Minutes of the Board Meeting of St. Mary’s Island Residents’ Association Ltd. (SMIRA)
held at the Community Centre on Tuesday 03rd November 2015
commencing at 7:00pm
Present:
Chair: David Taylor
Directors: Leslie James, Peter Haigh and Chris Reynolds.
Officers: Bob Muid (Secretary).
Visiting Members: Les Parker, Carmel Parker, Tracey Bell, Andy White, Mandy Gill, Melvyn
Woopwar, Brian Viney, Martine Pay, Jessica Pay, David Wareing, Carolyn Boyd, John Jones, David
Small, Jim Spree, Reg Yaxley, Janet Yaxley, Wendy Pinder, Brenda Broady, Brian Broady, Barrie
Davis, Elaine Handrick, Eleanor Moffitt and Adele Fairman.
CMT Representatives: Dalia Halpern-Matthews (CEO), Grant Leathwhite.
Medway Councillors: Cllr. Andrew Mackness, Cllr. Habib Tejan.
Guests: Yusuf Çinar, Rebecca Pease (Community Warden) and Nicky Ford (Moat Housing)
Apologies for absence: Allan Sneller (Director), Barry Woolford (Director), Keith Robinson
(Director), Lily Leaver (Treasurer), PCSO Helen Kristic, Gary Page and Alan Bennett.
Abbreviations: CMT – Chatham Maritime Trust, CML – Countryside Maritime Ltd. (developers), HCA – Homes and
Communities Agency (SMI landowner), SMI – St. Mary’s Island.
David Taylor welcomed Rebecca Pease who is taking over from Yusuf Çinar as our Community
Warden and thanked Yusuf for all his hard work on our behalf.
Item 86/15: Minutes of the previous meeting
Adoption of the minutes of the meeting of the 22nd September 2015 were proposed by Leslie James,
seconded by Chris Reynolds and unanimously adopted.
Item 87/15: Moat Housing
Nicky Ford from Moat Housing raised some residents’ complaints about the noise from people
leaving the Community Centre after functions. Grant Leathwhite (CMT) said that if people were
making a nuisance of themselves then Security can be called out but if it is just people leaving then by
the time Security arrive the problem may already be resolved. If people are not dispersing then it
becomes an issue for Security. Dalia Halpern-Matthews (CEO, CMT) said that if there was a specific
incident where noise was particularly bad she would like residents to let CMT know (contact Dean
Marsh, email DeanMarsh@cmtrust.co.uk). Where there have been problems in the past the person booking the
hall has been prevented from booking the Community Centre again.
Item 88/15: Chatham Maritime Trust Report
Dalia Halpern-Matthews (CEO) reported that:
Ship & Trades area:
All the remedial work has been carried out (pathway work, installation of waste bins, painting etc.).
There are still some issues to do with parking on the site. Dalia wanted everyone to know that whilst
CMT bins have been refurbished and are emptied regularly some bins close by are still under the
control of the HCA and don’t get emptied as often.
Christmas Fair
The Christmas Fair will be held at St. Mary's Island Community Centre on Saturday 28th November
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from 2:00 to 5:00pm. The winner of the Design a Christmas Card Competition will be announced at
that event. There will be a Santa’s Grotto, carol singing service with the Salvation Army band and
festive food and drink. Please support the event and the Christmas Present Appeal.
Post Meeting Note: This event was very well attended with good feedback from residents. Many new
children’s presents were donated to the Salvation Army on the day and the Carol Service was
enjoyable, although a cold wind didn’t help with the number of participants. Donations towards the
Salvation Army were raised by SAINTARA from the sale of refreshments and a collection at the carol
service. Perhaps best of all almost 100 children were able to visit Father Christmas free of charge and
receive a modest present. Our thanks to the Trust for running this very popular event and the
Community Centre staff for making it happen. It is intended to stage the Fair again next year.
Finsborough Down Bulb Planting/Estate Walk:
Sadly only a couple of people turned up for the Estate Walk on Saturday 3rd October. As this has not
been well attended for a few times now CMT will look at something more appropriate.
However the Finsborough Down mauve crocus bulb planting, however, was very successful and was
carried out by residents, children, Medway Sunlight Rotary and staff from CMT and Turfsoil. A
further 25,000 mauve crocus bulbs were also planted at a later date around the Community Centre and
thanks go to Medway Sunlight Rotary Club for supplying and planting the bulbs. Next year it will be a
different colour bulb in a different location.
The tree husbandry on Finsborough Down will start within the next month and will continue into the
new year. It is a rolling program over the next five years.
Basin 2 – Watersports Hub
Phase 1 will be opening on the Easter weekend 2016. The hub will be cross generational, all abilities
including special needs and will have activities seven days a week. Activities will be provided by two
charitable bodies: Arethusa and Medway Watersports. Phase 2 will provide permanent buildings for
the watersports hub within 2 years but possibly sooner.
Trust Open Afternoon/Evening
The Trust had an open afternoon/evening on Friday 25th September between 2:00pm and 7:00pm so
that residents could come along to the Observatory to see how the Trust works. They had seven
visitors which was disappointing but Dalia said it was lovely to see those who did come.
Transfers
There have been more transfers of land from HCA and the developers to the Trust including the
belltower and Medway Docks access and these will now be maintained to CMT’s high standard.
River Walk
There are some patches to be sorted out on the footpath, including some anti-slip areas, around the
Blue Crane and Central Lookout and some of the pebbled areas to make them more DDA compliant
and easier for wheelchairs to move over.
Parking
Dalia Halpern-Matthews has started looking at possible options to improve the parking on the Island
which she knows is a very hot topic. It will not be a quick fix and she is looking at the whole picture
and will be encouraging people to work together which will be essential to improving the current
situation.
Parking on the ring road is not controlled by CMT as the roads have been adopted by Medway
Council. Cllr Mackness said that Rebecca Pease could organise a purge on cars parked on double
yellow lines.
PCSO Helen Kristic has had words with parents parking badly on the ring road in the vicinity of the
school. Chris Reynolds wanted it minuted that the ring road is dangerous when the school turns out as
parents park on the chicane and the main road itself. It’s an accident waiting to happen.
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If any residents notice incidents with the trucks servicing the final phase of the development of SMI,
please report them to CMT and SMIRA (admin@smira.info) who will contact the developer. Some
drivers have already been banned from the site.
A resident asked about the parking at Watersmeet. Dalia has met with Jason Rea and Nigel Garrett
regarding the parking issues at Watersmeet and they are working together to achieve a solution for
everybody.
There have been a spate of thefts recently which have not been confined to the Island. PCSO Helen
Kristic has asked that everyone lock their doors, front doors and car doors as almost every theft has
been via an unlocked door. The security patrols have been stepped up and Helen has been putting in a
lot of work on this. You may see the security vehicle driving around at night as a deterrent for the next
couple of weeks.
Signage
Signage is being looked at as a whole across the estate. Hundreds of signs have been surveyed so that
everything can be tidied up, have conformity of signage and appropriate wayfinding across the estate.
Food & Drink Festival
Next year (2016) it will again be on the Whitsun bank holiday weekend 28-30th May with the Dragon
Boat Challenge on Sunday 29th May. Anyone wanting more details about entering a team in the
Dragon Boat Challenge should e-mail dragonboat@medwaysunlightrotary.org.uk
At the Community Centre some fencing has been replaced. The board walk on Basin2 has been
jetwashed and biocleaned so that it is safe. East Bund decking bridge has been replaced and the dog
bins have been refurbished and repainted across the estate.
Item 89/15 Chair’s report
Our AGM is on Friday 4th December at 7:30pm in the large hall of the Community Centre. Members
will receive formal notice of the AGM with all the documentation. All residents will receive a
newsletter before the AGM at the end of November, inviting everyone to the meeting. The formal
business of the AGM is covered as quickly as possible and then there will be three speakers. This year
they will be Dalia Halpern-Matthews (CEO of Chatham Maritime Trust), Dr Stephen Lawrence (SMI
Doctor’s Surgery) and Brian Portway (Secretary of the SMI History Group) presenting on the history
of the Island. Each presentation will be about 20 minutes each with 10 minutes of questions thereafter.
The SMIRA constitution requires that one third of the Directors retire each year by rotation. This year
it falls on David Taylor and Allan Sneller, both of whom are willing to continue in service if reelected. Keith Robinson who has served SMIRA for a number of years and has been particularly busy
working with Arriva and Medway Council to improve the bus service on the Island has advised that
he will be resigning as a Director at this year’s AGM. David Taylor thanked Keith for his
considerable contribution to SMIRA and SMI residents.
Item 90/15: Secretary’s report
Bob Muid said that David had already covered all of what he was going to say about the AGM. Those
residents who think they are members of SMIRA but who don’t receive the formal notice of the
AGM, are not members. A lot of residents on the Island think they are members but haven’t filled in a
membership form and haven’t received their certificate of membership. Also some residents move
house and don’t realise that their membership is for the address they live in, so they have a
membership linked to their old address which is removed if the new owner of that house becomes a
member. So if you move house you should reapply to join SMIRA.
Item 91/15: Treasurers report
In Lily Leaver’s absence David Taylor reported that SMIRA had a balance of £2,987 in our bank
account which doesn’t include the additional grant of £1,000 from our Councillors given for
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community funds. We annually receive a grant of £3,000 from CMT. Most of the money SMIRA
spends will be on the AGM and newsletter (printing, distribution and room hire).
Item 92/15: Homes and Communities Agency
Nothing new to report.
Item 93/15: Roads, road adoption and landscaping
There have been a couple of meetings on the road adoption. At the last meeting a legal officer from
Medway Council attended who helped move things on, as it has been the legal issues and funding
which have slowed the process. As a result of that Sector 1 is expected to be adopted in Spring 2016,
in Sectors 2, 4, 6 and 12 (Countryside) adoption works will start in Spring 2016 with completion due
that year. In Sectors 7, 8, 9 and 14 (Countryside) work will commence in summer 2016 with
anticipated adoption in 2016. In Sector 3 (Redrow) work will continue in 2016 with anticipated
adoption that year. Redrow haven’t always maintained their landscaping very well and Dalia will be
speaking to them this week to follow up a meeting which was had with Redrow. In Sector 5 (Barratts)
a lot of work has been done and this will continue throughout 2016 with anticipated adoption that
year. Sectors 10, 11, 13 and 15 (Countryside) are part of the final phase ‘build out’ of the Island which
has just started and will of course take a number of years to complete.
Works are carried out by both the various developers and Medway Council to bring the roadways up
to a standard determined by Medway Council before they are adopted. The cost of these Adoptable
Works is paid by the developers not the Council.
A resident at the meeting complained about the scruffy condition of some of the roads in the Barratt
sector (Goldcrest and Bradfords Close) however, she was under the impression since some adoption
works had been done, that those roads were now the responsibility of Medway Council. It was
explained that, although some works have been done, the roads were not yet adopted. However, Dalia
will feed back the complaints to Barratts who still have responsibility for that area. Currently only the
ring road has been formally adopted.
Once roads are adopted Medway Council will be responsible for clearing the road gulleys and gulley
leads (of leaves, mud etc.) but if there is a blockage in the drains Southern Water are responsible for
clearing them.
If you live in sectors 1, 3 or 5, and have an issue with your street lighting you should report it directly
to Medway Council (tel: 331404) giving the street light number reference painted on the lamp
standard.
CMT will eventually have responsibility for the roadside landscaping and this will be kept up to the
Trust’s usual high standard. Dalia is working with the landowners to speed up the transfer of the land
to CMT.
Item 94/15: Bus services on St Mary’s Island
Keith Robinson (SMIRA Director) couldn’t be at the meeting but sent a report. Following further
lobbying from Keith Robinson, our Councillors and Medway Council, the service has been reinstated
to the Gillingham Depot and things seem to have reverted back to the old timetable and are operating
reliably. This includes the fact that the commuter buses are more coordinated with the departures and
arrivals of trains at Chatham Station and no buses now circumnavigate the Dockside Outlet Centre.
The telemetry system, however, still remains unreliable.
Post Meeting Note: It is understood that this is now working but residents should keep SMIRA
informed if this is not the case or it fails again in the future.
Should the service deteriorate, residents should let SMIRA know by email (admin@smira.info).
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Cllr. Mackness explained that what happened with Arriva was not limited to St. Mary’s Island.
Interestingly Arriva took on more staff and delivered more buses but due to changes in their routes the
whole timetable didn’t work. The changes have been reversed so that our buses now start at
Gillingham and not Maidstone.
A resident had asked if there could be a school bus from SMI to Brompton Academy. The school bus
from the Island stops outside the Dockyard and it’s a 500 yard walk through the passage at Brompton
to the Academy. Cllr. Mackness said that the Council would not fund a bus from the Island to
Brompton Academy and it was likely that Arriva would find it commercially unviable to put on a
specific bus.
Item 95/15: Chatham Docks
Dalia introduced David Taylor to Phil Taylor of Arcellor Mittal (Kent Wire) who manufacture the
wire mesh. As a consequence of the Chatham Waters development the company has moved within the
docks to sites next to Colonial House and Watersmeet (on SMI). Over 250 people are employed by
the company on those sites on a 24hour a day basis. Unfortunately the work is noisy and currently a
lot of the manufacturing is being done in open sided buildings but by Spring 2016 the sides of the
buildings will be enclosed (hopefully cutting the noise levels). The company has also taken over the
stevedore business on our side of the docks which has become more general cargo. Dock work is not
regulated by the Environment Agency or the Council and they are able to work 24/7 and there are no
restrictions on noise.
Dalia said that Phil Taylor will be providing CMT with a list of ship movements and their plan is to
put this in CMT’s Friday Flyer.
NOTE: If you don’t get the Friday Flyer email ElonaWalker@cmtrust.co.uk to request that you are
put on the email list.
Item 96/15: Youth Club
David Taylor reported that we have had a disappointment in that the paid youth worker, for personal
reasons, will not be taking up the post. It was hoped that the youth club would open on the 18th
September but this is no longer possible. It is anticipated that the Youth Club will open in January
2016, around the start of the school term. By then it is hoped that we will have a replacement youth
worker provided through the Medway Youth Trust and generously financed by Chatham Maritime
Trust.
Post Meeting Note: It is still proving difficult to recruit a paid Youth Club Leader and it is likely to
be at least February until the Club can reopen.
Item 97/15: Planning Matters
An application has been made by Countryside for 54 additional units to be built within the final phase
of SMI development. SMIRA will respond in some way. As it is a variation to the granted permission,
Cllr. Mackness said that SMIRA could make representation for additional S106 money. SMIRA are
lobbying for two new pedestrian crossings. One near the School and one opposite the Community
Centre. Countryside are proposing to increase the heights of the buildings on the slipway (Dry Dock
No.9). There is also a change of use for the proposed offices, opposite the Extra Care Facility, to a
nursery. The original proposal was for CMT to take the office space but it was not appropriate.
Any Other Business:
Leslie James asked if there was any further information on the caisson walkway. Dalia said that CMT
are looking at that as part of the Watersports Hub.
Pump House No.5 will start operating as a distillery from Spring 2016. Work is ongoing to get it into
shape.
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Machine Shop No.8 is still under HCA control; it is a listed building and the cost of converting/using
it is prohibitively expensive. Although it is not a dangerous structure it is not 100% safe enough to
remove the Heras fencing which surrounds it.
The meeting ended at 20:30
Date and time of next meeting: Tuesday 12th January 2016 commencing at 7:00pm.
A Pre-Meeting Surgery, where residents can report issues or seek advice from CMT, our Ward
Councillors, Moat Housing and SMIRA is held at 6:00pm (one hour before the meeting).
The other meetings for 2016 are:
23th February
5th April
17th May
28th June
9th August
20th September
1st November
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