Silchester Residents’ Asociation AGM
Thursday May 12th 2016
7pm Silchester Residents’ Rooms
Present: Derek White (Chair), Jo Poole (minutes), Eman Yosry (treasurer), Judith Blakeman (Councillor Notting Dale Ward), Simon Rabone (Neighbourhood Officer), Robin Lawrence (neighbourhood engagement officer), Alex Bosman (TMO Contracts Manager), Gary Thomas (Westway Trust) Margaret Payne, Jean Haley, Maxine Haley, Louisa Hiett, Brenda Mercer, Ibrahim Abdiazuz Ahmedjees, Abdan, Patricia O’Sullivan, Nahid Ashby, Ubah Garinele, Besnik Rika, Luiza Rika, Asha Hussein, Virginia Day (Bramley House), Lina Lens, Sharon Price (Bramley House), Charles Day (Bramley House), Remi Alexander, Patricia O’Sullivan, Kenrick Greene, Tracey Simmons, Jade Esdoule, Yonas Hagos, Mary White, Ritesh Singh (MoreWest) Grace Hughes, Aaret Stefanos, Almon Lnusqe, Muna Mohamed, Hibo Yusuf, Amina Graine, Patricia Buque, A Bakali, Dora Appiagyei
- Apologies for Absence
Apologies received from Claire Dewing (Lancaster West), Jackie Blancheflower (Lancaster West), John Murphy, Hannah Thomson, Cllr Atkinson, Cllr Lasharie,
- Minutes of the last AGM on 22nd July 2015
The minutes were accepted. - TMO update
Works update from Alex Bosman, (head of contracts)
a.The TMO will now be looking at the lighting on Shalfleet Drive, including additional columns. They will also look at resurfacing paths.
b.There are still issues with lifts, the lifts in Whitstable House being especially unreliable.
c.3 Darfield Way (Margaret Payne). The tenant was without hot water for 3 weeks. On contacting the TMO she was told to boil kettles to heat water. This was especially unacceptable given Mrs Payne’s age.
d.Frinstead Entrace is due to be completed May 20. The lobby decoration had been very slow, this is due to working with Mace who have repeatedly missed deadlines.
e.Playground in Waynflete Sq. This is being overhauled with new play equipment and a new surface. We have asked to be informed of such works in the future and requested it is completed and open by our Fun Day on June 4th.
f.Parking. (Abdiazuz Ahmedjees, Markland House). Due to the recent changes in estate parking he can an no longer leave the car whilst unloading shopping and taking it up to the 15th floor. He has a RBKC permit, but was still ticketed whilst unloading. Residents in other tower blocks have similar problems.
Other residents have had the same problems with parking. Those with estate permits have not all been contacted about the changes. There are also issues around MoreWest apparently using their car park (or not).
The Darfield Way loading bay has been removed in the parking re-arrangements.
Alex Bosman to take the concerns back to the TMO and someone to contact Abdiazuz. Alex will speak to the parking project manager about re-sending letters and increasing awareness of the changes in parking on the estate.
Resident engagement updates.
Silchester Residents Association is featured in the current TMO link magazine with a cover photograph and interview with Derek White (Chair).
TMO Live event on Lancaster Green this Saturday
17th September, TMO residents’ conference. You can book your place closer to the time.
Neighbourhood updates. Simon Rabone (Neighbourhood Officer)
Simon is joining us from an area near Trellick and is taking over Sera Kennedy’s role.
From Louise Nezandonyi (estate services team leader) There are still spaces in the new bicycle shelter at Whitstable House. Bramley House will soon have bicycle shelters too. Please contact her if you would like a shelter for your block.
- RA Officers reports
a.Chair
Derek expresses thanks to the rest of the committee for this unexpectedly busy year. Derek White has met with Roger Black a couple of times and spent time getting to grips with the TMO processes that effect the estate.
We had a successful funding application via our local Councillors to enable us build a website and have supporting publicity for those not online.
Derek has also been monitoring local planning applications and we have been involved in the local plan review which affects us as North Kensington evolves. This includes a cycle quietway from Acton to Kensington which will cross the estate.
b.Secretary
Since the possibility of regeneration, we have worked hard to have a public face of our estate so we can write our own story, not have other’s narratives projected onto us.
Our website is the voice of the Residents’ Association with minutes, regeneration documents and contacts for us, the council and the TMO as accessible as we can make them.
On social media we have a growing Facebook page with 250+ followers, with posts primarily about celebrating our estate, sharing regeneration news and local interest stories. Our twitter feed is mainly made up of Facebook cross posts, and has a smaller following. We also have a Flickr page for photo sharing.
Jo Poole thanked Derek White for taking on the role of Chair and keeping the RA going at a time when there was little interest and morale was low. We now have too many people in a meeting for chairs and a real need for an RA to represent us.
c.Treasurer
Treasurer’s Report
A/c balance at 22nd July 2015 £3,168.
A/c balance at 28th April 2016 £4,115.31
We have received a grant of £100 from RBKC Tenantsman, £1000 from CLLLR for the website and associated publicity and a refund from Mace for hiring rooms off site during the MoreWest building works. There is £3000 in our account for furnishing and fitting out our new Residents’ Rooms.
The TMO are running the Residents Rooms as part of K&C Places. Silchester residents have priority when it comes to using the rooms.
Former Silchester residents now living on MoreWest are still welcome to our meetings and social events, but we cannot represent them to the managing bodies of their estate. We are working on a federation of residents who live in the immediate area that would include MoreWest residents.
- Regeneration of our areaa.Piers Thompson on estate summer events
Piers Thompson is a freeholder living on Silchester Road. His house is within our estate.
Talks
A group of residents have been talking to others who live within the Regeneration Red Line, many of whom did not realize that their properties are likely to be demolished under RBKCs current favoured regeneration plan.
There are a series of talks planned to educate residents using the experiences of people who are living through regeneration elsewhere as well as industry professionals. The presentations will be short, then there will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions to those with experience.
The talks will all be at 7pm on May 17, June 7 and June 21, in the Silchester Residents’ Rooms.
They are important because we want the people who live here to participate in decisions, not be consulted by the Council down in Hornton Street. And to do that they must be informed.
Resident 1 – A man who has lived here since 1961 is concerned about the pervasive racism that still exists in this area, especially around regeneration.
Resident 2 – stated “We must start to redefine who we are in terms of our rights, and we must not acquiese our true rights”. We must assert our demands.
Resident 3 – lived here since she was 4 years old. “It was a palace. The estate has been allowed to decline.” She loves living here and demands that the council invest in the homes. Property should be built for the residents, not for outsiders.
Fun Day on June 4th. (held early this year due to Ramadan)
As a community, we are stronger together and need to get together in the spirit of fun. We the RA partner with the Latymer Community Church to have this celebration of our community, and this year will be a special focus on how much we value Waynflete Square. EVERYONE is welcome.
Open Garden Estate / inTRANSIT festival with art exhibitions and tours June 18-19
More details on this will be on leaflets over the coming weeks.
b. Westway Trust- what’s happening around the Westway.
Gary Thomas, community engagement officer (Westway Trust) meets residents and community groups and wants to hear what we think. He has encouraged us to turn up and give our views at their consultations. Consultations will be held during inTRANSIT in a different way to engage more of the community. 2 events will be held 17-25 June, on Portobello Green. There will also be a consultation around the Maxilla area.
We seek clarity on Angela McConville’s recent column in the local paper. She has clearly had high board level conversations with RBKC with information that has not been shared with us. We want any working relationship between the Silchester Residents Association and with the Westway Trust to be fully open and transparent.
- Election of Officers and Members of the Committee
| Position | Name | Nomination | Seconder |
| Chair | Derek White | Eman Yosry | Lina Lens |
| Vice-chair | Nahid Ashby | Mary White | Kenrick Green |
| Secretary | Jo Poole | Lina Lens | Derek White |
| Treasurer | Eman Yosry | Jo Poole | Nahid Ashby |
| Committee member | Jean Haley | Louisa Hiett | Maxine Haley |
| Committee member | Patricia O’Sullivan | Jo Poole | Eman Yosry |
| Committee member | Lina Lens | Eman Yosry | Piers Thompson |
| Committee member | Piers Thompson | Mary White | Eman Yosry |
| Committee member | Brenda Mercer | Derek White | Jo Poole |
| Committee member | Kenrick Greene | Nahid Ashby | Dora |
- Any Other Business
All other business had been covered elsewhere on the agenda
- Drinks and refreshments
We had a social time after the meeting with residents enjoying the gardens as well as the rooms.