AGM: 2020

Present

• Matthew Barlow (MB) - Chair
• Charlotte Smith (CS) - Vice Chair
• John Gilbody (JG) - Chair
• Tracey Gilbody (TG) - Secretary
• Carol Robson (CR) - Member
• Phil Steer (PS) - Member

Apologies

• Luke Streeting (LS) - Vice Chair

Additional notes

The meeting was opened by the chair who gave his report of the previous year.

Chairman's report

The last AGM was in December 2018 and since then WGRA has continued to work hard delivering value to residents.

2019 has been a tough year for the committee and I would like to offer my thanks to Lauran Burton who has been the treasurer since 2014 for all of the time and effort she has committed to WGRA.

I would like to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am to our current committee members for the past year who have also been members for many years John and Tracey Gilbody and Charlotte Smith for the time, effort and dedication that have put into WGRA this last year and beyond.

The year’s events we have run or supported have all been really successful and brilliant for the community, starting with our Easter Egg Hunt (our most popular one yet), Competition to create our Summer 'Welcome To Woolley Grange' sign, our Summer Event and Scarecrow event, Halloween and of course our Christmas event.

We also ran a Holiday Summer Camp for children who live on Woolley Grange and surrounding areas offering support for parents over the summer school holidays, which was attended by many children and had lots of positive feedback. Something we hope we will be able to repeat this year as the summer holiday this year spans 7 weeks.

We listened to residents and changed the rules of the Facebook group and this was a big decision for us to make. However, the benefit of residents being able to post without delay is a big win. We do need help maintain the membership of the group to just residents, so if you do know of people who have moved on and forgotten to leave the group please let us know so we can remove them.

Two of our committee members, John & Tracey have continued to take on the dedicated role of liaising with RMG be to very active partners with WGRA and RMG. We facilitate a residents meeting between RMG and the Residents, which was most well attended residents meeting I have seen. There is still a lot of work to ahead with RMG, at the recent RMG AGM it was announced a new company will be maintaining the open areas, so this transition from one company to another is something we will need to monitor.

Looking forward into 2020 we have some exciting plans ahead.

We have already published the dates for the events we are holding this year, the first being our popular Easter Egg Hunt around Woolley Grange.

Today we are unveiling our new WGRA Constitution and this will set the framework for our future.

I would like to thank one of our residents who independently took a view of this constitution and invested a huge amount of time helping us write it. Thank you, Luke Streeting, for your time and effort in putting this constitution together.

The focus is very much about working in partnership with residents and being as communicative and transparent as possible. Recently you will have received a flyer asking for someone to help WGRA deliver on communication.

We will hold to residents’ meetings per year and continue to ask residents for their views. We will publish minutes from our committee meetings in a bid to keep you more informed. All minutes will be stored on the Woolley Grange website.

This year we are focussing on increasing the health and wellbeing of residents on Woolley Grange, making the most out of the wonderful open spaces we have on Woolley Grange.

We are in the early stages of negotiations with the landowners to make use of the space at the bottom of the driveway for a number of projects which would include raised veg patches, an orchard. We have applied to our Parish Council for funding for benches for Woolley Grange, one being a picnic bench situation on the Semi Circle on the Grange, or on the grass verge opposite where people can take a picnic on a nice day with our vision in relation to health and wellbeing. But this is the type of thing where we would like to hear from residents with any ideas you might have of what we could do on Woolley Grange.

Part of this is also utilising the money Bovis Homes put into a fund, under an agreement called the S106. WGRA looked into this a few years ago and put a lot of energy in canvassing opinion and looking at options, this year we have picked this up once again and we have Andrew Woodhead from Wakefield Council here tonight to discuss this and the next steps with us all.

Also, this year we will work with RMG to ensure better value from the Service Charge and more transparency, continue to partner with local businesses, organisations close to Woolley Grange like the Parish Council, Local Council, Woolley Miners Cricket Club, Dane Royd PTA etc. Continue to hold events on Woolley Grange and try and improve them as much as possible.

However, the main focus of the committee will be to benefit residents of Woolley Grange and this is done in many ways. The Facebook Group is a fantastic communication tool and most of the time is used in a positive way. To foster ideas like the Woolley Grange Library, Running Clubs and the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

However, this cannot be done without help and support from residents. Again, may I thank Luke for his contribution to Constitution and help with accessing the S106 agreement fund.

Finally, and once again I would like to thank the committee members for all of the effort and input given in 2019. Thank you, Charlotte, Laura, John and Tracey.

A question was asked in relation the location of the benches outlined in the chairs report.

The meeting was informed that the committee had been in contact with Mr Luke Devine who owns the semi-circle of land halfway down the hill and he has agreed to allow WGRA to place the benches on this land for the use of the residents. An application has been submitted to Woolley Parish Council for a grant towards the cost of the benches and picnic tables. This will be before the Parish Council in March.

Accounts and Treasurer's report

An up-to-date income and expenditure document had been produced for attendees, this showed the accounts for 2018/2019. There is a surplus in the account of £9387.96 - this was the Lottery Grant for the Summer Camp 2019.

A depreciation of £44.83 was shown on the accounts, it was explained this was the depreciation value of one of WGRA’s assets, this being the marque used for events.

Also, the accounts showed an income of £4005.00 from the beer festival sponsorship and an expenditure of the same amount to Dan Jennings. He is the organiser of the beer festival.

The current balance for the WGRA account is £2311.18.

It was agreed that future AGM’s would be held in mid-April each year which would enable people to have an up to date and current overview of the accounts.

Election of committee

All the committee members stated they were happy to continue with their current roles and acting roles. No one had expressed an interest in being nominated for the posts.

• Chair: Matthew Barlow. Proposed by: Tracey Gilbody, seconded by: John Gilbody
• Vice Chair: Charlotte Smith. Proposed by: Matthew Barlow, seconded by: Tracey Gilbody
• Treasurer: John Gilbody. Proposed by: Charlotte Smith, seconded by: Tracey Gilbody
• Secretary: Tracey Gilbody. Proposed by: John Gilbody, seconded by: Charlotte Smith.

New constituion and Three-year plan

It was outlined that the constitution had been updated and amended as the previous one was out of date. The focus for the constitution was towards resident engagement and improved communication.

A copy of the constitution was given to the attendees for them to read and comment upon. All parties read the document and agreed its content which was duly signed by the chair and the treasurer.

The 3-year vision for the community was discussed, the main aim of the plan was to make Woolley Grange a good place to live and bring the community together. The main focus of the plan was health and wellbeing of the residents, with key outcomes of creating a platform for residents to come together and build a sustainable sense of community. Also, to maximise the impact of fundraising, local grant applications etc.

A document had been produced outlining the vision, key outcomes and key priorities, which include, seating areas, community orchards, community gardens and growing beds along with many other projects.

It was agreed that this document would be posted on the Woolley Grange Facebook page and the web site to allow all residents to have sight of it and give their opinion.

It was appreciated that not everything on the plan will be for everyone and may not be immediately achievable.

One item in the WGRA support resource was the purchase of the leasehold, one resident is presently carrying out this process and informed the meeting that although the cost of the purchase was not substantial the legal costs were. Once the process has been completed the resident will post on the Facebook page the process of the application and the costings.

Section 106 money

The section 106 money is an amount of money given by the developers of Woolley Grange to the local council in respect of the future provision of village community facilities for Woolley Colliery Village and Woolley Grange.

Andrew Woodhead from Wakefield council attendee the meeting with an update in relation to this money.

He informed the meeting there was £50884.92 held in a Section 106 holding account. The planning department would hold this money until WGRA submit a business plan for the proposed projects. If the proposal fulfils the council criteria, then the monies will be released to WGRA.

An application had been made for this money several years ago, but it was felt the suggestions did not fit the criteria and therefore the money was not released.

Andrew Woodhead has agreed to liaise closely with WGRA to assist in the release of the funds.

WGRA are to submit a proposal to the council in line with the 3-year plan following consultation with the residents.

Defibrillator update

Carole Robson updated the meeting in relation to this matter. Woolley Parish council have purchased a defibrillator for Woolley village which is situated on the conservatory at the Village Hall. The next one to be fitted is at Woolley Grange the proposed site is on the spine road near to the apartments block, however permission is required as it is proposed to fit this to a lamp post.

Haigh crossroads udpate

A meeting took place recently in relation to the issues at the crossroads and the number of road traffic accidents. All ideas were discussed, and it is believed the only option available is the installation of traffic lights. The cost of this is £95,000, however a decision has not been agreed as to where this money would come from. Carole Robson will continue to update Woolley Grange Facebook page with the progress of this matter.

Events 2020

Again, this year WGRA would be running the Easter, Summer, Scarecrow and Christmas event. The dates have been posted on the Facebook page and will be re-advertised nearer the time.

Previously the events have been run as a non-profit making event, however, it has been decided that future events would aim to raise funds to support future projects on the development.

Dates for this year's events are:

• Easter: 5th April
• Summer: 12th July
• Scarecrow: 20th September
• Christmas: 6th December.

Summer Camp 2020

It was outlined to the meeting that last year a summer camp was held in May and August school holidays. As a result of the success of these a lottery grant application has been made again this year to allow this camp to go ahead. The grant will pay for the venue hire, sports coaches and activities for the children.

The plan is to run the camp for less days during the holidays but to extend the length of the days. An update will be posted in relation to the lottery application if it is approved.

Any other Business

The road repairs on The Grange were discussed. Several residents had been in touch with the council, some had been told this work had been completed and some had been informed it was a temporary repair. Both Charlotte Smith and Carol Robson agreed to chase the council in relation to this matter.

The flower beds at the entrance to The Grange from Woolley Edge Lane were discussed. The general opinion was that the flower beds were too tall, the light on the left-hand side did not work and the wall was very dirty. It did not give a very good impression of the area. John Gilbody agreed to discuss this with RMG in order to get the issues rectified.

The fencing along the footpath on the driveway (The Grange) was discussed again this had become unsightly and parts of it had fallen down. It was agreed that contact would be made with Luke Devine as he owns this land, but not the fence, to ask permission to remove the fence and replace it with laurel bushes which will match the bottom of the driveway. This will be discussed with RMG in relation to a quote for the work.

The excessive speed of vehicles travelling through the development on the spine road was discussed. It was outlined that speed humps had been removed previously as a result of noise pollution and the only avenue open to solve the problem was to report the issues to the Police.

The repair issues with Dearne Court were discussed, the damage to the stairs was a fire hazard. It was agreed WGRA would contact RMG to try to assist with expediting the repairs to the stair well and to obtain a fire risk assessment.

The meeting was concluded at 9.15pm.