Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in Kenley Memorial Hall

							Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in Kenley Memorial Hall on Tuesday 26April 2005.

The Chairman welcomed nearly 80 members to the meeting. Apologies received from Richard Ottaway MP,
ex Councillor Brian Smith, Carl Roche (auditor), Mr & Mrs Cahill, John Bishop, Mike Loveless, Robin McCallum,
Aileen Kennedy, Eddie Franklin and Doreen and Ken Allen.

Chairman welcomed the Question and Answer panel consisting of Andrew Pelling, our GLC member, Cllrs Jan
Buttinger, Steve Hollands and Steve O’Connell, Jane Gosnell, area manager, from the council, Deborah Collins and
Paul Shipley from Southern Rail, Mike Enfield from Corporation of London (Commons) and PC Angus Lawrie
accompanied by PCSO Shirley McGuinness.

Chairman gave an overview of the last 12 months:

Post Office/shopping parade: We were unable to prevent the closure of the Post Office despite the collection of
just under 1800 signatures for the petition. The action reflects the strength of our community.

Police: As the police seemed unable to respond to concerns from residents a ‘How to contact the police’ advice sheet
was devised. Station hours have been reduced and PC Angus Lawrie had been sequestered to other duties. Acts of
vandalism were reported to the local councillors and Andrew Pelling took them to the Borough Police Commander.
Through Ian Waite we are prominent on the Police Consultative committee and are liaising with Neighbourhood
Watch.

Memberships: Brian Dowsett needs an assistant to ease his heavy burden and will be conducting a membership
drive with other committee members.

Charity Status: Bob Peacock, John Davenport and Chris Leese have been looking at Charity status to see whether
we can capitalise on Gift Aid bonus.

Road Safety: It is anticipated there will be an increase in traffic and possible accidents when Kenley Park is
occupied. We have passed a dossier of correspondence to our Councillors to take forward to Council.

Speed Humps: Many residents have complained about the severity of the speed humps outside Hayes Lane School
and we have asked the Council if they conform to specification. Only three people raised objections on these and
other humps when public notices were displayed enabling the Council to go ahead. The community must be vigilant.

Newsletter: As we are unable to advise on planning issues, a caveat has been incorporated. Rosemary Phillips
merits appreciation on the magnificent job she is doing managing our primary media outlet.

Website: This is our secondary media outlet and its popularity is rising. Brian Dowsett fits in the management with
his other Association work. Brian was commended for his commitment.

Street Cleaning/Street Champions: Due to our contact with Jane Gosnell on the reduction of services, the street
cleaning schedules have been mostly returned to their original status. Chairman introduced Jane to talk on Street
Champions. Jane has three at the moment and looking for volunteers. Champions are given a free telephone card,
green cards for reporting defects and can get graffiti cleaned free of charge. Chairman said services have suffered
including the condition of the roads that the “Council cannot afford to repair”. He did not recommend the
withholding of council tax and Committee has said we should not be alarmist about the revaluation although there is
concern.

Conservation: John Bishop supervises the monthly meetings at Foxley Wood to make improvements and, partly
funded by KENDRA, has designed a superb sign to grace the entrance to Foxley Wood. John was applauded on his
efforts in relation to this great community project.

Station: Roger Capham has championed the improvements that we see including the removal of graffiti.
Health: Irene Prosser and Roger Capham have been taking an interest in health service provision including NHS
intentions for the Community and we are taking it forward through Councillors.

Planning: Two main issues have been the Kenley House proposal, that was refused, and the flats in Hermitage Road
that were refused by the council but the Planning Inspectorate granted the developers’ appeal and correspondence is
being passed at MP level. We are deeply indebted to Paul Helliwell and his assistant Neville Hurrion.

The Common: This is our biggest open space where many see the Tribute that Mike Street ensures is always
pristine. The airfield is of great concern as it is conceivable that the RAF may move elsewhere so we need to have
contingency plans. Mike Enfield and his team have a display of the airfield and the areas concerned. Knight Frank,
selling agents for OfCom, are selling the whole of the area surrounding the Officers’ Mess; it could come to the
Commons if they are not outbid. English Heritage is recommending to the two local authorities that conservation
status be granted to the whole area.

Friends of Kenley Aerodrome, Chairman said he was working with Ian Waite and others on the launch committee
of this group which had the objective of raising sufficient funds to ensure the continuance of our open space. The
meeting adjourned for 10 minutes to enable people to view the displays.

Accounts: The auditors had wished to thank John Davenport, our new treasurer, for his constructive and
conscientious presentation of the accounts. The accounts were approved. Both Carl Roche and Tony Lowe had
volunteered to continue as examiners and this was accepted.

Constitution Change: In recognition of the importance of Planning to the Association, Committee had suggested
this role should be changed to that of an Officer and reducing the post of two Membership Officers to one. The
meeting unanimously agreed to the changes.

Election of Committee: With the exception of Frances Loveless, Social Secretary who is resigning, the committee
was re-elected. Chairman said two important posts would become vacant next year and new members would be
needed.

Social: Chairman said during the last few years we had a change in events and the Big Band nights were
exceptionally well attended. Frances Loveless, together with Bob Peacock, had devised a professional social
questionnaire to ascertain what events members would like.

Frances Loveless gave a detailed report that was included in the Summer Newsletter and would be getting together
those who had offered assistance. We need to supply events for younger people. Andrew Pelling said the council
were withdrawing help for this part of the borough as other parts were considered to be in more need. With regard
to the OAP parties, it was felt that the people now coming into this age group did not want to take part in this type of
activity and we need to consider the question of funding as a whole, including raffles and charging may be a
consideration. Chairman thanked Frances for everything that her and her small committee had achieved and
presented her with a certificate and a bouquet in recognition of the exceptional work she had done.

The Minutes of the General Meeting held on October 26 2004 were approved. There were no matters arising.

In answer to the pressures on the local health services and their inability to cope with the numbers of patients
causing severe strain, Andrew Pelling said that development was having an impact as the council does not always
take into account the change to the infrastructure, schools and health. He had written to the Primary Care Trust, had
raised it with the planning authorities and will raise it with Ken Livingstone, particularly as Livingstone is planning
to build 17,000 more homes in Croydon. Residents reported having to wait three weeks to see a doctor. SO’C would
like to try to bring this forward with the help of KENDRA. The council cannot take account of pressures under
Section 106.
On the lack of provision for children, vandalism and graffiti, Andrew Pelling said the council’s finances were not in
the best position and there had been a 25% cut for youth services. PCAL thought the problem was down to bad
parenting and lack of activities for youths. Andrew Pelling commented PCAL has a team of just four to deal with
anti social behaviour and he is also used for youth work.

There had been a lot of trouble with young boys racing on mopeds and gopeds. PCAL said that a new law had come
into force and they can seize any bike that is being used to the annoyance of other people but they are difficult to
catch. He said that the tracks should be looked after properly on Betts Mead and they had no right to be in the park.
Andrew Pelling commented it was the fifth ward in Croydon where he had encountered this problem that is both a
police and council issue although the council had cut back on enforcement services.

CGB queried the shutters at the station and Deborah Collins said she had only received positive feedback. The Cabin
is Network Rail responsibility and she is waiting for a reply from them. A resident complained about noise levels
from trains hooting at the level crossing and Deborah said she would raise the issue with an engineer. With regard to
Station House, Deborah said NR was trying to lease it but to get it upgraded would cost a lot of money. The
footbridge is NR property, not SR, and if Roger Capham could get something in writing, she would raise it with NR.

Regarding the road surfaces in Park Road, the council reply had been “limited resources” but JAB said that Park
Road and other surrounding areas have been included for resurfacing for 2005/2006.

In response to a query on the 20mph speed limit in Hayes Lane and humps, JAB said that these humps appeared
different to others and traffic could not speed anyway due to parked cars. A resident commented that since the
humps, traffic in Abbotts Lane had doubled.

RGC raised the point of the council tax increases of 40% but incomes had only risen by 10% leaving many
households struggling, particularly OAP’s. Andrew Pelling said that the rate of tax has doubled over the last four
years but there were cuts in services. He was concerned on the revaluation, particularly with regard to senior
citizens.

Chairman said eight crimes had been reported in Kenley in the last few weeks with information received from
Neighbourhood Watch. PCAL requested that if people have a crime problem, they should inform the police first and
then contact KENDRA if they wished.

Chairman introduced Mike Street who said that this year is the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and would be
commemorated with attractions on the airfield on 13 August. Any profit would go towards the upkeep of the tribute.

Prior to closing the meeting, Chairman thanked Christina Dowsett, Hon Minutes Secretary, for her consistency and
accuracy in taking the Minutes and looked forward to the General Meeting on October 18th.