The meeting began with a talk by the Neighbourhood Safety Team (3 Ward) about their aims and objectives in engaging with the community.
Constable Williams spoke about their efforts in dealing with anti-social behaviour, problem-solving, visiting burglary victims, advice on house safety, available government funding, locks, lighting, alarms and the like.
If any residents would like advice or a review of their home security then they are available to assist.
There was also a discussion about MetTrace, a burglary reduction initiative to help residents make their homes more secure by providing crime prevention advice and free SmartWater property marking kits to 1 in 7 London homes.
Residents were advised to always keep a light on in their homes and were given various others tips about deadlocks, keys and cars.
Street lighting and safety is the responsibility of Barnet Council.
A discussion was held about crime in Clitterhouse and Millennium Park and what action the Police were taking.
A resident mentioned that leaflets hanging out of letterboxes indicated no one at home and that neighbours should be pro-active in looking out for their neighbours.
Childs Hill Park
Brian Berry spoke on behalf of Friends of Childs Hill Park. He advised us how locals working together on a project could flourish and their project was a case in point as they had created a beautiful gem in Childs Hill Park. He mentioned charity money was available for green spaces and indeed their project had received over £100,000 in grants. A volunteer programme was in place and he encouraged us all to visit the Marsh Garden.
The Relocation of Donoghues
Cllr Zinkin said this was the single, biggest issue and worry for residents.
It seemed to be an intractable problem as far as he was concerned
Donoghues has grown into a vast successful business.
The width restriction was removed because it diverted traffic onto surrounding roads.
There is no right turn on the A41 because the Police had requested this of TFL in view of the volume of traffic and accidents etc. It was concluded that it would not be safe to remove the ‘no right turn’ sign.
A conversation ensued about the 20mph speed restriction on The Vale. Cllr Ryde and Cllr Zinkin both attended The Vale (a few months ago) when a radar gun was used and they advised that by and large most vehicles abided by it. Some residents living on The Vale took issue with this.
Cllr Zinkin also stated that as The Vale was a wide road it was important that the road humps were maintained to deter speeding.
Dust
Dust created by Donoghues traffic is an environmental and aesthetic problem. An effective cleaning regime needs to be agreed, as the current cleaning regime was ineffective.
In addition, with the Brent Cross Redevelopment, there would be more disruption, pollution and changes to the area.
Cllr Zinkin advised that eventually Donoghues would be moved but we are talking about many years.
Many residents were unhappy with this and asked how matters could be accelerated and requested Cllrs to explore more options for relocating Donoghues as a matter of urgency.
A neighbour who lives directly behind Donoghues put her and her neighbours’ difficult situation to the Cllr. Residents were unable to open doors or windows. Even with all windows closed, thick dust gathered on a daily basis and it was insufferable. She advised the meeting that Donoghues started work at 5am and often did not finish until 10pm, which is intolerable.
She advised that the impact on the health of all the residents there was detrimental. Cllr Zinkin said that he would arrange to have Environmental Health attend and monitor as soon as possible.
A resident of The Vale monitored the trucks from Donoghues today (7 November) during the lunchtime period. He counted 19 trucks going down and 9 coming up the other way. He advised that in his view they were driving at more than 20mph.
Cllr Zinkin stated that at least 100 trucks from Donoghues would travel each day up The Vale.
Another resident mentioned that it was not only Donoghues assets and successful business we should be concerned about but also the assets of the residents (i.e. their homes) which were being eroded by Donoghues success! There should be more fairness and until we have a solution in place then Donoghues should be pressed to reduce by half their lorries going up and down The Vale.
Lisa said that residents’ health should be the No.1 concern and should be prioritised over business success etc.
Bernard said it may be that the residents would have to take matters into their own hands and take whatever action it was deemed necessary to take.
All residents agreed that solutions to the problems created by Donoghues were needed quickly.
Parking
Parking on street corners of the Estate was raised and it was suggested that double yellow lines be put on all corners. Cllr Zinkin said from his experience busy roads all wanted CPZ and when they were installed the less busy roads also requested them. It would be much more efficient and economic if all residents could decide together as consultations were very expensive.
Other Matters
Luisa brought up the dirt and dust on the pavements – Who is responsible?
She also asked councillors to keep GGERA informed about the forthcoming meeting set for 12 December or thereabouts.
Mike took the floor to give a briefing on our accounts. The balance in our account as at 7 November was £956. The balance as of 31 March (end of accounting year) was £742.
Shoib took the floor to say we need more volunteers if we are to become a strong force in the community.
Shoib and Mike were re-nominated and approved as Chairman and Treasurer, and Maureen was nominated and enthusiastically approved as the Secretary.
A Christmas meet-up of neighbours was discussed but interest was low.
The next Memories Group meeting is on 10 November.