Reduced Minutes of 2nd APRA Committee Meeting, 7 January 2014. Present: Peter Trevelyan (Chair), Geoff Dyson, Robert Pankhurst, Gillian Field, John Hedges, Michael Ormiston, Beth Hall. Apologies: Martin Treasure, Andrew Yaras.
1. A reduced form of Minutes should be circulated to APRA members, possibly as part of a Newsletter.
2. The resignation of Ian Smith was accepted with regret. A majority decision was to stick with the current composition. Co-options should be based on a need for specialist advice.
4. Working Groups. Terms of reference (TOR) were discussed. WGs should be able to operate without constant reference back to the Committee but statements of policy should be approved by the Committee (e.g. by e-mail). Unapproved documents should be signed by the respective working group. John asked for a TOR template equally applicable to all working groups: WG leaders were asked to draft what they thought would be appropriate.
5. School Bus WG paper. Some members felt that Grove Road be removed or transferred to the statement on discounted locations, or that the case against it should be stronger (space for only 1 bus, impact on residents, congestion and interference with use by the Primary School). John, with Gillian, insisted that its inclusion was logical, but the presentation implied that it was a non-starter. SADC would meet School representatives on 9 January to convey the decision to abandon the Romeland scheme. An SADC survey of residents’ views was open until 15 January: a door-to-door leaflet drop was needed within the next few days
6. Membership. Now 90 paid-up members – many of those who had expressed interest had not yet joined. A door-to-door drive should be carried out by Street Reps within the area limited by New England Street: these had been recruited for Spicer and College streets and confirmation was awaited from others. Beth would take over Ian Smith’s role assisting Geoff.
8. Planning. There were continued concerns over the Spotted Bull site, where construction of a side extension had proceeded without approval (the Enforcement Officer had issued a warning): it was higher and extended further towards local houses than shown on plans. SADC had not decided on the double-stacking car park for Nationwide House. Edgar Hill was on the Mitchell Hall rescue committee and Robert was in touch with Ed Suttie (VRRA Secretary). Criteria for APRA commenting on planning applications should be defined.
9. Social Activity. Beth was hoping to organise a wine ‘Meet the Committee’ evening and had looked into possible venues. Soon after Easter would be a reasonable time for this.
10. AOB. Communications: Alex Nott and Catherine Soave were helping to expand the prototype website. Buying an appropriate domain name would give more flexibility and multiple e-mail aliases instead of personal addresses. Facebook would allow more instant interaction with members and the public – Beth offered to investigate.
RJP