The AGM was called to order by Susan Spiller (SS), the Chairman, at 1830 who welcomed our guest speakers representing the Royal Brompton Hospital, Jan Cacchione from the Parks Police and our local Councillors, Paul Warrick and Kim Taylor-Smith.

Guest Speakers from the Royal Brompton: Three representatives attended on behalf of the Brompton. Jeremy Titchen of the Brompton Hospital Trust; Pedro Roos, PDP London and Steve McAdam of Soundings Consultants.

The architect, Pedro Roos of PDP London, outlined the development of the Chelsea wing that will be funded by the sale of available land owned by RBH in the Chelsea Farmers Market; land which will be redeveloped for retail and residential use. The redevelopment of the Chelsea wing will provide more facilities for more patients and the traffic flow entering and exiting the new wing will be redirected.

This whole redevelopment is contingent on selling the Farmer’s Market with proceeds being used to fund the re-development. The style of the retail and residential elements in the Chelsea Farmers Market will fit in with the “Chelsea” style. The 4 listed buildings on the Farmers Market site are protected.  As this location is protected as an area of surface development, the requirements of the Crossrail 2 plan will impact on the Brompton’s ability to proceed.

The Chair thanked our guest speakers.

Parks Police: Jan Cacchione outlined her area of responsibility; patrolling the parks not only in Kensington and Chelsea but also in Hammersmith and Fulham. This includes St Luke’s Gardens. The most common policing issues are anti-social behaviour and street drinking but the patrolling of the parks is also important for crime prevention.

Minutes of 2015 AGM: The Chairman, (SS), asked for the minutes of the 2015 AGM to be agreed.

Treasurer’s Report: David Farlow, (DF), reported that the balances are unaudited but will be passed to Heather Gumbrell as soon as the accounts are completed. The SSDRA account is now with Metro Bank. A new expenditure this year is the start-up cost of the SSDRA website. Details of the SSDRA accounts will, in future, be published on the website. The committee will encourage members to pay the membership fee by standing order each January.

Membership Secretary’s Report: Mark Baynham (MB) raised three key points

• The intention to raise the number of member households
• The proposal to introduce a new, higher annual subscription of £10 wef 01 January 2017
• The new SSDRA website is to go live in November and will feature news items and historical information.

The constitution of the SSDRA determines that a membership fee increase is subject to a vote of the members. The members debated the merits and need for the proposed subscription increase. SS called for the vote and a motion to increase the fee was carried.

The SSDRA Committee: All committee members were re-elected for the coming year.

To receive the Chairman’s report: Susan Spiller, (SS), Chairman, delivered her annual report to the meeting. Her main points were directed to major, local planning issues but also to other seemingly minor, planning issues that could impact on the local community, e.g. an application by the landlord of Le Colombier for a change of use to retail and the request by McDonald’s to remain open for 24 hours.

• Crossrail 2; TFL published a response in July, and feasibility studies continue in response to local feedback. TFL are aware of the resistance of Chelsea residents to the Sydney St station.
• The Royal Brompton Hospital and redevelopment of other separate properties was discussed by the AGM’s guest speakers. The SSDRA responded to the proposed plan despite the limited time available.
• The Cadogan Estate’s proposal to redevelop the Habitat, Curzon site. There are no updates to timing of the planned redevelopment.
• Thamesbrook; The developer and the RBKC planning officers hope to share the plans with local residents and the developer intends to have a public exhibition in early December.
• The Sutton Estate; a planning application has been submitted and revised and is expected to be heard by the RBKC Planning Committee before year end.
• McDonald’s; a 24 hour opening is proposed. SS urged residents to oppose.

The AGM was formally brought to a close by the Chairman at 20:05.