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7 <title>SENA - Notes of Meeting Held on 20/06/2011</title>
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12 <h2>Notes From The Inaugural SENA Meeting on 20 June 2011</h2>
14 <h3>1. Introductions:</h3>
16 <p>Mike Torbe welcomed residents to the first meeting of the embryonic
17 South Earlsdon Neighbourhood Association (a SENA pod?!) and we
18 introduced ourselves.</p>
20 <h3>2. Background - how we got to this first meeting at the Oak:</h3>
22 <p>Mike outlined how he and Helen had leafleted roads in the South
23 Earlsdon area, Where there is currently no residents association,
24 to see whether residents would find an association of
25 interest. Approximately 500 households were contacted in Warwick
26 Avenue, Styvechale Avenue, Osborne Rd, Berkeley Road South,
27 Providence Street and Moor Street. Several people at the meeting
28 suggested that Beechwood Avenue, Woodland Ave and Stoneleigh
29 Avenue should also be invited to join since they are otherwise
30 quite isolated. The question of the geographical extent of the
31 association is one to be returned to.</p>
33 <h3>3. Where do we go from here?</h3>
35 <p>We discussed how the association might develop, and the suggestions
36 fell into two areas.</p>
38 <p>Firstly, we agreed that we would like the association to provide a
39 social network to share information about developments or problems
40 in the area. We would also like to meet more people in our
41 street(s). While everyone at the meeting agreed this would be a
42 good idea, there were two groups to think about in particular to
43 help feel included - those who were newly arrived in the area,
44 including students, and older residents who might be becoming more
45 isolated. Social activities suggested were a picnic in the park, a
46 plant sale, a street sale, a register of equipment residents might
47 wish to lend to others, a welcome pack for new residents.</p>
49 <p>Secondly, the association could work to monitor the physical
50 environment of the area and work towards promoting appropriate
51 developments in ways which individual residents cannot. SENA might
52 work independently or in collaboration with other Earlsdon
53 associations, depending on the issue. We acknowledged that these
54 are tough economic times, but there are still options and
55 decisions to be made about the quality of our neighbourhood
56 environment and its development.</p>
58 <h3>4. Communication and organisation:</h3>
60 <p>We discussed various possible approaches - the Echo, posters,
61 leaflets, a desk outside the Co-op. A website would also be
62 useful but so too is personal contact, and residents at the
63 meeting (all but one of the streets were represented) agreed to
64 start talking to their neighbours about the association and to
65 take responsibility for leafleting their streets. The two key
66 questions may be - What can we do for you? And what can you do
67 for us? We noted that personal details must be held
70 <p>We discussed how we might organise ourselves and agreed that
71 this would evolve depending on the activities. Funding was
72 discussed but no decisions were made.</p>
74 <p>Mike will continue to act as chair and co-ordinator for anyone wishing
75 to network with other residents. Ray, Sally and Deryck agreed to
76 become actively involved.</p>
78 <h3>5. Next steps:</h3>
80 <p>We said that we would like to talk to other Earlsdon residents'
81 associations about how they had developed and the issues they
82 focussed on. The suggested date for this is July 11th. We agreed
83 to start with one social activity in August / September - watch
86 <p>The publicans at the Oak had been very welcoming and had given us free
87 access to the back room for this first meeting. Longer term we
88 wondered whether we might find a member of the Criterion who
89 would sponsor us so that we might meet there, at a more neutral
90 venue where disabled access is possible.</p>
92 <h3>Dates for your diaries:</h3>
94 <p>July 11 - meeting with reps from NENA and Rochester Road at
95 either the Criterion or The Oak, venue to be confirmed.</p>
99 <a href="mailto:matthewv+senaweb@chiark.greenend.org.uk">SENA webmaster</a><br />