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+ <title>SENA - Notes of Meeting Held on 11/07/2011</title>
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+ <h2>Notes From The SENA Meeting of 11 July 2011</h2>
+
+ <h3>Introductions</h3>
+
+ <p>Cynthia Barnes and Kevin Noble were welcomed to this second
+ meeting of SENA.</p>
+
+ <h3>Other Earlsdon Neighbours Associations – their issues and
+ organisation</h3>
+
+ <p>Cynthia outlined the development of Rochester Road Association,
+ initially founded in 1990 in response to the proposed development
+ of the light railway.</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>RARA has a constitution and all residents are members unless
+ they opt to withdraw.</li>
+ <li>The association’s regular activities are an annual general
+ meeting (with wine and cheese and invited speakers) and three
+ annual fundraising activities – carol singing, open gardens and
+ a garage and garden sale.</li>
+ <li>Communication is via two newsletters a year and the annual
+ general meeting at St. Barbara’s Church hall. AGM guest speakers
+ have included, for example, the city architect, city council
+ representatives, the police. </li>
+ <li>Recent issues raised by RARA have related, for example, to
+ planning, licencing, parking, traffic calming and neglectful
+ landlords.</li>
+ <li>RARA also seeks to work with other local groups such as
+ Friends of War Memorial Park
+ and <a href="http://www.ecad.org.uk/">ECAD</a> on Earlsdon-wide
+ issues.</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Cynthia drew our attention to some of the risks of a
+ well-established group – sustaining momentum, recruiting new
+ members and, in RARA’s case, a small number of people doing most
+ of the work.</p>
+
+ <p>Kevin outlined some of the key features
+ of <a href="http://www.earlsdon.org.uk/nena/index.htm">North
+ Earlsdon Residents Association</a> which was formed eighteen
+ months ago.</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>Residents become members by "declaring an interest" and
+ joining the mailing list. There is no fee to join.</li>
+ <li>Communication is via e mails two or three times a month, via
+ street representatives and sometimes also via knocking on doors,
+ depending on the issue.</li>
+ <li>NENA meetings are held every two months at
+ the <a href="http://www.criteriontheatre.co.uk/">Criterion
+ Theatre</a> with guest speakers. There are also regular
+ meetings of the street representatives and committee meetings
+ (chair, vice-chair, events co-ordinator, secretary, Treasurer,
+ fund raising officer)</li>
+ <li>Kevin emphasised the importance of a diverse range of
+ activities and initially, residents were canvassed about what
+ they wanted to be involved in. Many of the street
+ representatives are active on particular issues – not everything
+ is organised by the committee. In June, NENA held a picnic in
+ the park and a (second) very successful street sale.</li>
+ <li>Longer term developments have included tree planting (and
+ developing an inventory of trees with the city council) and the
+ redevelopment of Spencer Park. The biggest ongoing issue at
+ present is the impact of Friargate. Like RARA, NENA seeks to
+ work collaboratively with other groups on Earlsdon-wide
+ issues. </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Kevin offered to help SENA in its initial setting up process –
+ an offer gratefully accepted.</p>
+
+ <h3>SENA – setting the agenda</h3>
+
+ <p>Following these two very helpful presentations there was a
+ general discussion on what the implications might be for SENA. We
+ don’t have a definable centre or social area – a village green or
+ a park - nor do we have a unifying issue. However, we have had a
+ good response to the first mailshot (better than the initial
+ response from NENA residents for example) and an encouraging
+ number of residents seeking active involvement.</p>
+
+ <p>From the responses to the first mailshot and the first meeting
+ it was clear that there were positive things that residents
+ wanted:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>A voice</li>
+ <li>A listening ear (delegates to go to meetings such as of the
+ neighbourhood forum, the police, NENA and report back to
+ residents</li>
+ <li>A social network</li>
+ <li>Opportunities to be more inclusive; welcoming new neighbours
+ in their neighbourhood; involving students</li>
+ <li>Working collaboratively with other Earlsdon
+ associations</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>We agreed we need an executive/management group and street
+ representatives (preferably two) for every street. Initial
+ volunteers for street representatives are</p>
+
+ <dl>
+ <dt>Styvechale Ave</dt>
+ <dd>Moya and Deryck Horton, Sally Vernon</dd>
+ <dt>Warwick Avenue</dt>
+ <dd>Mary and Nigel Lee</dd>
+ <dt>Berkeley Road South</dt>
+ <dd>Simon Shaw </dd>
+ <dt>Osborne Road</dt>
+ <dd>Ray Wilson</dd>
+ <dt>Beechwood Avenue</dt>
+ <dd>Judith Hyman</dd>
+ </dl>
+
+ <p>Other streets do not as yet have a rep.</p>
+
+ <h3>Communication</h3>
+
+ <p>Early communication structures have been put in place. Simon
+ has constructed a Facebook page, and Matthew has set up a SENA
+ website.</p>
+
+ <h3>Next Steps</h3>
+
+ <p>It was agreed that we now needed a second maildrop to ask
+ residents to:</p>
+ <ol>
+ <li>Opt in to membership</li>
+ <li>Evaluate the issues already suggested following the first
+ mailing and the first two meetings</li>
+ <li>Contribute to a skills bank</li>
+ </ol>
+
+ <p>A working group of Deryck, Simon, Ray, Matthew and Sally, Mike
+ and Helen agreed to meet on Monday 18th July to shape the
+ newsletter.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<address>
+ <a href="mailto:matthewv+senaweb@chiark.greenend.org.uk">SENA webmaster</a><br />
+ Coventry, England
+</address>
+</body>
+</html>
~matthewv / sena.git / commitdiff