Minutes - May 2009

Surrey Gardens TRA General Meeting
Minutes
12 May 2009

In attendance: Tony (Chair), Cath (Treasurer), Katy (Secretary), Marcus, John, Jenny, Melissa, Andrew, Paul

Apologies: Megan, Pete, Abbas

1. Chair opened meeting

2. Chair’s report:

• Tony has posted a few things on the blog including a notice on the flower sale being held at Walworth Garden Farm every weekend in May – Saturday and Sunday (around 10am – 3pm) and also a post on the Food Up Front project as presented by Mary at the previous meeting
• The CGS team were holding their Councillors meeting this evening and would soon be reporting back
• Fr. Grahame has e-mailed to say renovation work on the ball court within the grounds of the church is to begin on 1st June and will take 3 weeks to complete

2. Treasurer’s report:

• Cath reported that we had now been credited with our tenants fund. The balance on the TRA account now stands at over £5,000, some of which will have to be put aside to pay insurance for the year ahead

3. Possible projects to be funded:

• The meeting discussed ideas for using our fund. Suggestions made:
• Katy proposed a historical board somewhere in the area (perhaps Paisley Park if we get permission from the council) to explain the interesting history of the area. Katy said she would investigate costings
• John suggested renovating the centre mosaic circle in the park, replacing with hard wearing granite blocks. Marcus agreed to get three quotes to see how much this might cost
• Katy suggested an Art in My Area Competition for the neighbourhood children to win a prize. This could include any kind of art – drawings, paintings, poems, photographs etc – which reflect something about the Surrey Gardens area, either how the children themselves view and experience the place or its historical background. It was suggested the winners would have their entries displayed on the electricity sub-station in the square’s park, replacing the older artwork there. It was agreed that this should be done in collaboration with local schools for children aged 9-11 (Years 5 & 6). Marcus volunteered to contact the heads of four local schools (John Ruskin, St Paul’s, Keyworth and Crampton) to see if they would be willing to take part and to obtain suggestions as to what might make a suitable prize. Meeting agreed the competition would be run after the summer break – entries to be submitted by October 1st – and the children would win a certificate and small prize while the school would benefit from some kind of donation

4. Any other business:

• Michael Maloney is no longer our Resident Involvement Officer at Southwark council. He has been replaced by Chuks Amaechi
• The Summer Party – To be held on July 14th. Meeting agreed to get some kind of entertainment for the children. Cath volunteered to look into the possibility of hiring a bouncy castle. Katy will make the flyers and food will be finger food bought by M&S by Tony. We will also look into the possibility of having music on the day
• Meeting agreed for Treasurer to pay insurance for the park
• Paul raised the issue of a local resident who regularly throws bread outside for the pigeons. It was suggested that this could be an environmental health problem since the bread may attracts rats, and that possibly environmental health at the council might be able to help
  

5. Next meeting – general meeting to be held in St Paul’s Church, Lorrimore Square at 7.30pm on 9th June. This meeting will not be leafleted, but will be advertised on the TRA website – with e-mail and text reminders sent to those who have signed up for this

6. Thanks from The Chair and close