Grays Central Community Forum

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday May 12^th, 2009

Attended: Ursula Garwood, Vivienne Wright, Geoffrey Nathan, Kingsley Edore, B. Monk, C. Keeble, Ross Bannister, Claire Bannister, Colin Baker, E McCabe, M Curran, E Cunningham, Irene Lewsey,

Apologies: Cllr. Gupta, Cllr Harris

1. Meeting opened at 7.30pm, All welcomed.
2. Apologies: Cllr Gupta, Cllr Harris
3. Agreed minutes of last meeting

4. Matters arising:

a. Clarification of ‘No crime in the Area’ Discussion ensued. Mrs Monk brought evidence to show some evidence of crime.

b. Bark Chippings bought from Garden Centre, Chadwell road and will be laid Tuesday May 19^th.

c. Piggs Corner Furniture. Funding agreed, Price negotiated and items ordered. To be delivered shortly. Inform to Thurrock Gazette when in place.

5. Items for Discussion:

a. The sign for Memorial Gardens is in place but the wording is difficult to see. Decision made to seek pricing to fill in back of sign to highlight lettering. RB to run past Carol Spencer with reference to supplier.

b. Hathaway Road Park – Playday booked for 11^th August 2009.

c. GN discussed the Heritage litter bins and general discussion about bins around the place. Who do we talk to about the situation? Bins near Hathaway Road shops? Recycling Bins? GN to discuss with council about the possibility of new bins in the Grays forum area.

d. Bar and Bus – Letter received. Read out by CB. The request to help funding towards a youth bus that will park up and support the young people in the area, every Tuesday night. The indications show that where the bus has been used successfully, there has been a reduction of incidents. Aimed at 11 – 19 year olds. Group discussed the merits of the scheme and opinion was that it was a good idea. A suggestion made that the group check to see if funding could be received from the Community Safety Board. Also as it is a shared resource that has scope for use by more than one forum, the suggestion was made for the group to approach other forums. Proposal to donate £500, agreed by the meeting.

6. Chairs Report

a. Playbuilders Scheme; possibility for funding in the next phase of the scheme. The funding will be used in Grays Town Park. Play Equipment aimed at 8 - 13 year olds. Still in planning stages. Meeting asked that GN keeps us informed of the progress of this scheme.

b. GN informed us that he had attended a range of meetings.

7. Correspondence

None received

8. Finance and Funding

Report given by Treasurer

9. Any Other Business:

a. Grass cutting at the Memorial Park. Concerned about the poor quality job completed by the council.

b. Hathaway Road Park- Grass cutting completed- concerns raised about the long grass left near fencing, concerned that it could become a fire hazard.

10. Election of Forum Officers:

This took place and the following positions were assigned:

Chair: Geoffrey Nathan

Secretary: Claire Bannister

Treasurer: Ross Bannister

Committee: Ursula Garwood, Vivienne Wright, Colin Baker, Jean Dexter

11. AOB:

a. Kingsley Edore Report: Burglary in Kent Road.

Victim support/crime prevention

Mrs Monk raised an issue that Kingsley did not know about. Informed that it is a reoccurring issue. Criminal damage on hanging baskets. Kingsley informed the meeting that he deals with issues that are serial rather than individual ones. CB asked about crime figures; Grays South is the highest. CB feels that the area is safe, particularly compared to some other areas.

b. Think about areas for support for this year and bring suggestions to next meeting.

c. Bring suggestions on how to raise attendance to next meeting.

d. Make posters to advertise forum. Forum feel that leaflet drops do not work.

e. RB informed meeting that TBC advises us that Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme have received their money.

f. Benches: Cllr Morris is still looking for the benches!

12. Next Meeting:

Tuesday June 9^th , 2009 7.30 pm

Grays Baptist Church Hall, Hathaway Road, Grays.

Meeting closed 8.45pm