Minutes 4th May 2004

Minutes of Meeting on 4 May 2004:

CRYSTAL PALACE & NORWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
HELD AT 1ST FLOOR, LORENZO'S RESTAURANT, WESTOW HILL

1. Present
Honorary Chairman - James Slattery-Kavanagh - Quotes
Honorary Secretary - Lucy Smith - MyMatiz.com
Emma Jayne Sheeha - Amphlett Lissimore
Francis Pons - Tamnag Thai
Yemi Dada - Palace Estates
Terry Marks - 2 Bob Cafe
Chris Brody - CBrody.com
Roger Sorrell

2. Apologies
Honorary Treasurer - Peter Runacres - Thornton Springer
Honorary Membership Secretary - Mary Kennedy - The Tanning Shop
Frank Lissimore - Amphlett Lissimore
Mark Allen - Allen's Florists of Distinction

3. Presentation and Approval of Accounts

A financial report will be postponed until the next meeting on 1 June.


4. Minutes of previous meeting

There were no matters arising from the previous minutes. Proposed by Geoff Harding, seconded by Emma Jayne Sheeha.

5. Membership

The survey has attracted 25 or so prospective candidates who have been sent application forms and mandates. In the next three months the Chamber of Commerce should double in size. 400 parking and pavement surveys have been delivered and the Chair has had 10% back. The Chair will produce a summary of results.

6. Parking and Pavement Survey

The Chair attended the UNIT meeting. Ian Simms was present and the Westow Street/Hill junction was discussed. Ian is traffic focused rather than business or community focused. He was quite defensive of the junction saying there were two crossings on it already. The Chamber should formulate some press releases from the results of the survey.

Terry Marks suggested making a drawing of a system that the Chamber would like to see in place. Geoff Harding suggested installing a crossing on the Central Hill section.


7. Olympic Bid 2012

Greg Smith from Sport England talked about the bid and the Sports Centre at the UNIT meeting. He put across a view that Crystal Palace would be better off not supporting the bid. It is 45 minutes over away from Stratford so is ruled out as a training site. If the bid was successful then some other village would be developed. If it was not successful then Crystal Palace could be developed as a Sports Centre. He would like the sports centre to be community focused which is directly in contrast with what has been used in the past. Sport England is not interested in including Crystal Palace in the Olympics. The athletics will be hosted at Crystal Palace and the Olympic committee will probably be there.

Geoff Harding said his take on it was that Sport England were bowing out after the two year lease due to lack of money. The new GLA will be taking it over and if no new stadium in Stratford then they will refurbish Crystal Palace sports centre or knock it down and redevelop it. Greg Smith was not saying it was going to be a local community centre he was saying it would be the venue for London.

8. 150th Anniversary of Crystal Palace

There is a big event organised by the Crystal Palace Foundation taking place on 5/6th June. They have 40 or 50 organisations signed up for their Victorian fair. The Chamber will have a stall with information about Chamber and newsletters etc. If any trader wants to provide any literature for the stand and they are a member of the Chamber then they are welcome to.

The cost of the event is £75 and will be met from funds. All costs are raised by membership which is currently £25 per year. The Chair was going to increase funds but will wait until membership grows. Finances are not a concern at the immediate time. Until we actually have something that necessitates fundraising we don't need to do it. The pens and the newsletters, surveys, web site etc is all part of the marketing.

9. Amendments to parking controls

Terry Marks photographed traffic wardens asleep on the job parked on a double yellow line. He has since reported a general quietness from traffic wardens in the area. It hasn't made traffic any worse. He has received quite a bit of press coverage and a few phone calls. Croydon took over responsibility for traffic controls for the triangle as from 14th April. Looks like Lambeth are still covering Gipsy Hill. Cameras have been put up and they might be parking enforcement. If this is the case then we need to write to Croydon and ask them to change the parking times. The Chair said the Chamber needs to formulate a new blue print re: parking controls in the one way system.

It was Croydon that decided there would be a one way system. The traders are not happy because people go round it rather than through it. Residents complaining because of over usage of side streets. Other organisations have decided they are anti the one way system e.g. Triangle traders. The Chamber wants to engage with local people and maximise constructive ways forward instead of U-turning on the one way system we should focus on parking controls. It is better to make changes to the system we have e.g. build up small instances of where a double yellow could be a single, change timing restrictions etc.

Terry Marks reiterated that if we drafted 4/5 different drawings on a map showing the changes and showing the traffic flow the council might listen. The Chair said he could show a video of a McDonald's van parked outside Iceland and traffic flowing normally. Terry said that we need no-left turn signs from alleyways coming from restaurants. Terry offered to walk with the Chair to show him where the problems are. He suggested Jasper Road be "No Entry" onto Westow Hill.

Sharon Baldwin has an upcoming meeting with Morrisons re: car park, signage and opening hours. It was mentioned that turning right out of Morrisons is also hazardous. The Chamber will work at improvements and amendments to parking and traffic flow. Sharon will be based in the library when it opens shortly.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday 1 June 2004 at 7pm, Lorenzo's Restaurant (First Tuesday in the Month)