Minutes of the Thirtieth Annual General Meeting of The Warriston Resident’s Association held on 20th October 2010, at the Goldenacre Bowling Club's Clubhouse, Warriston Gardens, Edinburgh.
Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Shirley Gladstone
The Chairman, Mr. Norman Jack welcomed twenty six residents.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
The Association Secretary, Mr. Watson read a precis of the proceedings of the previous Annual General Meeting held on 7th October 2009.
Adoption of the minutes was proposed and seconded from the floor by Miss MacDonald and Captain Irvine . The Chairman Signed the Minutes.
Chairman's Report
1. " It gives me much pleasure to welcome you all here this evening, particularly anyone who is new to the district. Welcome also to Councillor Whyte, along with guests Professor Busitil, Professor of Forensic Medecine at the University of Edinburgh and Lisa Toon of the Association of Neighbourhood Watches. Both these guests will be speaking to you shortly and Prof. Busitil will relate some of his experiences as a Forensic Pathologist.
2. One of our main aims as an Association is to assist in the prevention of crime and I'm glad to say , that since our last AGM, there have been no reports of any break-ins or burglaries which means I have very little to say on this topic other than to thank our Neighbourhood Watch Convenor, Capt. Derek Irvine and his Co-ordinators for their work throughout the year. I am quite sure that the Neighbourhood Watch has a lot to do with the fact that we are almost a crime free area. I look forward to Ms Toon's contribution this evening.
However, a case was reported of a lady resident, living on her own, being visited by men claiming to be Council Officials and offering to check on her home security, gaining access to the house and departing with the lady's purse containing a substantial sum of money. If every person in the district had a Nominated Neighbour nearby to whom all unknown callers could first be referred, there would be far less incidences of this sort of despicable crime.
We were informed of a Police report of an investigation into the unlawful felling of trees on the Walkway immediately to the south of the cemetery access bridge at the end of the Gardens, so this matter is now out of the hands of the WRA Committee.
The Committee will be totally supportive if any resident or residents wish to complain about anti-social behaviour. We heard of a family whose young children were kept awake at night by intrusive noise from adjacent residents but I believe that this matter has been resolved by the intervention of Council Officials.
Unsightly graffiti in Eildon Street and elsewhere continues to be a problem. Offenders probably live locally and the Police inform us that the best way of prevention is for everyone to keep a good look out and report at once if anyone is spraying paint.
Councillor Whyte, who has attended most of our Committee meetings, has been instrumental in arranging for the worst of the graffiti to be removed.
3. Your Committee has continued to press the Council for an extension of the double yellow lines northward by twenty five metres to allow better sighting of oncoming traffic
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for motorists exiting on to Inverleith Row at the junction with Warriston Gardens. In this
we were grateful for the support of Councillor Whyte, but our request was turned down by Council officials on the grounds that the present layout is standard for this type of junction. A similar situation also exists at the west end of the Drive.
Councillor Whyte was also helpful in organising a temporary repair to the dangerous potholes developing in the Drive although a more permanent solution is required here.
4. Members of the Committee have been invited to meet our local Westminster MP Mark Lazarowicz to discuss the closure of the Goldenacre Post Office and the possibility of setting up a smaller Post Office in one of the existing Goldenacre shops. This would provide basic services and would obviate the need for most people to go all the way to Canonmills. Bill Tait, our Treasurer is the moving force behind this initiative.
5. Thanks also to Councillor Whyte, the City Council has responded promptly to our request to have the local road grit bins filled in plenty of time for the coming of winter.
An additional bin has been placed at the west end of the Gardens for use on the Walkway ramp. In the event of wintry weather, there is no legal requirement for residents to clear snow from the pavements outside their front doors and the placing of road grit may prevent any nasty accidents.
The Council has also satisfactorily carried out local weed killing and the grass verge on the upper path between the gardens and Ferry Road has been weeded and trimmed.
6. Members of your Committee have recently been representing the Association at City of Edinburgh Neighbourhood Partnership meetings for the District of Inverleith. At these meetings, delegates give their opinions on such matters as new sporting facilities for children and young people in Inverleith Park, road maintenance, the safety of elderly people, particularly those living on there own, management of litter, control of dog fouling allocation of Community Grants for small projects and many other items.
Committee members also represented us at a City Council "budget summit meeting" at which delegates were asked to give their views on just exactly where the Council should start to cut their budget by £ 90 million pounds over the next three years which it is required to do.
Delegates voted, amongst other things, in favour of a fortnightly instead of a weekly rubbish collection: of shorter Library opening hours: of reduced funding for road repairs.
There was no support however for an introduction of charges at local authority schools for extra curricular activities such as the teaching of music.
I'm afraid that we do not have time at the moment for questions from the floor on these topics but I am sure that Committee members Rachel Vardy and Anne-Marie Newman will be pleased to discuss any points over coffee afterwards.
7. Yet another of your Committee members has been working on a submission to the Council requesting a Community Grant for a proposal to construct a set of steps at the foot of the access ramp from Warriston Gardens to the lower Walkway/cycle path and to trim trees and tidy and plant out the unsightly triangular plot of land at this point which has been neglected over the years. Any questions on this matter can be addressed to Alastair Watson on conclusion of the meeting.
8. At this point I would like to thank our Treasurer, Bill Tait, for organising an most enjoyable outing for ten residents on 18th May to Mrs Anne Buxton's Garden in
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Murrayfield Road. I hope another outing may be organised in the year to come and perhaps more residents will come along.
Finally a thank you to Councillor Whyte for devoting time, interest and support to the activities of our Association. "
Mr. Jack then intimated that, if required, he would be willing to act as WRA Chairman for another year.
He then handed the meeting over to Mr. Bill Tait, the Association Treasurer
Treasurer’s Report
Mr. Tait read a summary of the accounts which had already been published in the September 2010 Newsletter.
Mr. Tait advised the meeting of the donation box at the Clubhouse door and that any financial contributions would be welcomed.
The accounts were audited by Anne-Marie and Keith Newman and their adoption was proposed by Alastair Watson and seconded by Marion Cook.
Mr. Tait thanked Corry Hastings for his illustration in the newsletter advertising Prof. Busitil's talk.
Election of Office Bearers
Mr. Bill Tait rose and paid tribute to Mr. Norman Jack and his sterling work as Chairman of the Association - an office he had held since October 2003.
Mr. Tait thanked him on behalf of the residents for the considerable time and effort that he had dedicated to the post.
Mr .Tait then proposed that Mr. Norman Jack continue as Chairman of the Association and this proposal was seconded from the floor by Captain Irvine. Mr. Jack was duly re-elected as Chairman.
The remaining existing Committee members were willing to serve for a further year and would continue in office unless there were any objections.
This proposal was accepted by the meeting.
Policing of the Warriston Area
No report from the Police was forthcoming this year
Any Other Business
The Chairman introduced our ward Councillor Iain Whyte who commented on the following topics:
Having been in attendance at his Party Conferencee last year he had been unable to attend the AGM and he thanked Councillor Allan Jackson for standing in for him.
The problem of the lack of sightlines at the end of the Gardens and Drive was difficult to resolve and he had discussed the extension of double yellow lines with the appropriate Council officials who consider the existing situation adequate.
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He had forwarded our complaints about road potholes and reported that the Council are trying out a system of " right first time " repairs starting at the south of the City and shortly in the Inverleith area. This involves the excavation of potholes and the laying of hot bitumen mastic instead of just filling in the existing hole. He encouraged residents to report to him with any further complaints about the condition of roads and pavements.
Concerning the application for an improvement grant for the overgrown area at the foot of the Goldenacre Path access ramp, he had discussed the matter with the Road Manager involved but it appears that this area does not appear on Council records and no further action can be taken until Council ownership is established.
The Trinity Park site has now been sold to Cala Management Ltd and public pre-planning application consultations are to be held on 12th and 13th November at the site sales office in respect of the revised proposals for sixty eight house units and thirteen flats. Councillor Whyte urged residents to drop in and see the revised scheme which will reduce the traffic generation which would have been created by the previous larger proposal.
Guest Speakers
The Chairman stressed the importance of our Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and how he was convinced that it had contributed greatly to the reduction of crime in our area. He then introduced Lisa Toon of the Association Of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes.
Lisa then spoke of the history of the Association which had been started in 2006 with the aim of providing support and guidance to the Scottish NW Schemes. She is the only full time employee and has spent time since the beginning in establishing a data base covering all the Schemes along with the institution of a web site and text service.
Better relationships are being established with the Police and Local Authorities.
The Association acts as a middleman between the public and these bodies and the main aim is to raise awareness amongst residents of the various ways of keeping premises safe.
Electronic crime and fraud is on the increase and Lisa sends out details of reported incidences to the local Scheme administrators.
There are around fifteen hundred Schemes in Scotland but more are required and the Association is ready to help with the setting up of new Schemes. Booklets, leaflets and window stickers are all available.
To assist with an effective response to criminal activity is a priority of the Association.
The Government has provided funding for Schemes to be set up in areas of
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high crime and multiple deprivation in order to assist the Police.
Informative newsletters and e-mail reports will be issued at least monthly which are available to the NW Schemes and the public.
The Chairman thanked Lisa for her discourse and introduced Prof. Tony Busitil who delivered a highly entertaining and amusing talk on the subject of his life and times as a forensic pathologist .
Chairman’s Concluding Remarks
Mr Jack then brought the meeting to a close, once again pointing out that there was one place to be filled on the Committee and that any resident who felt they could make a contribution to its workings should apply for election.
On behalf of the Committee, he offered thanks to Goldenacre Bowling Club for the use of their premises and to Councillor Jackson for attending.
He thanked the Committee members for their support during the year and those residents who provided the catering for the AGM.
Resident Margot Simpson, from the floor noted that she was involved in the "Wool for Hats" appeal and would welcome any contributions of wool or woollen garments that could be made into hats for children and older people in Belarousse.
Those attending then had the usual opportunity to meet informally and discuss matters over tea and sandwiches.