The Minutes of the Meeting of Friends of Nutsford Vale Country Park
8th November, 2017 at the Blue Bell Inn

Welcome & Apologies
Rita Edge, Barrie Edge, Christine Prunty, John Prunty, Maureen Riding, Bernie Cree, Steve Cree, Cllr Bernard Stone, Pauline Sargeant, Mark Lucas, Jolie Portman, Ally Fogg, Danny Heathcote, Laura Collier, Marie Convery
Apologies
Alan Gibson 
Barbara Moore who sent her apologies for 1st and 8th November, 2017

Matters Arising from the meeting on 1/11/2017
•	 None
Main Meeting
1.   We all pitched in and managed to deliver 5000 leaflets around Gorton,Levenshulme and Longsight.  We had difficulty communicating with some residents because of language barriers, some were really enthusiatic and had written objecting to planning already and some were not interested either way. When Steve and Bernie were delivering leaflets on Saturday they met a teacher from the Grange who had already written her letter to planning.  She said that none of the teachers wanted the new school as the Grange was a forest school like the new one would be and she asked if she could have some more leaflets to distribute at the Grange.
2.   Claire stated that it was not easy to use the council website as it timed  out after ten minutes and so she thought that the council were just trying to make it as difficult as possible to object.  Mark said he had composed his first and then cut and pasted it but some people are quite computer illiterate and found this difficult.  Claire said this was an extra layer of difficulty and was not right which everyone agreed with.  Christine and John had sent theirs by recorded delivery but of course time has run out to send a letter.  Barrie had noted that after he had submitted his form the number 2578 appeared.  Mark and Ally thought it may be a reference number.  He did not know if that was the number of comments that had been made but the next day he could not find the number anywhere.  Claire said when she had submitted hers it said that no other submitions had been made but it had said that for everyone and as long as you had got an acknowledgement email it had gone through.  The comments cannot be seen on line although the help line indicates they are visible.  They will be summarized by the case officer.  Everyone believed they may be summarized in a way that was favourable to the school build.  Ally said they will make sure it goes through.
3.  Ally has finally had the pack from the consultation.  He had not had time to go through them properly but they had put the "yes I want a new school" papers first and there were about ten of them, ten were not bothered either way and the rest were "don't do this".  It is about 90 against so it is not 3 out of 5 like the Council claim.  Crowcroft started half an hour early so we could not meet the parents and the Grange was only advertised 5 days before the event.
4.  Rita passed around an email that Barrie had sent to Luftner Rahman.  Amanda Corcoran answered the email and apologised for not getting the information back but then she just points to the planning application documents.  Bernie says she has drafted one to Luftner as she is not happy with the outcome of the meeting with him at the Town Hall but she was going to send it as herself but everyone said to send it as The Secretary of Nutsford Vale Country Park.
5.  Marie did not think the Planning letter she has had from the Council clear but she was not surprised.  That is one of the reasons Ally composed the leaflet.  The closing date for objections is Monday 13th November, 2017.
6.  Ally has got a Professional Planner looking at the Planning Application and he is going to compile a formal objection from The Friends of Nutsford Vale Country Park.  He has been chasing him all week but hopes he is just working on the objection.  He knows the deadline and unless he does it this week then the work he has put in will have been a waste of time.  Ally will then have to do the objection himself otherwise.  He is going to email the document so everyone can read it on Friday but if anyone specifically wants anything included to do this before Friday.
7.  The next Planning Committee date is 16/11/2017 but the Vale is not included in the Agenda for this.  After this the date is 14/12/2017 but the Agenda is not published until a week before so we need to keep an eye on whether or not the Council will sneak it in early which we wouldn't put it past them.  The next is 11/1/2018 which is the date that Cllr Julie Reid finally got out of the Officer at the Scrutiny meeting.  John said they wanted to start the build before the nesting season.
8.  Rita has been in touch with Open Spaces and Kate has offered to submit an objection.  She has circulated it to all their members and put it in their newsletter.  Gloria Gaffney has writen to The Times and The Mail.  She wonders why we have not gone to the media but Rita told her the Council seems to have put a block on everything.  Rita explained that Channel 7 had been in touch with Cassie through the website and a reporter called Marco Ferrari said he wanted to interview us.  He rang the Blue Bell and told Mark it had to be today and when Rita finally spoke to him it had to be that morning so they could edit it but it was 11.45 a.m. by then.  He then said he would meet on the Vale the next morning at 10.00 a.m. and he seemed very eager.  By 4.00 p.m. due to unforeseen circumstances he was unable to turn up and wished us luck with the campaign.  Another one nobbled?  We have had this with the BBC, Granada, the M.E.N. etc 
9.  Barrie wondered who would maintain the website an he had had to update the meeting date this week and he was uncertain whether he should carry on.  Bernie said she did not know how to do it.  Anyway Barrie will carry on doing this.  Information is been being sent from the website and Bernie said the past few weeks it has been her doing this  but the ones today have been Cassie as they are written in a more political style.
10.  Steve has written an email to Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP who is the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and if the planning permission is not given the Council will go to him for it to be overturned.  He has also written to the BBC asking if they are state controlled.  (see point 8)
11.  Barrie has written to Afzal Khan MP as also Ally who actually had a reply.  He says he will object on behalf of his constituents but Ally says we all need to write so he remembers to do it.  Cllr Bernard Stone has already written his objections.
12.  John mentioned that the document in the Application regarding the Water Authority is due to expire in December but as it was valid at the time it was carried out this will not be an issue.
13.  Rita asked if we should do another protest but everyone felt it was too late.  Depending on when the Planning meeting is we could do something before the January one and get the media involved??  but any earlier and we would not have time.
14.  It was mentioned that Lang O'Rourke and Rambols had been seen on the Vale but Bernie sees them most days and is on first name terms with some of them.  They were seen by a resident over the weekend!!  Barrie had sent a letter to Amanda Corcoran about the fact that Continental Landscape had cut through Red Rose Forest and wondered who had authorised this.  Lang O'Rourke said it wasn't them.  Continental Landscape stated they would be on this week for the last cut weather permitting.  Mowing verges was one thing but ploughing through the forest, going around the meadow to the vehicle access on Matthews Lane seemed to hint at Lang O'Rourke.  The pond in the middle of Red Rose Forest contains frogs and that is why the path is kept narrow to protect them.  John at Continental Landscape does the mimimum work he can so it is not his initiative.
15. More tyres have been dumped which makes the total 100 to date.  There have been four instances so far.  A camera would cost money monitoring so it is not an option for the Council.  Alan wrote a really good letter to the Council to inform them what type of tyres they were.  Everyone agreed that Alan Gibson has done a really good job and worked really hard for the group over the past few months and we would like to say a big thank you to him.
16. John has added an objection to Planning about the proposed footpath closure near his house which runs from South to North East.  The Peak and Northern footpath Society have already written theirs and are stirring up others.
17. Rita and Bernie went to Ringwood Avenue on Monday morning to canvass people and tell them they had only until Monday 13th November, 2017 to write a letter or email to planning.  Some people were not in but only one person did not mind the school being built and we changed his mind.  One lady had moved from East Road only two and a half years ago because she has breathing problems and the trees would help her and she is devastated.  Rita said she would draft a letter for another man to sign as he could not use his hand which she did and has sent it.  A young man who was 30 but said his parents dealt with anything to do with the house was persuaded to write in his objection which he did there and then.
18. Some people do not realise that the petition and the objection to planning are two separate items and we need to inform them that everyone in the household who is over the age of eighteen has the right to object.  Ally suggested that we send an email to everyone on the mailing website and we need to say "object now".  He asked if Facebook has had information broadcast on it which it has and he is going to go on Twitter Manchester.  Mark Lucas said that Mr Lomas had done his bit and put it on a buy and sell site which had promptly took it down.
The Planning Letter needs to be how the loss of the amenity is personal to you.  Cassie said that you can object if it is too high, too low, the water is going to drain into your garden etc.  But this objection is really only if you live close to the Vale and these reasons affect you persnally.  Christine states that they are building right in line to the laundry.  There is the right to light, the contradition of local plans and what is projected in the future.
19. Recommending a condition of planning acceptance does not weaken any objections.  If planning is accepted we need to have in place what we want for the rest of the Vale, not what they want.  The recommendations pool together to form Conditions of Planning and as soon as planning is passed these too become legally binding.  We don't want echo centres.  WE WANT THE REST OF THE LAND TO BE SAFE.  We want a covenant, villiage green status would cost the group money to set up when in essence this land, all of it, is ours.  It belongs to our Community.  We don't want it manicured to an inch of its life.  Ally suggested that we need drainage put in but it is still not known how they are going to drain their side. When they drain the rest of the Vale there will be less trees to suck up the water and the rest of the Vale will become more waterlogged than ever.  Ringwood are already overrun with rats and mice!!
We know chemicals have perforated the aquafer but there is little point in arguing about toxicology results as nobody would ever dream of building a school on a toxic waste dump.  Marie said there is no industry  presidence for doing what they are doing, they do thousands of jobs like it a year.  Cassie said Lang O' Rourke were really exited about the project because it was going to make them a lot of money but now we have Sheffield.
20. Barrie said that they said Nutsford Vale was 19 hectares when it is 14 (the Council owned portion which is really taxpayers) and now they are saying 23.6 hectares which must include Annie Lees which has never been part of Nutsford Vale.  They are talking that there is only a lost of 22% not the half we know it to be.
21.  Rita asked Bernie if she had heard from Liam from the NUT who was at the Scrutiny meeting.  No he has been nobbled and done a runner.
22. With local elections in May it doesn't seem a good time to annoy voters.  Luftner Rahman seems to be playing both sides, trying to keep us sweet but not really doing anything about it.  Afzal Khan can afford to lose some voters as 33000 voted for him.  We have to lobby Afzal to put in his objection even though he has said he will he may "forget".
What to do before Monday
•	Ask Afzal Khan to write a letter of objection but hopefully he has.
•	Carry on putting messages on Facebook
•	Twitter troll Luftner Rahman
•	Tell everyone to write a letter of objection that you can think of

A.O.B
Any more T-Shirts or Shopping Bags Required?

Full Group Meeting:                  Wednesday 6th December, 2017
                                                       at the Blue Bell Inn from 6.30 p.m.                              
 Litter Pick:                                   Wednesday 6th December, 2017
                                                       from 10.00 a.m.