Minutes of September 2010

CLOUGH HALL RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION

www.cloughhall.co.uk

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 28^th SEPTEMBER 2010 AT HOLLINWOOD SHELTERED HOUSING at 7.30pm

PRESENT :-

COMMITTEE: - G Sutton ,C Brough, T Dale, B Collis,

GUEST SPEAKER: - Nicola Wilson -Trading Standards.

COUNCILLORS- Cllr S Burgess, Cllr J Evans. Cllr K Robinson

RESIDENTS: - 10

TOTAL ATTENDANCE: - 18

APOLOGIES: - Mike Moore, John Gallacher, Correna Gallacher, Dave Martin, Mary Martin, Carol and John Brammer, Mr A Mottram, Mrs H Mottram.

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed the guest speaker, Nicola Wilson from Trading Standards, thanking Nicola for giving up her own time to attend. He explained that the minutes of the previous meeting and other handouts were available for residents to take, and gave the agenda for the evening.

The Chairman then spoke about the following items:

Rex Burn - Sadly Rex passed away on Saturday the 21^st August following a short illness. Chairman paid tribute to Rex for his openness and straightforward approach to life. A family man with a great sense of Community Spirit and acknowledgement was made to the help Rex provided to CHRA. Chairman confirmed a donation was made to Douglas MacMillan and a condolence card was sent to the family on behalf of CHRA. Rex will be sadly missed.

Neighbourhood Watch - The next conference will be held at Yarnfield on Saturday the 9^th October 2010. Three members of CHRA will attend. The theme this year is "Community Resilience".

Local Government Boundary Commission. - Chair confirmed CHRA had been approached by this organisation for comments in respect of a review to improve the levels of electoral representation in the County, which have become imbalanced since the last review. This will be discussed at the next CHRA Committee Meeting and a response will be sent.

B Arts - Chairman raised again the contact from B Arts and indicated leaflets and posters were available to cover this important project. Chair encouraged members to contact B Arts direct.

Newcastle under Lyme Communities Forum. Chair invited to attend an Extra Ordinary General Meeting on the 13^th October. Apparently they have finalised a new constitution and funding will also be discussed. CHRA have used the good offices of NVCS on several occasions and Chair will attend this Meeting.

Incidents Recently Reported To The Borough Council and Kidsgrove Police

Dog Poo Bins - Recently installed in the wooded area by Kidsgrove Football Club, our thanks to Cllr Silvia Burgess for pushing this one for us. This area is used daily by dog walkers the vast majority of whom are responsible dog owners, however, there are a few who are not and it is hoped the provision of dog poo bins will persuade them to use the facilities now available.

Grass Cutting - the same wooded area, the grass was cut recently and again Residents thank Cllr Burgess for organising this.

Anti Social Behavior - Several incidents recently reported to Kidsgrove Police:-

- Stone throwing at Property windows and conservatories in Park Avenue
- Trial Bike in the wooded area behind Park Avenue
- Badges stolen from cars and a vehicle damaged in Westmorland Avenue
- Milk stolen from doorsteps in Clough Hall Road.

The Police assure us that all incidents are treated seriously and it is hoped improvements will soon be seen. In respect of the stone throwing incidents, the Borough Council has agreed to resurface the pathways in the woods, mid October, and it is felt this action will promote improvements. Residents thank Cllr Burgess for taking the lead on this.

Butt Lane LAP - This group meets on a regular basis and is chaired by Cllr Kyle Robinson. This group consists of a number of agencies Police, Borough Council, Youth workers Etc and provides a good opportunity for Residents to attend and express their views and concerns. Cllr Robinson has revitalised the Group and Residents should support this initiative. CHRA will make a real effort to attend future LAP Meetings.

Clough Hall School -

- The next Film Show "The Boat that Rocked" will be shown on Thursday the 30^th September at 2.15pm. If you would like to attend please contact the School tomorrow.

Safer Routes to School - two letters have been sent concerning traffic-calming measures in The Avenue, but no reply has been received. Cllr Robinson advised the School are pleased with the work done, reduction in accidents incidents Etc. This view is not shared by many car owing residents in the area. The ramp created to facilitate the re-positioning of the Crossing is fine; it is the rest of the work done which gives cause for concern. There have to our knowledge been two incidents on the ramps by the entrance to Boathorse Road and we have been led to understand that a vehicle ran over the foot of the lollipop lady who works on the crossing by Reginald Mitchell School. There have been a number of incidents brought to our attention of damage caused to the suspension and wheel tracking of cars. We agree that traffic calming measures are needed; however, we feel this could have been done better and in the long term cheaper with the use of modern technology. We also note from the National Press that many Councils are ripping out this old fashioned type of traffic calming solution. Chair will write again to Staffordshire Highways again expressing our concerns.

Bulb Planting - Once again the Borough Council are supplying free quantities of bulbs, Cllr Burgess asked for volunteers to help with bulb planting in the Butt Lane area. CHRA will discuss at the next Committee Meeting.

31A Westmorland - Chair advised that he had heard nothing further in terms of the future of this facility. Brian Collis, committee member, reported that he had been told that Usage had been changed by Staffs County Council planning department to accommodate Residential Building. Chair asked Brian to keep him informed of any future developments.

Talke Pits Village Hall - Chair gave details of the following Events :-
- Beer Festival "Fund Raising"- 7^th, 8^th and 9^th October - 18 different beers and 5 ciders will be available all at £2 a pint. From 7pm to 11pm (Fri & Sat Noon - 11pm)
- Motown & Northern Soul Night - 6^th November - tickets are £5 a person, bring your own refreshments
- Race Night - 13^th November - tickets £5 a person, bring your own refreshments.
- The Halcyon Nights, back by popular demand, a great rock and roll band. bring your own refreshments.

The Village Hall recently refurbished and full Conference facilities are available at reasonable rates.

Please contact Charlie Neeson for details of all the above activities on 07850 931888

The Chairman then invited Nicola Wilson to speak:-

Nicola began by advising that Trading Standards in Staffordshire is part of Staffordshire County Council. There are three offices in the County located at Stafford, Newcastle and Burton.

Community Watchdog Scheme.

The Watchdog scheme was set up in 2001 and asks local residents to act as the eyes and ears for Trading Standards in their local communities. Currently there are 700 watchdogs around Staffordshire, who provide vital intelligence regarding Trading Standards and consumer issues, such as rogue traders, bogus callers and scams. If anyone would like further information, please contact Nicola Wilson on 01785 277818 or by E Mail at: - community.development@staffordshire.gov.uk

Consumer Direct

The first point of contact for Trading Standards is through a centralised call centre called Consumer Direct, Consumer Direct West Midlands is based in Coventry and can be contacted on 08454 040506 or via their website http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Internet Use

The number of people shopping over the internet has increased rapidly over the last few years, and so therefore have the number of people falling victim to online fraud. Factsheets containing useful information on Avoiding Spam, Internet Shopping and Phishing are available tonight.

If possible try not to open emails from unknown sources. Delete from your "inbox" and them from your "deleted items".

Be wary of chain E Mails. On occasion they have been known to have viruses embedded in links or pictures which make up the email. Most play on people's insecurities that "something bad will happen" to yourself or family members, or your luck will change the instant you send it off. Most, if not all of these, are simply rubbish and are best deleted.

Distance Selling.

If you like to shop over the internet, via catalogue or through shopping channels on television, it is worth remembering that if you order something you have 7 days from the day after you received the item to change your mind and send the item back. Some companies may offer a longer returns policy than this, but all have to offer 7 days, by law.

Make sure all costs, such as VAT and delivery charges, are clearly stated, and make sure a full company address is given. More information is available on factsheet "Internet Shopping" which are available tonight.

Scams

We have all at some point received a letter telling us we have won a substantial amount of money. All we need to do to claim the prize is send off our personal details, along with a cheque to cover admin costs. Unfortunately, If you have not entered a competition it is unlikely that you have won a prize and if you have to pay to claim the prize you haven't won either. If you receive letters of this nature, please do not respond to them. If you do, your name is added on to something called a "suckers list" and your details are then sold on to other scammers who will bombard you with letters of this nature.

Think Jessicaa, is a national campaign that has been set up to try and put a stop to these kinds of scams. See their website for further details http://www.thinkjessica.com/

Nuisance Phone Calls

Try and put a stop to nuisance phone calls by registering with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) on 0845 0700707. Unfortunately this only stops calls being made from within the UK, so those calls from abroad will still get through.

To stop silent phone calls, which usually occur when large companies use dialing machines to call lots of numbers at once, with only a small number of operators to answer the calls, register with Silent Call Guard on 0844 3722325. Your phone line then recognises when you are being called by a dialer machine, and will block the call. This service takes 28 days to become effective after registering, and you will need to re-register every 12 months.

Both services are free; you just pay the cost of the phone to register.

Loan Sharks

A local man operating as a loan shark in the Wolstanton area has recently been imprisoned for 17 months. His business partner was handed a four month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. One woman targeted borrowed £400 and saw her debt spiral to £7000. Loan Sharks are operating in Staffordshire, and may be operating in your community. They are not licensed by the Office of Fair Trading and therefore set their own lending terms. They rarely give out paperwork. If payments are missed they will use threats of violence, they have been know to take away people's personal items as security and they are usually involved in other activity such as gun crime, counterfeiting and/or drug dealing.

If you have concerns that a loan shark may be operating in your area you can report them anonymously to Stoploansharks in the following ways:-

24/7 confidential hotline - 0300 5552222

Text loan shark + your message to 60003

Email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk

Log on to www.direct.gov.uk/stoploansharks

Fake Cigarettes Campaign

Staffordshire Trading Standards have launched a campaign to try and put a stop to the sale of fake cigarettes. A hotline has been set up where residents can anonymously report the sale of fake cigarettes or any concerns they may have. The hotline number is 01785 330356 and further information can be found on the Staffordshire County Council website www.staffordshire.gov.uk/fakes

Doorstep Selling

Nicola expressed thanks to CHRA for distributing "We say NO to ALL doorstep caller cards" and Doorstep Selling Leaflets around the Clough Hall Area, Chair did advise that there were some 150 leaflets still to deliver which would be complete within a few days. Trading Standards advise that people display the No Doorstep Caller Cards to try and deter people from cold calling at their home. The six big energy companies operating within the UK have all signed a voluntary agreement which states that if a resident is displaying a card, they will not call at their home. If members of their staff are breaking this agreement, they can be reported to the Energy Ombudsman.

The Doorstep Selling leaflets offer useful advice about cooling off periods and cancellation rights if you are purchasing goods in your own home or you do get caught out buying goods over the doorstep.

A good selection of informative leaflets covering all tonight's topics are available for you to take away, but if you would like further information, please contact Nicola on 01785 277818 or community.development@staffordshire.gov.uk

The Chairman then thanked Nicola for her excellent talk. Following a short break for refreshments Cllr's Kyle Robinson and Cllr Silvia Burgess introduced themselves and gave a brief update on the work done by the LAP and what they themselves are doing on behalf of Butt Lane Residents.

Following the raffle, Chair thanked members for attending and then closed the Meeting.

Signed .....................................................G Sutton ( Chairman )

Next Meeting - TUESDAY December 7^th 2010 - Start time 7.00pm

Police Authority

CHRA AGM

Free Buffet will be available