Josephine Avenue Group Minutes

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

1. Attending: Gary Turnbull (GT); Louise Belson (LB); Timothy Fairhurst, (TF); Elizabeth Owen (EO); Peter Classen (PC); Emmanuel Perrennin (EP); Timothy Frost (TFR); Timothy Sutton. (TS)

Apologies; K. Mears; S.Walter; C.Staines.

2. Minutes: The previous minutes were approved.

3. Treasurers Report. No treasurer’s report as treasurer not in attendance.

4. Street Clean/ Freshview. Louise Belson said the next 3 Freshview dates were outlined in the previous month’s minutes and plans were in progress. There was still no confirmation for an October event. The event in October 2009 had been poorly attended and the weather had been very wet. At least ten residents needed to be involved really, and maybe the situation could be reviewed, and possibly confirmed in July. 

GT said that October was perhaps a little early, and Elizabeth suggested November. 

LB said that November would be fine so long as residents could be relied on to find time to attend. 

GT said that he had received an inquiry from a Swiss (sic) reporter for information on Freshview, and that he would send the details on to LB. 

                                                                                                           Action  GT/LB

5. Urban Art. TS said that this year’s event is now sold out. There has been an offer from Rachel Gayle (Regeneration) over money for the closure of JA. However, GBP500 will not cover the cost. 

The Trading Licence has increased from 300 to 400. So, perhaps the 500 from RG could at least cover that. 

6. JA 2011/ Landscape Project with Kingston university

            TF gave an overview of the project with Kingston University (KU) for those who had not attended a JAG meeting before. 

He said that he had met with Simon Monroe regarding the project since the last JAG meeting. There was mention of the possibility of a display during Urban Art this year. 

TF suggested that there might be a lunch along the street at some time to launch the project. 

LB said that this would need to be on a different weekend to UA. EM suggested that it could be coordinated with a Freshview day. 

LB agreed. She then said there could be tables involved with different subjects related to the street, such as vice, parking etc. It should also involve children and should be fun. 

Eliz said that the street could be closed off for such an event, although GT argued that this could lead to anger among some residents. 

PC said that the timing would be good as Freshview had created some goodwill among residents. In principal, all agreed that the idea was a good one. PC said that he would be happy to help, although away from UK. Sat July 3 was proposed and confirmed as the date for the event. 

7. ASB/ Late Night Licenses/ Traffic Control

            EM said that the traffic problems for residents of Helix Gardens and Arodene Road were out of control. 

He said it was essential to try and prevent any new licences being granted on Brixton Hill. There had already been a success in December when South Beach’s licence extension application had been refused. A saturation policy is now required. The law appears to be ludicrous, as any licence not opposed is apparently automatically granted. He said that it was important to keep pressure on the council over saturation planning. Furthermore, many residents wish to see SB’s licensing hours reduced. 

LB said that this would be difficult to do retrospectively. GT noted that it is hard to address licensing concerns at council meetings. The councilors say they are helpless to act in the face of the law. EM said that the law has changed. 

GT said that Councilor Toren Smith is keen to help where possible, but that he perhaps needs more organised support from the community.

EM said that we need the agreement of the licensees. GT said that there would appear to be a logic in going down that route, as the bar owners wish to see their businesses succeed. 

TS asked if there was a proper, organized campaign. 

EM said that there is, as yet, no website. 

TS pressed on this point, arguing that there is a need for the campaign to be coordinated. He said there should be a petition, a website, and separate meetings for it. 

GT said that the campaign was not at that stage yet, but that Councilor Toren Smith had offered to help.

EM said that the licensees seem to be reasonable people. 

GT said that the punters are the problem, not the managers, who simply say hat the trouble outside in the streets is not their problem. And they have a point.

TF argued that the problem appears to be parking control. 

EM said that Arrodene is too narrow, and that people get angry as a result when all leaving at the same time. Perhaps a one-way system would help? There was then a general discussion about the problems dealing with Lambeth Council regarding parking around clubs and the trouble caused by it. 

TS said that parking for the council is all about revenue. EM said that there had been an offer to send a warden, but TS said that this was probably just talk. 

TS argued that JAG was probably not the best place for such an issue to be discussed, and that an effective campaign should be coordinated elsewhere.

GT then said that there already is a steering group for the matter, and that something is being done about it. 

EM said that the landscaping ideas from KU should take parking into account. 

LB said that moving the barrier to a different site on JA had been studied several years ago but could be looked at again.

            GT said that such recommendations could be taken to the steering group. 

8 Rush Common

            Tim Frost spoke about his garden shed for which Rush Common Planning Consent has been refused. He said that it had been a frustrating process, as he and his friends at 19 Helix Gardens were simply trying to look after the garden on Rush Common, beneficial for the street, and use bicycles for transport, but were being hindered by the bureaucracy surrounding Rush Common law. He said that it was especially frustrating as they simply wanted somewhere to house tools and to protect their bicycles. He said that they wanted the shed to be as inconspicuous as possible. 

GT then offered a potted history of the rather eccentric Rush Common Law (RCL).

TFr understood that allowing such a shed would set a precedent, and then less well-meaning residents could take advantage. 

All agreed that there could be some sort of compromise in the form of a storage box.

TFr asked what would happen if they were just to go ahead with the shed, and ignore the council. Would they be prosecuted? The group said, they would be.

            TFr said that it was all so frustrating, as they were practically being forced into 

            being environmentally more damaging. 

TS noted that the bike parking problem could be addressed in the KU re-landscaping plans.

LB said she would look at the RC Application for the shed and try to advise what might be permissible and acceptable to the planning dept.                      Action LB

9. Other Matters.

GT gave an update on the latest planning application for 85 Brixton Hill. He said that it had been refused, but that he was not sure why. 

TFr said that the newsgroup site could perhaps do with a rejig.

TS was reminded that he had offered to do so.

TS/LB said that they would look in to the matter.                             Action TS/LB

GT thanked Peter on behalf of the JAG for hosting the meeting.

10. Next meeting will be at EM’s house, No. 2 Helix Gardens on

         14/04/2010.