Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Ian Dunn and Russell Mellor.

Apologies were also received from Chloe Jane-Ross, Kevin Munnelly and Sarah Niblock.  

It was noted that suggested amendments to the minutes for the meeting dated March 29^th had been received at short notice from Mr Nick Goy. These would be looked at in due course by the Committee Clerk the Chairman, and any adjustments made as required. In the meantime the minutes were signed and agreed as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting for 29^th March 2018 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

CSD 18081

The Matters Arising report had been drafted by the Committee Secretary, Mr Steve Wood, from LBB Democratic Services. The Group was requested to note and comment on matters that had arisen from previous meetings, together with any progress that had been made.

It had been agreed that Councillor Nicholas Bennett would be asked if he would like to be consulted on matters relating to heritage up-lighting. The Group was informed by Mr Stephen Oliver (LBB Senior Planning Officer)  that Councillor Bennett had been consulted. Mr Oliver had sent night time pictures of heritage lighting to Councillor Bennett, and Councillor Bennett was happy with them.

Mr David Wood remarked that the Beckenham Society had not been consulted with respect to the lighting. It was agreed that details of the proposed heritage lighting would be forwarded to Mr Wood.

It had been noted that a fence or screen of some sort would be erected in the short term to screen the refuse sacks filled by the street cleaning contractor in the vicinity of Thornton’s Corner. Mr Oliver stated that this matter had not yet been resolved. The Chairman responded that he wanted a fence or screen to be erected as soon as possible. The Group was informed that the street cleaners worked at emptying bins in the High Street till 9.30pm each night. The Chairman asked who could get on with sorting this out as he regarded the matter as being both important and urgent. Marsha Berg cautioned that any such screen should not encourage behaviour that was inappropriate. 

There was a discussion concerning where the best location would be for the depositing and subsequent collection of rubbish. Councillor Stephen Wells suggested that a possible location could be the storage unit in the corner of St George’s car park.

It was suggested that the best course of action was to speak to the operational foreman of the street cleaners. The Chairman expressed his disappointment that the matter had not been dealt with previously. It was agreed that this was a matter that would come back to the next meeting for an update. It was also agreed to try and resolve and action the issue before the next meeting if possible.

It had been noted that the matter of High Street Signs and the required font, be retained as an agenda item. A suggested sign design and format was displayed to the Group. Mr Oliver commented that the font used on the displayed sign was the same as other signs that were currently being used in Bromley. Some members felt that the word ‘Beckenham’ should be in green, and not black.

Janice Pilgrim expressed the view that the sign had a good clear font which was suitable for partially sighted people. Councillor Dave Wibberley commented that the horse chestnut trees in the sign looked peculiar. The word ‘Beckenham’ on the sign was located in the lower right hand corner—Mr Goy expressed the view that it would be better if it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

An update on this matter had been provided under ‘Matters Arising’.

An update has been provided by Stephen Oliver (LBB Senior Project Planner) and incorporated into the agenda. 

LBB had requested a Countdown Unit at the Fairfield Road stop and the Manor Road stop H (outside La Rascasse).

TfL had responded and confirmed that as there had been a bus countdown unit at Stop H previously, then it would be re-instated.

As the shelter for stop J was a new site then the funding for this would not be provided by TfL, but would have to be provided by the Council—this would be in the region of £10k for installation and maintenance.

Helen McConnell (FM Conway) informed the Group that Phases1,2, and 3 had been completed--with the exception of some final snagging. Some work would be undertaken in the vicinity of St George’s church on Monday 4^th June. Work had to be undertaken by Southern Gas which would take several days to complete. Work was now ongoing regarding Phase 5 in the vicinity of Burnhill Road. Work would be undertaken in the vicinity of Coopers Mews in the near future, and a meeting with residents had just taken place to discuss this and to explain procedures. Plans would need to be formalised to re-locate parking on a temporary basis.

Work had also commenced in the vicinity of the Bricklayer’s Arms, and had now reached as far as Deen’s cycle shop. This was phase 8, and work was simultaneously being started on phase 6. An extra team of 4 men had been employed to work extended hours. The work was still on time and on budget.

Councillor Wells declared that there were reports on social media stating that the work had been delayed and that the work would not be completed in time for Christmas. He felt that a counter news story was required.

Mr Goy stated that buses were driving over the cycle box in the vicinity of Foxton’s estate agents. He said that this area was not safe and that it was a bad design. He asked for his comments concerning this to be noted in the minutes. The Chairman responded that traffic engineers had looked into the matter previously and had been satisfied that there were no safety issues that gave any cause for concern.

Mr Goy expressed the view that in many cases, al fresco dining was proving hazardous for pedestrians as pavement space was being constricted. Mr Oliver responded that Marieke Brown (LBB Market and Street Trading Enforcement Officer) had checked all of the distances the previous Friday to ensure that businesses were compliant with the regulations. 

Mr Alan Old referenced ‘La Rascasse’ and asked if the hedges were permanent, and commented that the ‘A’ Boards should not be there. He suggested that a visit from enforcement officers was required. 

Mr Gary Warner informed the Group that a new highways contractor would be taking over the work as from July 1^st. The new contractor was J.B. Riney and Co Ltd.    

RESOLVED that the Major Scheme update be noted.

An update has been provided by Lorraine McQuillan (LBB Town Centres and BID Development Manager) and incorporated into the agenda).

This item was updated upon during ‘Matters Arising’.

Marie Pender informed the Group that a litter and cigarette audit had been undertaken.

Ms McQuillan briefed that the new telephone boxes planned for the High Street had received planning permission. It had been noted previously that the telephone boxes could be used as digital community notice boards if required. It was intended that new notice boards be installed outside of the Odeon Cinema and Marks & Spencer. Costings would be provided at the next meeting. Mr Goy expressed the view that the notice boards should be bigger and kept unlocked to engender community spirit. Marsha Berg suggested that there should be a notice board at Beckenham Junction that would be open and free to all. The Chairman agreed with this.

The Group heard that the meetings of the Purple Flag Working Group were going well. An overnight assessment had been undertaken by the Chairman and other members of the Group on 18^th May. It was felt that more litter bins were required. The Chairman commented that the overnight assessment had been well organised and a shift pattern had been employed. Those involved in the assessment met with the managers of night clubs, door staff and staff operating CCTV. They also spoke to cab companies and to taxi marshals. Much hard work would be required to make the renewal application a success and the Group expressed their thanks to Lorraine McQuillan for all of her hard work regarding the Purple Flag renewal.   

The Group heard that a part time Bid Manager and a full time Street Ambassador would be recruited. It was agreed that the new Bid Manager should attend the next meeting of the Group. It was also agreed that the web link advertising the Bid Manager post would be forwarded to the Committee Clerk who would then disseminate to the Group for information purposes.

RESOLVED that 

1) The newly appointed Bid Manager should attend the next meeting of the Beckenham Town Centre Working Group

2) The web link to the vacancy advert for the Bid Manager’s post should be forwarded to the Committee Secretary and disseminated 

An update has been provided by Sylvia Ramos (LBB Regeneration Project Planner) and has been incorporated into the agenda. 

Sylvia Ramos(LBB Regeneration Project Planner) provided the update on the Beckenham Green canopy.  She highlighted that the main issue that needed to be resolved before further progression could be made, was the matter of funding for the maintenance of the canopy in the future. The Council was willing to pay for the canopy, its design and installation, but did not have a budget for ongoing maintenance.

It had been hoped that the BID could take on the responsibility for this. However, Ms McQuillan advised the Group that the BID’s delivery plan budget did not contain any provision for maintenance of the canopy. The Chairman suggested that charging for live events could cover the costs for maintenance and electricity. He wondered who could administer this. It was mentioned that some events were ‘community’ events rather than commercial events, and so it may be difficult to charge for those. The Chairman emphasised the need to charge for events.

Mr Goy was not keen on the final design of the canopy and wondered how audio equipment would be protected. He felt that it was not traditional and looked too modern and was not keen on the slanted design. Ms Ramos replied that the design had been looked at very carefully and had been approved by the Parks Manager and the Conservation Officer. Samples of materials that could be used for the walls and flooring were passed around. A detailed design would follow later. 

The discussion returned to the issue of ongoing maintenance for the canopy  and the Chairman wondered if fundraising was the answer. Another suggestion was that possibly Idverde could maintain and sponsor, and could this be built in to the new Idverde contract when it was renewed in April 2019.

The matter of maintenance funding was left unresolved.

RESOLVED that the matter of maintenance funding for the Beckenham Green canopy remain as an agenda item for the next meeting. 

This matter was updated upon in the minute on ‘Matters Arising’.

It was noted that a sign still existed that read, ‘Beckenham Place Park Golf Course’. It was agreed that the reference to the Golf Course should be removed as it was no longer a golf course.  

There was no further update provided regarding the David Bowie Mural. The lightning bolt embedded in the pavement outside of Zizzi’s was still going ahead. Mr Oliver informed the Group that the original designer of the lightning bolt had been contacted to gain his approval to use the design.

Mr David Wood had provided a list of 12 Heritage Trail plaques for consideration by the Group. The wording had been agreed by the Beckenham Society.

Post meeting note:

An amended version of the list was sent to the Committee Clerk post meeting and this was disseminated to the Working Group on 6^th June.

Several items had been agreed during the course of the meeting.

A request was made that the double curb outside of the George pub be marked with a white line. The question was raised as to whether any such line should be white or yellow. Mr Warner commented that the granite curb would not hold the paint. 

Gail Low (Guide Dogs for the Blind) explained that the pavement in this area was pale and so the greatest contrast would be with a dark colour. That could be black but if a more aesthetically pleasing colour was required, it could be a colour that had a light reflective value (LRV) of at least 30 points different from the colour of the pavement. Thirty points difference was the minimum, and anything greater than that will increase the degree of contrast between the surfaces. The greater the difference, the easier it would be to see.

Post meeting explanatory note from Gail Low:

For those that might like an explanation of light reflective values and how they are measured; LRV is measured on a scale of 0-100. Reflectance is the proportion of light that a surface reflects compared with the amount of light that falls on the surface. Dark, matt or textured surfaces absorb a large amount of light and therefore reflect little so have low LRV (e.g. black has LRV of 0). Light, smooth or glossy surfaces reflect the majority that lands on them and have high LRV (e.g. White has LRV of 100).

The date of the next meeting will be decided on the evening.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as July 26^th. The meeting would take place at the usual venue of Beckenham Library, and would commence at 7.30pm.