Councillors: Liam (Apology), Anne (Apology)

Location: Chad Gordon Autism Campus, Waltheof Gardens

Agenda: 

• 1. Report on activities of TGRG over the past year
• 2. Quick report on finances of TGRG  
• 3. Election of management committee
• 4. Amendments of constitution
• 5. Discussion of how TGRG meetings should be conducted going forwards.  
• 6. AOB

Notes:

• Introductions
• Report on activities:
  • Four TGRG meetings over last year: 16 Dec 2024, 28 Feb 2024, 10 June 2024 and 20 Jan 2025.
  • Topics covered included 100 Tower Gardens Road community space; conservation area requirements on the estate and extent to which they are disregarded; concerns around antisocial behaviour on the estate. 
  • Meetings also used to promote events on and around the estate, including tree planting in Waltheof Gardens on 23 March 2024 (Trees for Cities), and Great British Spring Clean (coordinated by Karen), etc. 
  • TGRG supported the event at 100 Tower Gardens Road on 17 May 2025 where residents were encouraged to share their ideas for how the building could (if used as a community space) be used by residents. 
  • Councillors have made an effort to attend TGRG meetings. Our 20 Jan 2025 meeting was attended by all three ward councillors; however none made it to the AGM. 
  • Residents’ whatsapp has been turned into Tower Gardens WhatsApp Community with a few sub-groups (thanks Andrew P and others!)
  • Tower Gardens website has been updated and maintained by Karen and others.
  • Dan thanks Ruth for being an advocate for Tower Gardens including by speaking at two recent events, one of which Dan attended: a conference about the London County Council and a lecture at the London Archives.
• Report on Finance:
  • Balance in account: £1349.97
  • Income: £0
  • Expenditure:
    • Room hire and print cost: £100.74
    • Events insurance (Hiscox): £89.60
    • Total expenditure: £190.34. 
• Election of committee: New committee:
  • Dan – chair (previously secretary, replacing Fiona)
  • Friedrich Ernst – treasurer (continuing)
  • Dayal – secretary (new)
• Amendments to constitution:
  • Constitution to be added to TG website 
  • 5(d): Requiring management team to meet 10 times a year to be removed. This does not affect general meetings.
  • 7(d): Requiring accounts to be audited yearly to be updated to instead say that accounts will be shared at AGMs and will be available to members to review throughout the year.
• Discussion of TGRG meetings, and aims
  • Context: Dayal noted that we could be more structured in having a quarterly meeting with date known in advance; that we often have a busy agenda and cover too many topics without clear actions; that we don’t necessarily come back to points from previous meeting and don’t get updates from Councilors; and that we could do with updates from various groups (Park Friends, 100TG), and Council at meetings
  • Further ideas & discussion:
    • People to invite: Christian Q (Estate manager), MP, Safer Neighbourhoods team, Homes for Haringey; possibly only for specific dates/agenda items. Council officers have come in past.
    • How do we prioritise estate/TGRG concerns:
      • Could go back and look at previous minutes, use the current survey for 100 Tower Gardens replies. Karen, as part of the Great British Spring Clean, has been through LoveCleanStreets reports for last years and has data on what people report.
      • Could have TGRG meetings where we use first 30 mins to discuss issues amongst residents and how to prioritise, and then Councillors and Officers join for second half (rather than having some meetings with councillors and some meetings without them). 
      • Action: Collate and share, decide next steps
    • Point raised that people feel Councillors often come without answers, and instead learn about issues from meetings rather than being informed by council/officers, and concerns then not actioned
    • Other meetings:
      • Safer Ward meetings haven’t been scheduled regularly for a while
      • Councillor Surgeries, and other meetings – we do not want TGRG meetings to duplicate any existing meetings, eg people should go to Surgeries if they have something urgent/individual.
    • TGRG being more proactive, and thinking about what we can do around the estate that doesn’t need Council input? What could we do re. hedge clippings, making sure people do hard trim at correct time of year, as collection would still be an issue/council matter.
    • Many people don’t know about TGRG – would a notice board help? Can we be more active in FB group (one new person can from post in group). Some people don’t use WhatsApp, so we need all means of communication.
    • Aim of group being clear/open. We could set some themes for the group – this might attract more people.
  • Decision: Put more structure into meetings, collate concerns and prioritise, think about communication channels. 
• AOB
  • Community Picnic in the Park 14/6 12-3PM – flyers and posters shared
  • 100TG survey still open – flyers shared for TG events and survey
  • Talks on TG Estate (Ruth C) – Having given London Architecture School talk on LCC/Estate, she was invited to give a talk about TG at the London Archives (28/5), and has now been approached by Bruce Castle Museum and Letchworth Garden City group
  • Maintenance issues around the estate (Ruth C) – How can we make sure council prioritises? How do we share info with people living on estate? Some info on website already, and Emmanouil M and Dayal to look into adding more. Topic to be picked up/thought about more.
  • Linking up with other similar estates (Ruth C) – Old Oak interested in linking up with us and learning from us, eg how we got TG correctly listed on Ordnance Survey. Could we also invite people to a meeting to share their experience/info about their estate?