JAG minutes 11/11/2009

In Attendance: Gary Turbull (GT), Louise Belson (LB), Tim Sutton (TS), Tim Fairhurst (TF), Kris Van Duren (KV), Police Sergeant Owen Farmer (OF), Peter Moore (PM), Steven Burke (SB), Megan Jones (MJ).

Apologies from: Rachel, Nick, SNT, Toren, Peter Classen, Keith Naish.

1-3.Anti-Social Behaviour

OF said that his team had mainly been patrolling the area around Brixton Hill. They have been working in patterns of 8 out of very 14 days on 10 hour shifts that have so far resulted in a total of 68 arrests over a period of 20 days of patrols. The arrests have been related to prostitution, drugs, burglary and offensive weapons in the area of Brixton Hill. He said that he wasn’t sure whether such a figure would be welcome or not. In this time, 30 street girls have been either arrested or cautioned. They are cautioned twice in 12 months and then arrested. The cases have been held at Camberwell Gren Magistates’ Court, where, if the girls plea guilty, they will be offered support for their addiction, etc…

However, it seems that this policy is not being particularly effective, as the girls seem to have got wise to the system, saying the right things, going to their two meetings, as ordered by the court, and then returning to work on the street. TS asked whether there was no limit to how many times they can do this, and OF said apparently not, and that the police need to identify what are the proper bail conditions and to take more note of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). He said that simply moving the girls on to another area that they are less used to merely serves to make them more vulnerable-a very unsatisfactory outcome. 

OF asked JAG if there had been a noticeable drop in activity as a result of the Vice Squad’s activity? GT said that he had noticed a total reduction in prostitution as a result of the barrier, at his end (Brixton Hill) at least. OF said that there were still girls working in JA, but that punters were now preferring to walk looking for girls, rather than driving down the street. He said that there were about 6 streets in the area that were experiencing prostitution. LB said that there were regular reports of prostitution and drug dealing at the Brixton Water Lane end of JA, and that Mrs Brown at No.3 had often seen drugs being dealt at that end. MJ said that dealers had also been seen in Myrtle Road. GT said that residents in Arrodene Road would have to be asked if they had had any experience of activity, as the fact that they have no organization there makes it difficult to gauge. MJ said that there had been no obvious prostitution since the Vice Squad had started patrolling. GT said that Rachel ? has suggested the setting up of a steering group made up of representatives from the streets in question. MJ said that the Safer Neighbourhood Panel (SNP) should be used. GT said that they (SNPs) were too local. MJ said that apathy appeared to be a problem. GT said that regular meetings between police/drugs teams etc. could be very effective. LB said that that was how the barrier had come about. GT said that the baton should be passed on to those streets without groups to represent them. MJ said that the SNP meetings were sparsely attended. 

OF said that working in the streets around JA only moved the problem on rather than solving it. He said that it would be very useful if he could meet with more representatives from the surrounding streets and asked JAG members if it would be possible for them to identify such people. He said that he would be interested in meeting reps from the area covered by Brixton town centre to Christchurch Square, in order to discover where likely crack houses and dealers are. He said that another difficulty they were having was that the girls were now working out his teams’ shift patters, and only working appropriately. He said that if he were able to inform his Superintendant that he was in contact with more representatives from more streets, then he would be have more leverage to get hold of more resources. That would be very helpful.

LB said that there were vocal people in the surrounding streets, but that they were poorly organized and in need of a platform. She said that JAG could help to identify them. 

MJ said that prostitution was not the only problem. There were also things like South Beach to consider. LB said that there was also the issue of traffic control. OF said that it would be good to contact other community heads. MJ said that she would look into these issues.

OF reiterated the figures and said that Ephgrave and Musker (top cops) have been very impressed with the performance of his team, and asked what further issues there might be. 

TF said that South Beach had been a problem. PM asked what those problems might be? GT said that there had been problems with noise and traffic emanating from South Beach, and OF said that he had seen some strongly-worded emails regarding such disturbances. GT said that residents had raised their concerns about the proliferation of licenses being granted in the Brixton Hill area. OF agreed that late-night premises always led to the appearance of what he termed “scallywags”, and that he would love for his teams to get permission to work undercover in such places. He explained that the proliferation of Brixton’s late-night economy was becoming an ever greater problem that was really beyond the reach of their available resources. However, OF offered assurances that good work was already being done around existing licensed premises, and that one of the main reasons for his team having been formed in the first place was to investigate crime associated with licensed premises. 

MJ then said that the problems at South Beach appeared to centre around anti-social behaviour rather than vice.

TS said he was concerned that the issue around South Beach would go the same way as the campaign against prostitution and that 8 years of complaints would end up resulting in little or no progress again. He said that business owners were opening up premises in the Brixton Hill area because it was easier than trying to get new licenses in the centre of town. 

GT said that he had attended the previous night’s meeting at the Town Hall where the Council, despite the pleas of local residents to help them, had simply said that they were in no position not to grant an extension of South Beach’s licence. He noted that the owner of South Beach, Ben, was also in attendance, and that he had approached residents to assure them that he wanted to “connect with the community”. TS said that he had heard that before, but al agreed that it was at least worth a go.

LB then asked OF if there was any other way that JAG could be of assistance, and wondered whether any of them might be able to attend the street clean at the weekend. 

PM said he would be happy to, although OF reminded him that the team would not be on duty at the weekend, although he reiterated his keenness for more interaction with people living in streets not represented at tonight’s meeting. With that in mind, TS asked if it would be useful to leaflet the area within a 50m radius of South Beach. OF said that his team would be happy to knock on relevant doors and get statements, and that he would pop round to 21 JA the following evening to collect some relevant names. 

It was agreed that a steering group could be formed, hopefully involving residents from St Saviours Road, Belnheim Gardens, Helix Gardens, Raleigh Gardens, Lambert and Endinir (??).

It was agreed that the steering group would focus on prostitution and that Keith Naish would be a useful point of contact.

The police then left the meeting, with OF’s mobile playing “I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)” by The Clash (1984).

MJ then said it might perhaps be better if JAG could pinpoint certain relevant houses, rather then just do blanket leafleting. LB suggested that they could have an email conversation regarding this. MJ agreed.

MJ then left. Her mobile was silent.

JAG agreed that there would be an SNT (?) meeting on the 6th November.

4. Landscape Kingston 2011

TF said that the relevant people from Kingston University (KU) had finally surfaced and that they had recently visited JA where they had taken a look at its potential as a possible source of a project for students on the -------------- course. He said that they had been very excited at JA’s history and layout and that on the face of it could prove to be a very useful educational tool for students. He asked whether JAG would be interested in getting involved in such a project, even on just a theoretical level, regardless of whether any of the ideas generated were ever put in to practice. TF said that he had been in contact with landscape architects named Simon and Jackie regarding the project. He said that Jane (?) would be a useful person to use regarding writing out a grant application, as JAG would need help in all areas, being totally new to the idea.

TS said that a sub-committee would need to be set up. He expresses concerns that students would be likely to come up with all sorts of whacky ideas.

TF said that that was the point, as they were just theoretical concepts, and that they might just come up with something fantastic and even, hopefully, achievable.

TF said that KU understood that consensus would be an important issue.

TF said that it would be good to plan the project around KU’s semesters, and that January-May would probably be a good time for the projects to be devised, and, with that in mind, that some kind of plan should be forthcoming from KU by the end of January, and that specificity would be instrumental in being able to make a formal approach to Simon and Jackie. 

TS sought assurance that this was jut a hypothetical project, and LB said that, yes, it was, but that it could actually happen.

GT called for a point of order on the issue, and all agreed that the project would be a useful and interesting one.

GT said that he would nominate TF to head the sub-committee, and TF aid that e would be happy to, as long as he could rely on “the usual help”. 

GT said that it would be good to get assistance and input from various areas of JA and mentioned Chris and Anne from the even side as possible members of the sub-committee.

TF the suggested that it would be good to tie in a presentation, perhaps including models of project ideas and a presentation at the next Urban Art in Summer 2010 in order to generate interest in the project and stimulate debate. 

All agreed that this sounded good.

5. Late Spring Street Party.

TS said that Peter (?) and Nick Berry had said they would be happy to organize the event.

LB suggested that it would be good to get approval to block JA at both ends. 

All concurred that late Spring would be the ideal time to hold the party. It should be before Urban Art, but not on a Bank Holiday weekend. A date would need to be found, and TF said he thought it should be on a Sunday.

GT noted that if we wanted to have a bar selling alcohol in the street, then planning for that would need to begin soon. LB said that she would be happy to arrange that, and that Hayden would be the person to speak to regarding the issue.

6. Football Team Donation

There will be a 5-a-side football tournament in June 2010. GT said that he has spoken to the Youth Co-ordinator at Lambeth Council, Gary Comfork (?) last week, and that he should be invited to the JAG AGM in December. JAG will make a small donation to the event in June, where there will be shields and the like presented. 

7. Late Night Licenses Brixton Hill

GT gave a brief summary of the previous night’s meeting, reiterating some of the issues already mentioned above. 

He said that Curry Paradise had now extended its premises into the old High Spirits, and that their application for an alcohol licence had been granted.

LB asked whether Khan (curry house on BWL owner) owned South Beach’s premises, and GT said that he did not. GT said that South Beach’s owner had a clean sheet and that therefore the committee at Lambeth had had no choice but to grant him his licence, as they had no power to change the law. He said that Toren had said that he would be raising a review of licensing in January. GT stressed the importance of logging complaints with the Council in order to have something concrete to work with when the review happens next January or February.

TF questioned how it would be possible to prove the source of trouble when the disturbances were happening in the streets away from the club where punters had left their cars. He suggested that perhaps South Beach’s punters could have their hands stamped on entry. 

GT and LB agreed that this was a clever idea, and worth pursuing. 

GT said that if the police were to be in the area around South Beach at 3 AM on either a Friday or Saturday night, then they would likely have a field day, but LB said that the club was not really their priority at that time of the week.

GT said that it would be n issue worth raising at the steering group. 

TS questioned how motivated the anti-South Beach Group were, and LB assured him that they were very motivated, referring him to the meeting on 8/11 at the Church Hall, when around 35 people had been in attendance. 

GT bemoaned the fact that good attendance from residents at the previous night’s meeting at the Town Hall had made no difference at all. He said, however, that Toren and Seamus should continue to receive the group’s full support, as they are particularly good at detail. 

TF suggested that now might be the time to make the issue more political, especially as we have the trump card of a contact in the Cabinet Office (Louise?). Why not use her? GT said that it was ridiculous that anyone living more than 50 metres from South Beach was considered voiceless on the issue, even though they could be adversely affected. He noted that certain residents were now determined to sell up and leave the area over the issue.

GT mentioned a comment at the 8/11 meeting when one of the women affected had pointed out that homeowners have a legal right to the entitlement of peace and quiet within their own property. TF said the issue could be pursued as far as Brussels if necessary. Rising slowly from his seat, the righteous ardour of a young Thomas Paine in his eyes, TF gazed in to the distance, hand on heart, and pledged to fight the issue to the ends of the Earth.

The group applauded spontaneously.

There were even some tears.

LB suggested that, as she had previously been the point of contact, that she would get in touch with Tom Perrine (?). GT said that a public meeting should be held in January, and that people such as Shaka (?) should be invited. LB suggested inviting the press also. 

TF said that there could be another 20 bars on Brixton Hill I nothing is done now, and TS said that the lessons learnt from the prostitution issue had shown that action needed to be taken as soon as possible. 

GT noted that the disturbances seemed to centre around punters at South Beach returning to their cars, and that changes to the parking regulations was the key to the issue. GT said that he would contact Toren regarding South Beach.

8. Street Clean Arrangements

LB said that this Saturday’s street clean would be attended by the Mayor of Lambeth. There will be leaf blowers, in addition to the arrangements, as well as compost available.

Keith Naish (KN) will be presented with a charcoal drawing by internationally-famed arboro-artist Toby Syfret RA.

There was general approval from the group on seeing the drawing.

The Mayor of Lambeth will be asked to present the work to KN.

GT said that this seemed a great idea, and was all part of the “glue” in terms of using the group as a force for positive change.

9. JAFFA

GT said that JAFFA would be applying for grant money to maintain the vegetable garden(s). He aid that the local authority (Mayor’s Office?) would be looking at the plots with a view to discussing grants.

GT said that Community Payback would be looking to extend their plot. 

GT said that all was going well, even though the local squirrels were eating more of the produce than the residents. 

TF suggested killing the squirrels to eat. KV disagreed.

10. Christmas Tree

LB said that there had been plans for a Christmas tree to be erected at the barrier, but that health and safety issues had put paid to it, for this year at least. She did say that Lambeth had been very interested in the idea initially, however. Perhaps something to keep in mind for next year when more time to organize it?

TS suggested that it might be possible to arrange Christmas lights on the old oak tree, and LB agreed that would be a good idea.

TF suggested a big fairy.

11. AGM

GT suggested the second Wednesday of December (9/12) as a suitable date for the AGM.

All agreed, and the Church Hall was suggested as the likely venue.

GT said he would arrange that for 7.30 PM. 

It was suggested that Peter Classen could help with the leafleting. LB said that she would ask him.

GT said that the leafleting should go up to the corners of both Arrodene Road and Helix Gardens.

Suggestions will be invited for the agenda.

Possible thus:

Constitutional stuff

Brief Report

Projects

Resume

Discussion from the floor

GT said he hoped for a better turnout this year, and TS said that he would be happy to design an attractive Christmas-themed leaflet to try and draw more people to the AGM.

Xmas drinks and mulled wine were suggested as a means for doing this.

LB wondered if JAG would like to stay in the Church Hall for drinks, or move on somewhere? GT said he would see about extending time in the Hall. TF suggested starting the meeting with a drink. GT said it would perhaps be good to keep the AGM fairly informal. LB said that she and GT could arrange food for the AGM. JAG will cover the cost of food and wine. 

TF said that it would be good to discuss the possibility if more venues for JAG meetings at AGM with a view to attracting more people to them. Get away from the white middle-class image perhaps?

12. Any Other Business

TS presented a cheque for GBP200 payable to Sam as a donation for the children’s garden fund.

LB said that Freshview would be happy to insert posts if JAG bought them.

TS said that Lambeth would be charging Urban Art (UA) GBP150 for each day of the event. He said that it was outrageous that we are basically being charged for using our own street. He said that Lambeth argued that they had done JA a favour with the re-zoning. The charge is the same as a trader would pay for, say, a fruit ‘n’ veg store. 

TS said that the charge was a blanket rate, and that there would be no concession. 

He said that he would be having a meeting with Rachel regarding closing off Appach Road for UA. The carriageway into 22 JA would also be blocked off, but JA would otherwise be unaffected. 

TS said that local schools would be asked to get involved in UA.

TF asked if a suitable spot could be arranged for displaying the suggestions from KU.

TS asked KV if there were plans for the sound stage to be erected again, and KV said that she thought it would be.

It was agreed that further discussion would be needed on an appropriate spot for the exhibition.

LB brought the meeting to an end, as she was gasping for a fag, and bored.

MEETING ENDS (HURRAH!)