MPRA Committee Meeting Minutes Friday 27 March 8:00pm 1 Sunshine Place

Transcription

1 MPRA Committee Meeting Minutes Friday 27 March 8:00pm 1 Sunshine Place In attendance: Zahra Alijah Jack Wong John Chapman Gareth Hughes Beth Chapman Dahir Shrif Fatima Kulsoom Jordi Morell Khurrum Butt Saleem Akhtar Sally Al-Maleek Apologies: FM Baluwa Simone Browne Stefanie Elstub Sujit Fernanddo Chair Vice-Chair Treasurer Secretary Agenda 1. Communication Channels 2. Sub-committees: agreement of groups, membership and roles 3. Committee and Resident Association Meeting dates for Any Other Business 1. Communication Channels Website - The committee acknowledged that there is an existing website and agreed that if possible this should be taken over. ACTION Gareth to ask former committee if they have the password to the MPRA website. Facebook and Twitter presence - It was noted that there is an existing Facebook group for Maine Place residents but this only has 2 members. It was agreed that a new group would be created and promoted over the coming months by MPRA. There were some concerns raised about the amount of workload moderating a group would require, and it was agreed that the group would be closed, but not secret. ACTION Gareth to create a new Maine Place Facebook group. - It was agreed that rather than creating a separate Twitter account, the hashtag #MPRA would be used for residents association business.

2 Newsletter - The following points were agreed for inclusion in the first newsletter: o Quick introduction to the committee o Future meeting dates o Ways of communication with MPRA o Guidance on reducing council tax bands - It was agreed that the first newsletter would be in hard copy, rather than , whilst we are gathering residents details. The committee also agreed that there was a need for residents to be able to unsubscribe from the mailing list when it moves to an electronic format. 2. Sub-Committees: agreement of groups, membership and roles Two sub-committees were created: Residents Business - To focus on engagement with Prospect, Urban Bubble, Manchester City Council and other stakeholders. - Membership: Khurram Butt, Jack Wong, John Chapman Social and Welcome - To focus on social events and welcoming new residents to The Maine Place. - Membership: Sally Al-Maleek, Dahir Shrif, Beth Chapman, Fatima Kulsoom, Zahra Alijah Social and Welcome: (items to be taken up by sub-committee) - Nick Duffy from Carnival Place had approached the Chair prior to the meeting to suggest a community wide bring and share lunch in the green on Carnival Place each Sunday in July. Nick can supply a gazebo and is willing to flyer the local community to see who is interested. It was noted that up until the 17 th of July is Ramadan and 18 th July is expected to be Eid, so there were suggestions that this event could be combined with an Eid celebration on Sunday 26 th July ACTION Jordi to approach Nick Duffy to discuss this in more details. - John and Beth shared information about the National Big Lunch Day, taking place on 7 th June. This is a pre-existing UK wide event encouraging communities to come out in to their street, meet each other, and have lunch. ACTION Social and Welcome Committee to plan National Big Lunch Day event on 7 th June, taking place on Carnival Place grass space. - A resident had suggested an Easter Egg Hunt, but after further discussion it was regretfully agreed that there isn t enough time to plan this properly. There were suggestions to hold a similar event outside of the Easter period, in the guise of a Spring Treasure Hunt.

3 - The same resident suggested creating a reading group for children at Fallowfield Library. ACTION Zahra to discuss the above two points with the resident who raised them and report back to next committee meeting. Residents Business (items to be taken up by sub-committee) - It was reported that residents who live in the new 2 bedroom houses next to the Divine Mercy Primary school (which have their own drive ways) pay the same in service charges as other houses on the estate which have communal car parking. ACTION Jack to write to Harriet at UrbanBubble to suggest a fourth band of service charges for houses without communal parking and report back on progress at next committee meeting. - The committee discussed at length the process of council tax re-banding. A number of members in attendance had written to the Valuation Office and had their bands successfully changed, along with a rebate for the overpayments made in the past. ACTION Gareth to put guidance document together on challenging a council tax band for inclusion in the first newsletter. - Residents had questioned what the management fee of the yearly budget covers. This fee goes to UrbanBubble. ACTION Jack to arrange meeting between business subcommittee and UrbanBubble and business subcommittee to gain an understanding of costs to housing budgets. 3. Committee and Resident Association Meeting dates for Residents Association Meetings open to all residents - Sunday 26 th April 3pm to 4.30pm (prompt) Fallowfield Library - Sunday 2 nd August 3pm to 4.30pm (prompt) Fallowfield Library Committee Meetings - Sunday 19 th April 4pm - Meeting in July TBC via Doodle 4. Any Other Business Funding - John mentioned that there are a number of funding opportunities available for residents associations. There is a scheme called Manchester Together and Adactus Housing, City South and Moss Care have their own schemes. Gareth mentioned that UrbanBubble had funded a street party in the Northern Quarter last year, and suggested they are approached regarding funding community events on Maine Place. ACTION John to research funding possibilities and then report back at the next committee.

4 Bank account - There was some debate about whether the MPRA had a bank account in the past. John suggested opening an account with NatWest as there is a special type for residents groups which they do not charge for. John suggested the account had three signatories. He would have to authorize any expenditure, but this can be done by . ACTION John to set up account with NatWest bank, and Zahra, Jack and John to act as signatories. ACTION Gareth to write to former MPRA Chair Muhammad Shahzad and request that he closes any existing MPRA bank accounts. Membership List - In order to ensure effective communication of MPRA business, it will be necessary to create a new membership list. It was agreed that residents would be able to opt out of communication after supplying their details, should they choose to do so. ACTION Gareth to bring sign up sheet to first residents association open meeting on Sunday 26 th April. Constitution - A number of elements of the MPRA constitution were discussed including: o The correct procedure for handling proxy votes; it was agreed that in future, as detailed in the MPRA constitution, proxy votes would only be permitted through prior arrangement with the MPRA secretary. A resident must write to the secretary and state who they nominate to be their proxy; a resident may only carry the proxy votes of two other residents. o Voting system; to give clarity and confidence in the voting system, residents will be issued with ballot papers in future elections, and be asked to return their paper at an AGM. Representatives from TARA, an association of other residents associations in Moss Side, would be invited to officiate future elections, to take this responsibility out of the hands of any candidates. Summary of Agreed Actions - Gareth to ask former committee if they have the password to the MPRA website; - Gareth to create a new Maine Place Facebook group; - Jordi to approach Nick Duffy to discuss plans for bring and share lunch in more details; - Social and Welcome Committee to plan National Big Lunch Day event on 7 th June, taking place on Carnival Place grass space; - Zahra to discuss Treasure Hunt and children s reading club with the resident who raised these ideas and report back at next committee meeting; - Jack to write to Harriet at UrbanBubble to suggest a fourth band of

5 service charges for houses without communal parking and report back on progress at next committee meeting; - Gareth to put guidance document together on challenging a council tax band for inclusion in the first newsletter; - Jack to arrange meeting between business subcommittee and UrbanBubble to gain an understanding of management fee costs to housing service charge budgets; - John to research funding possibilities available to residents associations and report back at the next committee; - John to set up account with NatWest bank, and Zahra, Jack and John to act as signatories; - Gareth to write to former MPRA Chair Muhammad Shahzad and request that he closes any existing MPRA bank accounts; - Gareth to bring sign up sheet to first residents association open meeting on Sunday 26 th April.