Madeley Village

Madeley Tidy Group
Minutes of Committee Meeting 12th March 2012 at The Madeley Centre
Present
Chris Machin; Sue Machin; Chris Wright; Simon White; Billy Welsh; Ricki Williams; Jean Thompson; Roy Dutton; Helen Dutton; John Berrington.
Apologies
Alan Woodhouse; Terry Edmond; Mary Edmond.
Minutes of Previous meeting
On 16th Jan 2012 accepted as a true record.
Proposed by Ricki Williams.
Seconded by Chris Machin.
Matters Arising
The position for the commerative tree in memory of Fred Bailey has been agreed and the ceremony will take place around September. Fred’s niece, Jean, and her brother wish to attend.
The draft copy of the fund raising letter to local businesses was passed around for comment.
The Swan sculpture has been unveiled and comments were made that it was very impressive.
RD advises that the Annual Reports leaflet is still in course of preparation.
The Borough Council have agreed to repair and maintain the Church Car Park. SW advised a document from 1976 confirmed that they were the registered owners of the CP & were responsible for it. Pot holes will be filled & compacted rather than tarmac’d in view of cost restraints.
The recycling document was shown. Comment was made that Morrison’s recycling site in Newcastle needs to be added & then will be e-mailed out to members and added to the Madeley website.
Treasurers Report
Balance as at close of business 29th Feb 2012: £883.60.
Re Green Grant received for The Offley Arms Bed: Photos are required as part of the grant agreement by the end of the month.
ACTION: SUE MACHIN TO ACTION & FORWARD ON TO JB
PR Report
Nothing to report apart from items in other sections: the recycling poster & the litter awareness campaign.
Sponsorship Report
The fund raising letter to local businesses will be sent out to businesses in Madeley asking if they would like to sponsor a flower bed or make a donation.
ACTION: SUE MACHIN TO MAILSHOT LOCAL BUSINESSES
SW advised that The Old Hall could be used for fund raising as, after a wedding, the marquee is still there and could be used by local groups.
Gardening Report
Work done on the new Offley bed. Few more shrubs to be planted. Approximately £70 still to be spent.
New Lilac bought for the side of the Springs walkway. Rowan needed. Both are replacements for those that have been vandalised.
Terry has weeded the Greyhound bed and Chris W has cleaned the one at New Road .
The Police Station bed has been cleared of bushes and flowers that we can use. Skimmia have been planted at the Eternit bed, Judith has been given a skimmia and roses for the Izaac Walton bed and the primulas have been put into the long trough by the butchers.
Reply from Steve Middlehurst giving outline of future work on the Himalayan Balsam
STS has said that they will repair the Butcher’s trough at no cost to us. RW has sent another e mail to them in the hope of getting a date for the repair as the trough is falling apart, but no reply so far. If they stick with their original intention the work should be done within the coming month.
Contact by Billy Welsh
a) Looking at funds from which we are paid for gardening BW found that there was less than £500 and felt that we were worth more than that. He will look into other funds to increase this amount.
b) Asked if we would like to take back the upkeep of the Rock garden. Dave Whitmore has not been able to get help from the Residents Association RW said that would take the matter to the committee, but also gave him a firm no in answer to his question. Then went on to discuss whether Elmside would take it on. BW will deal with this.
c) BW to speak to the Parish Clerk re new plantings of daffodils and to ensure that all the mowers know that the daffodils are to be left for at least 4 weeks after flowering before they are mowed over. Early mowing at the Holborn junction has resulted in a lot of leaves but no flower buds. They have also been trampled down as they have been around the Greyhound bus stop.
Litter Picks
Next litter pick is on March 31st. Meet at Greyhound Court at 10pm. Intend to target wildlife area by the Pool. Bring wellies.
Future Plans
MC Summer Fayre on 10th June 2012 between 2pm & 4pm. MTG have a stall but are not fund raising. Intend it to be a litter awareness campaign. Posters have been drafted to warn of the dangers to wildlife & children of litter. Also advertise how to opt out of unsolicited mail and phone calls. Also suggested that we show results of a litter pick by displaying the litter on a tarpaulin.
Continue to consider fund raisers at Madeley Spice or The Old Hall.
Recycling
CM reported on a talk by David Beckett, Chair of Health Scrutiny at NUL BC, who gave a talk at the Madeley U3A:
Our recycling goes to:
Paper to Deeside where it is recycled and used for newspapers, including The Sentinel.
Glass to Yorkshire where it is recycled and used for glass bottles.
Plastic Bottles go to Lancashire & sold on the commodities market.
Cardboard goes to South Staffordshire and recycled for packaging (collected by sub-contractor Acumen Ltd).
Textiles go to Milton Keynes for The Salvation Army.
Garden waste goes to Whitmore, on an open compost heap and the finished compost is used on fields.
Cans are sold on the commodities market.
Food waste goes to a farm near Gnosall, where it is turned into electricity and used to heat strawberries; any remaining is used as fertiliser.
Non-recyclable items go to the incinerator.
There are no plans for yoghurt pots or margarine container recycling at the moment.
Every battery shop should have a battery recycle point; except for small corner shops.
A plant near Chester is a co-mingle recycling unit, but glass breaks and contaminates other items resulting in approx. 20% of the recycling being corrupted.
Any garden rubble in the garden waste bins will wreck the recycling mechanics in the lorries.

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BW said that in previous years, the PC had adopted a practice of donating to the Tidy Group, at the end of each Financial Year in recognition for all the work carried out in the Village, the balance of the Gardens’ Budget provision, which would have amounted to £468.00 this year. BW and SW ,however, strongly represented that this sum was insufficient for all the hours and efforts of the Group, and Councillors readily accepted that the Council’s donation should be increased to £1000.00.
The request from The Residents Association for a donation for the flagpole was discussed.BW advised that MC & The Residents Association had set up a working party to look into the project. The committee discussed whether it was correct for us to donate funds that had been donated to MTG & these funds would have been expected to be used on MTG projects; whether MTG could the re-donate these funds on. It was felt that we may well be exceeding our remit to do this, and although we felt the flagpole was a worthy cause that would add to our village, we, as a group, would have to decline to make a donation.
JB advised that business cards had been scattered around Bevan Place. These had been traced back to the MC & had been stolen by youths and thrown about. The caretaker at the MC has agreed to clean up the business cards. If any more are found, please report the matter to the MC.
JB reported that the cost of upkeep on The Crewe Arms Bed will no longer have to be met by MTG. BW & The PC will maintain it.
JB reported a litter hot spot in Knightley to Streetscene, which they acted on and cleared up. Unfortunately, within seven days a large amount of litter had been deposited again.
The Playground at The Springs is another hot spot. It has been reported to BW who advises it is Aspire’s responsibility and they have been informed. BW advises Aspire pay for someone to keep it litter free.
SW advises that he is in a meeting shortly and can give litter hotspots to a Young Offenders Payback group to clear. The hedgerows around MHS & the hedges around the football fields at Manor Road. If anyone knows of anymore, please advise SW.
SW advised that the bulbs at The Springs had been flattened by youths on motorbikes. The police had been called but the youths had fled. These youths are known to the Police but without being able to identify them there is nothing the Police can do. To obtain a positive id the registration number(s) of the motorbikes is required and then passed on to the Police to take further action.
The Residents Association has asked if we would consider taking back the maintenance of the Rock Garden. This had to be declined because of the high amount of maintenance work required on this feature and MTG’s lack of volunteers / free work time to look after this one feature. It was suggested that The Residents Association consider contacting Elmside to cut back the shrubs and lay bark down to tidy the Rock Garden up for the time being.
SM raised problems with two untidy houses in the village. One at Puddleduck Corner had recently been tidied up & was ok. The other, the first one in Newcastle Road, had a skip in the front which had been there for several months, was full, and rubbish & litter was blowing from it & into the village. CW said he would try & contact the skip firm for removal of it. SM advised she would report the house to BW & SW.
ACTION: SUE MACHIN TO REPORT THIS UNSIGHTLY SKIP TO BW & SW.
SM suggested that MTG request donations of perennial plants and shrubs to MTG via newsletters & the website.
ACTION: CHRIS MACHIN TO CONTACT NEWSLETTERS & WEBSITE TO ASK FOR PERENNIAL PLANTS & SHRUBS.
SM suggested a Red, White & Blue theme in the Church Bed for HM Queens Diamond Jubilee. RW suggested the Wooden Trough by the Butchers as central to village, smaller & therefore easier to complete & maintain. Consensus was that possible for both beds to be decorated in Red, White & Blue.
CW updated on his Holm Oak Drive Project. £50 is left from the funds from BW. Flowering trees have been suggested by a resident. Suitable wild flowers were discussed. JT donated some flowers from her garden.
BW said that the Holm Oak Drive Project and Proposal was how he would like to see future proposals from MTG and other groups. If the project is in writing & in details & with costings, it makes it much easier for BW to present it to the Parish Council & for it to be passed. He recommended that MTG follow this process on all future projects as a first course of action, before resorting to spending MTG monies.
RD requested bollards opposite The Offley Arms to stop vehicles parking on the grass. CM advised the only vehicle he has seen is a Police Speed Enforcement van. Suggested that BW & SW approached to see if they can assist.
ACTION: ROY DUTTON CONTACT BW & SW WITH CONCERNS & RECOMMENDATIONS.
The date of the next AGM has been agreed as 19th November 2012 at The MC at 7.00pm.

Date of Next Meeting:
14th May 2012; 7.90pm in The Madeley Centre.
Agenda for Next Meeting
Apologies
Minutes of Previous Meeting
Matters Arising
Treasurers Report
PR Report
Sponsorship
Gardening
Litter Picks
Future Plans
Recycling
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