Agenda and minutes

Cllr Brian Oldham (BO, Chair), Tony Mallard (TM, Co-chair), Jamie Wells (JW, NBC), Norman Sharp (NS, Individual), Christiana Owusu-Akuffo (COA, Individual), Brian Nichols (BN, Individual), Ann Timpson (AT, Individual), D Hewitt (DH, Individual)

BO opened the meeting and confirmed the sad news of the former co-chair, Roger Rumsey, passing away. BO wanted to pass on a final thanks for all the amazing work he has done.

TM also said a few words of respect for Roger.

AT In the last meeting I raised the issue around the dog poo bin on my estate not being emptied. It was raised to NPH in the last meeting to be sorted but it still hasn’t been dealt with. JW to chase.

DH I would assume it would fall under NBC to have this cleared as they are the governing body. They should be the ones to get this cleared. The contract they have paid for need to be enforced if issues like this are happening.

BO personally, I feel the new contractor is 100% better. There still are a few areas that need to be improved but overall and how it’s progressed; the contractor has been performing a lot better.

BN expanding on that, I feel that the bin emptying service has been a lot better. The issue I still have is the litter. The state of the streets including the clearance of rubbish and weeds has not been up to par. The contract could definitely do better there. On a separate note, I would still like to know when the enforcement on the drapery will happen regarding the cars going up the drapery when they shouldn’t be.

Unfortunately the police representative couldn’t make it. The officer was called away on another job that took priority. JW will attempt to have get a representative again for the next meeting

BO I would like to bring together items 4 and 5 to be discussed together

AT we had a lady whose bathroom light went out, she called NPH but they said it’s the home owner’s responsibility to replace, not there’s. Her daughter was able to help by getting a new bulb but couldn’t install it as they couldn’t remove the cover. NPH still wouldn’t come and help and when we contacted Care and Repair, they quoted over £30 to come and sort it. Luckily a family member came to help but I think that’s a terrible service for someone who is elderly and alone.

BO I do think this should be changed and it should be NPHs responsibility to do for elderly people in sheltered housing. There should be no cost involved and it’s a risk for elderly people to do this unassisted.

NS I thought you weren’t allowed to change anything electrical due to health and safety under NPH?

BO Bulbs are the only thing you can change. I’m still an advocate for this being an acceptation for elderly people who need the help.

NS I wanted to ask, when they come to repair your buildings, do they come from Northampton or are they outside contractors?

BO they come from Northampton, Westbridge.

DH It would be good to nail down with NPH, what the tenants are responsible for, especially elderly people, and what NPH is responsible for.

BN How come future meetings will not be in the Jeffery Room?

JW the Jeffery Room has already been booked out for other meeting unfortunately.

TM I’ve had a note passed to me, can we thank the chair for bring the mince pies to the meeting.

DH how is this forum promoted and shared? We seem to have a low number of attendances at the moment?

JW we share it through the email list, websites and external and internal departments. We also ask that members of the public who are aware of the forum, to share the information around their community.

BO going forward regarding the Forums, if the unitary is still to go ahead, the shadow councillors will begin and eventually go into unitary councillors. All of this happening with the structural changes will not affect the forum for the next year, so we can go ahead with the dates for the next year. To help the forum get speakers, we need suggestions with questions of what we would like from them to help get them in. For the next forum we will have the bus stations as the sole item on the agenda. Norman, as you would like this the most, please can you confirm who would like in and what information you would like from them? I would suggest Derrick Simpson, Stage coach, John ellaby, Andrew Leighton, Stuart Docker, Kevin Langley

NS I would like representative to come and speak about-How many buses run from the drapery since the new station opened and why were there additional stops included. Who owns which parts of the bus stations and is responsible for the upkeep, inside and out? (NNC and NBC).

BO-a moment ago, BS brought up the issue of the drapery which was. How are you stopping and enforcing cars going up and down the drapery when they shouldn’t?

AT This year they had a huge crash of electronics meaning the electronic boards were down leaving people not knowing when their bus is coming, also they don’t update you when buses are late or delayed. How are they going to address and fix this issue to prevent it from happening in the future?

BO Going beyond January’s meeting, what else would you like to see on the agenda?

DH I feel the state of the roads are still an issue so would be good to have someone speak about that.

Chairs also mentioned other suggestions include NHS, Environmental services and enforcement.

JW suggested staggering the suggestions of the agenda items to help keep the forum flexible and open to current issues

Going forward, people will provide topic suggestions for future meetings, with questions for representatives, to help Jamie get speakers to attend. Items for the next meeting will be agreed at the end of the meetings.

JW has shared the new meeting dates and times for 2020. This will also be circulated electronically.