Our Chair, Sue Clague has been in touch with our local councillor regarding leaf collections. Please find the response below. After seeking clarification from our officers below is a response I received about the leaf collection in Mapperley Park :-“Dear Mapperley Park Residents”We have teams in Mapperley Park as we speak (and they have been for the last week now). We currently have the Mainline sweeper (the big 12 tonnes sweeper) and two transit vans with two colleagues in each of them (they are using the blowers and shovels to clear the leaves). That’s five members of staff dedicated to Mapperley Park leaf clearance all day, every working day.We still have our regular / routine work that we are having to carry out all over the wards, in addition to the help / assistance we are offering to Domestic Waste to ensure household bins are emptied daily.With Social Distancing, we can only have a maximum of two colleagues in a van (regardless of how big the van is) and close to half of the workforce are non-drivers, so we cannot operate with four or more colleagues in one van as we used to previously.With the new lockdown and the announcement that those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable will be asked to stay at home, we have lost some staff and we also have those who get in touch who have been asked to Self-Isolate (which in some cases takes them out of action for 14 days). When I last checked on Thursday last week, as a Service, we had c40 colleagues off sick for either Testing Positive for COVID, self-isolating for being in contact or for having symptoms, and those off long term sick.This is the current state of play. I just wanted you to have the full overview of some challenges we are going through but please be assured that we are working through these challenges and regardless of how bad things may get, we will endeavour to maintain the current resource of five colleagues in the Mapperley Park area as a minimum.I know that we are on the last stretch of Garden Waste collection, so I’m hopeful we will get some more staff back close to the end of the month and the additional resource will be drafted in to assist in this area.Finally, I am in the middle of getting the list of streets we have visited and what is outstanding. I will share this list and also a proposal on what more we can do so that you have an overall view which may assist in the letter to your residents.”As you can appreciate the present situation in the country and city are very challenging, but we are going to make every effort to provide residents with a the best service we can provide with the resources at our disposal. Please feel free to share this on the Facebook Group and the flyer for the extra leaf collection that we have funded out of our Councillor budgets again for this year.
It’s been a surreal time over the past few months and I hope that you and your families and friends are managing to stay safe and well. The MPRA committee continues to meet remotely and I would like to thank them all for their valuable contributions to newsletters, planning issues, volunteering, membership admin, green spaces, financial custodianship and community communications.
Folliowng on from the excellent community response that we had with our “View from my Home” competition, the MPRA committee are again keen to engage with Mapperley Park residents.
During these difficult times of Covid-19, the necessity of distancing ourselves from others has been tricky. However, one of the things that we have been able to do and still maintain our distance, is to spend time in the garden. This is exactly what we think the residents of Mapperley Park have done: devoted time out in the fresh air and sunshine and worked on our beautiful gardens. Because we would like to celebrate these efforts, the MPRA committee invite you to showcase your industry, so that others can enjoy a virtual tour of gardens in splendour.
If members would like to take part in our “Virtual Open Gardens” showcase, please read our publication file.
The MPRA have been lobbying the council hard to continue collecting garden waste during autumn, when most garden waste is generated because of the amount of trees we have. Each collection for Mapperley Park costs half a year’s council tax for one house so we don’t want them to waste visits. What we have managed to achieve so far is getting two collections in November, in Mapperley Park, rather than one by losing one collection earlier in the year. The last normal rotation is on 14th November and then the postponed collection will be on 20th November. The council are putting stickers on bins as a reminder about the last collection date.
The Chair
welcomed everyone to the AGM and then went on to thank the committee for their
work during the year, she also thanked Alisdair and Sally Butler for their work
on Mapperley Park News and June Greenway and her ‘ladies’ for their work on the
roundabout. Another £500 has been given to them for the summer planting.
Membership has shown a slight increase, largely due to the hard work of Mark
Cox. Mark’s own commitments mean that he feels no longer able to give time to
the committee and so he was standing down. Thanks were extended to Mark for all
the work he has done over the years for Mapperley Park and for building up the
membership and being involved with all the events. He will be much missed.
Cherry Burgess is taking over Membership from him and she was welcomed to the
committee. Congratulations were also given to everyone who opened their gardens
in the summer and to the people who visited them. The event raised £11,000 for
charity. Farewells were given to David Hughes and his wife who are leaving
Mapperley Park after many years of support, and also to Michael and Hayley
Johal who are retiring from the paper shop and have helped in the delivery of
Mapperley Park News. All will be missed.
Apologies
The
following people sent their apologies: Mark Cox, Phil and Sheelagh Glanfield,
Mary Brimelow and Bee Sanghera
Minutes of last AGM
Acceptance
as a true record of the proceedings was
proposed by Ewan Lamont
seconded by Ellie Kennedy
agreed by
all.
Councillors reports.
Cllrs Rosemary Healy and Leslie Ayoola
They reported on the tree situation
in Mapperley Park as a conservation area. The Council has £15000 for trees in
the city and can’t spend as much on Mapperley Park trees as we would like.
Pollarding trees, eg in Tavistock Drive, costs about £300-400 per tree. David
Podesta, who used to be the MPRA representative for trees, asked about the
policy on replacement trees. Concern was expressed about Council workman who
were tarmacking the pavements right up to the tree trunks so that there was no
way the trees could get water without extending roots under walls and into
gardens. The extra leaf bin collection in November was much appreciated, but
some people didn’t get notice that it was happening. Cllr Healy suggested that
the notice could be included in the Christmas bin collection notices and
attached to every bin.
Some concerns were expressed about
regularly missed bin collections. The advice is to ring the Council and report
it, or to go on the website and fill in the details in the bins and rubbish
section.
If people have any other specific concerns
they can be reported to the Cllrs by direct emails or by the Mapperley Park
Facebook page.
Ebers Grove: concerns expressed about
the change of use of one of the houses. Cllr Healey said that the Council were
not the purchasers it was a private sale but they would be aware of the
concerns and take into account residents’ views.
Potholes. There are still potholes
causing concern, especially on Magdala Road. Compensation is being paid out for
car damage, but comes from a different budget. The Highways officer has looked
at them, but as yet they do not fulfil the criteria for repair, but he is
keeping a watching brief.
The Chair thanked the Councillors for
attending and for their helpful contributions.
Treasurer’s report
(attached separately)
There has been an increase of 71
households, bringing in more membership fees and Mapperley Park News continues
to bring in a healthy income.
Richard Bonello has been the
Independent Examiner for the accounts for over 30 years. He is stepping down and our grateful thanks
are extended to him. We are now looking
for a qualified accountant to take his place.
Membership
A welcome is extended to Cherry
Burgess who has taken over the
Membership and Privilege cards from Mark
Membership is growing and we hope
that people will encourage their neighbours to join. There are 365 members in the Facebook group. This is a
closed group. To join it you have to have paid the annual subscription (£5 per
household ) and give your address. You
must answer these questions or the membership request will be ignored. All
posts are monitored to make sure that they are appropriate. The people
monitoring them are volunteers and will respond as soon as they are able to.
The Privilege cards are a real bonus.
Harts restaurant is still on the list, and
the Little Deli on Hucknall Road has been added. The full list of
participants is available on the FB page. If anyone still needs a privilege
card please contact Cherry.
Mapperley Park News
The recent edition was even more
extensive with a wide range of articles. Many thanks to Alisdair and Sally for
this. The revenue comes from advertising and if you know of any businesses that
might be interested in advertising in it, they should contact Alisdair or
Sally. Also, any ideas for articles for the next edition will be most welcome.
Michael and Hayley from the paper shop in Carrington have been a great help in
delivering them. Now that they have retired, we need to consider another way of
delivering them. Our grateful thanks were also extended to Michael and Hayley.
Social Events
Bee Sanghera is in charge of social
events. We had a very successful Christmas party at the Magdala tennis club.
The next event will be held on Sunday
June 9th from 3-6pm at the Magdala tennis club.
There will be a BBQ, a food tent, and
entertainment for the children.
Planning
Throughout the year Mike has kept a
watching brief on planning issues and has advised us of any causes for concern.
He has also given advice to individual members on any planning issues,
including Party wall and Building Regulations. His advice is free to paid-up
members and we are very grateful to him for this. If you have an issue and want
to contact him, he can be emailed or contacted via the Facebook page.
Crime
Police attending were Sgt. Paul
Ferguson, and PCSO Hrycay (aka James)
They reported that crime overall in
the area had dropped 12.6% and personal crime by 11.9%. Burglaries, car and
garage crimes have increased. There has been close co-operation between the
police and residents reporting crimes as they are happening which has led to some
arrests. Some of the car crimes have been done by a person who has mental
health issues and these are now being addressed.
Graffiti appeared on the walls at the
top end of Magdala Road. The Council were alerted and they have been cleaned
up.
A question was asked about a door to
door pedlar who looked dodgy and had climbed over a locked gate to gain access
to a property. The police advised that genuine door to door sellers should have
a pedlar’s certificate which you should ask to see. Ring police if in doubt. 999 if something
happening immediately; 101 call should be dealt with in 3 days.
There has been a spate of car crimes
especially those involving keyless cards. When a car is parked outside the
house make sure that the key is wrapped in foil or put in microwave (switched
off!) to prevent the signal from being hacked.
Some people expressed concern about
the rough sleepers outside the Carrington shops and Cods Scallops. Although
this is not on our patch, if you contact our police, they will pass on the
message to the Sherwood team.
The Police were thanked for their
input at the meeting and for their continuing support in Mapperley Park.
Election of Officers
The current committee members are
prepared to continue and the Chair suggested that they could be re-elected en
bloc.
Proposed: Cath Greenwood
Seconded : Linda Boston
Agreed by all.
The committee were therefore duly
elected to serve for another year.
AOB
There was no further business so the
meeting concluded at 8.35pm
Mapperley Park Resident’s Association
Treasurer’s report to AGM 2019
24th April 2019
The 2018 accounts have been examined
by our independent examiner, Richard Bonnello and they show an excess of income
over expenditure of £3818. As a result of this our accumulated funds at the
start of 2019 stood at £16,572.
You have copies of the Income &
Expenditure Account and the Balance Sheet as at the 31st December
2018.
Our subscription income for 2018 came
from 290 members, an increase from 2017 by 71 households. This is encouraging and is due to Mark’s hard
work chasing members for their annual subs.
Net income from last year’s Mapperley Park News stood at £3533. Again,
this is down to the tremendous work Alisdair and Sally Butler have put into the
newsletter, along with contributions from other committee members. The
newsletter continues to attract a range
of advertisers and proves to be a very successful revenue stream for the
association. Our corporation tax
liability for last year will be in the region of £830.
Other expenditure this year has
included £549 on the planting of the roundabout and £450 on the well attended
Christmas party.
Our liabilities included in the
balance sheet include the provision for corporation tax, AGM expenses and subs
for 2019 which were paid in advance.
Our current available funds stand at
approximately £17,400 taking into account our tax liability due later this
year. We are very pleased to see such a
healthy balance and hope that we are able to sustain this, through the
continuing success of the newsletter and by more households becoming members.
Finally, I would like to offer my
thanks to Richard Bonello who, for a final time, kindly examined the accounts
for us – he informed me that he has done this for the association for over 30
years. We are incredibly grateful for the time he has given to the association
over the years.
We will be looking for a new examiner
so if anybody knows of an accountant or bookkeeper that would be willing to act
as an independent examiner then please do get in touch!
The Hospice on Woodborough Road which has kindly allowed us to use its grounds as a venue in the pased is organising a family fun day this Saturday, 11th August from 11am – 4pm at Woodthorpe Grange Park. The day will be jam-packed with lots of fun activities (some will carry a small charge) such as FREE Pitch & Putt, hula hooping workshops, drumming workshops, archery, face painting, reptiles, craft and community stalls, arts and crafts, music + much more!
There will also be a heritage walk round Woodthorpe Park ran by Friends of Woodthorpe Grange Park starting at 12 noon from the Bean Cafe. RideWise will also be offering FREE bike checks and minor repairs, so bring your bike along.
The PCC at St. John’s Carrington have asked to let everyone know about the Carringhton Festival that will be hosted in the grounds of the Church in a few weeks time.
It will run 10 am – 5 pm on the 21st and 22nd July everyone is welcome.
The Church will be open from 10am starting with a community prayer and as part of Open Churches weekend it will show off its beautiful interior and various displays including vestments, floral, quilting, work by local artists and a book sale. There are Interesting memorials in church and WW1 graves in the garden.
From 1pm to 5pm the first ever Carrington Festival – organised by the local community,
will be hosted in the grounds. This will include stalls, food and drink, information points, a BBQ, Dancers and musical entertainment.
on Sunday the events conclude with a Eucharist and Kid’s Church 10 am followed by refreshments, afternoon Tea and Piano Recital 2 – 4 pm
Mapperley Park 