Colliers Wood Residents’ Association
16 September 2023 at 11am
Colliers Wood Community Centre
Action by | ||
1. | Welcome and introductions Apologies from Suzanne, Bryony, Caroline (Councillor), Joel and Helen | |
Tom Searle, chairing the meeting, welcomed everyone. | ||
2. | Actions – covered during the meeting | |
3. | Councillors’ reports Britannia Point – the Council has begun legal proceedings against Criterion. This is to pressure them to fix the remaining panes of glass and remove the scaffolding. Completion timescale unknown. SGN roadworks – the Council had to put pressure on SGN to complete the road works. The road is controlled by TfL so legally is not within their jurisdiction. Community Skips – the pilot is going well. The next area for the skips will be in the Haydons Road area. Feedback from residents is welcome. Sainsbury’s recycling area – the Councillors received a number of complaints from residents about the state of the recycling area and contacted the manager at Sainsbury’s. There was a contract change and there should now be an increase in the frequency of the collections. Litter – residents have raised concerns about the build up of litter in a number of areas – often not Council-owned, e.g. around the Blue Bench; CW underground. An email has been sent to businesses in the area asking for a meeting to clarify their responsibility in keeping public areas clean. No response has been received yet. A New Met for London meeting – A community meeting was held on 7th September led by the Borough Commander in response to the Casey report. Residents requested more visibility, more local support and wanting to feel safe. Concerns included a lack of diversity, lack of youth participation, redeployment of officers leading to difficulties building relationships with the local community. The Met will continue to seek input from residents. Veolia contract – The Council are proposing Veolia (or another contractor) to continue collecting the bins but street-cleaning to be brought in-house. Data shows a higher dissatisfaction with street-cleaning, and being brought in-house will give the Council more control over standards. Cycle sheds – Cycle sheds in some areas have been vandalised. New units are to be installed to replace the vandalised units and new units installed elsewhere. There is a long waiting list for residents to be able to use a bike shed – demand is outstripping supply. Electric charging points – Alternative sites are being looked into but the bulk of the installations have been completed. There have been some objections from residents about having a charging point outside their property and some could not be installed due to incorrect electrical connections. Fly-tipping – Camera’s have reduced fly-tipping in hotspots and Councillors will be suggesting new area that are prone to fly-tipping as a result of residents’ concerns. The Councillors are trying to encourage Housing Associations to install cameras on their property as their land does not come under the remit of the council, and ‘Fix My Street’ will not respond to fly-tips on private land. The council are looking into trialling SMART cameras which are triggered by motion, these are more discrete than normal cameras and could be more reliable. ‘Wall of Shame’ on the council website has caught a number of people and fines have been issued. Latest figures to be shared at the next meeting. E-bikes – The council are working with Human Forest to create bays for their bikes. They do not have a contract with Lime bikes, but are aware that they are being dumped on pavements are can create a nuisance. Residents can report inappropriately parked bikes through this link How do I report illegal parking? – Help Centre (li.me) | Councillors to follow up Councillors to follow up |
4. | Pickle Park update: Nicolett Bonansea, National Trust
Concerns raised by residents that any future work MUST consider pollution in the river and ASB around the site. | Residents |
5. | Sources of Funding for the Community A request has been made to residents to suggest funding projects for the following:
Suggested projects to date include: Solar panels and storage batteries for the Community Centre; Improving the play area in Wandle Park; funding projects run by Parks and Open Spaces. All suggestions MUST be costed and submitted to the Council. Support from one of our Councillors is advised. Please use this link for the criteria for your project and to apply, and the attached information for the Ward Allocation Fund. | Residents |
6. | Update on Merton Vision There hasn’t been any progress in the development of the site due to NHS England not being able to agree to the increased predicted cost of the development. Merton Vision continue to operate at the site, although they expected to move out in October 2022, and the building is in need of repair. To date, Merton Vision are still offering extensive outreach work and weekly activities to visually impaired residents of all ages. The Council do not have the power to push the plans forward as this is the remit of NHS England, but the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Merton are committed to a new surgery in the area due to inadequate health provision in the area. There is a possibility that the plans may include a residential floor (3rd level) to provide income from the building. This is likely to be met with resistance from residents again, but no new plans have been submitted yet. Appeal:
| Residents |
7. | Report from Neighbourhood Police The Colliers Wood Team are going through a change. A new Sergeant will be starting on the Ward and will oversee two wards, as opposed to 4/5 Wards; this is part of the commissioners policing policy to strengthen neighbourhood policing. A new PCSO will be starting in the next few months as Dave will be retiring Two new PC’s will be replacing PC Barbosa and PC Clarke when they move on at the end of October/November.
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8. | Ideas for future meetings
| Committee |
9. | Any other business
Dates for your diary
| Residents Committee |
10. | Date of the next meeting Saturday 4 November 2023 at 11am in CW Community Centre |