11th Dec 2014

Minutes of a meeting of The Garrison Residents' Association held at 83 Gunners' Rise on 11/12/14

Present

• Scott James (Chairman)
• Adrian Walker (Hon Secretary)
• Michel Kennedy
• Jamie Robinson
• Viv Byczinsky
• Viv Jones
• Daniel Puddick

Apologies

• Jonathan Hunnable
• Phil Coombe
• Ian Dally
• Neil Hurrell 
• Cliff Marshall
• Helen Parke

Minutes

Minutes of the 2014 AGM were approved.

Scott James welcomed the committee members and described the recent meeting he had with members of The Friends Of Shoebury Common to discuss flood defences. He confirmed the current plans would not be going ahead.

Lighting

Viv Byczynski said lighting maintenance on the site was usually efficient, but hoped the sundry lights promised by George Cronin would be installed. She believes this would discourage anti-social behaviour in the vicinity of Mess Road.

Coastal Path

Michael Kennedy said the coastal path in front of the Outlook Apartments is a public right of way and he had spoken in the past to councillors about the lighting in the vicinity, which has been vandalised in the past and that it was unfair that residents should be expected to pay for its maintenance. Councillors Assenheim and Hadley had agreed some time ago that the council should be responsible, but since no progress has been made since, It was agreed we should make a formal proposal to SBC on the matter.

Cricket pitch

Daniel Puddick asked about lighting on the cricket pitch. SJ said two lights had been reported as being out of order, along with some missing chains on the perimeter; the latter have since been replaced by SBC, who are responsible for the cricket pitch. VB suggested a site map should be posted on the GRA website explaining which roads and other areas were and were not adopted, so residents would be aware of who was responsible for what. This was agreed.

New managing agents

SJ suggested the GRA should have a copy of the new agreement and said he would obtain one.

Park ranger

VB said a new ranger has been appointed and is currently going through the induction process. She said it was a big job for one man despite help from enthusiastic volunteers; she explained his responsibilities included Gunners' Park and the SSSI, which is an ancient coastal sand dune. Jamie Robinson suggested in that case, it should form part of the opposition's argument against the proposed new housing development in Gunners's Park.

Dog nuisance

Michael Kennedy asked about dog fouling and VB replied that the previous park ranger had been very aware of damage cause by dogs, particularly as two cygnets had been killed in recent years. Adrian Walker said dogs frequently fouled his front garden and bags of dog mess had been thrown over his wall. He had reported this to police, who were investigating. Daniel Puddick said he would be happy to erect cameras in the area.

New SGMCL board directors

SJ said there were seven members of the new board who would be taking up their responsibilities shortly.

Short- medium- and long-term goals for the GRA 

SJ suggested the quarterly newsletter should be revived and was surprised there was so little active social media operating in The Garrison. AW said he would welcome such a thing only if it were well policed with no anonymous postings allowed. JR suggested polling residents for their views on the newsletter and social media. Viv Jones said another organisation to which he belongs had tried communicating through social media without much success. SJ said he would investigate the subject.

SJ brought up the idea of social events to encourage communication between residents and JR offered to host tennis events once the new courts were ready in the spring. Another suggestion was for a summer fete. VJ said it was a shame there would be no social venue found for post carol-concert drinks this year and said we should ensure one was found for next year.

Mention was made of the 'open garden' event, held by Sharon and Richard Spence in the summer under the auspices of the RHS, followed a couple of weeks later by a musical evening, both of which had been highly successful. It was suggested we could have a number of gardens open on the same day, but AW said an attempt to organise such an event a couple of years ago had met with some apathy. 

AW warned against the danger of exploitation of The Garrison by outside interests, many of whom seem to regard the site as a kind of theme park, to be used as a dumping ground for their own, usually not well thought through, ideas and often without reference to the residents. This, coupled with the fact that, so far, every commercial interest on the site had breached planning restrictions, to the detriment of the residents, meant we should continue to be vigilant in defence of the residents' interests.

JR proposed we canvas residents for their views on what they wanted from the GRA.

Location of future GRA meetings

SJ said the owner of the Shoebury Hotel had offered to host future meetings which he felt would prove a convivial venue. AW said the headmistress of Hinguar School had generously hosted the meetings during 2014 free of charge and it would be a pity to sever this useful connection. It was agreed to alternate between the two.

Drill shed

In response to a question about this site, AW said the owners, B2C, had ignored a number of planning restrictions and their HGVs are by far the heaviest users of the Garrison private roads, while still resisting what the GRA considers a fair share of the estate charges. Approaches had been made to the authorities about the beaches of planning restrictions without much success, but the new managing agents had indicated they will take stronger action against the company, which also owns the Garrison spa, also the target of complaints  since it opened.

Viv Byczynski reminded the meeting that at the recent AGM, Councillor Assenheim assured the meeting he would take seriously such breaches of planning consents and Scott James said he would be happy for her to pursue the matter with him.

Rifle shed

Mike Kennedy reminded the meeting it was now a year since this building was sold and residents in the area were concerned about its future. The owner has declared his wish to develop the site as a two-bedroom dwelling and to concrete over the frontage for parking. MK suggested the owner be approached by the GRA with a view to purchasing or renting the site, possibly foe use as an office by the new managing agents or the new ranger.

Chapel

Southend Educational Trust, owners of the chapel, had not responded to either C&M or the GRA's requests for information on the future of the chapel. Since its abandonment last year, concerns had increased about the deteriorating condition of the site and the owners' failure to comply with planning consents.  The owners had indicated earlier this year their intention to apply for permission to use the site as a venue for weddings etc. and the GRA had expressed opposition to this at the time. Furthermore, the GRA has been told SET could apply for change of use early next year and this opens up all kinds of possible outcomes. It is hoped the new managing agents will be able to prise open the lid of this potential can of worms.

Website

JR's suggestion to post a site map to make it easier for visitors to find their way around The Garrison was agreed.

New development proposals

At the request of the Chairman VB outlined the history of Garrison Developments' application for 172 dwellings and 1500 sq.m. of office space on the old Gunners' Park. The original application had been deferred from May after 40 objections, based largely on flood issues, had been received by SBC. The application was brought back with only one week's notice and only one yellow notice posted in the vicinity. At that meeting, Cliff Marshall spoke against the proposal on the basis of the displacement of water issue but the GRA's objection was against the whole concept. Due to the fierce opposition generally, councillors rejected the application by 11-5. Those in favour did so mainly due to the perceived need for SBC to meet its house-building target but planning officers said they would need a technical reason for rejection, despite the strength of opposition. 

Councillor Anne Chalk had asked objectors in an email what they would accept in terms of numbers, but VB said it was not up to the opposition but to the local authorities and government agencies to make the case against. . SJ asked if we could request a deferral till after the sea defences were finished, but it was important to reply to Cllr. Chalk's email by 20/12/14, as she had requested. He added he couldn't see the commercial viability of the business units since others in the area had taken years to sell and some were still standing empty.

Discussion of the new development continued for 40 minutes, centred on the best way to plan a GRA strategy and co-ordinate with other groups in our efforts.

The meeting ended at 9.50 pm with various members agreeing to take on specific tasks related to the planning debate.