Walmley Residents Association

 

Walmley Residents Association

Annual General Meeting

7.30pm Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club

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Attendees

Chair David Cooke, Deputy Phill Jones, Treasurer Sarah Perks, Secretary Lynda Knight

Committee Members Jackie Spargo, Trevor Forbes, Wendy Cooke, Peter Stokes,

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Apologies

Committee Member Louise Hillier

Invited Councillors unable to attend;

Ken Wood, John Perks, Cindy Yip, Terry Wood, Derrick Griffin, Richard Parkin

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Guest Speakers

Birmingham City Councillor David Barrie

Sutton Town Councillor John Cooper

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Chair - David Cooke

Welcome everyone and thank you for coming tonight. There is no fire drill planned, if the alarm sounds please leave the building.

Thanks to our outgoing committee, Trevor, Jackie, Wendy, Peter and Louise. Special thanks to Sarah our treasurer for your work this year and to Lynda our secretary for also running our website and Facebook page.  Thanks to our councillors for your assistance and information updates.

Thanks to Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club for accommodating us tonight, and for our monthly committee meetings.  We have made a donation in recognition.

With the huge growth in social media and the number of local online community groups, much of the former services offered by WRA have been covered by our Facebook page.  This has meant that our main ongoing responsibility has been to review planning matters. Birmingham planners notify me from time to time but our main source of information is the weekly planning report, supplied by Councillor David Barrie. We don't normally comment on domestic property extensions, or get involved in neighbour disputes.  Our main focus is on planning which has a more general and severe impact on Walmley residents.

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Langley and Peddimore

Several years ago, our ward councillors David Barrie and Ken Wood, set up the Langley and Peddimore Consultative Group.  The Langley Consortium do have a webpage. Initially this group was to influence the Birmingham Statutory Planning Documents (SDP'S) for these major developments.  More recently the purpose of the group has been to check compliance with those SDP's and discuss/influence developers' proposals.  The group comprises our ward and town councillors, church leaders and local community groups.  Numerous meetings with the developers have been organised to achieve these goals.  Throughout those meetings, I have represented the WRA and have included feedback received from our committee members and Walmley residents.  WRA needs to stay part of the consortium, to help keep a watch on proceedings, therefore we need some younger members to join our committee.

The last meeting on Langley was held 9th March 2023 and was centred on stewardship of communal land and infrastructure, i.e. all the areas beyond the house boundaries.  From our local perspective it is critical to understand that Homes England have a 35% stake in the development.  Homes England is a government- sponsored organisation, and hence our insurance that the development is completed properly. 

We are told that the developer expects to gain planning consent, and section 106 agreements for the first phase of housing, by the end of 2023.  House building will then commence in 2024. There will be 1000 houses built in the first five years.  There is a proposal to put a service charge on each house in the Langley development, to pay for the upkeep of the grounds.

We can expect to see advanced works and new utility infrastructure underway this year.  Our main concern is with the major increase in traffic using local roads, particularly during early years of the development.  Traffic is going to be the main issue.  The initial phases of housebuilding will be alongside existing roads, Springfield Road, Thimble End Road and Webster Way.  Birmingham City Council have already granted consent in principle to 6 new highway access points, plus a new roundabout on the A38, which will also serve Peddimore.  It is not yet clear whether new resident traffic will be able to access the new A38 roundabout until later phases of houses are built.  We need to forcefully press the developer to implement this access during the early phases.  As new reserved matters applications come forward, we need to check that the new traffic generations, at each access point, accord with the approved traffic model.  We also need to check that more remote major highway junctions are upgraded in accordance with the approvals granted, such as Tyburn Island and Dunton Island as these are part of the area upgrade.  Part of the area upgrade will be funded by I.M.Properties.

Amazon's occupation of the first (very large) unit at Peddimore is now in the public domain.  We still need to check that traffic generations from Amazon accord with the approved traffic model.  Traffic is going to be the main issue.  The second unit of the first phase of the development also needs to be checked when better details become available.

Our councillors will provide a more detailed update on both of these major developments, and David Barrie will give us an update later, but I would stress that they need support from local community groups.  WRA can only continue to provide substantial support if it in turn is supported by residents.  

Your support is crucial if you want to influence how Langley and Peddimore will impact Walmley, including its traffic, public transport, school places, medical provisions, retail and community facilities.

To achieve these objectives, WRA particularly needs support from younger residents.  It is younger residents who will be affected most over the next 15-20 years timeframe of Langley and the future beyond.

WRA will be checking that all works well.

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Community Facility at Weaver Avenue/Signal Hayes Road

Y.M.C.A. were originally going to build on this site, however they pulled out some time ago. Our last information is that Birmingham City Council (BCC) have invited tenders for this provision (asked developers to put in their design for a community facility, and state how much this would cost to produce).  The successful contractor will be responsible for designing the scheme, obtaining planning consent, building the scheme with funds provided by BCC, and then running the facility without further financial input from BCC.  You may recall that developer Taylor Wimpy/RO paid BCC the sum of £3.5 million to provide this facility.

We need to have sight of these proposals before they receive approval so that we get what residents want, not what BCC thinks we want.

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Other Local Issues

The state of our roads and footways - potholes. An ongoing major concern, although we do seem to have fared better than other wards.  I have come to the view that no substantial improvements will be made until BCC appoint a new Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Highway Contractor.

178 new houses are being built off Lindridge Drive as an extension of Langley.  The developer for this is again Taylor Wimpy.  This development is Warwickshire, not Birmingham.

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Sutton Coldfield Town Centre

Sutton Coldfield now has many empty shops.  A major redevelopment has been promised, but when will it start? Gracechurch Centre is privately owned.  The Red Rose Centre and Newhall Walk are owned by BCC.  Parts of these areas have been left derelict for several years, including the multi-storey car park. 

When will we see the Town Centre Master Plan implemented?  Can our Town Councillors provide an update for us later tonight?

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Treasurers Report - Sarah Perks

There has been nothing major this year.  We are looking at restarting subscriptions.  You are most welcome to pay tonight if you want to.

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WRA Accounts 2022/2023 Checked and signed off by Joan Matthews

(colour added)

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Income and Expenditure for the year ended 31st March 2023

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Income             

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Subscriptions                                                      £162.00

Bank interest                                                       £  38.34

Total income                                                                                         £200.34

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Expenditure     

 

Donation  - Charity, in lieu of room hire      £150.00

Donation -  New Hall Valley                            £  50.00

Gifts                                                                     £  53.00

Bank Charges                                                     £  60.80

Printing, Postage, Stationery                          

(communication now online

via Facebook, website and email)                   £  00.00

Total expenditure                                                                            £313.80

Surplus (Deficit) for the period                                                       (£113.46)

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Bank Balance at 31st March 2023:

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Current Account                                                                             £  1,180.59

Interest Account                                                                             £10,227.50

Total                                                                                                        £11,408.09

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Represented by Accumulated Reserves: Opening balance   £   11,521.55

Surplice (Deficit) for the year                                                   (£       113.46)

Closing balance                                                                            £   11,408.09

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I certify the above to be a true reflection of the income and expenditure of the Association the year ended

31st March 2023 and of the bank balances as at 31st March 2023.

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Joan Matthews                                                                                             

FCCA                                                                              

30th April 2023

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Sarah Perks

TREASURER

30th April 2023

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WRA Elections 2023/24 Committee - David Cooke

I have served on the WRA committee for the past 12 years, mainly as chair or vice chair. I must now step down from those two roles as our constitution requires this.  I do however offer myself for election as a committee member, with responsibility for major planning matters.

Our constitution requires us to appoint a Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary and Treasurer, plus up to six committee members, so can we proceed to our elections for 2023-2024

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Voting

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Chair                      Phill Jones (proposed by Trevor seconded by Lynda)​

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Vice-Chair            Trevor Forbes (proposed by Trevor seconded by Lynda)

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Secretary               Lynda Knight (proposed by Lynda seconded by Phill)

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Treasurer              Sarah Perks (proposed by Sarah seconded by David)

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Member 1              David Cooke (proposed by Trevor seconded by Sarah)

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Member 2             Jackie Spargo (proposed by Jackie seconded by David)

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Member 3            Louise Hillier (proposed by Louise seconded by David)

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Member 4            Peter Stokes (proposed by Peter seconded by David)

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Member 5            Stuart Woodbine (proposed by Stuart seconded by Lynda)

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Member 6            Vacant

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Changes to the WRA Constitution - David Cooke 

Amendments to our constitution have been suggested.  An email will be sent out to members with information. 

The suggested changes are as follows;

1. Chairman altered to Chair

2. Vice-Chairman altered to Vice-Chair

3. Voting quorum to be reduce

4. The requirement to be a WRA member, for one year prior to joining the committee, to be abolished

5. The six year maximum period for one person to hold office of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary or Treasurer to be abolished

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Over to our new Chair Phill Jones.

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Chair - Phill Jones

Thanks to David for keeping WRA going all these years, glad you are staying on the committee to look after planning.  Thanks to our outgoing Committee and welcome to our new 2023/4 Committee.  Glad to see a new face, Stuart, thank you for joining us.

I have an advert for New Hall Watermill open days.  The mill is open 14th May, 18th June , 16th July, 6th August, 28th August and 17th September from 10am to 3.45pm.  I will ask Lynda to post the advert on our Facebook page and our website.

Next we have our guest speakers, Sutton Town Councillor John Cooper and Birmingham City Councillor David Barrie

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Guest Speaker -  Sutton Town Councillor John Cooper

There are two benches, with Jeff Gilbert's name, near his shop, in memory of Jeff.

Sutton Council are in a difficult position. We are trying to take over some of the responsibilities from Birmingham City Council, however we need permission from Birmingham City Council for us to be able to do this.  Unfortunately this is taking a long time to action.

Since 2016 Sutton Town Council have been in charge of the eleven allotment sites in Sutton.  We have now managed to transferer Forge Farm Allotments over from BCC, but it has been a difficult process.  We are now working with Forge Farm Allotments to upgrade the site, as BCC had not made any improvements for many years.  We have worked with I.M.Properties, and gained a grant to replace the broken, wooden, boarder fencing, with new, strong metal fencing.  We are now working on replacing broken taps and pipework, which have been leaking for a considerable time.  We have also been clearing the woodland area of brambles, and helped the new committee at Forge Farm to create fifteen new plots, on land which was overgrown and not in use. Later we will be repairing the many potholes on site.

Walmley Ash Allotments are hopefully going to be the next to transfer to Sutton Town Council from BCC.  It is a big struggle to get BCC to allow them to do the work needed.  The same applies to Vesey Gardens.  There are more and more issues raised by BCC as to why they wont transfer things over to Town Council, but Town Council carry on trying to get things moved to Town Council.

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Questions to Councillor John Cooper

David Cooke

Can you give an incite for Sutton Town Centre?

John Cooper

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Andrew Mitchell MP are both claiming that they secured £25million to renovate Sutton Town Centre. 

Aldi are to build a shop on the Alders sight.

The transport hub has been held up by BCC.  The road plans which have been put forward are unacceptable to Sutton Council.  January 2023 was the date promised for spades in the ground, but as yet nothing has happened.

Andrew Mitchell MP has taken personal care of the Empire Cinema, but this seems to have stalled.  Building on the cinema car park is not a good plan.

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David Cooke

Do you have any information on the flowerbed watering issue at the old War Memorial in Walmley?

John Cooper

I don't see a problem with watering from Sutton Town Council, but I can't comment as this is a Birmingham City Council issue.  The plants are bought by Sutton Town Council and Birmingham City Council water them.  I can speak to the people involved if required.

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Guest Speaker Birmingham City Councillor David Barrie

Infrastructure Update

For those who don't know already, I am a member of The Business Improvement Committee and Birmingham City Council Planning Department, and have some information on local issues.

The following schemes are the responsibility of Birmingham City Council and are underway.  These schemes are benefiting from 106 money (money from developers);

Royal Works (royalworks.consultationonline.co.uk) - 

Royal Shops

Apartments

Empire Cinema 

There is a substantial amount of 106 money going to Empire Cinema for refurbishment.

Rosie's Night Club site, no plans as yet

Brassington Avenue site, there is a meeting tonight.  The last application was from Pegasus Life.  Sutton Town Council objected to this plan.

Royal Rose Development and New Hall Walk are the responsibility of Birmingham City Council.  These will make a massive change to the area.

The Transport Gateway is the responsibility of Mayor Andy Street.

For any plan to be delivered 106 money is required, this is money given to the council from developers.  Money needs to come through, and the plans need to be approved, for any development to go ahead.  

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Sutton Town Centre Events

There will be a brass band in Sutton on Sunday and other things going on for the celebrations.

The monthly Farmer's Market has been good.

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Walmley old War Memorial 

This is the responsibility of Birmingham City Council Highways Department.  Tina from the Alms Houses has spoken to Sutton Town Council.  David Cooke will appeal the Alms Houses objection to watering flowerbeds.

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Langley

The next stages we need to keep a watch on are infrastructure phasing and the haulage road.  We are waiting to hear which areas are going to be built on first.  The haulage road needs to be built in both directions at the beginning of the development so that the new residents are able to use it from the start.

Stewardship needs setting up to look after the area, without putting another charge on the new residents who will be moving in, if possible.

WRA have been crucial in influencing changes to the plan.  We (councillors) will always get involved as there are very few chances to make any changes, we need to get it right.

We have to keep an eye on Taylor Wimpy as they are not building to a good standard.

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Peddimore

Amazon is not a delivery hub, wont be delivering to the general public.  It will probably be three years before the site is working.  Computer based technology jobs will be some of the first.

Amazon want to put money into local community projects.

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Roads

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Resurfacing

These roads are to be resurfaced;

Walmley Ash Road

Penns Lane

Shottery Grove

Berryfields Road

There is a pot of money that Birmingham City Council have for road resurfacing.  Kier are a temporary company and will be replaced by a new company later in the year.  The money is there for road repairs when the new company are in place.  Walmley have been more successful with winning road repairs than other areas of Sutton, as Ken and I communicate with the department every week.

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Safety Issues, Speeding

Eachelhurst Road has safety issues regarding speeding.  There is money for this, but due to staffing issues there is no council officer to implement this work.  Work needs to be done to reduce speed, and change the view of the road, to have an impact.  We are speaking to the officers at the moment.  There is £20k for minor transfer problems and £40k from the Birmingham Good To Be Green Roads.

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What we need WRA to do is sponsor schemes.  We rely on WRA input to highlight what needs to be done, IE footpaths behind Jones Wood.

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Signal Hays Community Centre

There have been two companies that have put in a tender to build this facility.  Both companies are asking for more money as they say £3.5 million is not enough.  The problem has been that the developers gave Birmingham City Council the £3.5 million 106 payment several years ago and Birmingham City Council have done nothing until now, and costs have gone up.  There are some really good officers at Birmingham City Council Planning Department, but there are also some really bad ones.

Ken and I give our thanks to WRA Committee 2022 and look forward to working with 2023 Committee.

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Questions to Councillor David Barrie 

Comment - David Cooke

We want to see the proposals before anything is agreed with Signal Hays Community Centre.

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Resident

Does YMCA own the land where the development is going?

David Barrie

The land is owned by the developer, YMCA are no-longer part of this project.  Birmingham City Council have been trying to take the land over, however this is not possible yet due to the money issue.

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Resident

Has the new PFI contract been written? (Private Finance Initiative, replacing Amey, now Kier, for roads)

David Barrie

The concept of a PFI contract was good.  BCC payed the contractor, Amey, a set amount of money to look after all roads in Birmingham for 25 years.  However Amey did not fulfil the contract and BCC are now looking for a long term replacement.  Kier are our short term contractor. We still do well out of this, it will still be a PFI deal.  Local council need to be involved and keep on at the contractor.  We don't know who the new contractor will be yet.

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Any Other Business

Peter Stokes

I feel there is no spirit of community in Walmley. 

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Resident

Not everyone uses Facebook and the internet, I suggest we get a load of leaflets printed and post them through doors.

Lynda Knight

We did a 500 leaflet drop a few years ago.

David Cooke

When we did the leaflet drop for the fields we also tried to boost WRA membership.  The trouble is we don't have enough people to do this type of thing and most leaflets are put into the bin without being read.  Facebook, email and our website are how we advertise now.

Resident

Contact Walmley Church (St John's) to give out leaflets for us.  Brownies are in the church hall on Wednesday evenings.

Lynda Knight

That's a good idea, yes we can do that.

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Peter Stokes

I think a WRA children group would be a good idea.  

Sarah Perks

We could have a meeting at Denary and Walmley schools.

Mal Stokes

I am always happy to help.

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David Cooke

At our last committee meeting it was mentioned that people were parking on the double yellow lines at Signal Hayes Road.

David Barrie

BCC are looking to take over some police duties, such as parking issues.

Sarah Perks

The bus has to mount the pavement to get past the bad parking.  It's dangerous to children.

David Barrie

It costs £8k to put yellow lines down

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David Cooke

Watering the flowerbeds at the old War Memorial garden has become an issue.  We raised this at our February committee meeting.  We met with Councillor Alex Yipp to try to resolve the problem.  Tina at the Alms Houses has put a stop to watering. 

David Barrie 

Ken Wood tried to get this sorted but was told that Sutton Council are dealing with it.  Hopefully this will be sorted soon.

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David Cooke

Memorial to Jeff Gilbert.  We need to do something to remember Jeff.  I would like something in the old War Memorial area.

Mal Stokes

A plaque on a flower trough would be nice.

David Cooke

We did try this.  We paid for a trough a few years ago but BCC wanted to charge us yearly for the same trough.

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Chair Phillip Jones

I think that's about everything, just to say that our next committee meeting is Thursday 8th June.  Thank you all for coming tonight.

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