Agenda and minutes

Venue: Beckenham Library, Beckenham, BR3 4PE

Contact: Stephen Wood  020 8313 4316

Items
No. Item

16.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dave Wibberley, Ian Dunn and Vanessa Allen.

 

Apologies were also received from Sarah Niblock, Janice Pilgrim, Gary Warner, and Lorraine McQuillan. Lucy Beckworth and Dr John Parker.

 

The Chairman requested a minute’s silence to remember Mrs Jean Appleton, MBE. A tribute to Mrs Appleton was rendered by Councillor Pauline Tunnicliffe. Councillor Tunnicliffe said that Mrs Appleton was a motivated and inspirational lady whom she had met at an ‘Action for the Blind’ Christmas party. Mrs Appleton was described as being happily married before she was sadly widowed, and a very active campaigner for the rights of blind people. Councillor Tunnicliffe had known her for eleven years and had visited Buckingham Palace with her. She was very well thought of and on the evening of the meeting the list of attendees expected at her funeral had extended to 164. 

17.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 31st MAY 2018 pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Minutes:

Subject to some suggested amendments emailed in by Mr Nick Goy, the minutes were agreed and signed as a correct record.

18.

UPDATE ON PARKING ENFORCEMENT

Mr Allen Herve (Contracts and Operations Manager) from Shared Parking Services will attend the meeting to provide an update on Parking Enforcement.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

Mr Allen Hervé attended to provide the update relating to parking enforcement. 

 

Mr Herve gave a brief introduction to the work of the Parking Enforcement Division and then provided the opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

 

LBB monitored the High Street with numerous patrols of CEOs (Civil Enforcement Officers) and issued PCNs as required for parking contraventions. The Parking Enforcement Team also dealt with queries and requests that came in via the online portal. If there was an enforcement request placed via the online portal, the contractors were expected to arrive at the scene within 45 minutes.

 

The number of PCNs issued in Beckenham High Street over the previous 12 months was 585; just 9% of these were related to foot way parking. The main culprit in terms of the issuing of PCNs was not paying high street parking levies. Another big offender was related to the incorrect use of Blue Badges. Enforcement was undertaken to keep the highway clear and to keep traffic moving. In terms of enforcement activity, the previous day there had been 16 visits to the High Street with teams comprising of 5 CEOs.

 

Jackie Groundsell asked if some bays could have a dual purpose and be split 50:50 between normal parking and loading. Appropriate signage would be required. Some felt that this was a good idea; others felt that dual use would be confusing. Stephen Oliver (Senior Project Planner) was in favour of the idea, and suggested that it could be trialled and not enforced during the trial period. Mr Herve responded that a trial was possible, and Ms Groundsell asked what the time frame for this would be. Mr Oliver stated that if the plan was agreed he would get the signs made. The signs would need to be as simple to understand as possible. Ms Groundsell felt that it was crucial to implement and carry forward this idea as soon as possible. An attendee who was also a business owner stated that the loading restrictions had destroyed her business.

 

Mr Munnelly responded that there was no overall loss of parking because of the scheme. A parking consultation had been undertaken with local businesses, and only one response had been received. Mr Munnelly stated that one option was to lose two standard parking spaces and replace them with a loading bay. The business owner referred to a large bus stop near to her business and asked if it could be shortened. The Chairman commented that it was very unlikely that TfL would agree to such a suggestion. She asked for a loading bay to be installed outside of Miso. Mr Munnelly responded that this would be contrary to the scheme objectives and so would need to be assessed by the Project Board. It was mentioned that there was a loading bay in Fairfield Road. However, this was not suitable for the type of goods being unloaded in this instance as the bay was on a gradient. 

 

It seemed therefore that the trial of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

UPDATE CONCERNING THE COVERING OF REFUSE SACKS

Minutes:

The update concerning refuse sacks was provided by Mr Oliver. The Group was informed that in terms of the location for the refuse sacks, Keir (the current cleaning contractor) still needed to use the corner site which was located at Thornton’s Corner. The contractors had agreed to use a fenced enclosure if one was provided. Mr Oliver had contacted a fencing contractor so that a quote could be provided for a fenced off enclosure area where the refuse sacks could be deposited prior to collection. It was agreed that the Renewal Team would progress and implement this.

 

The Chairman stated that the current contractors had asked if they could make use of the disused public toilets at Thornton’s Corner. Mr Oliver responded that he was not aware of the request.

 

The Group noted that the cleaning contract was in the process of being re-tendered.

 

RESOLVED that a fenced enclosure be erected at Thornton’s Corner where refuse sacks could be deposited prior to collection by the cleaning contractor.   

20.

UPDATE CONCERNING HIGH STREET SIGNS

Minutes:

Mr Oliver provided an update on High Street Signs. There were several issues that needed to be resolved. One of the issues was where the word ‘Beckenham’ would appear on any signs, and if the word should be located on all the signs in Beckenham, or just the signs relating to the High Street. The other matter to decide was the colour and font of the signs that would just be used for the High Street and the Conservation Area. Two signs were displayed for the Group to look at. Sign ‘A’ was a traffic sign with a black and white font that was known as ‘Traffic’. This font had been recommended previously by Janice Pilgrim. The other font was the traditional green Bromley type font. A vote was requested by the Chairman, and the vote was 19:5 in favour of the black and white traffic font.

 

RESOLVED that the ‘traffic’ font be used for signs in the Conservation Area. 

21.

UPDATE CONCERNING THE CLEANING OF GRANITE

Minutes:

At the previous meeting of the BTCWG, it had been resolved that the electric scrubber cleaning machine be used to clean the granite in Beckenham prior to the next meeting of the Group. Mr Munnelly informed the Group that a request for this to happen was made, but it was refused due to logistical and cost reasons. A suggestion was made that if there was a budget for cleaning, could the budget be used to purchase such a cleaning machine for Beckenham.

 

The Chairman noted that in the vicinity of the Purple Flag and around various litter bins there was significant staining. Mr Munnelly responded that more regular cleaning was required. The cleaning that had been undertaken recently was a sweep clean which was not enough in the current dry spell. Jackie Groundsell expressed the view that LBB had not cleaned Beckenham for 2 years. A member of the public said that she lived in the vicinity of the Odeon cinema and had not seen any cleaning there.

 

Susan Ryall asked what paving was planned to be laid outside of the Odeon Cinema. It was noted that white granite was planned for this area. Ms Ryall expressed the view very strongly that this was the wrong decision due to the amount of footfall outside of the cinema, and begged officers to reconsider. Julian Melfi (Senior Pastor) Citygate Church asked if paving outside of the church could be extended to a natural boundary, as it had been stopped prematurely.

 

Mr Laidlaw emphasized the importance of getting the cleaning right. Mr Munnelly responded that Bromley Council was in the process of renewing its cleaning contracts and that enhanced cleaning would be part of the new contracts. The new contracts would commence in the spring of 2019. Chloe Jane-Ross expressed little confidence that Beckenham would ever get properly clean.

 

Mr Munnelly suggested that representatives from the cleaning team be asked to attend the next meeting. In his view more chemical cleaning was required with an electric cleaning machine. Mr Goy referred to the proposed new cleaning contract. He expressed the view that this would involve extra costs due to the requirement for enhanced cleaning and stated that Julian Lewis had created a rod for everyone’s back for the next 40 years. 

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1) A full report on cleaning would be presented at the next Group meeting.

 

2) Representatives from the cleaning contractor would be asked to attend the next meeting.   

22.

UPDATE CONCERNING THE BECKENHAM GREEN WORDING

Minutes:

A handout was distributed at the meeting by Ivan Cudby. This was a colour document with proposed designs for the Beckenham Green planters. The document was entitled, ‘Beckenham Green—Portland Stone Lettering River’. The document had been produced by Ivan Cudby in collaboration with Stephen Burke.

 

Mr Cudby stated that the design attempted to use a different approach and philosophy, with more of a localised historical approach. Brick and Portland Stone would be used together. Nick Goy felt that all that was required was to paint over the pre-existing wording and described the new proposed design as ‘Julian Lewis fantasy’. He said that all that was required was  a simple solution and not something that was esoteric.

 

However, many Group members did not agree with Mr Goy, and felt that Mr Cudby’s ideas were interesting and it was agreed to take his ideas forward—a costing was required. 

 

It was noted that the current plants in the planters were the responsibility of Idverde and that if any plants died then Idverde were contractually obligated to replace them.

 

RESOLVED that Mr Ivan Cudby’s proposed design for the Beckenham Green planters be taken forward, and a costing provided.  

23.

ANY OTHER MAJOR SCHEME UPDATES pdf icon PDF 165 KB

Minutes:

An update was provided by Helen McConnell from FM Conway.

 

With respect to phases 1, 2 and 3 of the scheme, the chipped kerbs between Beckenham Junction and Bromley Road had now been replaced. These were chipped kerbs that had been damaged by FM Conway machinery. There were other kerbs that were chipped, but FM Conway had decided that not all of the damage was caused by their machinery—some was down to normal wear and tear. The remaining chipped kerbs would be assessed by FM Conway, and where it was judged that any damage had been caused by FM Conway plant, the damage would be made good.

 

Ms McConnell referenced an email that she had sent out to various stakeholders, informing them that work on snagging around the planters would be commenced on 30th July. This was estimated to last for three weeks. The email had stated that all of the area would be closed off during this period. However, it was possible that the work could be done in stages so that the whole area may not need to be closed off at once. She was awaiting confirmation of this.

 

Thames Water was due to arrive in the near future to make the connections with the surface bollards. FM Conway had left a blue pipe fitting exposed in Beckenham Green at the request of Thames Water, as this would help in facilitating the new connections.

 

Phase 5 was the phase incorporating Burnhill Road as far as the junction with the High Street; this was now open to pedestrians. There were however, some ongoing improvements still being undertaken, including improvements to the paving behind Prezzo. It was anticipated that this work would be completed by the end of the following week.  Some members commented that the bin area for the area by Prezzo was untidy and smelly. The Chairman wondered if  an ‘Untidy Site Notice’ could be issued.

 

An attendee referred to Kelsey Square and stated that in the original scheme plan, all of the paving around Kelsey Square should have been replaced, but this had not been done.  He stated that the area looked like a frame without a picture, and looked ridiculous. The Chairman responded that he was not aware of this, and that the BTCWG should have been informed along with local residents. The Group felt that there had been no proper consultation about this and that it should be reviewed.

 

The Chairman asked when the High Street would go two ways as far as Village Way. Ms McConnell responded that this would not be until the end of August at the earliest. Work in the area between Sainsbury’s and Village Way would be undertaken over the next two weeks. Work was commencing on phase 7 which was the roundabout to The Drive, and this would take approximately six weeks to complete. Work on replacing traffic islands would commence after phase 7 was completed. 

 

A discussion took place about the War Memorial wall. Mr Wood was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

IMAGES OF PROPOSED HERITAGE LIGHTING pdf icon PDF 778 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The lighting engineer had undertaken lighting feature mock ups. These had been generally well received. The lights could change colour and it was noted that the cinema had its own up lighting. Mr Goy stated that it looked the lights were going straight into your eyes and that bad lighting was worse than no lighting. He also expressed the view that the studio up lighting was too near the buildings and so was causing black shadows, making it look like a haunted house. It was noted that the clock on the front of ‘Hak’s’ was not illuminated.

 

 Mr Oliver responded that the lighting illuminated the buildings correctly. 

 

RESOLVED that any necessary work relating to Heritage Lighting be progressed and taken forward.

25.

A DESIGN TO REPLACE THE LETTERING ON THE BECKENHAM GREEN PLANTERS pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Mr Ivan Cudby will discuss a design to replace the lettering on the Beckenham Green planters.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A discussion on this matter had already taken place under agenda item 7.

26.

TOWN CENTRE TEAM UPDATE AND UPDATE ON NEW BID MANAGER pdf icon PDF 49 KB

Minutes:

It was noted that Regal Alley was privately owned, but permission had been received to resurface the alley and put lighting on the walls. It was planned to get rid of the hole that often resulted in a big puddle between the alley and the car park.

 

A member asked what was being done about the drain in that area. It was explained that the drain belonged to the hairdressers and the Council had written to them concerning this. It was further noted that the sign on Lion Alley had disappeared.

27.

UPDATE CONCERNING MAINTENANCE FUNDING FOR THE BECKENHAM GREEN CANOPY

Minutes:

The Group heard that the general maintenance fee for the canopy would be £2,200 per annum. This was an indicative quote from Idverde. Structural maintenance would probably require the involvement of Amey at additional cost. The issue of insurance would also need to be resolved. Mr Old asked if it was not the case that the canopy would become a Council asset. Mr Munnelly responded that the canopy was part of community aspirations. The Chairman asked if an alternative maintenance provider could be found if Idverde was too expensive. Mr Munnelly felt that £2200 per annum was a reasonable quote. It was noted that the ongoing problems associated with maintenance funding was holding back the building of the canopy. 

28.

CONSIDERATION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING

Minutes:

Items for the next meeting had been identified during the course of the evening.

29.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS (PREVIOUSLY NOTIFIED)

Minutes:

The Town Centre Team made a presentation to the Chairman to mark 40 years of service as a Councillor.

30.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Minutes:

It was agreed that the Group would meet next on 4th October 2018.