May 14th 2007 - meeting minutes

Loaves and Fishes sculpture by John Skelton, Brighthelm Church and Community Centre

Photo by Peter Crowhurst

Interesting talk on car clubs

By Sara Bragg, NLCA joint Secretary

Apologies:

Mark Erickson, Elly Hargreave, Gabrielle Villermet, Paley O'Connor, Francis Clark-Lowes, Peter Stocker, Jill Pollard, the PCSOs, Cllr Ian Davey.  Welcome to Mick (Marlborough Place) and Carole (Portland St).  18 people attended the meeting.

Matters arising:

Bruce Smith will follow up on the issue of the gated alley in Orange Row; Peter Crowhurst will write re the London Road regeneration 'consultation'.

Main topic:

Stuart Croucher from the Council gave a very interesting talk on car clubs - a system of short term car hire, where cars are available in their own parking space within a few minutes' walk of your house. They are bookable on the phone or internet and mean you can have a car available without paying for a parking permit, MOT, road tax, repairs, petrol... etc.  No use, no fee tariffs are available too.  Longer term journeys may be cheaper via a car hire company like Avis, but some car club companies also offer deals. Action: Peter Crowhurst agreed to write a Runner article about car clubs and Richard Horsler a 'user's perspective' piece to supplement it.

Planning:

-          Queen's Road hotel - rejected by Planning; developers have reapplied
-          75 Trafalgar St - GB Liners - have resubmitted plans for mansards.
-          36 Gloucester Road, opposite Inside/Out café: this empty property has been advertised as having A3 (restaurant) use and there is some concern that it might be used as a takeaway. However the owner never properly applied for this use.  NLCA would object if it were applied for, on grounds of waste disposal, unsuitable location for a takeaway etc.
-          Borderline Records, Gardner Street - seeking retrospective permission for foldable doors on shopfront. NLCA objected originally as inappropriate, loss of traditional shopfront.
-          Badger, Bond St - new grilles - NLCA will object to loss of traditional shutters.
-          Church Street / Portland Street development - a resident asked question about the height as the development goes as far as Windsor Street. It was felt that the current plan is less offensive than others from previous years that do have approval, but NLCA will support the objection to the height, which would block natural sunlight to houses on Windsor Street.
-          Kevin Daly suggested solar panels as a topic for debate at a future meeting.  Action: agreed to look for possible speakers.
-          Bruce Smith, our Living Street representative, reported a letter from Highways about New Road. Proposed speed limit of 20mph is too high given that it is now used by pedestrians who may not realise it is not formally a pedestrianised street.

Licensing:

Fountainhead pub, Cheltenham Place: NLCA objected to its hours, but were told that our objection was inappropriate, as the hours had already been approved. However, some conditions were put on.

Roy Skam had also attended a meeting between the Council, Police and amenity associations. The DCMS had invited comments on a consultation document by 11 April, so he and Gabrielle Villermet were asked by the Council to respond: they commented that (a) there should be an examination of the cumulative impact of licensing; (b) licensing hearings should not be heard until planning was granted, as sometimes the conditions imposed have been different; and (c) the definition of 'within the vicinity' under which people can object to noise should be extended, as currently it covers only a very small area.  Roy and Gabrielle were thanked for doing this. Roy commented that it is now easier to complain about pubs breaking the conditions of their licences and the Council has a legal duty to have a hearing within 28 days if you do.

Reports:

No traders report, no Brighton Society report.  Theatre group outings were listed.

Fundraising and social events:

Sara has been trying to get traders to stock our postcards, with varying degrees of success.

We have been contacted by the new owner of Pokeno Pies offering space for community events. There was a discussion about combining this with Cocovino's offer to host a wine tasting event, possibly in October. Action: Peter Crowhurst to follow up on this.

Any other business:

-          Car-free day: Sara Bragg proposed Tidy Street and Over Street as possible venues for a car-free event/street party in September and the meeting approved this.  Action: Sara to apply to the Council for a grant for this.
-          Older People's Council: the elections for this were mentioned and those eligible to vote were encourage to do so.