BRIDGEGATE EAST RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (BERA) Minutes of the AGM held in The Albion, on Wednesday 11th January 2023

In attendance

Mike Hogg (Chair), Fiona and Adrian Rushforth, Bill Grady, Roy and Janet Webb, Jim Parrish, Daniel Squibb, Luke and Sophie Skilbeck, John Bottomley, Christina Mercer, Sue Matthew, Tony and Gwyneth Doggett, Jim Lewis, Colin Tucker

Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Lynne Hayward, Jane Patrick, Charlie and Anna Newman, Peter and Hazel Roberts, Ruth Collis and Carly Wilson

Approval of 2022 AGM Minutes

The minutes of the 2022 AGM were unanimously approved

Matters Arising

Uniformed police resourcing – the number of police in Chester has been increased from 2 to 14 and they are ring-fenced for the City. Council staff with a street role have also been given uniforms to increase a uniform presence on the streets. The Council and police have put together a code of conduct for behaviour on the streets, with green, amber and red levels – the first two being warnings and the third resulting in prosecution or banning order where appropriate. The result is that the homeless ‘camp’ outside Debenhams and two others in the city have now gone.
Diverted Giving – CRAG has been working with the Council, police and voluntary organisations to come up with a structure for diverted giving. At present there are two card readers – one in the Grosvenor Precinct and one in the new market, which raised £2500 over Christmas. More are going to be installed. The Bluecoat Association will administer the money and will hold quarterly board meetings with the three key Chester charities to decide how the money is to be divided between areas helping homelessness, feeding, general support and counselling.
E-scooters – concerns had been raised over the safety of these scooters. Discussions with Ginger Scooters have resulted in them improving the control of them and their ability to manage where they go and what speed they do. They now have a policy of 1 or 3 strikes (depending on offence) and a person is then no longer allowed to rent a scooter. The trial has been extended for 6 months.

Report on 2022 BERA Activities

Quicks site – the Council have still not appreoved the original plan from Redrow (whose agent is Bridgemere) saying that the proposed building was too tall, but Bridgemere replied saying it was not economically viable to build it any lower. There are now very positive negotiations between the University, Bridgemere and the owner, Steve Morgan. The proposal is for it to become the art campus for the University, which currently is at Kingsway. Feasibility, geological, archaeological and structural surveys have all been carried out. All types of art, excluding performing arts, will be taught in the building. It will be a no car location and will be administered by the Riverside building. There will be no accommodation on site. All rubbish will be kept internally before collection. There is a possibility of it including a café, which may be open to the public. The proposal is to adapt rather than demolish and rebuild the current building. If negotiations are positively concluded, the proposed time scheme is for planning applications to be submitted this year and, if approved, the work will be carried out in 2024 for a planned opening in 2025.
The City Walls – Residents along the Walls from the Recorder House to the Wishing Steps have been approached by the Council to have their properties surveyed to see how their buildings are linked to the Walls. This is alongside drilling holes along the pavement of the walls. Once the investigations are complete the plan is to repair the Walls and then remove the scaffolding under the Recorder Steps. The plan is to have it completed by July 2023. The Council have offered to pay for the residents affected to have their own surveys done. Sue Matthews said she had spoken to Tim Mallinson, who would be willing to act as an independent surveyor. Mike has suggested to Paul Tudor that a meeting take place between all parties affected, but has had no reply further to an initial acknowledgement.
Public Realm – BID and CRAG join monthly walks around the city with the Council to identify any problems. Progress is slow, but work has been done in the underpasses and on improving bin stores.
Drill Hall Gardens – volunteers cleared this during the Jubilee weekend. Jim Parrish had strimmed it just prior to this and was thanked by Mike. Mike and Jim have recently cleared leaves from the paths. The Council are looking at the cost of installing low level downlighters along the walls of the garden. Mike has asked for a lease from the Council, where the Council would maintain the trees and the walls and BERA would maintain the flowerbeds and grounds, with a view to turning it into a community garden. Mike has received a promise of 4 benches from the Council when they are replaced by new ones in the city centre. When BERA receive the promised £250 from ITV following the recent filming in the area, Mike suggested making it up to £400 from BERA funds and applying for match funding from the Police and Crime Commissioners fund to help maintain the garden. There was unanimous approval from the attendees to go ahead with this. It was asked what would happen if we did not receive the money from ITV. It was decided to review this at the next meeting and any decision would be put to members to vote on. There are no immediate plans to cover the area with CCTV, as the Chester system is at its maximum capacity in the City.
Volunteer Street – Mike approaching the Council about the bins and blocked gutter has resulted in a new bin at the corner of Duke Street and the gutter being fixed by the restaurants. John Bottomley said the detergent used by the restaurant is still resulting in a slippery pavement. Mike will investigate.

2022 Finance Report

Bill Grady, as treasurer, issued the report. He said there had been two membership fees taken by CRAG as they were normalising their financial year and from now on it would run from March to March. The detailed accounts are attached. Jim Parrish and Carly Wilson have reviewed the accounts and agreed they were a true record. They were proposed by Janet Webb and seconded by Sue Matthews.

An increase in fees from £5 to £6 per member per annum was proposed to enable BERA to carry out activities in and for the community. This was proposed by Bill Grady and seconded by Jim Parrish. All were in favour.

Appointment of Officers

Carly Wilson offered her resignation from the committee as was relocating and not able to attend meetings.

The following were all unanimously re-elected to the BERA executive (proposed by Sue Matthews, seconded by Tony Doggett):

Mike Hogg – Chairman

Fiona Rushforth- Secretary

Daniel Squibb – Membership Secretary

Bill Grady - Treasurer

Roy Webb, Jim Parrish and Luke Skilbeck – Street Representatives

Luke requested that he be the street representative for Albion Place and Albion Mews as that is where he lives. This left two vacancies. Mike asked for volunteers, and John Bottomley agreed to re-join the committee as street representative for Volunteer, Steele and Olave Streets. The complete list of roles is attached.

Appointment of Two People to Review the 2023 Accounts

Jim Parrish and Daniel Squibb agreed to carry this out

BERA Website Review

Fiona gave a brief overview of the contents of the website, which can be found under www.berachester.com. It is aimed to be a one stop shop, the public areas including a newsfeed from the Chester Chronicle as well as BERA news. The BERA constitution and committee members can also be found on there, together with instructions on how to join BERA. The members’ area contains the minutes of meetings

Priority Items for BERA for 2023

Mike asked that all members email Fiona with issues they wanted to be considered by the end of January

Any Other Business

John Bottomley was concerned with the appearance of Steele Street. It is in a conservation area and yet plaques have been put outside some of the rental houses and also coach lamps which are not in keeping with the conservation rules. Certain sash windows have also been replaced. Both he and Jane Patrick have alerted the Council to this in the past. In St Olave Street, there is a pile of garden refuse which is now being used as a dumping ground for other rubbish. Mike asked if he could find out where Jane had got to with the Council and BERA would take it from there.
Ina similar vein, Janet Webb asked what was happening with the boarded up windows at the corner of Lower Bridge Street and the Walls. This was noted as an action point for BERA under a general heading of preserving conservation areas
Jim Parrish asked if we could establish a dialogue with the Council’s Conservation Officer to find out which properties were under Article 1 direction i.e. nothing could be done to their frontage without permission. BERA could then keep a check on them.
Luke Skilbeck mentioned that residents’ parking permits could now be ordered online.
Mike Hogg mentioned the revision of the One City Plan by the Council. There are 45 issues which aim to improve the quality of the City by 2045. They are prioritising the City Gateway, surrounding the railway station, which has been publicised in The Chronicle. The plan is to upgrade the station and car parking, include offices and improve the safety of Hoole Bridge for cyclists and pedestrians. This bridge needs to be raised if it is to be suitable for electrification of the North Wales railway line. The plan is also to open up the back of the station for easy access to Hoole. There will also be walkways, cycleways and bus links to the City. The Cheshire Records Office will also be relocated in this area, but the timescale for this is unknown. Mike will send a copy of the consultation to Fiona who will email it out to members.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.00pm

F Rushforth 11/1/23

		BERA Accounts 2022

Date	Description	Expenditure	Income
01/01/2022	Opening balance		£453.31

19/05/2022	CRAG membership fee 2021-2022	£25.00

23/05/2022	Web Host Fee	£14.02

30/11/2022	Community Service award	£50.00
12/12/2022	CRAG membership fee 2022-2023	£25.00

31/12/2022	Bank balance		£324.29
	Cash in Hand		£15.00
	Total	£114.02	£339.29

Roles of BERA Executive

ROLE	INCUMBENT	NOTES
CHAIR	MIKE HOGG
SECRETARY	FIONA RUSHFORTH
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY	DANIEL SQUIBB*
TREASURER	BILL GRADY
STREET REPRESENTATIVES:
VOLUNTEER, STEELE AND ST OLAVE STREETS	JOHN BOTTOMLEY
ALBION AND PARK STREETS	VACANT
ALBION PLACE AND ALBION MEWS	LUKE SKILBECK
DUKE STREET	JIM PARRISH	(A)
CITY WALLS	ROY WEBB	(B)
LOWER BRIDGE STREET EAST	DANIEL SQUIBB*	(C)

NOTES

* Daniel Squibb combines both roles

NOTES IN TABLE

INCLUDING CLAYTON, WINDSOR AND DUKES COURT
BETWEEN THE WISHING STEPS AND BRIDGEGATE
INCLUDING BRIDGE PLACE

BRIDGEGATE EAST RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (BERA) Minutes of the AGM held in The Albion, on Wednesday 11th January 2023

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