Death of a distinguished local resident - Darcus Howe, activist 1943 - 2017

/

We are sad to report the death of our neighbour Darcus Howe on April 1st.

Darcus Howe was a writer and activist who was outspoken in promoting black self-determination. He was widely respected and had a national reputation.

A full obituary will appear in the next PHRA newsletter.  Meanwhile, we send our condoleces and respects to his widow, PHRA member Leila Howe, and their children,

Well attended AGM - draft minutes attached

/

Our AGM on April 6th was well attended, and promoted a lot of lively discussion. 

The draft minutes of the meeting appear below.

Minutes of the AGM of the Pollards Hill Residents Association

Thursday 6th April 2017

(DRAFT)

Present (Outgoing Chair & Committee) : Conrad Thomas, Mike Netherwood, Brenda English, Gerry Parnall, John Bartholomew, Geoff Winkworth, Christine Harris

Apologies: Richard Mills

Attendees were invited to sign in on arrival. c. 40 residents attended. Refreshments were on offer.

Chair welcomed all and invited them to peruse the minutes of last year’s AGM & raise any points of view. Dr Starr (from the floor) suggested that the minutes could be distributed earlier to give more time to digest & comment. The Minutes were read & approved as a true record.

Chair's report : CT re-affirmed his strong community commitment & his work for the Love Norbury umbrella on behalf of all Norbury residents. He declared that it had been an interesting year with a lot happening-successful Clean up days on the Hill & in Norbury-the summer picnic- the annual Quiz. He thanked all who had supported & been engaged in these events particularly BE and CH for their efforts with the quiz in catering (Ploughmans) and the collection of raffle prizes from local sponsors.

He thanked Father Younis for allowing our use of his church premises for our meetings & his general involvement with our community.

He thanked JB for his tireless work in writing, assembling & printing of our Newsletter also our sponsors for offsetting the cost (James Alexander, NV Hair, Recycle Your Cartridge)) and again to Father Younis for his assistance with the production.

His thanks also extended to all his Committee for their commitment to the PHRA.

Planning: BE gave a brief resume of planning issues that had arisen during the year. We were unable to go further regarding “The Brambles” planning opposition owing to financial constraints-our solicitors advised that we had only a sli chance of winning a judicial review. Resident Simon Erland (from the floor) brought us up to date on this development’s progress. He said that the original developer had pulled out in September & that the plot had been sold on-whether or not the existing Covenants on the site would delay any further development would make it unviable for profitable development is possible. Thanks to Simon for his hard work & money on this battle & to RM for his tremendous input.

Treasurer's report : GP presented his financial report for the year details of which were presented to attending members on a separate sheet for their information. There were no queries from the floor & his report was accepted. Thanks to GP and to the Auditor who has agreed to stand again His nomination was proposed & seconded.

 

2

Election of Officers: The outgoing Secretary called for the present committee to step down as is required and invited nominations from the floor. None were forthcoming -subsequently the outgoing committee were asked if they were willing to stand again in their same capacity for another year-all agreed. They were nominated & seconded from the floor.

Chair: Conrad Thomas

Secretary: Mike Netherwood

Membership Secretary: John Bartholomew

Planning: Brenda English

Newsletter Editor: John Bartholomew

Treasurer: Gerry Parnall

Committee: Richard Mills, Geoff Winkworth, Christine Harris, Gary Hartnell

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Our guest speaker, Ken Hume of James Alexander was welcomed & gave residents a resumeof the property movements in our area. He said that there had been a 5% drop in sales since Brexit was initiated –there was still a solid base of supply & demand but generally a shortage of stock - there had been an increase in demand by first time buyers rather than “buy to let” -it had so far been a “flat” year with no dramas- if you intended selling it was advisable to sell at a competitive price for success- -ny property that had been on the books for some time should be regarded with suspicion.

Chair thanked Ken for his all round support of residents associations in Norbury.

Any other business

Hilltop Plaque: Chair proffered congratulations & thanks to Geoff Winkworth on this major achievement. He initiated & oversaw the project to completion (including the accompanying Photo Book) with the assistance of Richard Mills & a grant made available through our local councillor Maggie Mansell.

Love Norbury- This is an umbrella organisation covering all residents associations in Norbury-any member of any association was also eligible for a “love Norbury” discount card as well as a PHRA card. Their planning team in particular was very strong on our residents behalf .They had also promoted two successful Clean Up days in Norbury this year. PHRA is represented by our Chair & BE on various committees.

The “Yarn Bombers” or Norbury Knitters (Knitting Norbury together) meet regularly for Knitting & nattering on various projects-details in our Newsletter.

There will be a Norbury Festival on 18th June on the Norbury Triangle site. Details on line

Reverend Younis of St Phillips Church announced that in addition to the Friday morning computer lessons there were now 3 Table Tennis tables available at the same time @ £2 per session with a tutor available.

Local Policing-owing to budget cuts representatives were unable to appear.  A leaflet with opening hours of the Norbury office, telephone numbers and local crime details was being delivered to every household locally.

From the floor-Dr Fred Starr welcomed the new 20mph speed limit in parts of Norbury but was concerned as were most residents as to how this would be enforced. Residents were advised to get feedback from the Council via letter or through lobbying local newspapers.

Residents of Beech Road and church users expressed concern over the number of large white vans parked overnight in their road-there appears to have been no action by Police or Council indicating that although inconvenient it might be perfectly legal. Details & more pressure on local councillors.

Residents were also concerned about the amount of fly tipping & general litter in our area despite the Council’s strenuous ongoing initiatives..Generally fly tips are removed within 48 hours once reported on the Council hotline. Once again the installation of CCTV cameras at hotspots was advocated.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance & contributions and the meeting ended c. 21.00