Newton Leys Residents Association Minutes of Meeting at 7pm 4th July Meeting Room WRG Landfill Site

Attendees
Residents James Fuller, Paul Neenan, Hannah Kinloch, Lindsey Greening, Leigh Underwood, Emma Hughes, Lou Hughes, Ryan, Emmie, Adam Light, Katie Du Preez, Laura Carrick, Claire Spencer and Ken

Town Council Gary Mills (GM) Town Councillor and Lisa Courtney (LC) Town Clerk

Introductions
Each of the attendees was given an opportunity to introduce themselves and state what they wished to achieve from the Residents Association and their aims for the wider Newton Leys Community. The consensus of the group was that everyone wanted to build a strong community with social events and the ability to speak with one voice to support and encourage the future development of Newton Leys. Play Areas People voiced their concern as to the lack of play areas on the development especially given the large amount of children. A discussion was had as to the state of The Crescent and the lack of proper planting and landscaping of this area. It was confirmed that there would be no play equipment in this area and the first proper play area that would be built would be outside the new showhomes on phase 2. There is no current timescale for when this work would be started but a planning officer is coming to meet Taylor Wimpey in the next two weeks to discuss the 106 planning requirements for the development. There is also the possibility of obtaining a community grant from the local council to improve The Crescent area should we set ourselves up as a recognised Residents Association. Roads Work to the bridge to the Lakes Estate is due to begin in the next two months. GC is to confirm the level of the work in this area. The lack of lighting and footpaths on the development was raised especially in relation to the main entrance. GC agreed

to bring this up with the appropriate departments of the Council. At present however the roads are unadopted and the Council are unable to enforce either parking or speed limits on the development. If anyone has any concerns in respect of parking these can however be raised with David Roche who is the parking enforcement officer for our area. His e-mail address is david.roche@milton-keynes.gov.uk. Communal areas and facilities The group discussed their concerns as to the lack of family areas and shopping facilities on the development. They also expressed a strong concern as to the standard of work done to the communal areas to date such as the movement of the Callow Mound, The Crescent area and the destruction of the brick road and the overall safety of the lake area. LC stated that the council are now putting pressure on Taylor Wimpey to bring forward the start date of the commercial areas and shops at the development but she has no confirmed dates for this work yet. She stated that if the Newton Leys community placed pressure on this issue the Town Council could in turn place further pressure on Taylor Wimpey. LC suggested that we contact the 106 planning officer Jonathan Robinson at jonathan.robinson@milton-keynes.gov.uk . She also suggested that we contact the Planning Enforcement Officer Anne Stannard at anne.stannard@miltonkeynes.gov.uk Milton Keynes Anglers Association have now taken over the monitoring of the fishing at the lake and it was suggested that we also contact them. Fly-tipping All instances of fly-tipping should be reported to the Environment Department via their helpline. It is better to report this on the helpline as the Council then have a log of all instances. If a high number of instances occur in one area they then introduce greater vigilance in that area. The helpline number is 01908 25 25 70. Travellers Site The intended site of the Travellers Site has been moved further down the second access road nearer to the landfill site. At present it is still part of the outline planning for the development. A precedent has been set in the area however after the refusal of the Fenny Lock travellers site even where the original planning permission for that development had been granted on the basis of a travellers site being built. If there is a high level of protest to the building of the travellers site at Newton Leys it is possible that this could be removed from our development. It is suggested that we should consult our MP on this Alan Webb at alan.webb@milton-keynes.gov.uk Temporary Community Centre

The long-term planning for Newton Leys includes the building of a permanent Community Centre. Given the level of disquiet from residents at Newton Leys as to the lack of facilities the Town Council is supportive of a temporary community centre being built. They have been in discussions with Taylor Wimpey about this since January. They have advised Taylor Wimpey that they need to apply for planning permission for this structure and have been awaiting an application for planning permission from Taylor Wimpey ever since and the ball is in their court. Once an application is made it would take around 8 weeks for a decision to be made. LC has seen the proposed temporary community centre as it is currently situated at another Taylor Wimpey Development in Aylesbury. She advised that is has two large meeting rooms, one smaller meeting room together with toilets and a kitchen. She is of the view that it is not unattractive and could really assist to kick start the facilities at Newton Leys. Within the 106 planning agreement for Newton Leys there is approximately 100,000.00 of funding available from Taylor Wimpey for community facilities and development. Once a community centre is erected the council could call on these funds to provide a full-time officer for the community centre to kick-start community clubs and activities such as a baby and toddlers club, coffee mornings, a youth club and community events to be held at the Community centre and around the development. Formalisation of the Residents Association LC strongly advised us to set up a formally recognised residents association as once this was done we could form pressure groups and apply for community grants. She suggested that we contact Paula Mason of the MK Community Foundation who could assist on this process. The MK Community Foundation can be contacted at info@mkcommunityfoundation.co.uk and a preliminary e-mail has been sent to them. In order to become a formally recognised RA we need to elect officers, have a constitution and have regular meetings with Agendas and minutes. GM has offered to obtain the constitution for his RA as a starting point. A suggested date of 25th July has been proposed for the next RA meeting which will be advertised in a flyer to all houses and flats on the development so that the initial officers of the RA can be elected. Schools The likely opening date of the Newton Leys Primary School is September 2015. The Primary school next to the Leon School and the Leon School itself have received very positive Ofsted reports and it was believed that this was not widely known to the Newton Leys community as most children appear to be at schools in other areas. There are reserved places at both of these schools for children from Newton Leys and The Leon School is shortly to be converted to an Academy. It was felt this

should be publicised to the Newton Leys Community and an article is being written on this topic by LG for the next RA Newsletter. Website and Newsletter We hope to complete our next Newsletter by 18th July so that the next RA meeting can be fully publicised. LC has also stated that the Town Council is shortly to complete their Newsletter The Neighbour and she is happy to include a piece on the Newton Leys Residents Association to publicise this further.

It was felt important that a website was established for the Newton Leys Residents Association as some people in the community do not use Facebook. The Oxley Woods website was cited as a good example and EH agreed to action this. LC advised that there were lots of community events going on in the wider community and that the Council was shortly to issue their Summerplay leaflet. We requested 400 copies via GM and offered to arrange for these to be delivered. There is a possibility of the Residents Association once formally recognised being paid to deliver leaflets for the Town Council and this money could then be used to fund community events. LC also agreed to look into placing a community notice board by the roundabout between phase one and phase two so that community events could be publicised. Allotments There is provision for an Allotment next to phase two within the 106 planning agreement for Newton Leys. If you would like to register your interest in a plot at this allotment you should contact Sally-Anne Cane at Milton Keynes Council. Rubbish We should all have a blue bin for glass and a large green wheelie bin for green waste and food. In addition you can request black bags for non-recyclable items and pink sacks for recyclable items from the Council. If you want to request any of these items you should contact the Council on 01908 252570. Community Day There was a desire amongst the group to organise a community day. It was suggested that this should be held on Sunday 26th August so keep the day free. If anyone would like to join in or has any ideas on what we should do please let us know. Broadband There was concern amongst the group as to the poor speed of broadband and poor telephone reception in the development. This is especially difficult for those trying to work from home. It was suggested that a sub-committee should be tasked with

looking into this area further and there will be further discussion of this at our next meeting. Next Residents Association Meeting The proposed date for the next RA meeting is 25th July. This will be an important meeting as we intend to try and agree a constitution and elect the initial officers of the RA. We intend to invite everyone to the meeting and it was felt that it was important for us to encourage participation from as wide a cross section as possible of the people living at Newton Leys irrespective of where they live or the type of property that they live in. We hope you agree with us and look forward to seeing you there. Time and venue to be confirmed.