A comment from the Chair of Melbury & Warkworth Woods Residents Association with reference to the open meeting held at Brunton First School on Monday 29th March 2010, to which all residents of Melbury and Warkworth Woods were invited.
This meeting was arranged on behalf of the Residents’ Association by Sue Wannop, our Neighbourhood Co-ordinator at the City Council in response to our representations at the extent of inactivity on both estates towards completion. The Association is grateful to Sue for arranging the attendance of Parish Councillors, representatives from the Council including the Chair of the Great Park Advisory Committee and the Consortium, and for hosting the meeting at the School.
The Association , Newcastle City Council and the Consortium were delighted at the turnout that evening, and has already been commented on the website, it was a productive evening. It was never our intention that it would be a formal meeting with minutes being taken – to have done so would have proved to be an onerous task – it was intended to be an informative event to allow all residents an opportunity to ask questions and see the drawings of proposals affecting Melbury generally, particularly Featherstone Grove.
We also introduced into the meeting the concept of writing your thoughts and comments on Post-It notes. These have been typed up and were distributed at last week’s AGM. A copy will be posted on the website when we have discovered how to import the document as a pdf. I am sure it is not difficult but we are having to take advice from our website host to find out how it can be done. In this respect, all I can say at this moment is to watch this space.
Now, with regard to minutes, there are none to post. I had anticipated we would produce some notes of the meeting, but in fairness to all present, without having a note-taker, it has been difficult to achieve accord with everyone’s recollections. Having said that, Peter Jordan did, as he promised he would, write to the Council the next day setting out his interpretation of the evening’s discussions and he is pressing senior officers at the Council for action.
Moving on from the open meeting, it seems sensible for Peter’s letter to form the basis of an action plan which we will progress with the City Council. Updates will be posted on the website as and when they occur.
Ann Wynn
Chair
Melbury & Warkworth Woods Residents Assocation
6th May 2010
