The First Six Months of QRRA
THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE QUEENS ROAD RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION (WIVENHOE)
8 July 2006
Following an initial planning meeting on 19 June, the Queens Road Residents Association held its inaugural meeting on Saturday 8 July 2006 in the Function Room of the Greyhound Pub in Wivenhoe. The benefits of forming a Residents Association were explained by Jo Edwards from the Colchester Federation of Residents Association. The draft constitution was approved, after some minor amendments, and the Association Officers and Committee Members were appointed.
The Aim of the Association was outlined to those present. This was: ‘To unite residents in a common effort to protect and enhance the Conservation Area that comprises Queens Road and its immediate neighbourhood'. The three main objectives of the Association were:
a) To bring pressure to bear to support the closure of Queens Road;
b) To consider ways in which we can enhance our immediate neighbourhood;
c) To foster a community spirit and set up a community support network.
It was agreed that the catchment area should include: Queens Road, lower Park Road (below the junction with Valley Road), Colne Terrace, Dentons Terrace, and the north side of Paget Road.
11 July 2006
Newsletter No 1 was circulated to every household in the Association's catchment area. By this time a deadline had been announced by Essex County Council for support and objections to the closure of Queens Road and other traffic variations in lower Wivenhoe and residents were encouraged to write in with their views.
25 July 2006
A detailed report, photographic evidence and a petition were drawn up and circulated in support of the closure of the road. 143 people signed the petition.
15 August 2006
Newsletter No 2 was circulated. This included a questionnaire to sound out residents views on issues that were important to them.
A detailed report of the Closure Controversy was written by the Chair and can be reached by a link from the QRRA Blog. Full details of the controversy from all points of view can be seen on the Wivenhoe web site at http://wivenhoe.gov.uk.
2 September 2006
First Committee Meeting held. The results from the circulated questionnaire were analysed and showed interest in: writing to Essex County Council about repairs to pavements; organising events, e.g. a street party; trip to a place of interest; pressing Colchester Borough Council to adequately clean the streets; organising a Good Neighbour Scheme; encouraging residents to keep their frontages clean and tidy; bringing pressure to bear to remove ugly power and telephone cables.
5 September 2006
News received from Essex County Council confirming that a meeting had been arranged for mid-October to discuss the reports that had been received concerning the closure of the road and various traffic proposals.
21 September 2006
A meeting was held with the developers of Cook's Shipyard site. Taylor Woodrow. Those present included representatives from suppliers, Wivenhoe Town Council, and the Queens Road Residents Association. Taylor Woodrow said that they would be instigating a ‘3 strikes and you are out' system for contractors not adhering to the designated access route to the site, to prevent plant machinery and pantechnicons from inflicting further damage on Queens Road. Examples of the photographs of vehicles and the damage they caused can be seen by clicking on the relevant Photo Album link on the blog.
7 October 2006
Committee Meeting. No news to date of closure of the road. Contingency plans discussed.
11 October 2006
A written confirmation was received that a recommendation from Essex County Council had been made to support the permanent closure of Queens Road. The full report could be viewed on the Essex County Council web site.
16 October 2006
Newsletter No 3 circulated. This contained news of the decision to close Queens Road after three years of campaigning. Full details could be viewed on the Essex County Council web-site. Membership of the Association stands at 46.
19 October 2006
A liaison officer was brought in by Taylor Woodrow to oversee the implementation of the various traffic measures.
27 October 2006
Just as we were congratulating ourselves on the outcome of the campaign to close the road, serious flooding problems began to occur on the road. Essex County Council reported that they had found a fault with the drainage system in the middle of Queens Road. Residents houses in the dip in the road were badly flooded and at the same time Taylor Woodrow began experiencing similar problems affecting Brook Street and St Johns Road.
28 October 2006
Committee meeting held. All those who had helped in the campaign were thanked for their efforts. The role of Secretary was reviewed and it was recommended that this should be split into two more manageable roles: one of Committee Secretary responsible for Committee Meetings, Minutes and Agendas; and the other an Organising Secretary who would be responsible for organising events. It was decided to hold a General Meeting for Members on 25 November. This would include a participatory exercise to find out what role the residents in the Association would like us to take in future and also a social event to celebrate the closure of the road.
9 November 2006
A resident's car was badly damaged by a passing piece of plant machinery. Unbelievably this was a new car, bought to replace the previous one that had also been written off in similar incident a few weeks earlier.
23 November 2006
Queens Road was being dug up again by Highways, this time opposite the Pump House. This excavation revealed that there was no surface water drainage pipe in this section, just a soak away over an old cast iron pipe.
25 November 2006
The first General Meeting of the Association was held in the Function Room of the Greyhound Pub, attended by about 25 residents. Residents were brought up to date on Association business and this was followed by a participatory exercise encouraging those present to say what they would like to see the association doing in the future, and refreshments were then provided to give people a chance to circulate and get to know one another better. The main issues that emerged were that a) visual improvements could be made to the area; b) a Good Neighbour Scheme could be encouraged; and social events could be organised.
14 December 2006
By accident we heard on the afternoon of the 13 December, that a variation to the Section 106 Agreement had been requested by Taylor Woodrow. The Planning Meeting at Colchester Borough Council was being held to discuss this on 14 December. By burning the midnight oil a representation from the Association was submitted by email and the variation to permit occupancy of the first stage of the building development before the work was done to close Queens Road was turned down.
27 January 2007
Committee meeting held. The general delays to road works to be completed by Taylor Woodrow were discussed. The Association was working with Queens Road residents who lived in the dip of Queens Road to try and get the various agencies to work together to solve the flooding issues. Future work for the Association was discussed following on the participatory exercise held on 25 November. It was agreed that the Association should have some input into the Conservation Area Appraisal of Wivenhoe that was coming up shortly. A new Events Organiser had been appointed and various suggestions were made for social events to he held in 2007. Some clarifications to the Constitution were recommended to be put forward at the next General Meeting or AGM. There was a discussion about the Association blog and Hotmail address.
