Mossley Hill BA
Present:
Erica Kemp, Liverpool City Councillor.
Paul Scanlon, Chairman MHBA, CDP Print Management.
Gill Torres, Down South Liverpool Magazine.
Nigel Greenberg & Debbie Greenberg, Solo Security. (nigelgreenberg@hotmail.com), David Bishop, Treasurer MHBA.
Elaine Price, Karen Sherman, Allerton Road Community Police Officers.
Val Incledon, Louise for Hair.
Owen Clayton, local musician.
Andy Owen Valuation Officer.
Marie Woods, Rose of Mossley Hill Public House
Apologies: None sent
PS opened the meeting and thanked those present; introductions of new members were also made.
Minutes: Minutes from previous meeting
- The logo is now on the website. Updates are being added constantly. If you notice any error or updates that need to be made, contact the committee.
- Luciana Berger, MP, is attending the July meeting.
- The Allerton Road street party is set for the 18th. Paul has distributed some leaflets. Dave and Gill are to distribute the rest (this has since been done).
ACTION: Paul contact Allerton Police Station with regard to the street licence.
ACTION: Paul contact Merseymart, Liverpool Echo, Radio Merseyside re coverage of the event.
Paul, Ray Parry, Allerton in Bloom, Erica Kemp have walked along Allerton Road with Hayley LCC and issued a snag list.
Paul, Ray Parry, Allerton in Bloom, Erica Kemp have walked along Allerton Road with Hayley LCC and issued a snag list.
- QUESTION TO ERICA KEMP: Will there be further funding to fix other things on Allerton Road?
ANSWER: Not for the foreseeable future, due to funding issues.
- The low wall surrounding the raised area on the service road is in need of replacing/repairing in a number of areas. This work is unlikely to be performed because the contractors are only repairing the wall that they disturbed during the road works. However, it was mentioned that this should be a general repair for the council. Erica agreed that it should be.
ACTION: All to contact Liverpool Direct informing them of the damage to the wall.
Please click on the link below and fill in the form, you could also report pot holes on this site.
- Owen raised the point that shop owners should keep the pavement area outside their shops clean.
ACTION: Elaine and Karen offered to contact the shops owners by text regarding this issue; this could have the effect of improving the area.
- Marie – reported no more security problems this month, other than a few guys hanging round in the car park earlier today. There have been a few robberies in the area. Shops with floats left over night and women seem to be main targets. The radio system introduced has proved beneficial in relation to a few recent incidents.
- Police – they would prefer that the bus shelter outside the barbers on Rose Lane remain, it is used by the public and elderly as protection from the wind and rain whilst waiting for the bus. The police are available to contact in the event of rowdy behaviour and to move kids on who are causing a disturbance.
ACTION: Report any disturbances or instances of anti social behaviour, to the central office 0151 709 6010 this will create a log of the issue; it will also be prioritised at this stage.
Allerton Road Police Station 0151 777 5130 can then be contacted.
- Alan was not present however a few members asked for an update on his community audit (have since spoken to Alan – this is progressing and has been well received by all parties but it is a large project so will be a slow process).
- Andy Owen, Valuation Office spoke at length regarding a reduction in rates.
Andy can be contacted on Andy L Owen andy.l.owen@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone numbers 03000504082 0151 802 1091
Summary of rates – rates are a tax, based on the rental value of the property. It is evaluated every 5 years, the most recent valuation doesn't take the recession into account; it was recently evaluated in 2008, before the recession began.
The cost of rates can only be looked at (other than every 5 years) if there is a significant change or something that temporarily effects the rental value of the properties concerned.
As a result, he needs to consider whether the road works would have affected the rental values. Loss of earnings cannot be taken into account because the rates are based on the value of a unit as though it were empty and to-let.
If however a landlord had to negotiate a discount on the rent during the period this has more impact on the outcome than loss of earnings. The effect on businesses was severe for 14 weeks, however traffic was still flowing, all of which will be taken into account.
The Valuation Office only received an appeal from one shop. That came from Eric at the pharmacy. Retailers' case for having their rates temporarily lowered would have been stronger had other people filed appeals but this had to be done while the road works were in progress, so it is now too late.
It was discussed that this may not have been made clear to retailers, Andy would have given us this information sooner had he been able to attend an earlier meeting.
Individual loss of earnings can't be taken into account, it can though be considered as evidence. Voglio and Bennetton were discussed as businesses that had suffered loss of earnings. Costa Coffee also closed in the afternoons because of the road works.
In summary: 2 things count when evaluating whether a temporary reduction in rates can be applied – duration and severity.
Did the disruption last long enough that someone coming to a new rental in the area would try to negotiate lower rent for the duration of the disturbance?
Historically the office does not consider any case with a disturbance of less than 12 months. However, Rice Lane went on for 5 months and rates were reduced by 15% in the worst affected areas. In this case, a reduction of 10% for the duration of the works (the same as that granted in Old Swan) may be appropriate.
The valuation office will look at the case retrospectively but more appeals, particularly from multiple retailers such as Tesco, would have made it much stronger.
AOB:
Owen raised an issue; he would like to arrange a Rose Lane jazz festival. This would not involve closing the road or any special precautions, but would simply require a number of the shops, bars and restaurant to participate. He will begin to action this when he returns from France later in the year (in the meantime, before he leaves, he will be continuing his jazz night at The Rose)
Paul once again thanked Marie for the hospitality
There being no other business the meeting finished at 7.15pm
Next meeting 28th June 6.00pm
No comments:
Post a Comment