Westminster Park Residents Association

Chester Northgate Update August


Good afternoon



Construction Plan Update

With work now well underway, here are some of the forthcoming expected milestones for the remainder of the year:



The steps at the bottom of Hunter Street have now reopened for pedestrian access onto St. Martin’s Way, please take care and follow footway signage
Drain enabling works commence and central reservations removed on St. Martin’s Way/Nicholas St.to allow for drain shafts – currently underway
Site Investigations for drainage tunnel – completion imminent, and reopening of Castle Drive expected Friday 21st August
Market Car Park entrance closes on Princess Street, access will remain via St. Martin’s Way – 1st September
Piling works commence on site, working west to east – early September
Substructure to former Library building extension commences – end September
Hunter Street alignment completed to provide access onto St. Martin’s Way – early November
Princess St. closed to access from Northgate St. – early November
St. Martin’s Way/Nicholas St. closed to southbound traffic for drain works – expected early November – further details of the traffic diversions will be provided in September
Car Park foundations and Market/Cinema superstructure commences – late December.


First Archaeological Finds Revealed

Archaeologists working on the Northgate site alongside our contractors, have discovered several Roman artefacts which include what is thought
to be a rare gaming piece made from bone.



The lozenge-shaped gaming piece, see attached, is highly polished, probably from use, is approximately 29mm long and features a common Roman decoration of a ring and dot motif.



Experts link this to the game of Ludus Latrunculorum, meaning the Game of Mercenaries, which was a two-player military strategy board game played throughout the Roman Empire, similar to draughts. Finding it in part of a legionary barracks in Chester would back up this theory. Other artefacts found to date include another bone artefact, possibly a comb; a possible spearhead; and a pin or broach.



With work now well underway, contractor VINCI Construction UK and archaeologists Oxford Archaeology, have been carefully excavating to find signs of Roman life and other historical artefacts. However, despite all of the activity on site at present, the construction will not result in any major intrusion into the important archaeological remains which remain undisturbed as the works proceed.



The development has been carefully designed to avoid disturbance of archaeological remains as far as possible and a comprehensive mitigation strategy overseen by Historic England is in place to ensure intrusions into the most sensitive strata are kept to an absolute minimum. Andrew Davison, Historic England’s Inspector of Ancient Monuments for the North West recently visited the site to inspect the work to date. He said: “Chester residents are unusually knowledgeable about the City’s heritage, including its archaeology, They speak volumes about the quality of the archaeology we

are dealing with at this very significant site.”



Northgate Street Hoardings

Our new hoarding design has now been installed in front of the former library building.

We hope you like our ‘From… to’ rhymes from Chester’s past and present. E.g. From Eastgate Clock… to flaming wok.

Let us have your ideas and we may include them in future hoardings elsewhere on the site.



This information is also available in our latest newsletter if you wish to share:

http://chesternorthgate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CNG-Newsletter-Aug-2020.pdf

Thank you to all of you who have copied me in to your responses to the Blueoak Estates consultation on plans to develop the pond and meadow between Lache Lane and Winkwell Drive.  I have summarised your main points and questions in a collective response to the developers which is attached below.  Apologies if it does not include all of the points that you have expressed.

Clearly we are not in support of this proposal, but we recognise that this is a desirable infill site to develop and that the demand for new housing is high.  However, with many of our local meadows and ponds already facing destruction on Wrexham Road, we cannot support the loss of what will be our only remaining wildlife site, the ‘green lungs’ of our area.

Although the consultation closing date has past, it is still possible to send in your views by email to: lachelane.uk@avisonyoung.com.  Please copy me in on your email – my email address is in our WP News newsletter.

Jennifer Crew

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Please note the following temporary 20mph Speed Limit to enable Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council to carry out active travel works. The works are due to commence on 12th August 2020 and are expected to last for 21 days.

Grosvenor Road

Access to properties and for emergency vehicles will be maintained.

Please note the following temporary road closure to enable Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council to carry out Active Travel Scheme works. The works are due to commence on 11th August 2020 and are expected to last for three nights from 7pm to 6am.

Grosvenor Road
For the diversionary route see attached plan
Access to properties and for emergency vehicles will be maintained.

The local housing developers Blue Oaks have recently distributed a leaflet outlining proposals to develop the field between Lache Lane and Winkwell Drive.  A copy of the proposals is included below.  Responses to this consultation have been requested by Wednesday 5th August, but we have requested an extension to this time.

I am drawing together the opinions of local residents in order to submit a response on behalf of Westminster Park Residents’ Association and invite you to send me your views at chair@wp-ra.org.uk or put a note through my door at 7 Dennis Drive.  It is unlikely that a proposal to build on this land will be refused as it has been earmarked for development for many years.  Please focus your comments on aspects of the plan that you consider good/bad and suggestions about how it could be improved.

Jennifer Crew

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WESTMINSTER PARK RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Annual General Meeting held on 9 July 2020 on Zoom

1. Present: Jennifer Crew, Colin Dollimore, Penny White, Brian Westcott,
Richard Short, Sandra Magilton, David Craggs, Sue Britton, Annemarie Macfadyen, Neil Sullivan (Councillor), Razia Daniels (Councillor), Christine Westcott.

Apologies: Olwen Bellis, Susan Eva, Pauline Brown, Tracey Stacey, Carina Edwards.

2. Minutes of last AGM and any matters arising: Agreed as a true record by those who were present, Colin Dollimore was present despite not being listed.

3. Chairman’s Report: This time last year we could never have dreamt of the situation in which we now find ourselves. ‘Normal life’ seems to be becoming a distant memory and although the lockdown is easing, things are unlikely to return to ‘normal’ any time soon.
But that is not to say that we cannot continue to care for and improve our community and our surroundings as our constitution dictates. Before reviewing the past year, we should take this opportunity to remind ourselves how important our activities are to our community.
Social events
Looking back at 2019, we organised a number of successful community events:
• Our quizzes, held in May and October at the Community centre, were both sell-outs and full of friendly rivalry as befitted the occasions.
• We were blessed with beautiful weather for the Westminster Park Summer Fayre which we organised for the first time last June in conjunction with the Community Centre and the Belgrave School PTA. Saltney Gymnastics Club put on an astonishing display of skill to entertain the crowd and many of our local shops and clubs joined in to make it a truly memorable and enjoyable community gathering.
• Lampposts around the shops were decorated with giant poppies to commemorate Armistice Day in November.
• Christmas would not be Christmas without our Christmas Lights Switch-on at the WP shops. With generous funding from our Councillors, we were able to improve the lighting still further by decorating another tree – my thanks to Sandra Magilton for masterminding the funding and installation of our lighting over the last two years. Our display is now truly magical. Our Lord Mayor Mark Williams kindly officiated at the switch-on, Belgrave School choir entertained with Christmas songs and our local shop keepers very generously supported the event by providing refreshments along with WPRA. For the children, Santa appeared and distributed some early presents in the form of satsumas and sweets. It was a warm and friendly event enjoyed by about 200 of our residents.
Although we have had to cancel most of our planned events in 2020, we have still managed to organise one – the VE Day ‘socially distanced’ Street Party on 8 May. To engender a spirit of positivity in a time of lockdown, we encouraged our residents to picnic in their front gardens or on their drives. Thankfully the sun shone and large numbers of our residents embraced the spirit of the occasion, many joining in sing-alongs on their streets. We are grateful to Neil and Annemarie Macfadyen for touring the area on their tandem to create a photographic record for posterity.
Thank you to all residents who have contributed to the success of these events. We hope that, in the not too distant future, we may be able to plan occasions to bring our community together again.

Public meeting
We held a well-attended public meeting in November to provide residents with an update on the Wrexham Road Development and an opportunity to contribute ideas to the improvement of our neighbourhood.
It was noted that grounds maintenance in the area is poor. Suggestions for developing some open areas as wildflower meadows were well received.
Wrexham Road Development
Our sub-committee has continued to monitor activity on the Wrexham Road site and we have held meetings with our councillors, council officers and health officials to further the interests of our residents.
Construction started on Wrexham Road in November 2019 and a number of houses are now nearing completion. Work paused during lockdown, but has now resumed and sales offices are re-opening.
Permission was given last April for 1269 homes to be built on the site, but in January 2020 the developers applied to expand the number to 1400. Despite our objections and representations this was agreed.
Environmental improvements
We have been working with our councillors to bring about some improvements in the area around our shops.
An illegal clothes bank was dropped by the bottle banks which was removed in January after action by our councillors. We are monitoring the use of the bottle banks to see if they are still needed given that we all have street side collections. Their removal would give us more parking space and allow the area to be better maintained.
Large numbers of crocus and daffodil bulbs were planted in the autumn, at the shops and at the entrances to Westminster Park on Vincent Drive and Rowcliffe Avenue. Our thanks to Riverside Rotary Club for the crocuses, to our councillors for the daffodils and to the Gardening Club for organising the planting. They created a wonderful display in the spring.
We have recently taken receipt of two large planters at the WP shops on Castlecroft Road which should provide colour all year round. Our thanks to our Councillors for their funding of these planters. We hope to add a further one on Claypit Road in due course.
For the future, we also aim to plant a couple of trees on the grass bordering Castlecroft Road – a permanent Christmas tree near the Co-op and a deciduous tree near the Golden Dragon.
Our planned Community Action Day, a casualty of lockdown, was going to focus on improving some of our connecting pathways. Hopefully we can reinstate this later in the year.
In the meantime, we have enrolled to take part in the Great British Spring Clean scheduled for September. Many residents have been doing litter picks independently during lockdown. We are hopeful that council guidelines will soon change to allow us to organise similar events.
Local Support Network
When the full implications of coronavirus became clear, the committee of WPRA decided to set up a network to link volunteers with those who would require assistance to enable them to stay in isolation in their homes.
More than 200 volunteers came forward in our community to provide support to their neighbours – huge thanks to them. WPRA has aimed to ensure that all of its residents were informed of the support available and to maintain a stream of information about local services as they have evolved. Our website and Facebook pages continue this work.
Establishing this network has been a lot of effort and I would like to give my personal thanks to Dave Craggs for his sterling work in expanding our database to accommodate all the new information and to Sue Britton and Penny White for their administration expertise and encouragement. The network continues to function although the call on volunteers is reducing. We have to bear in mind that further lockdowns are possible and that we should be ready to respond again.
Communication
WP News has continued to be issued four times a year, with a bumper issue in June featuring photographs from the VE Day Street parties. As editor, I have welcomed the help of Adina Hilgard who has been working alongside me to put the last few issues together – many thanks. My thanks also to my husband Kevin who has taken over the organisation of the distribution of the newsletter and to all our volunteer deliverers who have not only delivered the newsletters this year, but also all of the letters sent out in connection with the Local Support Network.
As mentioned previously, our website and Facebook page have been well used in recent months with the number of Facebook members more than doubling. Thank you to Penny White who has taken on the role of admin on Facebook and recently published new guidelines for the use of the site.
Evergreen over 55s Club
With a membership of around 100, Evergreen has continued to provide a varied programme of speakers, activities and trips throughout 2019 and into early 2020. As the membership of Evergreen Club is over 55 and therefore more vulnerable to coronavirus, activities have been suspended for the time being.
Gardening Club
The gardening club ran a full programme of speakers and garden visits in 2019 which were well attended, but has unfortunately not been able to start the 2020 programme. However, the committee have been busy during lockdown providing gardening advice to residents, organising a plant swap area by the shops, encouraging us all to grow sunflowers in our front gardens and compiling a virtual ‘Secret Gardens of Westminster Park’. This is a photographic record of all of the beautiful gardens that have resulted from all the time we have had to work on them over the past few months. Our thanks for their positive impact on our community in difficult times.
Membership
Our membership for 2019 was 365 residents and so far in 2020 we have 289 which is disappointing in view of the fact that we revised our subs leaflet to make it more explanatory and appealing. We continue to receive subs in dribs and drabs and the total will no doubt increase over the next 6 months.
It is interesting to note that we have 574 email addresses on our portal which includes members, volunteers and persons in need. We also have 658 members on our Facebook page. Perhaps more of these could be encouraged to join.
Committee
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all of the members of the WPRA committee who work so hard to improve our community and to make the events that we hold a success. Without such dedication our community would be very much poorer. Thank you for your support and friendship throughout the year.
My personal thanks go to Lucy Grattan who is leaving the committee, in particular for helping to make the Summer Fayre such a successful event. I am grateful to her for offering continued assistance.
I would also like to welcome Colin, Carina and Tracey as new members of the committee and look forward to working with you to further our plans for our neighbourhood.
This has been a very busy and challenging year, but has produced some very heart-warming results. Our community has really come together, with residents offering each other help and encouragement in very uncertain times. We have come to treasure small acts of kindness and joined in appreciation of others’ sacrifices on our behalf. Long may this continue.

4. Treasurer’s Report: I would like to start by thanking Nick Ryan for continuing to give his time as our Independent Examiner for reviewing and approving the 2019 Annual Accounts.
INCOME & EXPENDITURE STATEMENT
Income
Subscription fee was increased to £3 this year which has reflected a much higher income figure than last year. However, subscriptions of £1095 represents 365 households, which is almost on a par with last year. Donations increased to £258, the highest recorded. Thank you to all our members for your support.
Activities:
• Our 2 Annual Quiz social evenings were well attended and gave us a surplus of £291.
• The Gardening Club continued with the annual bulb planting. This year the bulbs were donated by our Councillors, to which we give our thanks. Events and plant sales at the Summer Fayre yielded a surplus of £266, an increase of £224 on last year. Well done.
• The Summer Fayre was well attended and a lovely sunny afternoon was enjoyed by all. A donation to WPRA of £170 was made by stall holders, with our grateful thanks.
• The Christmas Lights Switch-on event was again well supported by Residents, Councillors, School and local shops. We received a generous grant of £1224 from our Councillors Members Budget, which enabled us to purchase and install an additional 1000 lights. Our grateful thanks and appreciation to Councillors Razia Daniels and Neil Sullivan for all the support they give to Westminster Park.
Expenditure
Printing costs for the Newsletter pushed up our expenditure again this year to £1894 an increase of £159 on last year.

Overall a healthy surplus of £1204 is transferred to Accumulated funds, with a total Bank & Cash balance of £3581 carried forward to 2020.
Evergreen 55+ Club continues to have a thriving membership and programme of events, which are well attended and supported by its 102 Membership. A balance of £1264 is held in WPRA bank account their future use.

5. Appointment of Committee Honorary Officers: The following were elected for 2020/21:
Chairman Jennifer Crew
Vice Chairman Colin Dollimore
Treasurer Sandra Magilton
Secretary Penny White
The following Committee Members were elected for 2020/21: (max 12)
Dave Craggs
Brian Westcott
Olwen Bellis
Susan Eva
Richard Short
Sue Britton
Annemarie Macfadyen
Pauline Brown
Carina Edwards
Tracey Casey

6. Items for discussion/AOB: Richard expressed thanks to Jennifer for the enormous amount of work she and her family had done when the Covid-19 situation struck.
Razia Daniels also expressed her thanks for the hard work done in the crisis.
Annemarie Macfadyen expressed how impressed she was at the community feeling shown on VE Day. The photos she took will be passed to the Local History group as a record.
There was some discussion as to whether there will be anything to mark VJ Day, or something early September. People have been growing sunflowers, we will ask for photos to be posted onto Facebook.
The empty unit where the Beauty Lounge was is apparently reopening as another Beauty Salon.

This is a great opportunity for our young people to showcase a piece of their visual art, a film, a poem or a story … anything artistic!

Please encourage your young people to send us contributions of works on the broad subject of ‘Lockdown’.  For example, this could be a painting or film inspired by recent events, a poem or story about nature or the lack of cars and people, or simply a demonstration of new skills.

The ‘Lockdown’ exhibition will be displayed on the WPRA website, Facebook page and in the September issue of WP News. We are also hoping to create a display in a Chester city centre gallery.

Please send entries by email to: chair@wp-ra.org.uk by Friday 31 July 2020.

Please also complete the form below and send it to us with the contribution to confirm that WPRA has permission to publish the piece with your name and age. This could just be a first name.

The committee reserves the right to select pieces that meet the objectives of the exhibition.

We are looking forward very much to receiving your entry and sharing it with our local community.

Jennifer Crew, Westminster Park Residents’ Association

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