Minutes of CRAG Members’ Meeting on Thursday 4th April 2024 @ St. Peter’s @ The Cross Chester

In attendance:
1. Mike Hogg - Chair (MJH) Cheshire Heritage & Sustainability Enterprises
(CHASE)
2. Vanessa Bond (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. Roger Wynne (RW) Friends of Grosvenor Park & Groves (FOGG)
6. Pat Wynne (PW) FOGG
7. Bill Grady (BG) Bridgegate East Residents’ Association (BERA)
8. Anne Grady (AG) Bridgegate East Residents’ Association (BERA)
9.Don McRae (DM) Friends of Grosvenor Park & Groves (FOGG)
10. Mick Confrey (MC) King Street Residents Association (KSARA)
11. David Colclough (DC) Commonhall St. Residents Association (CSRA)
12. Julie Colclough (JC) Commonhall Street Residents Association (CSRA)
13. Helen Speke (HS) Queens Park Residents’ Association (QPRA)
14. Andrew Kendall (AK) Curzon Park Residents’ Association (CPRA)
15. Sandra Magilton (SM) WPRA
16. Niall Macfadyen (NM) CHASE
17. Lisa Sawyer (LS) (CHASE)
18. Emily Payne (EP) Welsh Water
19. Michaella Thompson (MT) Welsh Water
20. Rosie Welch (RW) Welsh Water
21. Jane Kite (JK) St Peter’s @ The Cross
22. Nev Kite(NK) St Peter’s @ The Cross

Apologies:
1. John Walker Vice-Chair (JW) 1761 RTM Limited (1761)
2. Jennifer Crew (JCr) Westminster Park Residents’ Association (WPRA)
3. Trevor Farrell (TF) Hough Green Residents’ Association (HGRA)
4. Deborah Reid (DR) King Street Residents Association (KSARA)
5. Tim Schofield (TS) Queens Park Residents’ Association (QPRA)
6. Ann Farrell (AF) George Street
7. Chris Hughes (CH) Chair FOGG
8. David Starbuck-Edwards (DS-E) Dee Hills Park Estate Association (DHP)
9. Colin Potts (CP) Shipgate Management Association (SMA)
10. Clive Bond (CB) White Friars Residents’ Association (WFRA)
11. Rob Hulme (RH) Commonhall Street Residents Association (CRRA)
12. Rev. Jonathan Phillips (JP) St Peters at the Cross

MINUTES

4th April 2024

Item 1. Introduction:
MJH opened the meeting and thanked all members for attending in particular those members doing so for the first time. He also welcomed EP, MT & RW from Welsh
Water and in particular thanked EP for making the time to give a presentation about Welsh Water (WW) and the River Dee and to answer questions on those
topics.

Item 2. The River Dee & Welsh Water:
EP of WW gave a very interesting presentation (accompanying these minutes). An enlightening Q&A followed – which allowed attendees to improve their understanding of
WW and its role and challenges in improving water quality in the River Dee. EP was thanked for her talk and responses and it was agreed that WW should be asked to
return to future CRAG meetings and to feature in the 2024 CRAG conference as well as the 15/16th Chester Green Expo element of the 2024 Chester Green Weekend.

Item 3. Minutes of the meeting held on 6th December 2023:
These were reviewed, considered to be a true record, approved and signed by the chairman.

Item 4. Matters Arising:
(a) CW&C’s continuing focus on further budget savings has reduced their time availability for the proposed meeting with G.A.S. to identify more
appropriate locations for any 5G masts required around Chester.

(b) MJH advised that (i) CW&C does enforce the WHO 11pm to 7am “silent hours” but only in response to reported and logged complaints and that
(ii) when CRAG was set up, it was universally agreed that CRAG should not interfere or overlap with the pursuit of individual issues by individual
RAs. BG explained that David Flood’s concern was that solving a problem in the BERA area may have moved it to other parts of the city and hence
why CRAG should perhaps engage with CW&C and commercial waste companies to achieve a city-wide solution. MJH explained that the BERA
actions had not seemingly had this effect, in part because the planning & licensing conditions agreed for licensed premises in the BERA area are
the “tightest” in the city. Furthermore, several RA representatives present said that they did not want CRAG to pursue such a
standardisation option, preferring to work with CW&C and commercial waste companies to determine solutions tailored to their own particular
circumstances. In short, BG’s proposal was not supported.
(c) MJH also explained that BG’s proposal that CRAG should insist that CW&C consistently apply the Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) for every licence
application was not supported by the CRAG Exec. BG asked why then had CRAG supported the introduction of the CIP as drafted. MJH explained that it
had been supported so that it was available for individual RAs to have as a tool where really needed (eg the current 04:00 hrs licence end application
for premises in Northgate Street) and that seeking to have it applied in every case was impractical both administratively and from a commercial point of
view as the income from business rates was a key component enabling CW&C to deliver essential services. BG argued that it was unacceptable that
a financial argument should be used to justify not consistently applying the CIP, particularly given that CW&C – and Chester in particular – has one of
the worst rates of teenage alcohol related hospitalisation rates in the U.K. MC pointed out that this teenage-related alcohol problem does not stem from
licensed premises, but from unmanaged alcohol consumption in other places. He also advised that KSARA did not support the approach suggested by BG,
as they wished to see a sensible balance between reasonable licence applications and the commercial survival & success of the city. This is based
on their having been concerned at the growing number of empty premises in their area. Several other RA representatives present echoed MC’s point of
view, repeating comments made at the previous CRAG meeting on 6th December 2023. Again, in summary, BG’s proposal was not supported.
Additionally, VB commented that many other local authorities had let their CIPs lapse where there was Purple Flag Accreditation in place for the evening and
night-time economies. Building on this, MJH said that the matter of licence applications and the usage of the CIP would surface again both as part of the OCP
City Centre Living action item and also when the CIP itself is reviewed in 2025, at which point there will be a public consultation.

Item 5.
One City Plan Update:
MJH gave a quick summary of key progress items in each of the five OCP delivery groups:
Being:
a. A City-wide Spring Clean (City Centre, Rows & The Groves) is being organised for the week commencing 12th May. DM asked if this will
include the pedestrian underpasses. MJH will check.
b. A database of all Rows property owners has been established to facilitate a single integrated fire alarm system on the Rows.
c. Further “diverted giving” card readers have been purchased and installed around the city to raise funds to support housing and help for
rough sleepers. This fund is administered by the Bluecoat Foundation on behalf of relevant charities. CW&C are also investing to increase
the availability of more hostel and “first stop” accommodation. This is being accompanied by policy changes that will see a reduction in the
use of hotels for this purpose and also see the Lower Bridge Street Townhouse Annexe used for less complex cases. The MARS (Multi
Agency Rough Sleeping) unit continues to play a key role in managing the overall response.
d. Chester has retained its early evening and night-time economy Purple Flag Accreditation.
Item 6.
Making:
a. The Reimagining the Rows project report is due for publication in April.
b. Projects to address positive futures for the Castle, Dee House & Hydro Hub are under way.
c. The suggested approach for the City Centre Living action item have now been approved so CRAG members from RAs inside the walls will
shortly be asked to contribute.
Visiting:

the chair (Colin Potts) has started pulling together the various organisations involved in promoting and operating the visitor economy to
arrive at an improved offering. This is particularly key given the importance of visitor revenue for the city’s economic wellbeing.
Experiencing:

the chair (Bense Burnett) has equally started canvasing the views of cultural and artistic groups and organisations in Chester to
understand their offerings, operations and objectives. This will provide the framework within which the city’s cultural offering will be co
ordinated and improved. AK has been included in this initial “sounding out” process.
Connecting:

this group has not yet gained any traction (pun not
intended).
All CRAG volunteers have been linked with the relevant existing project groups and initiatives – with more to come once relevant projects commence.

CRAG 2024 Conference:
PB (in the absence of JW) advised that the 2024 Conference will be held at the Racecourse on 22nd October (General Election permitting). JW’s outline note is
circulated along-with these minutes, and CRAG members are encouraged to send ideas, comments and suggestions for the 2024 Conference to JW and PB. MJH will
approach councillors for funding contributions as the 2023 arrangements (where CRAG Exec members subsidised the conference to the tune of circa £600 in total
from their own pockets) is plainly not sustainable. It is hoped that such councillor funding will again allow conference attendance to be offered free of charge.

Item 7.
CRAG Subscriptions:
DM listed those RAs that have not as yet paid their 2023/2024 subscriptions. He will write to the representatives of those RAs that attended this meeting to ensure
he has the correct contact details and hence facilitate prompt payment of outstanding monies. He confirmed that the CRAG financial year is AGM to AGM –
i.e. 1st September to 31st August.
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Item 8.

A.O.B:
(a) RW explained how DM and he had jet-washed one bench on the Groves to good effect and that Cllr. Katrina Kerr had confirmed that the Groves would form part of
the spring clean scheduled for the week commencing 12th May 2024. Once this has been completed, CRAG can then review what crowd-funding or community project
may be appropriate.
(b) MJH advised that he will be meeting with Inspector James Wilson before the April month end.

Item 9.
Dates of Next Meetings:
the following dates have been agreed for the meetings to be held in 2024
Q2: Thursday 18th July
Q3: Thursday 19th September (AGM)
Q4: Thursday 12 December.
MJH Closed the meeting at 2045 and thanked all attending and Jane & Nev Kite for hosting the event

Minutes of CRAG Members’ Meeting on Thursday 4th April 2024 @ St. Peter’s @ The Cross Chester

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