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Minutes of CRAG Members’ Meeting on Thursday 27th April 2023 at St Peter’s at The Cross – Chester

In attendance:
1. Mike Hogg - Chair (MJH) Bridgegate East Residents’ Association (BERA)
2. Vanessa Bond - Secretary (VB) White Friars Residents’ Association (WFRA)
3. Pauline Brown (PB) Westminster Park Residents’ Association (WPRA)
4. Simon Burtonshaw-Gunn (SBG) Cestria Building Tenants’ Association (CBTA)
5. Helen Speke (HS) Queens Park Residents’ Association (QPRA)
6. Tim Schofield (TS) Queens Park Residents’ Association (QPRA)
7. Trevor Farrell (TF) Hough Green Residents’ Association (HGRA)
8. Andrew Kendall (AK) Curzon Park Residents’ Association (CPRA)
9. Julie Colclough (JC) Commonhall Street Residents Association (CRRA)
10. Chris Hughes (CH) Chair FOGG
11. Don McRae (DM) Friends of Grosvenor Park & Groves (FOGG)
12. David Starbuck-Edwards (DS-E) Dee Hills Park Estate Association (DHP)
13. Jennifer Crew (JCr) Westminster Park Residents’ Association (WPRA)
14. Deborah Reid (DR) King Street Residents Association (KSARA)
15. Clive Bond (CB) White Friars Residents’ Association (WFRA)
16. Colin Potts (CP) Shipgate Management Association (SMA)
17. Rev. Jonathan Phillips (JP) St Peters at the Cross
18. Jan Chillery (JCh) Chester Regatta
19. Stuart Gillies (SG) Chester Regatta
20. Max Walker-Williams (MWW) Chester Regatta

Apologies:
1. Dickie Danby (DD) Curzon Park Residents’ Association (CPRA)
2. Sandra Magilton (SM) WPRA
3. Pat Wynne (PW) FOGG
4. Steve Hart (SH) Handbridge Community Association (HCA)
5. John Walker Vice-Chair (JW) 1761 RTM Limited (1761)
6. Roger Wynne (RW) Friends of Grosvenor Park & Groves (FOGG)
7. Tony Swindells (TW) WFRA
8. Rob Hulme (RH) Commonhall Street Residents Association (CRRA)
9. Ann Farrell (AF) George Street

MINUTES
27th April 2023
Item 1. Introduction: MJH opened the meeting and thanked all members for attending.
He also thanked Rev Jonathan for hosting the meeting.
Item 2. Apologies were received as shown above.
Item 3. Minutes of the Meeting held on 7th December 2022 were reviewed, considered
to be a true record and approved.
Item 4. Matters Arising:
(a) MJH to write to CW&C and Cheshire police regarding e-bikes as well as e-scooters.
(b) MJH to send an invitation to the University of Chester to join CRAG.
(c) MJH wrote to both CI Mike Ankers & Sam Dixon thanking him for his
contribution to Chester and congratulating her on election as MP for the
City of Chester.
Item 5.
5a.
One City Plan (OCP): MJH explained that this has now been approved and
handed over to the five working groups (Being, Making, Connecting, Visiting &
Experiencing) for implementation. However, the purdah period had delayed the
appointment of chairs to all of the groups and also the attendance of relevant
councillors and officers at meetings. It was expected that this would pick up pace
after the 5th May elections – and that Cllr Richard Beacham (if re-elected) would
remain the overall “champion” of the plan.
CRAG OCP Position Paper: This had been circulated with the agenda for this
meeting. The paper was unanimously approved and should be used from now on
by all RAs as the basis of engagement with councillors and officers on this subject.
Andrew Kendall was thanked for drafting the paper – which is also again attached
to these minutes for reference.
5b. GAS (Chester Great & Small): MJH explained that businesses & organisations in
Chester had come together to form GAS. The key purpose is to provide one focal
point “space” to share ideas, experience and where appropriate resource to support
CW&C to effectively implement the OCP. It was agreed that CRAG should regard
GAS as a “sister” organisation and work alongside rather than joining it. MJH
advised that he had been asked to become Treasurer for GAS – but in an individual
capacity rather than being a representative of CRAG in that regard.
Item 6. CRAG 2023 Conference Update:
PB gave an update on progress – including that the probable time window was now
September rather than July to accommodate the summer holiday period and
working around race meeting dates. She asked all to send comments to MJH on the
paper that has been issued with the agenda for this meeting. The CRAG Exec will
be meeting before the end of June to develop the Conference programme and will
update CRAG members accordingly.
Item 7. Chester Regatta: Jan Chillery & Max Walker-Williams gave a joint presentation on
the Chester Regatta, explaining that it was the oldest in the UK - and probably the
world – and outlined their plans to progressively develop it into a major national
event on a par with Henley. The goal was to do this over the next ten years in
readiness for the 300th anniversary in 2033. They explained the variety of
challenges that would need to be overcome – including addressing the overgrown
trees and vegetation along the river banks that were slowing the water flow and
hence reducing the depth & width of the river. A wide-ranging discussion took place
on a variety of allied topics. The Regatta team would be grateful for Input &
Engagement, Sponsorship & Volunteers – from CRAG and any and all other
sources. MJH thanked Jan & Max and agreed that they should attend future CRAG
meetings with updates when appropriate.
Item 8. Discussion with Chester City & Garden Quarter ward local election
candidates: MJH explained that he had (as agreed) invited all candidates to attend
this evening’s meeting for a discussion about CRAG member key issues
summarised in the attached document. He had received a number of apologies but
was pleased to welcome Martyn Delaney (Independent), Katrina Kerr (Labour),
Matthew Morgan (Conservative), Kate Vaughan (Conservative) and Ben Walker
(Labour). Each candidate briefly introduced themselves & CRAG tabled their key
issues. Amongst these was concern expressed by Julie Colclough that licences had
been granted for premises in Watergate Street without regard to the cumulative
impact policy (CIP) and that the terms of licences were regularly flouted. It was
agreed that the successful candidates be invited back to a future meeting to talk
through how the CRAG key issues could be addressed. MJH thanked the candidates
for taking the time from their busy schedules to be with us.

Item 9. AOB & Close:
(a) VB explained the concept & purpose of ATFest (the alternative travel
festival) that will be held in Chester on Sunday 18th June. She thanked
those who has supported ATfest through the Hive crowd-funding process,
and encouraged attendance on 18th June.
(b) VB explained that CRAG was now a local member of Living Streets – a
national organisation that champions walking and walkers – particularly
in urban areas. She will provide more information at future CRAG
meetings.
(c) Clive Bond drew our attention to the various pots of money that were
becoming available to communities from the national Levelling up Funds.
(d) Queens Park Bridge centenary. Helen Speke mentioned that in addition to
the event already held at the Old Bishops’ Palace on 16th April that there
will be a further celebration of the centenary of the bridge on 9th July.
(e) Jennifer Crew mentioned the proposals to site 5G Masts at various
locations around Chester – including Queens’ Park, Handbridge &
Westminster Park. There were concerns about the way in which sites
were being chosen (without any seeming consideration of the proximity
to housing or busy thoroughfares) and also the lack of prior consultation.
The public notices of intended installation were also not very prominent.
It was suggested that we should all keep a look out for any notices of 5G
proposals, share information and also try to establish a clearer overall
picture of the installation processes.
(f) Rev Jonathan Phillips shared information about the Friends of Chester
initiative and also that the “Meal for Everyone” programme would be
relaunched – with the first event planned for 3rd June. MJH offered to
circulate any relevant information to the CRAG membership.
MJH Closed the meeting at 2045 and thanked all attending and Rev Jonathan for hosting the meeting