Heatherside Ward Residents Association

Minutes of Meeting 21 July 2015

Apologies:

Andy Ward
Peter Ludlow
PCSO Vince Wakeling
Katherine Sargent

Minutes of previous meeting:

Agreed

Note from Ian Cullen:

Surrey Heath local committee meet 3 to 4 times per year, this is an open meeting.
Groups can send representatives. There were no attendees at the last meeting
from Heatherside. Councillors would need to declare a conflict of interest at these
meetings if members of HWRA.
IC represents SHBC on several outside bodies.
Regarding the use of social media there are data protection issues. They can not
give details of work undertaken on behalf of individual residents/group of
residents.

HWRA website:
This will follow at some point in the future if considered
necessary. Any volunteers to run this, could they make themselves known. (See
subsequent discussion below).
Meeting of committee 14 July 2015: A meeting was held with PCSO Vince Wakeling
and PCSO Sian Hudson. A reminder that they hold surgeries in the Community Centre
once a month see Surrey Police website for dates and times. Their update included:
Concerns over anti-social behaviour at Heatherside Rec. This is well known to the
local Neighbourhood team, and efforts being made to combat this.
New CCTV is being installed sometime after 24 July to cover the toilet/parking
area. This will be recorded 24/7 and monitored when necessary.
Scott Green commented that Police resources have significantly reduced. He was asked
if he considered if there was anything that residents could do, he suggested that the
older residents try to engage with the younger residents, and to use 101/999 to report
issues to police as appropriate. He was also asked if all of the youths that hang around at
the Rec in the evening/at night are from Heatherside. He replied that no, they are from
all around the Borough, with some travelling here from further afield (Fleet, Staines etc.).
Kirsty North is to liaise with the local Neighbourhood policing team to establish what
level of reporting is undertaken and the types of issues that are reported and recorded.
Action KN
Kirsty North then reiterated that the aim of the Association is to open up channels of
communication, to be supportive of existing action and to engage with our Councillors.
Future for the Association:

A formal AGM will be held possibly on 1 September 2015, although the Community
Centre has no availability on that date. (Subsequent update: AGM will now be on 8

September 2015 at 7.30 pm in the Function Room at Pine Ridge, who have kindly
donated the space for our use).
At the AGM the committee will be formally elected to serve for the coming year.
Sub committees will be formed and volunteers will be sought to chair these
committees. Those identified at the moment are:
1. Youth
2. Green Spaces (possibility of Peter Ludlow as Chair)
3. Pathways
4. Events
5. Website/communications

Future Events
There is the possibility that Heatherside Shopping Arcade will be having a Christmas Tree
installed this December (the footings for this were put in place last winter). It was
considered a great opportunity to hold a Switch on ceremony to possibly include carol
singing. Confirmation of the Christmas Tree will be needed from Cllr Ivison before any
firm arrangements can be made. It was agreed that Larry Bain would contact Cllr Ivison
to confirm if this is going ahead. It was also agreed that Jon Dolbear would liaise with
Heather Ridge Infant School regarding the possibility of the choir performing some
carols.
Action
It was also considered that a Quiz Night could be held in the autumn and Terry, who runs
the weekly quiz at The Wheatsheaf, is to be approached. Date to be discussed at AGM by
Kirsty North
Action
Discussion on website/communication
A lengthy discussion then took place regarding the perceived need for the Association to
have its own website. It was generally agreed that as the Facebook page can be viewed
by all regardless of whether they have joined Facebook or not, then it might not be
necessary. As a result the decision regarding a website has been put on hold for the time
being.
It was pointed out that a great way to reach people quickly and easily is through the use
of bulk SMS (test messaging). This might be something that the Association can consider
in the future.
Regarding forthcoming events (in particular the AGM) it was felt that advertising on our
own Facebook page, as well as the Heatherside Residents Forum, together with simple
posters being positioned at various places and the use of our existing email database,
should be sufficient.
Deepcut Development
A brief discussion then took place regarding the future redevelopment at the Princess
Royal Barracks in Deepcut. Skanska will be holding an exhibition/presentation on Friday
24 July 2015 in Deepcut if anyone wishes to attend. It was considered whether there
would be any possibility of the developers engaging with the Association, but this was
considered unlikely.

Future Action for the Association

Map out ownership of the Heatherside Shops/flats with the aim of improving their
appearance. They are apparently all part of a management company. PCSO Vince
Wakeling to be approached as he may already be in possession of this information.

The meeting then closed.

Date of next meeting: 8 September 2015, Pine Ridge Function Room, for AGM.