Old Portsmouth Friends of Old Portsmouth Association

Anita Stepnitz.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th April 2011 were accepted as a true record of the meeting.

None

None

Lloyds current account	£580.14
Lloyds deposit account	£468.99
Standard Life deposit account	£7,226.49
Total	£ 8,275.62

The fall in funds since last month is due to the advance payment of tickets for the social programme and so is short term.

	2011	2010
	Apr	Apr
Households renewing/joining this Year	279	278
New members this Year	21	29
New Members since last meeting	4	7
Renewals since last meeting	29	24
Deletions this year	2	5
Deletions in since last meeting	2	5
Life Members	3	4
Paying by Standing Order	138	133
Total Membership to date	403	374

Terry Halloran reported that the internal work to the Co-op ad been completed but exterior changes were awaiting planning consent.

He recommended that the two documents in §4 of the planning summary were looked at, although these were effectively past the consultation stage.

There are plans to re-open the underpass near the Park Rd/ Anglesey Rd junction due to the large increase in student numbers in the area once the hall of residence on the swimming pool site is built. Disabled access is to be included.

An up-to-date list of current planning enforcement notices is to be obtained.

Bookings for the current Social Programme are excellent, with some full already. However the trip to Hampton Court Flower Show has had a poor uptake, and these tickets are being offered at a reduced price. Anyone who has already paid would be refunded the difference.

There have been issues with the distribution of the newsletter; in some cases members had not received theirs until after some events had fully booked up. Various strategies to solve this are being considered.

Vikki pointed out that those excursions where our members were part of a larger excursion are listed as such on the programme.

There was a general expression of thanks for Vikki’s hard work.

The out-of-date information on the costs of Social Programme events has been updated.

The website is being revamped and should be available within a few days.

It is hoped that an annual breakdown of website traffic will be available.

Various plans to speed up the movement of traffic out of the Wight link site are under consideration. The effect on pedestrian safety needs to be monitored.

It was felt that there are not enough reminders about the 20mph speed limit that applies to a large proportion of Old Portsmouth and that the signs at the beginning of the zone were easily missed since they were at busy junctions. One day there will be a serious accident due to speeding. Painted roundels would be one option, as would flashing warnings, and neither would impinge overmuch on the environment.

Police Sgt Darren Stiles gave an update on police actions within the Old Portsmouth area over the previous period. The following is a summary:

Two burglaries to commercial premises. Three people arrested inside one of the locations following police operation which involved the helicopter in the early hours of 28th. April 2011 - apologies to anyone who was kept awake.

Two thefts of mobile telephones - one from a pub table and the other from the toilets of a University building - please keep your valuables safe.

Two unrelated frauds - one an invoice sent to a company for work which hadn't been requested or done in the hope of payment. The other a credit card opened in the name of a 91 year old lady (who won't have to pay!). Please check your bills before paying and where possible shred your personal information before disposing of it.

Damage reported to the "key safe" outside of an elderly resident's house, and of course this could have been an attempt to get to the key inside. Please consider mounting the key safe out of sight if at all possible.

We've had a visitor's car scratched in Pembroke Road and two tyres damaged on a van parked for a week in St. George's Road. We've only had one theft from a motor car reported, window smashed and laptop stolen from a car parked outside of a local hotel while the owner settled his bill inside. Please don't leave laptops and other valuables on display even if the car is only left unattended for a few minutes.

Bicycles - we've had a four bikes reported stolen from the Broad Street area in late April. All were locked although in some cases a £10 lock was used to secure a £250 bike. Please use a quality D lock to secure your bike to something solid, get it security marked (we can do this free) and if possible park it in an area covered by CCTV. Eyes down, please, for: A black Canondale mountain bike worth £950, a silver Claude Butler lady's bike, a red and silver Mango mountain bike and a Black and white Specialized Hardrock mountain bike. We have also recovered an insecure silver and black mountain bike from Feltham Row but are having trouble identifying the owner; if you know of someone who's missing such a bike and hasn't yet reported it stolen, please ask them to get in touch as it looks almost brand new.

We've attended two calls to suspicious people in the Old Portsmouth area in the past two days which have given us the chance to identify who's about what they are up to; please keep those calls coming in. One of those checked might just fit the description of a offender recently disturbed close to Southsea seafront, and we are checking that possible link.

The dispersal area order is now in force until 2^nd October 2011. Together with the Community Wardens, Neighbourhood Watch and the Fire Brigade we publicised the dangers of Tombstoning in Broad Street over the Easter weekend, with some positive feedback. Although we've only had a handful of calls to antisocial behaviour in the waterfront area this month, the weather is likely to get warmer over the summer.

There has been a theft of some hyacinths.

One report of a possible parcel deception has been made where a resident was asked by a third party to sign for a parcel for later collection.

Darren mentioned the Key Individual Network (KIN) which would complement the Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

He commended the Armed Forces and Emergency Services Open Day at HMS Temeraire on 1^st June. Posters were distributed.

There was nothing to report.

Nothing to discuss.

It was suggested that ‘Old Portsmouth’ road signs could be placed at the boundary of the area.

Committee members were asked to think around ideas for improving the awareness of FOOPA and what it does.

Wednesday 8^th June and Wednesday 13^th July, both at the RN Club, Pembroke Road.