Monday 16 November 2015

December 2015 Newsletter


December 2015

THE PROGRESS ESTATE’S  CHRISTMAS SOCIAL

will be held in the PROGRESS HALL, ADMIRAL SEYMOUR ROAD,  SE9 1SL

on SATURDAY 12th DECEMBER 2015 at 2:30 p.m.

SEASONAL MUSIC  BY
THE CHOIR OF ST. THOMAS MORE CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL




Refreshments, including mulled wine and mince pies, will be served afterwards.

FREE ENTRY FOR EVERYONE
Raffle with seasonal prizes – tickets on the door
Christmas Goods stalls

The Social will be preceeded by the Association’s Annual General Meeting at 2:00 p.m.:

1) Minutes of the 2014 AGM
2) Annual reports (included in this Newsletter)
3) Resolutions submitted to the Secretary
4) Continuance of affiliations
5) Election of Officers and committee members
6) Election of sub-committee members:
a. The Social  Group
b. The Social Media Group

Matters Residents want to be considered at the AGM are called Resolutions.   These include nominations for people to serve as Committee members, which must be seconded by a Resident who is present at the meeting.   Resolutions will be passed if a majority of Residents present vote in favour.   

Resolutions must be in writing and be received no later than 7 days before the AGM.   They should be sent to the Secretary, Margaret Oliver, ideally by email to calnan7@btinternet.com by 5th December, 2015.   Those without access to email should telephone her on 020 8856 5280 to be told the address to which they should write.   Letters must be received by her by the same date so please allow time for postage.    Please include your name and address in your email or letter.


Dear All
I hope you are well.
 
Our Centenary Year is drawing to a close.   Our Summer Fete on 25th July was well received and many of the stall holders expressed a wish to return next year!   Those who attended September’s Art and Photography Exhibition particularly enjoyed the old photographs of our Estate. 
We have raised our profile during 2015 and formed working relationships with other organisations which will continue to add depth to our community for the benefit of us all.  
Throughout the year, we have been noting our Estate’s well-maintained and colourful front gardens.   In October, local retired Royal Gardener and Big Allotment judge Jim Buttress decided upon the winners.   He will be at our Christmas Social to present prizes to the owners of these gardens and will also announce the winners of the “Good Neighbour” competition we have been running.  
I look forward to seeing you at December’s Christmas Social (see above) during which we will be unveiling our Centenary Plaque.

Rita Billinghurst
tel: 07947 043479
rita.bygrave@btinternet.com

2015 GROUP AND PROPOSED SOCIAL SUB-COMMITTEE

Since its formation at the AGM held in December, 2012, the members of the 2015 Group have worked really hard as the success of our centenary celebrations has demonstrated. As Chair I am extremely grateful to them all.

The Residents Association will propose at the December, 2015 AGM that the sub-committee be reconstituted as the Social Sub-committee.   This sub-committee’s prime objective will be to advance the Association’s second constitutional aim which is to promote and encourage a sense of community amongst Residents.   If you would like to be involved please let me or our Secretary know.

Rita Billinghurst
tel: 07947 043479
rita.bygrave@btinternet.com


SOCIAL MEDIA GROUP

The creation of our website, an active email address list and the option for people to ‘like’ us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter have been significant achievements in the development of the Association since they were launched in the Summer of 2013.   

As at the end of September 2015, we had 143 pages of information on our website.   The most popular are those dealing with Planning permission, the Cinema development in Eltham High Street, the "Any Questions?" video and our Centenary Events guide.   The site had been visited by over 39,500 people to date.

A number of the page views were from other countries:

USA          6,082
Germany     624
Ukraine       607
France        605
Russia        500
NL              100

Our Twitter followers number 438, to whom we have issued 453 Tweets.

We are ‘liked’ by 286 people on Facebook and each post has reached an average of 520 users.

During 2015 we created our own YouTube channel (search for “Progress Estate”) – with six videos therein.  We are averaging around 100 views per video. The videos also appear on our website.

Three hundred and eighty-seven Residents subscribe to our email newsletter.  About a half open each mail which is at least twice the number for most lists where the average is less than a quarter.

Anyone may email us at theprogressestate@gmail.com.   Messages will be forwarded to the person best able to deal with each query and (s)he will reply directly to you.

Email, Facebook and Twitter are the only forms of communication that enable us to communicate pressing matters to Residents.   These range from local events we believe might be of interest, to bogus fund-raisers and door-to-door callers who have been reported as being active on our Estate.

To join one of these communication  streams, please visit www.progressestate.co.uk.   Then, scroll down the right-hand side of the page to the subheadings under ‘Connect’.

If you are already receiving communications from us in one of these ways, perhaps you would be kind enough to check that your friends and neighbours do so as well.    There are about 1,350 homes on our Estate so we estimate there up to 1,000 homes who do not yet receive our electronic communications in one form or another.   Those without computers at home could sign up at Eltham Library.  

James Garner 
theprogressestate@gmail.com

TREASURER’S REPORT October 2014 – September 2015

The funds received by the Association in the last year have been from five sources; grants, sponsorship, a contribution from the BBC, a prize from St Mary's Community Association and fund raising activities.

The Hyde Group   We received one grant in the year from Hyde South East Housing for £290 plus £100 funding towards the AGM held in December 2014.   Of the funds received during 2013/14, £175 was carried forward so total funding of £565 was recognised for the current 12 months. 

David Evans Property Services   David Evans played a huge part in our 2015 celebrations including the treasure hunt at our Summer Fete on Lovelace Green.   They also provided £250 sponsorship for September’s Art and Photography Show. 

BBC Radio 4   The BBC contributed £100 towards the expense of hosting "Any Questions?"  in March 2015.

St. Mary’s (Eltham) Community Complex.  St. Mary’s  awarded a prize of £25 to the 2015 Group for their work and achievements on the centenary celebrations.
 
The remaining funds were raised at our events:

Raffles and donations raised £317 (£251 in 2014). 
Sales of memorabilia generated income of £1,356 (£595 in 2014).
Ticket sales for events made £719.
Other miscellaneous sales totalled £326.

Total income for the 12 months was £3,658 (£1,851 in 2013/14).

The main outgoings have been: 
the hiring of halls and rooms at £1,120.
Fees, insurance and affiliation costs of £564.
expenses associated with writing a book to mark our centenary £549.
expenses associated with the good neighbour and questionnaire project £290.
stationery at £193.
raffle prizes £137.
other miscellaneous items purchased for the 2015 centenary celebrations such as refreshments and a microphone £470.

Total expenditure for the year was £3,323 (£1,409 in 2013/14).

Income exceeded expenditure by £335 (£443 in 2013/14).
 
At year end the Association’s assets were £2,107.   These were represented by cash or cash equivalents.

At year end the Association had liabilities of £1,260, including deferred income of £230.

Copies of the Association’s accounts will be available at the AGM.   Any Resident who would like a copy beforehand should write to the email address below stating their home address and postcode.

A huge thank you is due to all the volunteers and to the community who continue to show their support through attendance at our events.

Lisa Jonker
Treasurer 
theprogressestate@gmail.com


NON-FINANCIAL SPONSORS

Non-financial sponsors are those who have provided us with goods and services whose value is not reflected in our accounts.

Donors of raffle prizes   We are very grateful to all those individuals who have donated raffle prizes during the year.

Conran Estates    Conran Estates has printed all our publicity material during 2015 which has undoubtedly saved us a great deal of money.   They have also contributed to the manufacture of our centenary plaque that will be unveiled during this year’s Christmas Social.

The Hyde Group   As well as the direct financial support noted in the Treasurer’s Report, Hyde South East has continued to print our quarterly Newsletters, for which we are extremely grateful.


PLANNING REPORT

Planning applications

Sixty planning applications were decided in the 12 months to the end of September 2015, a decrease of 9 on the previous 12 months.

The Association has four options in deciding how to respond to any particular application:

We can support it.
We can object to it.
We can comment.
We can do nothing.

Our sole concern is whether or not, when judged by reference to the relevant planning and conservation guidelines, the proposed works will have a neutral or positive effect on our Estate.   We support those that do and object to those that do not.      

We comment if we are in basic support of an application but would like Royal Greenwich’s planners to ensure a particular aspect is made a condition of approval.   For example, the proposed works might involve the demolition of a traditional wall or fence but the plans do not make it clear that the replacement will replicate the one being removed.  No cases fell into this category for the 2014/15 period.

We do nothing if an   application is for works that will not be visible from the Public Highway.   These are commonly for the removal of trees in back gardens that are not visible from any public highway or for the construction of rear, single storey extensions behind mid-terrace houses.

The table shows how we exercised these options for the 60 applications that were completed in the 12 months to 30th September 2015.  


Click to enlarge

Robert Ledgerwood
theprogressestate@gmail.com


HOUSES CHANGING HANDS

During the 12 months to the end of August 2015 (the data is published approximately 5 weeks after the end of each month) 34 houses changed hands, 10 less than in the preceding 12 months.   We have delivered Welcome letters to them all.  

In April, 2015, we set up a system with Hyde to welcome new residents to their houses.   Welcome letters have been delivered to the 9 families who have moved in since then.  

Keith Billinghurst
keith.billinghurst@btinternet.com
07962 877389

SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD PANELS

These Panels are a forum where community representatives meet with the local police teams to exchange information and ideas relating to crime in their areas.  

The Residents Association is regularly represented at both the Safer Neighbourhood Panels responsible for our Estate (Eltham North and Eltham West; the police operate within Royal Greenwich Ward boundaries).   We are able to report any problems we have seen or heard about and receive monthly reports back. These are emailed to all on our email list. 

Meetings always include a report on the activities of each Police Team.  Individual cases are not discussed but Panels are taken through the most recent crime statistics for each Ward.   Any patterns discerned are highlighted and attention drawn to any increased criminal activity or potential problem areas.  Panels are advised of any staffing problems that may affect Team performance and are also informed of any local or Borough-wide initiatives.   For some time a major bone of contention has been the issue of abstraction, under which Police officers are frequently taken away from their Neighbourhood duties. This is quite contrary to the original concept of Safer Neighbourhood Policing.  

An important function of the Panel is to decide the issues on which each Team should focus, based on their local knowledge and Police advice.   On our Estate, the current emphasis of both Teams is burglary, motor vehicle crime (theft from vehicles and of number plates) and general anti-social behaviour.   As Eltham High Street is in the North Team’s area, they also prioritise shop lifting.    The focus for local police activity is reviewed regularly and can be changed or additions made.

The Residents Association believes it is important to work with the local police teams to alert them to our concerns and to cooperate with them in making Eltham a safe and secure environment in which to live.

For further information, please write to
theprogressestate@gmail.com or telephone 07947 043479

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