High Lane Residents' Association

Date: 3^rd April 2025                                                                                                 Time: 8pm

Venue: High Lane Village Hall

Present: Caroline Smith; Darrell Williams; Barry Sequeira; Sue Forrester; David Burks; John Baker

Apologies: Eryl Hughes; Cllr Shan Alexander; Angie Sequeira; Cllr Colin McCallister

• Welcome given by Caroline Smith and a thank you to everyone for attending.

• Minutes of the last meeting – approved.

• Police and Crime Report - there was no representative from the police force in attendance at the meeting. Caroline reported an incident where a neighbour had temporarily moved a running machine which was not meant for scrap onto the drive whilst some work was being done inside the house. The running machine had been stolen and when this was reported to the police along with CCTV images and the van registration number, the police response was very poor. Caroline advised the meeting not to leave any items on your drive.

• Finances – John Baker/Barry Sequeira

The report covers March

The HLRA General account

We started March with a balance of £5,515.69

Income - during March, the income to HLRA consisted of:

Three subscription payments of £ 20 in total.

A payment of £20.00 to be paid on to the Village Hall for the use for a meeting by the HLRA Carr Brow group on 9^th March

The total income being £40.00

Expenditure - The outgoings from the account for March were:

1. 1. Two payments of invoices to cover the hire of the village hall one for the HLRA meeting on 6th^th February, the other for HLRA meeting on 6^th March and the Carr Brow Mtg on 9^th March, one payment of £20 and the other of £40.

   2. One payment to IONOS for the website monthly charge of £9

   3. The new Lloyds bank account monthly charge of £4.25

The total expense being £73.25

Balance going forward to April was £ 5,582.35, correction: £5,482.44

A resident asked if the takings were up or down on last year’s using the new system. John replied “the takings are a little bit down at the moment but not very much. It probably breaks even with the cost of printing at the moment but there is the issue of whether it will be the same the first time – we will have to see. We made almost the same but haven’t had the catch-up amount which we had last year which carried on – an extra £60 since the meeting in March but the year before we had close to £150. All in all, it’s not more than the actual printing cost”.

The HLRA War Memorial Account

Banked January £53.67

Feb (Mar7) £48.89

Takings to April 4^th £44

Balance £2129.27 (some of which will be used to buy plants next month)

Taken from the table in the doctor’s surgery in one go, two weeks ago. At a guess, about 20 books.

• Planning applications

4, Park Rd, DC/095217. Dormer extension to the rear elevation. Height increase to existing flat roof construction, to side /rear  OFN

21, Fletcher Drive  DC/ 095131. Two storey rear/side extension, front roof extension, front porch and side dormer  OFN

BRSK   DC/ 095238 -  to install a wooden telegraph pole at end of Windlehurst Old Lane and Windlehurst Rd. 265 Windlehurst Old Road

53, Windlehurst Rd  DC/095400. Proposed demolition of conservatory and erection of single storey rear extension  OFN

Oakfield Farm Threaphurst Lane   DC/095218. Use of former shed/garage as no1 residential dwelling house (lawful development certificate application). The postal address is Hazel Grove but have included it OFN

Former Thai Fusion  Restaurant  DC/ 082338. Discharge of conditions 14 & 18

Relocate current bus stop, 2 bay screen no seat or side panels; relocate signs i.e. traffic light and 20 zone; EV chargers - not clear where these are to be located. It appears to improve the entrance and visibility, some planting to form  hedges, EV chargers and move signs, and install a screen at the bus stop OFN

•  Reporting Back:

• Verge near milestone - a grant from Stockport CAN Seed fund had been applied for to be used to remove some self-seeding sycamore saplings (which are growing very near to the property walls) and to plant native wildflowers /shrubs to help absorb carbon dioxide fumes from the busy A6. Unfortunately this grant wasn’t successful because removing the sycamore trees goes against their policy. The plan now is to mow and tidy the area and plant native British species of flowers section by section as it is a large area – about 150m. The grassy verge is very untidy and as it is unregistered it is not in the remit of SMBC to maintain it. Volunteers will be needed if this plan was to go ahead and a survey would have to be undertaken to ascertain if there are any service cables underneath. Jonathan Headlam who covers green spaces and verges for SMBC is to be consulted about this and also about the possibility of about putting raised boxes in the area as one resident suggested. The committee thought that a bench situated on the triangular area between the A6 and Middlewood Road would be a nice idea.

Outdoor Gym – David reported that the grant from Ford Trust for £3000 towards the installation of an outdoor inclusive gym on High Lane Park had been refused. He added that we can re-apply for a grant at a later date. The amount raised so far is £6835.00. This money has come from the Ward Discretionary Budget Fund SMBC - £3000; a commuted sum of £1900 from the building of houses on the site of the Thai Fusion restaurant; a grant from Manchester Airport of £1735 and a donation of £200 from the coffee morning that takes place every Monday morning in the Village Hall. He explained that in reality a sum of £10,000 was needed to make it a worthwhile project to benefit the community of High Lane but because of the economic situation in the country, people who used to be very generous with grants can no longer afford to support local communities. The vast majority of grants available are given to registered charities as companies can claim the tax back but HLRA doesn’t come under that category. A resident at the meeting suggested contacting the Vernon Building Society and Caroline mentioned Shepherds Friendly Society. David to investigate.

FOOTNOTE: David has contacted the Vernon and they only provide grants to registered charities.

• High Lane Station

The heads of the sunflowers planted last year by volunteers to create a beautiful display on the railway embankment have been dried and the seeds were available for anyone at the meeting to take. Owen isn’t sure if they will germinate or not. It was reported that a large tree had come down. It had been cut up into manageable pieces and the possibility of using some free chippings was discussed. A working party is required to tidy up the area. HLRA are hoping to concentrate on Hartley Woods and the Milestone verge as these sites are more visible to residents and passing traffic by car or on foot. English bluebells and lily of the valley were mentioned although David had read that lily of the valley were harmful to cats and dogs? It is planned to take photos of what is growing now in Hartley Woods so any new planting will not disturb what’s already there. Owen has planted snowdrops in the church area and the paths in Hartley Woods have been re-laid with wood chippings from the felled trees to great effect. One idea is to install a bench on site. A suggestion was to ask the allotment members to get involved with planting. Caroline to follow this up.

• Recycling collections & exchanging your blue bin for a bigger one

Caroline had displayed information sheets from SMBC showing the new system for waste collection. A permit for the green bin if residents require a garden waste collection which comes in the form of a sticker to be applied to the bin has been introduced. Any branches larger than10cm, rubble, soil and gravel are not allowed. More information can be found on the SMBC website https://www.stockport.gov.uk/what-you-can-put-in-your-bins. This permit can be bought for an annual fee of £59 (£39 for residents on council tax support). Food waste can also be placed in the green bin as usual or in a separate food waste caddy. The 2 green bins for the memorial gardens and High Lane residents will also require a permit – contact with SMBC to be made to explain that the bins are used to tidy up the area and make it pleasing to the eye. There was uncertainty whether the library bin will also require a permit. Caroline would visit the library to enquire. It was noted that the community waste bins are often filled up with other people’s rubbish. Warren is going to contact Jonathan Headlam. From the beginning of June the blue bin will be reduced to a monthly collection. The current blue bin can be replaced with a larger one (180 litre to 240 litre) for a fee of £10 from https://www.stockport.gov.uk/start/swap-your-blue-bin-for-a-bigger-size. A resident had information from the government legislation on recycling that in a couple of years’ time, cardboard and paper would be separated therefore requiring household to have 2 blue bins as happens in other parts of the country. Caroline reported that Greater Manchester recycle a lot more than other areas and are constantly updating their recycling centre e.g. to enable the recycling of plastic carrier bags.

FOOTNOTE: a committee member had accessed the Simpler Recycling in England website and discovered that the aim is “to continue the system (for us) of having paper and cardboard in the same bin.” The Simpler Recycling scheme does say that “by the end of March 2027, kerbside collections of plastic film will be introduced” so presumably that will mean another bin or container. Residents who have large amounts of bottles and cans to recycle may be able to order an extra brown bin from SMBC or you can visit the bottle bank at Handforth Dean. The new collection day sheet is available online and a paper copy will be delivered to households next week.

• AOB

• Litter picking – Barry told the meeting that the litter pick taking place on Saturday 5^th April has been organised with enough volunteers for the task. He did advise that hoops may be needed for the collection bags because of the recent windy conditions and anyone litter picking on the A6 are asked to face the oncoming traffic for safety reasons. Volunteers are asked to sign in at the village hall.

• Car Parking charges – the proposed car parking charges for High Lane Village Hall are still under discussion. A resident from Windlehurst Road asked if annual permits can be applied for and David confirmed that they are available from Stockport MBC – there is a reduced fee for properties that are nearer the entrance to the car park. Concerns were expressed by the resident about vehicles being parked on the busy Windlehurst Road and a suggestion was the introduction of yellow lines to stop this happening. Caroline would contact Cllr Aron Thornley about the possibility of introducing double yellow lines if this becomes a problem. She advised the residents of Windlehurst Road to take pictures now and after the car parking charges have been brought in. It was agreed that car parking charges would have a huge impact on our side roads. SMBC have been asked for the results of the full public consultation which should have taken place under The Freedom of Information Act. The Chair of the Village Hall said that after a recent conversation he’d had, he discovered there was no public consultation and any objections would be discounted.

• Proposed children’s home on Carr Brow - suggestion given by a committee member – “on 9 Carr Brow planning . A children's home was recently established at the corner of Keswick Rd and Windlehurst Rd. Not sure about the type of youngsters housed there. May be worth the Carr Brow people having  a word with the neighbours to see if there have been any issues”. A resident from Carr Brow told the meeting that 20 or so objections against the children’s home had been put forward to Marple Area Committee but there was no mention of this on MAC’s recent agenda this month. David said he would inform the Carr Brow residents of the date of the next meeting. He explained that MAC would ask a representative from the group to speak on behalf of the residents and there was only a 3 minute slot in which to put their case forward. He went on to say that the HLRA are staying neutral but will give advice if needed and had already arranged a meeting in the village hall for the Carr Brow residents and guided them towards the HLVF. Cllr Aron Thornley and Richard Jones (the chair of the HLVF) had added their support.

• Heavy traffic on Hartington Road – a resident had observed the number of vehicles using Hartington Road as a cut through to avoid the busy A6. In one morning between 7am and 9am there were 400 vehicles using the road. After the recent trial of blocking Hartington Road off to through traffic the survey from the council stated that the reason why this wouldn’t become a permanent fixture was that it would push traffic onto other roads.

• Shed for HLRA gardening tools – Caroline had asked the allotment users if there was a possibility of using a shed on site to store the gardening tools that are used by volunteers around the village. She was told that 4 sided structures are not allowed on the allotment.

• High Lane Superstore – it was reported by the new owner of the store that takings were down by 50% since Sainsbury’s opened across the road.

• Sainsbury’s staff parking on side roads – some of the staff at Sainsbury’s appear to be parking on Alderdale Road. David emphasised that it isn’t against the law as long as the vehicles are not causing an obstruction and are taxed and have a current MOT. On the DVLA website you can check using the number plate whether a car is taxed and has an MOT. A resident reported that after an incident where a car had taken his mirror off, he had contacted a vehicle security site to check the CCTV and was subsequently charged without his knowledge to pay £7.95 for 14 months.

• Safety training course from the council. Names of anyone interested in taking part in the course were in the process of being collected by Eryl and if 8 people or more sign up for it, the course can be accessed locally. Jonathan Headlam to be contacted when the list is complete.

The next HLRA meeting will be on Thursday 1st May 2025 at 8pm at the Village Hall