Parklands Residents Association Play Area Committee.

Summary of Minutes of Meeting held 24.11.08 Chequers Inn, Maresfield.

Those Present. :

Craig Black (CB)– Acting Chairman,

Ellie Boultbee (EB) – Secretary,

Charlotte Savage (CS),

Bill Miller (BM),

David Gibson (DG) – Tennant Involvement Officer Wealden District Council.

PCSO Katie Breeds (KB) – Police Community Support Officer for Maresfield.

Tony Goddon, (TG)

Teresa Washer. (TW)

David and Michele

Abbreviations.

NPRA – New Parklands Residents Association.

MPC – Maresfield Parish Council.

WDC – Wealden District Council.

ESCC- East Sussex County Council.

WRAG – Wealden Residents Action Group.

Raised By	Issue / Item	Action
CB / EB	Welcomed all to the meeting and thanked PCSO Katie Breeds for attending. Apologised for disappointing turn out.
	Antisocial Behaviour
	Those present shared experience of antisocial behaviour on and around the play area and around Parklands
EB	Stated the reason the meeting had been arranged and PCSO Breeds invited was following two separate reports of drug taking within the play area. Unfortunately neither two informers where present, however the Play Area Committee felt this was a very serious issue and had sought advise from East Sussex Police and PCSO Breeds had kindly offered to attend a meeting and let residents know what they could do about anti social behaviour.
PCSO KB	Urged all residents to report any antisocial behaviour, she stressed that the police only have limited recourses, and cannot attend all incidents, however the more incidents are reported, the more time and resources can be used to deal with a problem in a specific area such as the play area.	Contact all residents asking them to report any incidents of antisocial behaviour.
EB	Recent vandalism of the fence and sign had been reported. Stressed the need for a zero tolerance approach to all antisocial behaviour. Those responsible needed to be made aware that Parklands was not somewhere that they could get away with this type of behaviour.
CB	Informed committee that a small knife was found by a child in the play area.
David	Stated that kids congregate outside his house and can be intimidating. Items have been thrown at the door of the house such as balls and fireworks.
TW	Confirmed experiencing similar incidents
PCSO KB	Reiterated that all incidents need to be reported with as much detail as possible. If a serious incident was taking place or you feel threatened it is OK to call 999.
TW	Concerned about possible retaliation as has experienced this before.
CB	Stated that not all the trouble makers where from Parklands and that some came from as far as Framfield and Ringmer. He also said that sometimes the kids will just move on and /or make less noise if asked to do so.
EB	Reiterated that this could be prevented by making it clear that any form of antisocial behaviour was not welcome and would not be tolerated on Parklands
TG	Used to lock gate to play area after dark, any kids loitering would be asked to leave. Parklands Play area is not a public park	Investigate if this would work again.
EB	Asked if this gives the committee more power to take action to prevent antisocial behaviour eg by locking gate.
DG	Stated that in other estates where the teenagers had become more involved in community projects they had a sense of ownership and pride in their community and this in turn prevented a lot of trouble.
CS	Asked in what way the teenagers of Parklands could feel more involved.	Look at ways to make teenagers more involved.
DG	Suggested a youth football team, also some form of reward for ‘good behaviour’. Antisocial / Dangerous Driving and Speeding	Investigate feasibility of Youth Football Team. Find a possible leader.
EB	Stated the concerns of the committee concerning dangerous or antisocial driving and speeding around the estate. Stated that the car park next to the play area is of particular concern as this seems to be a place where drivers seem to congregate.
TG	Stated that the cars concerned are visitors to his next door neighbours.
EB	Stated obvious dangers involved with young children playing in play area and around the estate and dangerous driving that is happening
PCSO KB	Urged residents to report any incidents giving as much detail as possible to Operation Crack Down.	Encourage residents to report any issues.
	Road Safety / Traffic Calming.
EB	Informed the meeting that the issue of speed humps to slow traffic down was still on going but given the cost of over £20,000 quoted by East Sussex Highways it would be a long time and a lot of fund raising before they could be installed on Parklands.
EB	Feed back from survey indicated that residents are very concerned about road safety. One suggestion was a pedestrian crossing on the Batts Bridge Rd, as children are at risk when crossing between Parklands and Field End / Maple Close.	Ask ESCC if a crossing was possible.
EB	Survey also revealed that the Parking situation at the top of Parklands towards the entrance had been a big problem for many respondents, with one suggesting a staggered parking bay system to allow for passing spaces. This would in tern act as traffic calming as cars would have to slow down. Michael Oates at East Sussex highways had originally said this was a good idea, however it is not the policy of East Sussex highways to paint parking bays on roads and therefore they would not support this idea, however if enough demand from residents was shown they would look at the issue again
TG	Stated that he didn’t think residents would support this plan.
EB	Pointed out that the committee was responding to feedback provided by residents.
TG	Stated that committee risked alienating residents if reducing parking outside their homes
EB	No action would be taken unless residents wanted it, however this matter had been one of the most frequent issues brought up by residents.
CB	Stated need for further consolation with residents	Further consultation to take place.
	Recycling
CB	Had been in touch with WDC about getting recycling facilities for Parklands. He reported that WDC had said that they are going to extend the currant curb side scheme to Parklands some time in 2009. Unfortunately they could not be more specific than that. They are also investigating putting glass collecting facilities in the car park of the Chequers Inn. They will investigate if the car park area on Parklands would be suitable for fixed collection bins.	Follow up with WDC in 2009 to get better idea when this may come into effect.
	Play Area
EB	Went through the plans for the play area, including the new early years equipment, levelling of football area and improvement to the bike track at the bottom of the area. Informed those present of plans for fund raising such as applications for grants and community based fund raising such as jumble sales, sponsored events etc. Full consultation with neighbouring properties will begin in the new year as will fund raising.	Date to be set for fund raising meeting. Consultation process to begin in New Year.
	AOB.
CS	Reported on the success of the Halloween Party and thanked all those involved.
	The committee thanked PCSO Breeds and David Gibson for their time and support.