Castlefield Forum Minutes of meeting held at 7pm Wednesday 24 April 2013 Merchant Room, Dukes 92, Castlefield

Transcription

1 Castlefield Forum Minutes of meeting held at 7pm Wednesday 24 April 2013 Merchant Room, Dukes 92, Castlefield In attendance: Julie Barbour, Resident Alison Callagan, Sugar Buddha Ian Christie, Resident (Secretary) Cllr Joan Davies, MCC Tom Dixon, Resident Giles Grover, Resident (Treasurer) Ben Hannan, GMP Steve Hall, Resident Roz Hughes, Resident Toni Infante, Resident Oswin Jackson, Resident Amanda Jones-Lake, Resident Peter Jones, Resident Cath Keane, MCC Central Regeneration Team Stephen Lake, Resident (Vice Chair) Steven Lindsay, Resident PC Mohammed Malik, GMP Rebecca Marshall, Manchester University Student Thorsten Mayer, MCC City Centre Ward Coordination Adrienne McCorrisken, Sugar Buddha Ali McGowan, Resident Carol Middleton, Resident (Chair) Tina Mullen, MCC City Centre Neighbourhood Delivery Cllr Nigel Murphy, MCC Mayling Nuttman, Resident Kirsty Rawlinson, MCC City Centre Regeneration Alan Rooney, Resident Graham Smith, Resident Stephen Smith, Resident Veryan Smith, Resident Carol Standfield, Resident Frank Walker, Resident Ann Webb, Resident Apologies: David Greenall, Resident Tony Hill, Resident Peggy Kynaston, Resident Diane Lewis, Resident Vicky McCarrick, Resident Cllr Amina Lone, MCC Cllr Kevin Peel, MCC Jeremy Shine. Resident Claire Venables, Resident 1. Welcome, Introductions and Apologies Carol Middleton welcomed everyone to the meeting and everyone introduced

2 themselves. Apologies were given as above. 2. Minutes of last meeting 15 January 2013 These were agreed as an accurate record. There were no matters arising that were not covered on the agenda. 3. Working Group report backs Signage Amanda Jones-Lake reported that new Phase 2 Information Boards were expected very shortly and the Working Group was working on Phase 3. Events & Marketing Roz reported on: the very successful Castlefield-themed pub quiz at The Wharf in March the Castlefield Carnival planned with local businesses for 4 August the Y Club were taking the lead on this first meetings of the Castlefield Business Forum Arena events planned for this year we hoped to be able to circulate the full programme very shortly. Roman Gardens & Hanging Gardens Ali McGowan reported that the revised Roman Gardens Masterplan including a Lighting Plan had been costed and submitted to MCC Planning Department for informal approval. Once this had been obtained the Working Group would consult with local residents and stakeholders like MOSI, local businesses and pubs. Cllr Davies asked if Collier Street and Stone Street residents had been consulted yet, making the general point that residents who are not consulted early on about a scheme that may affect them may feel more negative about it than if consulted early on. Ali said the Working Group had drawn up a detailed Consultation Framework including one-to-one meetings and public meetings but considered that approval from the Council, as owners of the Gardens, had to be obtained prior to any consultation. Website Stephen Lake reported our website was getting 550 to 650 hits per month, 60% being returners, 40% newcomers. Garden Maintenance Carol Standfield reported that: 4000 Council-provided bulbs had been planted in the Granary Gardens, Roman Gardens and by the Information Centre a plot of land beside the Arena steps had been planted with bluebells bats had been seen at Granary Gardens for the first time for a long time there was a compost bin by the Granary and it was hoped to obtain a second one. Carol S confirmed that food waste collected in green recycling bins (with the exception of meat products) could be used for composting purposes and, once the second compost bin had been obtained, Forum members would be advised of its location and encouraged to compost appropriate food waste. Cllr Murphy said he might be able to assist in obtaining a second compost bin. Carol S to liaise with Cllr Murphy on this volunteers were needed on 27 April to clean up pieces of land at the corner of Blantyre Street/Chester Road and by CastleGate. North West in Bloom Carol Middleton reported that last year, supported by the Council and RH/IC AM CS/NM

3 Castlefield Estates, Castlefield had been entered in the Royal Horticultural Society In my Neighbourhood section of North West In Bloom and won a Level 5 Outstanding award for the third year running. It was now time to begin preparing for this year s competition. Anyone wishing to participate in gardening, litter-picking or walking around the area with the RHS Judges in July should contact the Secretary. 4. Phoenix Gardens MCR Stephen Smith gave a presentation about this community project started recently by Castlefield residents for the small piece of wasteland on the corner of Ellesmere Street and Bentinck Street. This was a future development site but the Group had been granted temporary use under a Meanwhile Lease. The idea was to transform it into an inner city garden which local residents could enjoy as a place to sit and relax or where they could do a bit of gardening. The Group already had about 65 volunteer supporters and had received some funding from MCC who had given fantastic support. They were also raising their own funds and exploring the possibility of loyalty cards so as to be able to continue buying plants, flowers, bulbs and seeds etc. Anyone wishing to give their green-fingers something to do or able to provide expertise or services to benefit the garden was welcome to Stephen on stephen.smith742@gmail.com or contact the Forum or contact the Group on Facebook (Phoenix Gardens MCR) or on The Group was very short of storage space. This issue was returned to under item 7.7 below. The possibility of creating similar gardens projects on other meanwhile use sites like the Cantina/Quay Bar site was mentioned. Carol Middleton thanked Stephen and other Group members for their presentation and everyone agreed it could only be beneficial for both the Group and the Forum to work closely together. 5. Community Cash Grants for this financial year Carol Middleton reported that in the last weeks of the financial year a successful bid had been submitted to the Council for 1900 to fund production of a leaflet promoting Castlefield. Thorsten Mayer reported that it was not yet known how much money was to be made available for Community Cash grants in the current financial year. 6. Volunteer recruitment and Forum members skills analysis. Ian Christie reported that the Committee had agreed a list of 10 goals or activities drawn from the Forum Action Plan which would benefit from the involvement of more volunteers. These had been sent to the 3 Manchester and Salford Universities who had promptly agreed they could be advertised on their websites provided the Forum had Public Liability Insurance. Once this was in place, we would advertise the activities on the University websites and our own. IC/SL 7. Environmental Issues 1.Overflowing litter bins and permanent residents in the canal basin Stephen Lake referred to discussion of these issues at the last meeting. Despite assurances given by Mike Webb of Peel Holdings last October there had been no noticeable improvements at all. Litter bins were still over-flowing and the offending boats had simply shifted position and were still moored in

4 or near the basin. Due to prior commitments Mike Webb had been unable to accept our invitation to attend this Forum meeting. 2. Jet-washing Ian Christie reported that in response to the Forum s request for canal basin towpaths to be jet-washed (last washed February 2012), Mike Webb had written saying when last inspected in January the towpath was Ok, however I will arrange for the towpath to be inspected again. In future we will inspect twice per annum and if found to be necessary we will jet wash the towpath. In response to a request to clean Merchants Bridge (last cleaned September 2010), Mike Webb had written: It is not our intention to have the bridge cleaned during this financial year due to financial pressures elsewhere on the canal. In view of what was regarded as an inadequate or slow response by Peel Holdings on issues 1 & 2 above, the Committee had decided to seek media publicity. 3. Potato Wharf Carol Middleton reported that, as the wrap was not to be reinstated and as the re-start of this development had been postponed from the end of last year to November this year, the Committee had decided to write to the developers, Crosby Lend Lease, seeking a community payback donation towards the Roman Gardens project. They had asked Kirsty Rawlinson, MCC City Centre Regen, to let them know the name of an appropriate person to write to. 4. Lighting by stairs to Deansgate-Castlefield station. The new staircase lights had now not been working for several months. Tina Mullen, MCC City Centre Neighbourhood Delivery, said she would chase this issue. 5. Narrower Yellow Lines Ian Christie reported that since the last meeting Diane Murphy, MCC Neighbourhood Services, had spoken to Manchester Contracts to remind them there are Castlefield areas where paler and narrower yellow lines are to be used in future and to the MCC Parking Team one of whose roles is to request maintenance of yellow lines. However, the Forum Committee considered that if such a policy was really to be implemented consistently over a number of years then it needed to be formally adopted by the Council Planning & Highways Committee. They had sought Diane s advice on how this might be achieved. 6. Pioneer Quay Tina Mullen, MCC, reported that she had convened a meeting with GMP, City Centre Regen, Cityco and Metrolink representatives to visit and discuss a number of sites in Castlefield relating to conditions under and near railway arches (Pioneer Quay, Duke Street near the staircase and Egerton Road Bridge), but the Metrolink representative had not attended due to illness. The meeting was to be reconvened. Tina also reported that, under the umbrella of Manchester Garden City, Building Design Partnership and CityCo were working to produce plans for improving the appearance of the Pioneer Quay site. 7. Visitors Centre Carol Middleton reported that a meeting was due on 15 May between Forum representatives and Michael Plane, MCC Corporate Property, to discuss further the possibility of using the former Visitors Centre as a community resource or, failing that, to at least improve its appearance. It was suggested that after Manchester International Festival has used the IC KR TM IC TM

5 building in July this year, it could be used te mporarily as storage space for Phoenix Gardens. 8. Police Update 1. Ben Hannan, GMP, introduced PC Mohammed Malik, a new member of the Community Team covering Castlefield and Spinningfields. He reported on another burglary in Castlegate which lead to discussion on how to improve links between the Police and the Boards of Directors and Management Companies of all Castlefield apartment blocks so that both Directors and Management Companies could receive Police Newsletters and alerts direct and have police contact details. Agreed: via messages to Forum members and our website we should try to establish the Directors of each block. 2. Bernadette Logue, Forum member and owner of Lakeland Groceries, had asked that a new type of crime be brought to the Forum s attention: mobile phone theft by cyclists. She had personally witnessed two such incidents near Deansgate station and knew of others. As people wait to cross roads, glued to their phones, cyclists come past, grab their phones and speed off. Ben Hannan and Mohammed Malik confirmed they knew of such incidents. One such criminal was known to be a white male in a blue bomber jacket. 3. Ian Christie reported that a couple of members had recently replied to a Forum message reporting an assault on Barton Street off Liverpool Road by querying whether such messages served any purpose other than to make people fearful or alarmed. Ian had said he would raise this issue at the Forum: did members wish to receive such messages or not? Steven Lindsay said he was one of those Forum members. He did not see the point of such messages particularly if (as in the reported case) the offender had already been arrested; what could anyone do with such information? Others members present said they definitely wanted to know of any such incidents. On balance opinion seemed to be more in favour of receiving such messages than not, provided they were worded carefully. 9. Any Other Business 1. Cath Keane reported that an archaeological dig would be taking place at Barracks Park off Chester Road in July. The park was once the site of a barracks accommodating several hundred men and horses including regiments involved in the Peterloo Massacre. She would keep us posted. 2. Alison Callagan reported that Sugar Buddha was due to open fully within the next 3 weeks and was to return to its original name of BarCa. IC/SL CK 10. Next meeting: Tuesday 30 July. Next Environmental Audit: Saturday 11am 11 May meeting by Urban Splash pod, Egerton Street.