Held at Holyoakes Field First School on Wednesday April 30th 2025 at 7 p.m.

In Attendance:
Committee: Julie Vincent, Sylvia Collinson, Stephen Siddle, Mark Whitworth, Mike Vincent
and Anil Jha.

Members: Dr Peter Merricks, Lynda Browne, Paul Smith, Donna Smith, Avril Rogers, Craig Sheldon, Ben Jones and Jonathan Brown.

Councillors: WCC Brandon Clayton, RBC Sachin Mathur & Wanda King

Guest of Honour MP for Redditch Chris Bloore

1.          APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:

Apologies were received from WCC Salman Akbar, RBC Joe Baker, Mrs Koser (Head Teacher HFFS).

PCSO Nina Moore and the Neighbourhood Police Team, Stuart Darn and Pamela Springer. Matt Collinson.

2.          ADOPT MINUTES OF PREVIOUS AGM:

The minutes of the last A.G.M. held on 27th November 2023, have been available on the Brockhill Residents’ Association Website for Members to read and were adopted forthwith.

3.          TREASURER’S REPORT:

This report includes the presentation and if approved, adoption of the accounts for the 12 months ending 28th February 2025.

Stephen Siddell provided the Members with a copy of the Income and Expenditure Account for the 12 months ending 28th February 2025. The Excess (Deficit) of income over Expenditure for the year was shown.

Association funds currently have a balance of £1,479.10, which is a combination of the General fund and the Wildlife Project fund, which has been shown separately on the accounts: General funds being £1,172.20 and Wildlife funds of £306.90.

There were no incomings to the general fund as we were unable to host a fund raiser.

Expenditure was as follows:

•            Room Hire £42

•            Web hosting £160.86

•            Wildlife Project £990.90

•            Bank Charges £4.25

•            Travel Costs £8.00

•            Travel Costs of £8.00 were incurred by the Signatories of the bank account travelling to Solihull to switch our bank account to Metro Bank following the decision by Lloyds Bank to switch us to a Community Account with a monthly fee of £4.25.  The switch to Metro Bank took effect in early March.

•            Since the end of the financial year, the WLP has raised a further £300 from a Garage Sale of surplus equipment, leaving it with total funds at present of £606.90.

•            The balance of general funds should see us remain solvent for the next few years, but we might want to consolidate the position with some fundraising activities in the near future.

The Accounts were received, adopted and approved by members.  

4. UPDATE ON ISSUES AND EVENTS SINCE LAST AGM:
   Most of the issues that we come across are here on the new estate at Brockhill East and involve Persimmon Homes South, who have a separate Maintenance company called First Port, who Residents’ pay an annual fee, which is not capped and can increase each year.
   Our Committee Members attended two of the meetings which were held at Holyoakes Field First School and were hosted by RBC Joe Baker and RBC Lucy Harrison, in the Spring of 2024.
   The Property Manager of First Port Jean Brown, was in attendance to answer the questions raised by Residents’ living on Pointers Way and Meadow View estates. The Residents’ were understandably concerned with the rising annual cost for the maintenance and the fact that the work which should be covered by these costs, was not evident.
   There were complaints that the dog litter bins were not being emptied often enough, particularly the one near to the children’s playground by the School, which was becoming a health hazard.
   A second meeting was held and again, very well attended by Residents’. Jean Brown said that she would look into the possibility of those who wished to pay by Direct Debit, being able to spread the maintenance costs monthly to help with their budgets.
   A further meeting was to be arranged, but we were told that Jean Brown was not covered by her company’s insurance to be attending these evening meetings, so we’re not sure of the current situation. We have advised our Members’ to contact First Port themselves directly with any concerns. The new Property Manager’s name is Kiera Lowry whose e mail address is kiera.lowry@firstport.co.uk

The Committee attended a PACT meeting last Autumn, which was being held at the Redi Centre, for Central Redditch of which Batchley and Brockhill come under. None of our local Councillors were present and most of the concerns were about drug dealing in the Salop Road/Plymouth Road area, so we left early. It was just as well that not many of our Members’ had attended as we had sent them the details of the meeting!
We have continued to support our Committee Member Mark Whitworth, with the Wildlife Project which is situated on the Public Open Space in Appletree Lane. Mark and his team of volunteers who live in that area, are continuing to maintain the fruit trees and Native bulbs that have been planted and they are now hoping to raise around £1,500 for an information board, to show what has been achieved in the area. Mark and Shirley Jobson will be holding a Plant Sale in the area, on May 10th, in the hope of raising money towards this.
We have continued to grow the membership and now have over 600 members. We conduct leaflet drops to the new builds at East Brockhill and to houses that we see have new owners.
We reply to the e mails sent to us by Members who have concerns around the Brockhill Neighbourhood and if we can’t advise them ourselves, we contact our local Councillors for advice. The concerns are mainly about overgrown bushes or pot holes on the roads and general maintenance. We still have Public Open Spaces that have not been adopted, even after over twenty years, which makes it hard to know who to contact, whether it be Persimmon’s responsibility or RBC.

5. DISCUSSION OF THE FOLLOWING ONGOING ISSUES:

I) Persimmon Homes and section 106 monies/ Adoption by RBC of Roads and Public Open Spaces
II) First Port Maintenance charges at East Brockhill: annual increase in charges
III) School Traffic/Parking
IV) Right of way across the Red Ditch
V) Dog Litter Bins needing to be emptied more often on Pointers Way and Meadow View Estates
VI) Barrier/Crossing for Salters Lane entrance to Brockhill Park
VII) Anti-social behaviour issues in Brockhill Park to include speeding vehicles on nearby roads

i) Persimmon Homes and Section 106 monies/ Adoption by RBC of Roads and Public Open Spaces:
The Committee have been assisted by Dr Peter Merricks, our former Chairman and our MP for Redditch Chris Bloore, in continuing to chase RBC and Persimmon Homes South and North, to get the 106 monies paid and the adoption of all of the public Open Spaces that have still not been adopted in the older parts of Brockhill.
Peter and Chris had taken part in an online meeting with Russell Griffin from the planning and Legal Team at RBC and Lisa Webb, the Divisional Head of External Affairs at Persimmon Homes, on February 25th this year, following Chris Bloore having raised the matter in Parliament, of Persimmon’s incompetence. We had been informed by WCC Councillor Brandon Clayton last year, that the building plans for the Pointers Way estate, had not been followed, resulting in houses in Cookridge Close, being built with more land at the front of their premises than planned. Resident’s have received letters from Persimmon, asking for them to relinquish most of their front gardens!! The houses have been built for well over ten years now, so Residents’ are within their rights to refuse. The first houses built in Burrington Close were not built to plan either, but we cannot see how that can be changed now, after well over ten years.
This has all led to the problem of this area’s adoption.
Builders’ have been allowed to choose their own Building Inspectors according to WCC Brandon Clayton. MP Chris Bloore told us that legislation is in progress, for the Government to have future building plans Inspected independantly. We hope that the law will be passed soon, to stop this happening again.
We still have Public Open Spaces in the older parts of Brockhill that have not been adopted by RBC due to maintenance not being up to the required standard. RBC Sachin Mathur told us that he had spoken to Housing Officers and a Legal Officer at RBC, and had been told that progress was being made and that there were just four areas of concern, involving tree and bush maintenance, maintenance to a pathway and a leakage. He told us that he will monitor this and inform us when the work is done.

ii) First Port maintenance charges at East Brockhill/ Annual increase in charges:
First Port have been without a Property Manager for a while but we have been informed now, that a new Property Manager has been appointed named Kiera Lowry. We are not aware of any increase in charges this year, but we advise members to contact Kiera Lowry directly kiera.lowry@firstport.co.uk with any concerns.

iii) School Traffic/Parking:
JV sent an e mail to Mrs Koser, the Head Teacher of Holyoakes Field First School, inviting her to our A.G.M. As she was unable to attend, so I asked her if there was anything she would like me to raise at the meeting. She said “The only thing I would say is that the parking hasn’t really improved and we are worried that now we have two separate building sites/works going on either side of us for the foreseeable, parking will remain problematic.”
She is referring to the houses being built behind the School, so there are construction vehicles all around them now and of course this will remain well into the future, with Shops and a Medical Centre on the plans to be built nearby also.

iv) Right of way across the Red Ditch:
You may have read in previous committee meeting minutes on display on our website, about us trying to have a pathway and crossing made across the wasteland, which had been possible to cross in years gone by. We had a copy of an old map dating back to at least the 1940’s, which showed it as a right of way and we believe the farm workers used to use it.
If a properly constructed crossing and pathway could be made, this would enable some school children and their parents to walk to school, taking a short cut, thus relieving the school traffic. We had been waiting to find out who owns this land and it has now been established that it belongs to Persimmon. WCC BC said that we will have to wait for the land to be adopted, before the work can go ahead and that RBC will be happy to do this.

v) Dog Litter Bins needing to be emptied more often on Pointers Way and Meadow View Estate:
We were told by members attending the AGM who live in this area, that since a couple of larger bins were installed last year, the problems experienced previously, have been rectified.

vi) Barrier/Crossing for Salters Lane entrance to Brockhill Park:
We have been trying to get a safety barrier or crossing in this area for several years now, as we feel there needs to be something to slow children on Bicycles and Scooters down when approaching the busy Salters Lane which is on a bus route. Many residents’ walk with children through the park to the playground or the local shops and when crossing over to Oaktree Lane, the traffic comes quickly around a bend in the road, making it hard to judge whether it is safe to cross. SC said that she has witnessed several near misses, not only from children but also disabled older residents and those in wheelchairs. Several years ago we had a ‘Slow Down’ sign installed near the bend, but this spent more time down than up! We had it cemented in with a stronger concrete which has been successful, but we cannot proceed with the safety barrier until the pathway is adopted, which we hope will be this year.

vii) ASB Issues at Brockhill Park:
The two areas of concern in this area are the Underpass and the Basketball Court, where Teenagers tend to meet up. CCTV had been set up by the Basketball Court for a while but is only temporary. It is moved on to other troublesome areas when things settle down.
The Police have advised Residents’ to ring 101 to report any anti- social behaviour in this area. We have been told that the local Police team regularly patrol the area at night time.
Since the last AGM, we had experienced speeding cars on the nearby roads and this was reported at the time to our local Police Neighbourhood team. JV had also witnessed Quad Bikes driving on the pathway around Brockhill Park, causing pedestrians to jump out of the way. She reported this by ringing 101 and was later told by Councillor Joe Baker, that the offenders had been caught and reprimanded.

ELECTION OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
In compliance with our Constitution, which states that two/three Committee Members must resign in order to recruit new Committee Members, Sylvia Collinson and Julie Vincent have resigned. Julie Vincent said that she would stand down as Secretary if anybody else wished to take the role over. We asked if anybody in the room would like to be elected, and two people have offered to join the Committee, Donna Smith and Jonathan Brown, so we will be arranging a meeting shortly to welcome them to the Committee and also to meet our two new WCC Councillors.
We would like to thank Ben Moseley for his great management of the Website this year and hope he will be able to continue to do so.
We also thanked WCC Brandon Clayton for all the help he has given us over many years.

A.O.B./ MEMBERS’ OPEN FORUM:
Donna and Paul Smith who were present at the AGM, told us of the fly tipping in Salters Lane. They said it was a real eyesore on their way to work each day. RBC Councillors Sachin Mathur and Wanda King said that they would report it and have it moved. Johnathan Brown asked how tenants were allowed to get away with this as many of the houses are owned by the Council and that they should be evicted if they don’t keep the area rubbish free. Of course, it is hard to prove who is dumping the rubbish and some houses are now private. If it continues, we will arrange to have CCTV installed.
Stuart Darn, who was unable to attend the meeting had reported to JV, that he is concerned about the loose manhole covers around Pointers Way/Meadow View estates. He was particularly concerned with one that was outside his house in Cookridge Close, and other members present at the meeting who live in the area, confirmed that there were many other loose covers. JV had reported this to Lisa Webb of Persimmon Homes South. The Closed Site Adoptions Manager Arnold Breslin, then contacted Stuart to inform him that the main spine road and all the closes off, were being inspected W/C 12/5/25 and loose manhole covers would be replaced.

The meeting ended at 8.30 p.m.