Minutes from the Committee Meeting of Digbeth Residents Association (DRA) and Neighbourhood Watch on Monday 12th November

2012 at 6pm in the Old Crown restaurant. 1. Roll Call and Apologies Present: Lisa Zdravkovic, Gabriela Butler, Adam Robins, Rosie Pocklington, Barry McGinnity, Darren Hadley, Donna Sami, Pam Pinski. Apologies: John Gordon, Val Woodward, Michael Butler, Michael Dadra. 2. Approval of Minutes a. The minutes from June were proposed by Gabi, seconded by Rosie and approved. b. The minutes from July were proposed by Rosie, seconded by Gabi and approved. c. The minutes from August were proposed by Adam, seconded by Gabi and approved. d. The minutes from September were proposed by Pam, seconded by Gabi and approved. 3. Reports from Office Bearers Chair: Rosie wants to remain an active member of DRA, but cannot commit to the role of Chairperson. Rosie will remain in post but the role will be advertised. Treasurer: Nothing to report. Secretary: Pam has been approached outside of DRA to write an article about the history of Digbeth for Birmingham Perspectives. However, the article will include a link to DRA. 4. Matters Arising a. Keep Austin Weird No information had been received from Sandra Hall. Item lapsed. b. Meanwhile park on Connaught Square site No information had been received from Richard Trengrouse. In addition, DRA is aware that a deposit has been put on the site by a buyer, so building is likely to start soon. Item lapsed. c. Parking charge proposal No information had been received from John Gordon. Item lapsed. d. Birmingham Beer Festival debrief DRA raised 754.12 in total from the running of the cloakroom at the Birmingham Beer Festival. However, 105.58 had been passed onto BFOE for their time, and insurance for the event came to 460. In total, therefore, DRA made 188.54 from the event. However, the beer token donations had not yet been counted, and reimbursed by Birmingham CAMRA, so the full amount has not yet been finalised. This will be reported at the next meeting. Gabi and Lisa reported that the festival organisers were considering moving to a bigger venue for 2013, so it is unlikely that DRA will be selected as the festival charity again next year. e. Digbeth Reps update Gabi announced a change of tactics DRA will not look to recruit new Digbeth Reps, but to simply work with existing members who are already engaged with DRA. Pam has secured funding to purchase Neighbourhood Watch notice boards for each residential block in Digbeth; these could be used by the reps to disseminate information circulated by email by the Secretary.

f. Street cleaning Gabi has recently reported litter issues on FixMyStreet.com, which were dealt with, but a more proactive approach needs to be taken by Birmingham City Council to tackle litter in Digbeth. Gabi will write to the Council on this matter. Action GB Adam reported that he and other Rainbow staff ensure to tidy up any litter caused by the venue immediately after any events. Unfortunately other establishments do not do the same. g. DRA three-year budget Gabi tabled a three year budget at the meeting, but noted that it is meaningless unless we know what to spend the money raised on. Communications will be sent out by Pam asking our membership for suggestions for expenditure. Action PP h. DRA Christmas meal and December meeting venue It was decided that DRA would ask the Old Crown to host all future DRA meetings, but we would continue to ask the Custard Factory for their support in providing a larger venue for extraordinary meetings. The December meeting will be followed by the Christmas party, which will also be held at the Old Crown to thank residents and local organisations for their support over the year, and praise those working hard to help the Digbeth community. i. Regeneration in Digbeth and HS2 event debrief This event was very successful with over 100 people in attendance and excellent feedback received. In addition, the event was the leading story on the breakfast show on BBC WM the following day! All the presentations were filmed, and these will be promoted on our website. Organisations from inside and outside Digbeth were well-represented at the event, although not as many residents attended as we would have liked. Going forward, DRA will focus more on resident participation and will continue to film meetings and events (where possible). 5. Police Report and Neighbourhood Watch News A recent spate of burglaries in Digbeth has caused concern over security. Pam has called for residents to be especially vigilant on the DRA website, but the committee expressed concerns that the visibility of this campaign needs to be increased. Action PP 6. Any other business a. Birmingham Opera Birmingham Opera are keen to work with local communities, and are especially interested to hear from people who can donate performances and rehearsal space. The company will explore the theme of Death in 2013; Gabi will act as a conduit to promote Digbeth locations. b. Birmingham Museum The museum is keen to work with the surrounding community and promote Digbeth, but have no funds in order to do this. It was suggested that DRA could help in this aspect. 7. Date and Time of Next Meetings The next committee meeting will be held on Monday 14th January 2013 at 6pm in the Old Crown restaurant, High Street Digbeth. The next open meeting will be held on Monday 10th December at 6pm in the Old Crown restaurant, High Street Digbeth.