Minutes 5th April 2005 AGM

Minutes of Meeting on 5 April 2005:

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
Honorary Treasurer - Peter Runacres - Thornton Springer
Frank Lissimore - Amphlett Lissimore
Kevin Carleton-Reeves - Transport Consultant
John Payne - Crystal Palace Community Association
Francis Pons - Tamnag Thai
Yemi Dada - Palace Estates
Elena Di Lorenzo - Palace People
Alfred Igesi - Palace People
Emilia Mazzilli - Palace People
Christina - Christrainers
Roger Sorrell

2. Apologies
Honorary Membership Secretary - Mary Kennedy - The Tanning Shop
Honorary Solicitor - Geoff Harding - Bennett Welch
Lorenzo Nargi - Lorenzos

3. Minutes of AGM 2004
The minutes were proposed by Lucy Smith and seconded by Kevin Carleton-Reeves.

4. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.

5. Chairman's Review
At the AGM on 6th April 2004 our Guest Speaker was Andrew Warde FRICS IRRV who gave a talk on Business Rates.

On June 5th/6th we attended the Victorian Weekend in Crystal Palace Park to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Crystal Palace organised by the Crystal Palace Foundation. Our newsletters were given as handouts and people were very interested to find out about what was going on locally. Raising awareness of the Chamber has helped to attract new members.

During June we published the results of our parking and pavement survey which amongst other things highlighted a need for improvements to the Westow Street/Westow Hill Junction, especially provision of safer pedestrian crossing facilities. In August, in response to a request from The Norwood Area Committee (West Norwood) we prepared a more formal proposal for the junction with three pedestrian crossings and no turning restrictions. The proposal allows traffic to flow at all times and is inherently safer for pedestrians.

In October we welcomed Peter Boxell, Head of Communications for The East London Line Project who talked about the London Underground coming to Crystal Palace. It was attended by 17 people making it the second highest attendance since records began, just short of the 18 recorded for October 1999.
In November Iain Sim, Divisional Director (Urban Regeneration), Planning and Transportation, London Borough of Croydon gave his review of The One Way System. The Westow Street/Westow Hill Junction was discussed although when Croydon Traffic Management Cabinet Committee met the following week there was no mention of the Chamber of Commerce proposal. In February's meeting Iain was asked why it had not even been mentioned and he informed us that it was given careful consideration but it was not going to be taken further. We have not been able to establish whether Croydon officers shared our proposal with Lambeth officers and to date no works have been carried out on the junction.

In the run up to Christmas there was a lot of uncertainty about council funding for Christmas Lights. In the end the money came from Sharon Baldwin, Town Centre Manager, who organised a raffle. Our Christmas party held at Lorenzos was well attended, with more people turning up than planned but we still all squeezed into the room and had a good time.

We attended a meeting at The Crystal Palace National Sports Centre organised by the Olympic Bid for London 2012. It was mainly media spin and it failed to engage with the audience. Disappointingly none of the London 2012 committee members were at the event. We weren't informed how we could offer support in any tangible way.

Recent meetings have been looking into CCTV and parking controls, and the location of recycling facilities. We will soon be able to reconcile our membership records against payments received and work out exactly how much the Chamber has grown over the last year.

We are planning to attend the Victorian Weekend again this year and order more Chamber of Commerce pens for handing out. Activity on our web site has doubled over the last year and it currently receives about 2,500 visits per month. The Chamber is forging stronger links with local organisations such as Crystal Palace Community Association and Triangle Traders and The Norwood Society. We have also written in support of the proposal for a Police Safer Neighbourhood Team for
Crystal Palace.

I would like to thank our committee members, Lucy, Mary, Geoffrey and Peter for their work for the Chamber over the last year and I am grateful for the support they provide to our members. As our chamber membership is now increasing I would like to encourage everyone to consider getting involved, perhaps by looking into an area of special interest or helping to increase awareness of the Chamber of Commerce.

6. Presentation and Approval of Accounts
The Chamber has 28 members. It's expenses are more than it's income as we are using some of the surplus funds to generate more members e.g. Chamber of Commerce pens. Frank Lissimore proposed the accounts and Frank Pons seconded them.

7. Election of Committee members
All officers were re-elected in a block vote.
Honorary Chairman - James Slattery-Kavanagh
Honorary Secretary - Lucy Smith
Honorary Membership Secretary - Mary Kennedy
Honorary Treasurer - Peter Runacres
Honorary Solicitor - Geoff Harding

8. Consideration of Resolutions
No resolutions were proposed.

9. Any Other Business
It was agreed to dedicate an evening to review issues of parking and the one-way system. There was no other business and the AGM was closed.

10. Agenda Part II: Guest Speaker
Christina from Christrainers (NLP and life coaching) gave a talk on the principles of life coaching and handed out business cards. The first session would take between one and two hours, it could apply to an individual (e.g. career change) or an organisation. Contact Christina on 020 8653 6238 or on www.christrainers.com for further information.

11. Any Other Business
- Frank Pons from Tamnag Thai brought up the issue of power cuts as there had been 28 recently. Water leaks are also a problem in the area and it was agreed that a collective effort can often address things quickly and positively. If there are more than 25 complaints from local businesses then the regulator has to be notified.
- It was also agreed that business relationships needed to be improved between members of the Chamber, this could be effected by dedicating one meeting to networking.
- A new magazine "Palace People" was circulated around the Chamber. This magazine was for local businesses to advertise in.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday 3 May 2005 at 7pm, Lorenzo's Restaurant (First Tuesday in the Month)