Minutes of Meeting for Crofton Children’s Play Area Association on 11^th March 2002

Attendees: Paula Baker, Robert Baker, Joan Helme, Andrea Martin, Marie Binns, Helen Tate, Sharon Gallagher, Nikki Coleman, Jean Gibson, Suzanne Wilkinson, Christine Sinclair, Bev Schofield, Arthur Ripley, David Grundy, David Craig

Apologies: Cllr Paul Beckett, Mr Myers, John Trickett, Trish Richardson

1. The name of the Group was agreed as Crofton Children’s Play Area Association.

2. It was decided the committee members would be as follows:
Chairperson: Sharon Gallagher
Treasurer: Paula Baker
Secretary: Nikki Coleman & Robert Baker
Trustees: Marie Binns, Andrea Martin & David Grundy

3. It was agreed to adopt the draft action plan with the changes recommended by Trish Richardson. These changes will be made and then adopted at the next meeting.

4. After looking at the constitution of Lupset Play Areas Association it was agreed we would review the draft constitution and adopt this at the next meeting. It was suggested we only change two committee members at a time for continuity purposes.

5. It was agreed to amend questions within the Questionnaire as per Trish Richardson’s recommendations and to send these to our target groups. These were identified as people with children up to 13 years of age. We agreed to do this by distributing the questionnaires through the local Junior & Infant schools, Crofton Millenimums, Crofton Playgroup, and the local Church Group after seeking relevant agreement from those running these groups. We also felt it was necessary to advertise in the Wakefield Express and Crofton Smoke Signal that anyone may contact us for a copy of the Questionnaire as not all the target group will receive a copy through the above channels. We discussed asking local shops to provide collection boxes for this group of people to return the completed questionnaire to us.

6. The next meeting is to be held on Monday 8^th April at 7pm. The venue is to be Crofton Shay Lane Junior & Infants School (Infants Building.).

7. Sharon Gallagher advised she has information regarding funding which may be available to the group.

Paula Baker is to open a bank account for the group and organise all trustees signatures for this purpose.

A Thank You was passed to Crofton Millenimums as they are supporting the group by allowing fundraising through running a weekly bonus ball with their members.

The question was raised will Wakefield MDC maintain the site once we have a play area suitable for the children to use. It was also asked why the current play area has been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair.

It was agreed the best location for the play area would be on the Springhill Estate. Arthur Ripley advised to investigate the ownership of the land before proceeding with this choice. This will be taken up with Trish Richardson from Wakefield MDC.

Concerns were raised about what will happen to the old site at Hare Park if the play area is to be moved to a different site.

As a solution to the expected vandalism of the play area it was suggested a spin-off project should be started for the teenagers of the village. It was felt they are too young to go into Wakefield alone for the Sports Centre or Cinema, but too old for the play area. It was felt there is nothing in the village for the age group 13 to 18.