`York Residents’ Federation
Thursday 19 January 2017
Minutes
Attendance:
Joanna Ingerson, Federation Chair; Geraldine Ferry, Federation Secretary;
Terry McLouglin, Dringhouses; Shirley Gumley, Foxwood; Barbara Broadbent,
Muncaster; Marj Sharp, Clifton; Geoffrey Williams, Clifton; Tammy Hullis,
Nunnery; Liz Owers, Poppleton; Frank Coverdale, Gale Farm Court; Marie
Taylor, DARA; Councillor Sue Hunter, CYC; Councillor Andrew Waller, CYC.
1. Welcome.
The meeting was opened by the Chair, Joanna Ingerson, who welcomed
everybody. Those present introduced themselves around the table and then the
Chair gave an overview of the Organising Meeting – we discussed the lack of
taxis after the Christmas meeting, the Chair had talked to the company
concerned. We talked about clashes with Full Council and Executive meetings
– this will be discussed later in the meeting. Minute taker – Geraldine has a
mini-recorder but it’s not ready yet, so will be available from the next meeting.
As we were told we had to be independent, do not want to rely on council
employees to take our minutes. Minutes will be given to Joanna and speakers
at meetings before being cascaded to the rest of the mailing list. The next
meeting is our AGM, but we discussed whether, in March, we could have a
major catch-up – to be discussed later in the meeting.
Minute
2.Correspondence
No correspondence
3. Apologies
Anne Smith, Sue Galloway, Councillor Carr
4. Minutes and Matters Arising
These were passed as a true record, no matters arising.
5. York Community Recycling Fund/Waste Issues
The Chair welcomed Councillor Andrew Waller to the meeting.
Councillor Waller gave an overview of the Fund, and its aims –
to engage people and to invite groups to submit ideas for
recycling. Deadline is 20 January 2017, but will be repeated
Action
again next year.
There are going to be some changes to recycling days for
some residents, exact details will be known by the end of
January. There need to be savings made – vehicles are being
changed and, and the way the waste is processed is going to
change.
The chair reported that, in the Groves area there had been no
improvement with some residents. Groves RA had submitted
ideas for recycling improvement – all bins together, making
enclosed areas to stop use by those from outside the area.
Education about what can be recycled and where.
Communication between residents about getting rid of large
items as a community project.
Q. How about changing the pricing structure, so that you
charge, for example, £5 for one item, slightly more for two, etc.
Q. Landfill – the new incinerator at Allerton Park when is it
opening.
A. Later this year for commercial, 2018 for domestic waste. It
is a very big facility, too big for York, so is a part of a
partnership with North Yorkshire. He then talked about
Harewood Whin and its role. Allerton Park will also have
magnets to take out cans. People will still be encouraged to
separate. What is left will be burned in a controlled way – they
are looking at the emissions carefully. There is a lot of
technology involved, much cleaner now.
Q. Recycling – council setting up a sorter at Rufforth, so that it
can be sent to whoever has bought the waste. This was at
Hessay but the owner of the site didn’t like it.
Q. Glass recycling – note on bins to say no broken glass, but it
quite often breaks when you put it in. Note to be looked into.
Q. Could the recycling teams put things through doors to
encourage those who do not recycle?
A. As they are reducing the teams, they may not have time to
do this. Others could do it, for example, an organisation called
W.R.A.P. RA’s also have a role to play.
Some members present said they have not received calendars
for waste/recycling collection. They are sent out in October.
There are ten different calendars. Can get an app via
OnePlanet York) for your phone, to remind you that your
collection will take place the following day.
Letter going to residents in March to say whether or not there
will be changes to their waste/recycling collection. For three
months after the change, there will be a team looking at any
problems. Councillor Waller will give us this information.
Q. Publicity on Waster recycling Grant application – not good.
Councillor Waller is not sure why it took so long to publicised.
More notice will be given next time.
Councillor Waller was thanked by the chair.
6. Stock Options Update – Tom Brittain.
Tom had sent a very brief response to a request for an update.
‘The only update I can give is that we are commissioning the
stock condition survey. There has been no further progress on
the stock options appraisals as we are reviewing our position
following the Government’s announcement in the Autumn
Statement.’ Those present were not happy with this statement
as discussions were meant to take place in
December/January.
7. HIEP Update
Denis gave his apologies and sent the following reply to my
invitation for him to attend – ‘There isn’t anything I’ll be able to
update on at this stage. As indicated at the last meeting I
attended on this, I’ve done the report which will go for a
decision with Councillor Carr, which is on 23 January, and it
includes the comments of the Federation and RAs. It may be
useful for me to come to the February meeting though,
following the decision and, if HIEP is accepted, how we put this
into practice with the Federation and other involved parties.’
As the February meeting is our AGM, I wrote to Denis asking
him if he would like to attend our next Organising Meeting, and
he has accepted.
Any Other Business
Meeting Dates – tried to check whether Federation
Meetings clash with Full Council/Executive Meetings – found it
very difficult. General feeling at the meeting was that it would
be difficult to change the day anyway. We would like to ask all
members to comment on this. We feel that we are not getting
the support or feedback we need or deserve. Councillor
Hunter is to get a full list. The only clash she could see was
the July meeting (30 th). The Secretary did discover that some
of the Federation meetings were on the Council’s calendar and
they were wrong. She contacted Julie, who passed on the
issue to those who deal with the calendar.
Change of Speaker at AGM – Deputy Chief Constable
Madgwick will have retired by the time of our meeting, so he
has asked Superintendent (not Inspector!) Adam Thomson to
come to our meeting instead. Please bring him your questions
– we have asked, in the Secretary’s original contact, for him to
talk about the challenges of policing in York, how the new
Antisocial Behaviour measures are being implemented here
and how RAs can assist the police in their local communities.
Poppleton RA – reported back on the lights situation in
Poppleton. She read out an email received by Poppleton
Treasurer from their Estate Manager, saying that the proposal
for lights was refused because it was on council land. This has
caused some confusion and anger as costs are available over
30 years. It was suggested that Poppleton contact their local
councilors in the first instance, with a cc to the Estate
Manager’s line manager, and the person who sent the email,
also Councillor Hunter. If this does not work, then the
Federation will look to help Poppleton with the next step. Need
to point out the safety issues around installation, keeping in
mind the incidents over the last few years near the river.
Terry informed the meeting that he will not be able to attend
the next two meetings as he is on a watercolour painting
course. The meeting wished him well.
Chase RA – does anyone know of an alternative contact as
the email provided for Anne Leggett doesn’t work? Secretary
was asked to contact Julie again to see if she did. Update –
she didn’t have another email, but I also emailed a colleague
and he did – her email address has slightly changed.
Major Catch-up Session in March – as discussed earlier, the
Chair suggested that, in March, we have a meeting where all
the panels come and give a report on their work, AND the RAs.
We also would like to hear from other Housing Associations to
see if they have anything like a Scrutiny Panel, ASB Panel etc,
so the Chair would like to invite representatives from Joseph
Rowntree, York Housing, Yorkshire Housing, Home Group,
Railway Housing etc. She read out the proposed email – this
was approved. Local contacts due to our funding, would cost
too much to spread the net wider. Also includes complaints
panels.
There being no other business, the meeting closed.
Next Federation meeting is on Thursday, 16 February 2017 at 6.30pm
in West Offices.
Organising Meeting on Thursday, 2 February 2017 at 10.00am at
West Offices.