carriage-way lighting since the last JAG meeting. Shortly after that meeting Tim received an email from Jackie Meldrum informing JAG that Lambeth were planning to replace all defective street lighting under the Private Development Initiative (PDI) over the next five years. This involved an inventory of all lamp posts in the borough which Lambeth were responsible, however the two posts in Helix Gardens were on this list but all the posts in Josephine Avenue were not. Jackie suggested that JAG send in a 'public question' to Lambeth, in effect forcing them to address this issue. A reply has now been received stating that all carriage-way lampposts are now on the list and will be replaced by 'embellished specification columns with a “Victorian
style gas lantern,” similar to the columns recently installed in Lorn Road, SW9'.
8. 2 Josephine Avenue Garden: Sara informed the Group that both herself and Chris had spent the Sunday after the last JAG meeting cleaning up the London and Quadrant owned garden at number 2 Josephine Avenue. Members agreed that it was greatly improved and thanked them for their efforts.
9. Graffiti Clean-up: Jeremy reported (via Tim ) that the council have now taken photographs in the avenue and the clean-up work should be done shortly.
10. Water Lane Bin Emptying: Situation unknown.
11. Urban ARt: Tim reported that 14 artists had now booked spaces for Urban Art 2005, 8 pitches of which had already been paid for. Tim asked all members to keep an eye out for any publicity opportunities for the event, e.g. a celebrity, media contacts, etc. etc.
12. Future Structure of JAg: Following a question raised at last year's AGM, Shields put forward a proposal to increase JAG membership. He believed that problems occurred because the core membership was too low, most of the work was done by too few (80/20 ratio) and even though opportunity existed there was a limited desire. This could be combated by recruiting new members, re-engaging old members, sustaining involvement and gaining commitment.
Instead of attributing the problems to external factors (e.g. apathetic attitude of residents) Shields thought that JAG should communicating the positive aspects of JAG. He offered to set up a working group to look at these issues and also promised to recruit 5 new members within 3 months. Other members agreed that this could be a good move forward and might also encourage a more social aspect to the group.
13. Newsgroup and Contact List: Tim reported that the membership of the newsgroup had now risen to 35. Work on updating the contact list was still in progress.
14. OTHER MATTERS:
a) Police Activity - Barney summarised recent police activity (see minutes of last meeting) and explained how this had been initiated by himself and other local groups. There has been a promise by the police that they will maintain the situation and ask all residents to be vigilant. PC Jeff Turner now has a mobile phone and can be contacted on 07913429240.
b) CPZ - Tim attended the recent Brixton Area Forum meeting where results of the first stage of the Brixton Hill East 'Q' Controlled Parking Zone consultation were announced. Out of all the road surveyed only Josephine Avenue, Appach Road, Helix Gardens, Arodene Road, and Fairmount Road opted in favour of such a scheme and will now take part in a second round of consultations which will take place in March (even though Helix Road and Leander Road voted against they will also be included in this second round). Implementation of the scheme is due for 2006.
15. TO DO LIST:
All Investigate possible charities for JAG donation. Urban Art publicity possibilities.
Tim Sutton Write letter to council regarding 85 Brixton Hill. Send Jackie Meldrum's contact
details to Mr Ansari. Letterhead to Sara for Brockwell letter. Organise No Parking signs. Update Contact List. Urban Art 2005.
Sara Leon Write enquiry letter regarding notice boards.
Elizabeth Owen Contact Mr Raj Bami to inform him of Lambeth's plans about lampposts.
Shields Russell Organise recruitment team.
Barney Mayhew Write police thank you letter.
16. THE NEXT JAG MEETING will be held on:
Tuesday 8th March, 2005 at 57 Josephine Avenue at 8.00pm prompt!
SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS will be held on Wednesday 13th April, Tuesday 10th May, Wednesday 8th June, Tuesday 12th July, Wednesday 10th August, Tuesday 13th September, Wednesday 12th October, Tuesday 8th November and Wednesday 14th December.
Meeting closed at 10.15pm.