09/05/12

Present: Clover Williams (CW) (Vice Chair), Hippo Grigg (HG) (Treasurer),
Max Deckers Dowber (MDD) (Secretary), Noshir Patel (NP), Irene Kimm (IK),
Blanche Pavia (BP), Emily Georghiou (EG), Rose Falaiye (RF), Dave Maddix (DM).


Also Present: Sarah Coyte (SC) Capacity Building Officer, LBL.
Gerry Evans (GE) Capacity Building Officer, LBL
Adam Platts (AP) Regeneration Project Manager, LBL (left after Item 1)
Janet Clark (JC) Regeneration Programme Officer, LBL (left after Item 1)
John Price (JP) Chair, Norwood Action Group (left after Item 1)

Minute Taker: Richard Penn (RP).


1. Mayor of London Outer London Fund – Norwood Hall – Fire Station:

1.1 IK, acting as chair for this meeting, took this item first for the benefit of AP, JC and JP and introductions were made.

1.2 JC outlined the timetable for Norwood Hall noting that demolition work had started and the project should be complete in spring 2014. There followed a discussion of the impact of Norwood Hall and primary school construction on local paths and rights of way. JC said local residents had been consulted and kept informed by a newsletter. IK, HG, JP and BP said local consultation and information provision had been inadequate. The following actions were agreed:
Actions: - JC to send Forum (MDD) copies of LBL letters to local residents and newsletter.
- MDD to put this material on Forum website as appropriate.
- JC to set up on-site meeting between LBL officers and Forum officers, with local councillors present if possible. Meeting date to be fixed within 14 days.

1.3 BP said she was concerned about the impact of the new Fire Station project on Knights Hill on the local drainage system. IK said she was concerned that JC did not know of this project and said LBL officers in general failed to coordinate effectively, especially regarding the combined traffic implications of Norwood Hall, the new primary school and the Fire Station.

The following action was agreed:
Action: AP to set up, via MDD, a meeting between Forum officers and committee members and LBL officers from the Highways and Environment Departments to discuss the combined impact of new projects in the area.

1.4 AP said LBL had secured £1.25 million for West Norwood from Phase Two of the Outer London Fund, having submitted, In November 2011, a bid of £1.6 million based on projects identified from previous work. LBL had agreed to provide 30% matching funding, either in kind or cash. AP summarised the main projects to be funded from this money:

Public Realm Improvements (detailed items to be determined) £825,000
Shopfront Improvements £140,000
Business support £34,000
FEAST £92,000
Art Trail £38,000
Cultural Strategy £41,000

1.5 AP said he would send the Forum full details of the latest Phase Two budget and that the Forum could help by hosting a public meeting soon to discuss options for the individual projects. AP expected the projects would be completed within 2 years but JP expressed concern about delays. IK said the Forum would be happy to help with public consultation but could not arrange a public meeting until the meeting noted in Item 1.3 above had taken place. IK thanked AP and JC for attending the meeting.
Action: AP to send Forum (MDD) latest budget for Phase Two.


2. Apologies and Resignation: Apologies had been received from Dave Walker, Sarah Williams and Sinead Donoghue. MDD said Sinead had resigned from the committee having moved out of the area.


3. Minutes of Previous Meeting The minutes of the 16 April meeting, as circulated on 25 April, were approved without amendment as a fair record.


4. Matters Arising:

4.1 Re Items 3.3, 4.2, 4.4 and 4.5: MDD said he had received no response from Cllr Francis.
Action: MDD to write to Cllr Francis, copied to other councillors from Gipsy Hill ward.

4.2 Re Items 3.1, 3.2 and 5.3: MDD said he had put material on the gyratory system and contact details for SNPs on the website, but had not been able to establish SNP dates. He had not written to LBL about the CPZ Review and would discuss with IK what needed to be said.
Action: MDD to write to LBL about CPZ Review.

4.3 Re Item 5.2: SC said the libraries consultation had been extended by one week. RF said a public meeting on Upper Norwood Library would take place on 15 May at the Salvation Army Hall. Dates for other local library –related meetings were noted by SC and MDD.

4.4 Re Items 7.2 and 7.3: EG circulated a note on sub-committees at the meeting and invited comments by e-mail. There had been no progress on the Actions under 7.3.
Action: ALL to comment by e-mail on EG note on sub-committees.
4.5 Re Item 9.1: IK said literature supporting Ken Livingstone had been on the table at the hustings meeting and that this was inappropriate since the hustings did not cover the Mayoral election. EG and NP noted that a number of the candidates had placed literature on the table.

IK proposed a motion, seconded by NP:
Motion: No candidate should be promoted at a hustings event by a member of the Forum committee.

VOTE: In favour: 9 Against: 0 Abstentions: 0

Although in favour of the motion, NP rejected any suggestion that Forum committee members had behaved inappropriately at the 22 April hustings event. EG said literature put out by candidates or others at any future such events would need to be closely scrutinized.


5. 2011/12 Accounts Review and 2012/13 Budget:

5.1 GE, in her capacity as LBL monitoring officer for Norwood Forum, circulated copies of her Monitoring Visit Record dated 26 April 2012. GE said that although the 2011/12 accounts appeared acceptable, there were discrepancies between the estimate of funds in hand and the amounts on the bank statement. Improvements were needed in the way the Forum accounted for end year balances, including balances on funds from other sources such as Grassroots. She was also concerned about lack of evidence for Norwood Youth Forum outputs and achievements. GE said that until these issues were addressed the Forum would not be able to bid for additional funds from LFN. However, GE said Norwood Forum was not the only LFN member in this position. For the record, MDD noted that IK was not “Acting Chair” of the Forum and that no Acting Chair had been appointed since the death of Susan de Swarte, given the proximity of the AGM.
Action: GE and SC to work with HG to reconcile end year balances and improve methodology.

5.2 SC said the next meeting of LFN was on 10 July and that, assuming the above concerns could be addressed, the Forum should consider submitting a funding bid to that meeting. HG said he had already circulated some thoughts on this by e-mail and would welcome feedback. .
Action: HG and others to develop proposals for possible funding bid for next LFN Meeting.

5.3 HG said that at present the Forum had only one bank account signatory (himself) and that others were needed. It was agreed this could be dealt with at or after the AGM. HG also noted that not every individual payment made by the Forum was voted on by the committee, for example regular payments for administrative expenses and support. GE said the committee had approved the overall budget for the year which included allowance for such payments and that there should be a Treasurer’s report at every committee meeting.


6. AGM: Venue – Date – Procedure - Paperwork:

It was agreed that the AGM should be held on Thursday 28 June to give ample time to prepare necessary documentation and send invitations well in advance. RP said the following documents needed to be ready for distribution by 7 June at the latest:
• Nomination form with notes for candidates
• AGM agenda
• Letters to accompany e-mail and postal invitations

As noted in Item 8.2 of the minutes of the last meeting, the first of these items is to be undertaken by the Engagement sub-committee which will consider such issues as whether e-mail nominations are to be allowed and if so under what procedures.

Actions: - Nomination form and notes for candidates to be reviewed, amended and finalised by Engagement sub-committee before 7 June.
- MDD to prepare AGM agenda and letters of invitation before 7 June.


7. Any Other Business:

7.1 Susan Memorial: IK said she had spoken to CW and Charlotte Evans and also to Susan’s daughter Amanda. All were supportive of the idea of a local memorial service for Susan and for some kind of permanent memorial in the area. It was agreed that IK should take this forward.
Action: IK, with Charlotte Evans and Susan’s family, to develop proposals for memorial service and permanent memorial.

7.2 Queen’s Jubilee: IK asked whether the Forum should put on some kind of event to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at the start of June. It was agreed that it was too late to organise such an event and in any case there were many other local events planned. MDD said that FEAST would be happening that weekend and it was agreed the Forum should have a stall at FEAST.
Action: MDD to arrange for Forum stall at FEAST and coordinate necessary arrangements.

7.3 Membership: RP said that the Forum’s database of members had grown from 392 in April 2011 to 471 in April 2012. He passed details to GE and MDD.


8. Next Committee Meeting:


With Monday 4 June being a Bank Holiday it was agreed the next meeting would be on Monday 11 June.
Action: MDD to book Elmina for 11 June.


The meeting closed at 9.30 pm

END