Should be an interesting meeting following the election and closure of Manston.
AGM
WESTGATE AND WESTBROOK
RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING HELD AT THE TOWN HALL BUILDINGS ON MONDAY 12TH
MAY 2014 AT 7.15P.M.
PRESENT
Tom King, chairman, thirty
three members, and KCC Cllr Jeff Elenor.
The chairman welcomed all to
the meeting.
APOLOGIES
Apologies had been received
from Pam Lucas, Rosalind Morton, Chris Smith, Tony and Pat Snow, and Tony and
Sylvia Sykes.
MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM (13th
May 2013)
These as circulated were
adopted on a prop. by Derek Smith, sec. by Don Eacott, and signed.
MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising.
CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS
Chairman Tom King spoke
about various events that had taken place during the year:
1) KCC Councillor. Following
elections Cllr Jeff Elenor had been made welcome, and had attended all
W&WRA general meetings.
2) Marc Lawrence Memorial. Tom reported that a great deal of work had
been necessary and problems sorted out, but it was now agreed by TDC that this
will be installed in June at the memorial in Sea Road. A service will be held which will be
conducted by the local minister.
3) Thanet Families in
Need. The food bank collection box in
the Bake House has been useful and will continue to be available.
4) Railway Footbridge, The
Grove/Station Road. This has now been
refurbished and repainted after much communication and consultation. Network Rail are open for suggestions as to
the best use for the community of the land at the bottom of the bridge.
5) New Waste and Recycling
systems were introduced in November, for some residents it has worked well but
there have also been some complaints.
6) Village Green
Registration. This had been successfully
passed at the enquiry thanks to Graham Rickett and residents of Ursuline Drive
and area, and is to be for the use of all.
7) Tesco Application for a
Store in Station Road. This had been
contested and a petition produced with many signatures.
8) Christmas Lights. These and the switch on event had been
delivered well by the lights committee and were supported by the W&WRA.
9) New Year Lunch. This was again held at St Augustines and
ninety people attended. Thanks go to
those who worked to organise it.
10) Westgate Pancake Race. This was much enjoyed by children from local
schools, and Tom thanked Cllr Keith Coleman-Cook and the Rotary Club for their
input.
11) Members. Tom recorded with regret the deaths of Gladys
Tebbutt and Barbara Whitlock, and that Brenda Sheffield has had poor health and
moved away to be with her family.
The future:
More children’s playing
facilities are required on the north side of Canterbury Road, and the old
putting green at St Mildred’s Bay would be a good site.
Governance Review. This is being carried out and could lead to a
variety of options including a possible Westgate Parish Council.
Poor TV reception, our local
MP has been contacted with concerns of residents in many parts of the area.
Finally Tom thanked all who
had helped and worked for the W&WRA during the year.
Questions: In answer to a question it was confirmed that
the addition of the name of Marc Lawrence would show his name and the year of
his death as with the other names already on the memorial.
The chairman was then
thanked for his work over the year.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The report was given by Samantha
Secomb. A few copies of the accounts, unaudited, were made available. The accounts had not as yet been finally
balanced, some of the difficulties arising from the fact that there had been
three treasurers during the year. An
excess of income over expenditure of £1,210 had been made leaving a (Co-op)
bank balance of £6,364. Further work
will be carried out to obtain balances now and in the ongoing year. The treasurer was warmly thanked for her work
by the meeting.
EDITOR’S REPORT
Derek reported that the
three issues had been produced during the year, and the next one will be in
July for which copy is required by early June.
Tom congratulated Derek for
the excellent magazines and he was warmly thanked by the meeting.
SUNSHINE REPORT
Margaret reported that four
cards had been sent out to members, and was thanked for her work in this
office.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY’S
REPORT
Rosalind had sent a brief
report, read out by the minute secretary.
Membership numbers had held
up well, most of those who had left had either moved away or suffered ill
health.
Thanks are due to the road
stewards for their hard work, new road stewards are urgently required both in
Westgate and Westbrook.
This year membership cards
are in blue, and there will be a different colour for each year. Also this year there is a standing order
facility available for payment of subscriptions as some members find this
easier.
Tom recorded a vote of
thanks to Rosalind.
COUNCILLORS’ ADDRESS
KCC Cllr Jeff Elenor said
that in his first year he had been finding his way and thanked the W&WRA
for welcoming him to their meetings and had been pleased to help provide trees
and benches locally with part of his councillor’s grant.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND
COMMITTEE
Chairman Tom King asked Don
Eacott to take over whilst all committee members stood down. The following nominees had been proposed
and seconded, and were duly elected:--
Chairman Tom
King
Vice-Chairman Mick
Rooney
Secretary Richard
Charlton
Treasurer Samantha
Secomb
Minute Secretary Chris Whittingham
Editor
Derek Smith
Social
Organiser NO NOMINATION
Membership Secretary Rosalind Morton
Sunshine (Visitor) Friend Kath Bonner
Press Officer Richard Charlton
Committee
Members Abigail
Carden
Ron
Rolfe
Chris
Smith
Stephanie
Sutton
Mavis
Vaughan
ANY OTHER (AGM) BUSINESS
Community Governance Review.
James Brazier thought that
this was most important for local communities, and had brought in copies of the
questionnaire (last return date 2nd June) issued by TDC. Residents could express if they were in
favour, or not, of a Parish Council for Westgate.
Tom said many local
residents were not aware of what Community Governance is, some but not all may
have the facility to go online and find out.
Reasons are needed to show why Westgate could be better with a Parish
Council. Margate might opt for a Town
Council.
Chris Wyer reminded the
meeting of the extra cost of parish and town councils which could be up to £37
to £45 extra council tax.
Alternatives could be
community groups such as residents’ associations.
Abigail Carden recommended
that options should be clearly set out and then local residents asked their
opinions.
It was suggested that
posters showing “Parish Council for Westgate?” should be put in the W&WRA
notice board and elsewhere to encourage people to express their view.
There being no other
business, the chairman closed the AGM at 8.26p.m.
General Meeting
WESTGATE AND WESTBROOK
RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF A SHORT GENERAL
MEETING HELD AT THE TOWN HALL BUIILDINGS FOLLOWING THE AGM ON 12th MAY
2014 AT 8.00 P.M.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING (14th
April 2014)
These were circulated, and
adopted on a prop. by Mick Rooney sec. Stephanie Sutton, and signed.
MATTERS ARISING
1)
Westgate Sign. A
vote of thanks was made to Darren Ellis for cleaning the graffiti from the
sign.
2)
Village Green.
The application had been successful, following an enquiry. Graham
Rickett and the community are to be congratulated. Seventy one residents had attended the
enquiry all supporting the application.
There had been a somewhat inaccurate press report.
3)
Governance Review.
There had been poorly attended information meetings at TDC. Sam Secomb suggested enquiring with Parishes
where local governance had been successful and also unsuccessful. Tom agreed to ask Cllr Bob Grove if he could
help.
CORRESPONDENCE & PLANNING
1)
149, Sea Road.
Application for permission to erect a two storey detached house and
garage
2)
33-35 St Mildred’s Road. Retrospective application for internal and
external alterations.
CIVIC REPORT
1)
Town Pride Awards.
These awards, by Margate Civic Society, included the pair of new houses
in Ethelbert Square which received a plaque and certificate, and a commendation
for the restoration of Forest House in Westgate Bay Avenue.
2)
Westgate Heritage Centre. The next talk entitled “The
Waterplanes come to Westgate” takes place on Saturday 7th June at
10.30am at St Saviour’s Church. The centre is open on Wednesday and Saturday
mornings during the summer.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
1)
TV Reception.
Stephanie Sutton had been informed by Sir Roger Gale MP that technicians
are working in the area. The chairman
asked members which roads had been suffering with poor reception, and a list of
such roads was made.
2)
Temporary Fence at Lockwoods Yard Site. Chris Wyer told the meeting that the
enforcement officer had said that replacement of the fence with a brick wall
similar to the original one had gone to appeal, and the costs of enforcing this
could be considerable. Tom King thanked
Chris Wyer for dealing with this and had also been informed that the fence is
only temporary.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Monday 9th June 2014
at the Westbrook Bowls Club.
There being no further business,
Tom King thanked all for attending and the meeting concluded at 8.47pm.
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