Agenda and minutes

Venue: Beckenham Library, Beckenham, BR3 4PE

Contact: Stephen Wood  020 8313 4316

Items
No. Item

31.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ian Dunn, Vanessa Allen, Stephen Wells and Russell Mellor. Apologies were also received from Helen Mcconnell from FM Conway. The Chairman was disappointed that FM Conway had not arranged for an alternative representative to attend. 

32.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 26th JULY 2018 pdf icon PDF 115 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26th July 2018 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

33.

MATTERS ARISING pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Minutes:

CSD 18146

 

The Group noted the Matters Arising report that had been drafted by Stephen Wood, Committee Secretary.

 

Regarding the matter concerning parking, it was pointed out that FM Conway vehicles had been using the scheme parking spaces. This had been occurring at 288 High Street, which was near to the Odeon Cinema. It was agreed that Mr Warner would follow up on this and, if work was finished, arrange for this bay to be opened for public parking.

 

It was reported that the staff of Hak’s Barbers had been parking outside of their shop, but in doing so had been blocking the dropped kerb. The staff from Hak’s had been parking fully on the pavement, and this was illegal. It was suggested that a photograph of this be taken and sent in to the Council. It was  noted that people were parking in the red-bricked area by ‘Snappy Snaps’ where it was prohibited. The Group felt that parking enforcement was not being undertaken properly. It was suggested that some visits be undertaken to check current levels of parking enforcement.

 

Mr Munnelly stated that parking contraventions could be reported by calling the Council or by reporting the issues online. It was agreed that Mr Munnelly would discuss the matter with the Head of Parking, and then look at which areas may need to be targeted. It was also mentioned that sometimes there were incidents of bicycles being ridden in a dangerous manner on pavements. It was agreed that if cyclists were acting/riding in a dangerous manner, then a call should be made to the police. It was suggested that the street cleaners could report incidences relating to groups of youth on bikes when they were either acting dangerously, or deliberately dropping their bikes in an aggressive manner to obstruct the pavement. Photographs could be taken and sent in to the Council. If people wanted to report such incidences online they could use the ‘Report It’ portal on the website. 

 

It was noted that the work relating to a screened refuse sack storage area in front of the former public toilets had been actioned, and a response was awaited from the Neighbourhood Management Team. Assurances were provided that the work would be completed soon. 

 

It was agreed that the yellow lines in the conservation area should be the thin style and, where this was not correctly done, this would be actioned the following week. 

 

The Group heard that there was a problem with the ‘no-entry’ sign at Kelsey Square leading into Kelsey Lane and that the sign required re-aligning.

 

The Group turned their attention to the ongoing matter of cleaning the granite. The Assistant Director for Environment and Neighbourhood Management (John Bosley) attended to provide an update. The Group was briefed that the new Street Environment Contract would commence on April 1st 2019. The specification in the contract was for dry cleaning only. Any other form of cleaning would be classified as a growth item rather than a price/core item.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

34.

UPDATE FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGEMENT TEAM REGARDING CLEANING

Minutes:

This was dealt with under the minute for Matters Arising.

35.

THE WAR MEMORIAL WALL

Minutes:

The consensus of the Group was that the War Memorial Wall was in a sorry state, dirty and in need of cleaning. It was suggested that the wall could be cleaned after the major scheme work had been completed. A discussion took place about what should be done with the wall, and whether it should be replaced or not. Some felt that a rail with plants would be more appropriate; others felt that the wall was doing its protective work. No agreement was reached.  

36.

OTHER MAJOR SCHEME UPDATES

Minutes:

Mr Munnelly and Mr Oliver displayed some new street signs using the design that had previously been recommended by the Group. The signs had a white background with lettering in black. The font for the lettering was called ‘Traffic’. The Beckenham Crest was displayed on the signage. 

 

Mr Oliver detailed a list of tasks that still needed to be done:

 

·  Siting of benches, cycle racks and traffic islands

·  Resurfacing and drainage work in the vicinity of Sainsbury’s supermarket

·  Resurfacing work in the vicinity of the Odeon Cinema and Regal Alley

·  Feature lighting by Hak’s Barbers and the Nat West Bank

·  Lighting for Regal Alley

·  David Bowie feature outside of Zizzi’s

·  Trees at Kelsey Square

·  Installation of heritage plaques

 

The Town Centre Manager informed the Group that the brackets on the old street lamp posts were being moved to the new street lamp posts. A discussion took place concerning the possibility of installing a Christmas tree in the War Memorial roundabout. It was noted that a power source was available, but currently there was no tree pit. A tree pit could be dug if required. No decision on this was reached.

 

It was asked when the bus shelters by Wimpey would be replaced. The Group heard that LBB had ordered the bus shelters and were waiting for TfL to confirm when the shelters would be installed. A member declared that TfL were doing an appalling job of managing the bus stops and of disseminating bus diversion information.

 

It came to light that there was an issue at the entrance to Church Avenue where ‘No Entry’ signs had been attached to traffic lights. This was also an issue where LBB were waiting for a response from TfL. The Chairman encouraged officers to push TfL for the required actions to be undertaken.

 

There was an issue at Coopers Mews where it was not clear where the drop kerb was to get back onto the High Street. It was stated that the situation would become clearer when the planters were installed.

 

A local resident asked for a financial breakdown concerning the scheme’s finances. The Chairman responded that the Council’s scrutiny committee did have oversight of these matters, and that the working group was acting primarily in an advisory capacity. A copy of the scheme budget breakdown, as reported to the R&R Scrutiny Committee, was circulated.

 

Mr Munnelly said that he would report back on the original budget costings. It had to be borne in mind that term contracts were paid in arrears by invoice. So far LBB had been invoiced for £2.6m; most of this had been paid to TfL and to FM Conway. The project was still on budget. The original contingency sum was £700,000 and £50k of this had been paid to TfL for an extra set of traffic lights. Some additional fees had been paid to FM Conway for night working.

 

RESOLVED that the Major Scheme update is noted. 

37.

TOWN CENTRE TEAM UPDATE AND UPDATE ON BID MANAGER

Minutes:

The Town Centre Team had been working on a decluttering report. A member asked for an update regarding noticeboards. The Group heard that three new noticeboards were to be installed. They would be cleaned as part of the normal street cleaning contract function. Lorraine McQuillan provided a visual of the proposed design for the replacement notice boards – the design was approved with no objections raised.

 

It was noted that if finger posts were pointing in the wrong direction, this could be reported on ‘Fix My Street’.

 

The Purple Flag had been successfully renewed and planning permission was required for a second flag. The Chairman and the Group expressed appreciation to Marsha Berg and Marie Pender for all of the hard work that they had done so that the Purple Flag could be successfully renewed. The Team informed the Group regarding a residents’ meeting on 24th October and a Clock House event that was scheduled for 5th October at Venue 28.

 

A member referred to the London Mayor’s fund for community spaces, and the hope that some funding could be accessed from it to assist with the renovation of Beckenham Green.

38.

UPDATE ON HERITAGE PLAQUES

Minutes:

The Group was informed that the procurement process was ongoing, and that there was currently not a definite timescale for completion.

 

RESOLVED that Heritage Plaques remain on the agenda for the next meeting.

39.

UPDATE ON MAINTENANCE FUNDING FOR THE BECKENHAM GREEN CANOPY

Minutes:

Mr Munnelly informed the Group that this was still unresolved as the Council had no budget to fund the maintenance of the canopy. As the canopy was seen as a community asset, LBB hoped that the funding could be provided either by local community groups or local businesses. The prices that had been quoted so far by Idverde and by Kier were in the region of £3-£4k per annum. It was the consensus of the Group that these estimates were too expensive and unacceptable. A cleaning specification was requested to be sent to the BID company for their consideration.   

40.

AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING

Minutes:

It was agreed that Heritage Plaques remain as an item for the December agenda.

41.

AOB (Previously Notified)

Minutes:

The Group was pleased to hear that more shops in Beckenham were installing disabled ramps, and an accessibility audit would be undertaken.  

42.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The date of the next meeting is 4th October 2018.

Minutes:

It was decided that the final meeting of the Group would take place on Thursday, December 13th and the Chairman would provide refreshments for a small celebration after the meeting.

 

The meeting would take place at the usual venue of Beckenham Library at 7.30pm.