MINUTES OF THE
MANTHORPE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
Held on 28 th February 2008
The minutes of this meeting are not a verbatim record, since as it was the first meeting it was necessary to establish whether the residents wanted to form an association.
1. Introduction
The Head Master of Cliffedale Primary school welcomed the residents to the school & introduced Tony & Wendy Burns who had arranged the meeting.
2. Why a Residents Association?
Tony Burns chaired the meeting & thanked the number of residents for their attendance. He spoke about the needs of a Residents Association. Several issues had already been bought to his attention.
a) Buses serving only part of the estate.
b) Playground development on Buttercup Meadows
c) Not enough post boxes.
a) A general discussion took place regarding the pros & cons of buses serving most of the estate. Residents were concerned about the road conditions that was caused by heavy vehicles, in fact some parts of the estate were in need of repair. Also for buses to serve further areas, there would need to be a turnaround, which would double the bus runs & cause further damage. The general consensus was that the bus service in general was good.
b) Anthony Hardy, an officer from SKDC, discussed how he had young children & would like this kind of facility on the estate as the nearest playground was in Wyndham Park . The Manthorpe Estate & ward had been identified as a ward with chronic shortages for facilities for children. The general feeling of the meeting was that it is a good idea. However, in order for this to be done funding needed to be applied for. Anthony Hardy said he would be looking into this aspect.
c) The Chairman had been advised that there were only two post boxes on the estate, however it was pointed out that there are four.
Further discussions regarding the Residents Association were as follows:-
1) Adoption of ( i ) a committee (ii) officers.
( i ) In order to run a successful RA it is necessary to have a team to put into action the requirements & needs of its' members.
(ii) Officers would also be needed to take responsibility.
Residents were asked whether they wanted an association. A show of hands gave a very positive response. Also the starting time which residents felt should be half an hour later, in order for families to have time to put the children to bed. It was generally felt that this may have contributed to fewer numbers of younger members being present at the meeting.
It was suggested that each household who became members should pay a subscription of a £1:00 per year. This would go to the running costs of the Association. The Head Master stated that at the moment he was prepared to support the RA by allowing us to use his hall free, but when the finances permitted it would be good to pay something to the caretaker who so far, was giving his time free, & also add to the PTA's coffers.
Further discussion regarding subscriptions involved the use of a Treasurer & properly set up banking facilities in the name of the Manthorpe Residents Association.
In order to obtain funding the RA need a “Constitution”. One has been prepared & some copies were distributed at the meeting. It was intended to publish it on the website for residents to view & it would be presented at the next meeting for adoption.
It was also decided that the meetings of the RA would be at three monthly intervals. Once the committee & officers were set up they would be contactable by residents, who could bring to their attention items of interest. The committee would meet as circumstances required & anything of interest would be brought to the next meeting.
One of the residents suggested that it would be nice for residents to get to know each other better & that perhaps social events could be arranged. The general feeling was that this was a good idea.
Another resident felt that the pathway between kingscliffe Road & the Kings Hotel needed attention. It was decided that perhaps this matter was better left to another meeting & maybe could be presented to the committee.
There was a short discussion regarding excrement in Buttercup Meadows, Anthony Hardy advised the meeting that the Council were not really interested & regarded this on the same level as rubbish. He did not agree , however there was to be another bin on the other side of the meadow.
This meeting concluded at 8.05pm and the date of the next meeting was arranged for
Thursday May 15 th at 7.30pm .
