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7 <title>SENA - Notes of Meeting Held on 11/07/2011</title>
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12 <h2>Notes From The SENA Meeting of 11 July 2011</h2>
14 <h3>Introductions</h3>
16 <p>Cynthia Barnes and Kevin Noble were welcomed to this second
19 <h3>Other Earlsdon Neighbours Associations – their issues and
22 <p>Cynthia outlined the development of Rochester Road Association,
23 initially founded in 1990 in response to the proposed development
24 of the light railway.</p>
27 <li>RARA has a constitution and all residents are members unless
28 they opt to withdraw.</li>
29 <li>The association’s regular activities are an annual general
30 meeting (with wine and cheese and invited speakers) and three
31 annual fundraising activities – carol singing, open gardens and
32 a garage and garden sale.</li>
33 <li>Communication is via two newsletters a year and the annual
34 general meeting at St. Barbara’s Church hall. AGM guest speakers
35 have included, for example, the city architect, city council
36 representatives, the police. </li>
37 <li>Recent issues raised by RARA have related, for example, to
38 planning, licencing, parking, traffic calming and neglectful
40 <li>RARA also seeks to work with other local groups such as
41 Friends of War Memorial Park
42 and <a href="http://www.ecad.org.uk/">ECAD</a> on Earlsdon-wide
46 <p>Cynthia drew our attention to some of the risks of a
47 well-established group – sustaining momentum, recruiting new
48 members and, in RARA’s case, a small number of people doing most
51 <p>Kevin outlined some of the key features
52 of <a href="http://www.earlsdon.org.uk/nena/index.htm">North
53 Earlsdon Residents Association</a> which was formed eighteen
57 <li>Residents become members by "declaring an interest" and
58 joining the mailing list. There is no fee to join.</li>
59 <li>Communication is via e mails two or three times a month, via
60 street representatives and sometimes also via knocking on doors,
61 depending on the issue.</li>
62 <li>NENA meetings are held every two months at
63 the <a href="http://www.criteriontheatre.co.uk/">Criterion
64 Theatre</a> with guest speakers. There are also regular
65 meetings of the street representatives and committee meetings
66 (chair, vice-chair, events co-ordinator, secretary, Treasurer,
67 fund raising officer)</li>
68 <li>Kevin emphasised the importance of a diverse range of
69 activities and initially, residents were canvassed about what
70 they wanted to be involved in. Many of the street
71 representatives are active on particular issues – not everything
72 is organised by the committee. In June, NENA held a picnic in
73 the park and a (second) very successful street sale.</li>
74 <li>Longer term developments have included tree planting (and
75 developing an inventory of trees with the city council) and the
76 redevelopment of Spencer Park. The biggest ongoing issue at
77 present is the impact of Friargate. Like RARA, NENA seeks to
78 work collaboratively with other groups on Earlsdon-wide
82 <p>Kevin offered to help SENA in its initial setting up process –
83 an offer gratefully accepted.</p>
85 <h3>SENA – setting the agenda</h3>
87 <p>Following these two very helpful presentations there was a
88 general discussion on what the implications might be for SENA. We
89 don’t have a definable centre or social area – a village green or
90 a park - nor do we have a unifying issue. However, we have had a
91 good response to the first mailshot (better than the initial
92 response from NENA residents for example) and an encouraging
93 number of residents seeking active involvement.</p>
95 <p>From the responses to the first mailshot and the first meeting
96 it was clear that there were positive things that residents
101 <li>A listening ear (delegates to go to meetings such as of the
102 neighbourhood forum, the police, NENA and report back to
104 <li>A social network</li>
105 <li>Opportunities to be more inclusive; welcoming new neighbours
106 in their neighbourhood; involving students</li>
107 <li>Working collaboratively with other Earlsdon
111 <p>We agreed we need an executive/management group and street
112 representatives (preferably two) for every street. Initial
113 volunteers for street representatives are</p>
116 <dt>Styvechale Ave</dt>
117 <dd>Moya and Deryck Horton, Sally Vernon</dd>
118 <dt>Warwick Avenue</dt>
119 <dd>Mary and Nigel Lee</dd>
120 <dt>Berkeley Road South</dt>
122 <dt>Osborne Road</dt>
124 <dt>Beechwood Avenue</dt>
125 <dd>Judith Hyman</dd>
128 <p>Other streets do not as yet have a rep.</p>
130 <h3>Communication</h3>
132 <p>Early communication structures have been put in place. Simon
133 has constructed a Facebook page, and Matthew has set up a SENA
138 <p>It was agreed that we now needed a second maildrop to ask
141 <li>Opt in to membership</li>
142 <li>Evaluate the issues already suggested following the first
143 mailing and the first two meetings</li>
144 <li>Contribute to a skills bank</li>
147 <p>A working group of Deryck, Simon, Ray, Matthew and Sally, Mike
148 and Helen agreed to meet on Monday 18th July to shape the
153 <a href="mailto:matthewv+senaweb@chiark.greenend.org.uk">SENA webmaster</a><br />