Things currently on our agenda are -

1. CCTV -
Local residents have been very vocal about the need for a permanent CCTV surveillance system in the Communty to make them feel safe and deter crime and anti social behaviour. ROTH is working with Torbay Council to obtain a system from funds raised as part of a legal agreement with any future developer of the former Laundry site in Rock Road. In the meantime, we are supporting the introduction of another smaller private scheme to support the one operating in Melville Street and Warren Hill run by the Police .

2. COMMUNAL REFUSE FACILITIES
ROTH understands that some residents who live in sub divided properties lack proper faciliites to store household refuse. We are working with the Council to provide a permanent Community bin and recycling facilites that are emptied regularly. Two temporary bins have been provided in Melville Lane car park for people who need help to dispose of additional household waste

3. IMPROVING OUR ENVIRONMENT
ROTH has worked with the Community Payback Team to provide four garden planters to brighten the area for residents and visitors. They were opened by the Mayor of Torbay, Nick Bye in May and are in  Melville Lane Car Park. They were funded by members of the Community holding raffles and table top sales and this shows the level of commitment locals have for their area. The planters add to the exisiting garden space in Warren Hall which was developed from an over grown patch under the old Holm Oak tree in 2008 and continues to bring a lot of pleasure.

4. CONSERVATION MATTERS
ROTH is working with local Planning Officers at Torbay Council to help residents and property owners understand the requirements of living in tha Abbey conservation area. So far, we have been signposting residents to information about locating satellite dishes for their television services that doesn't interfere with the historic Street scene.  

5. RECOGNISING THE PAST
We made application for the public staircase between Rock Road and Melville Street to be officially named Laundry Steps in recogntion of the many people from our Community who once used them to get to work in the former Rock Road Laundry which closed during the 1960's. However, planners looking through the archives discovered the steps had already been given a name, Rock Road Path, but no one ever recalls this being used. The cost to get the name changed was going to be over a thousand pounds, so we are looking to provide a heritage sign marking their significance instead using the words - "Locally known as Laundry Steps." An equally fitting tribute for a fraction of the cost. 

6. HELPING TO SHAPE THE FUTURE
The former Laundry site in Rock Road has lain waste for many years and ROTH has campaigned for the area to be developed believing it to be an eye sore on the town centre landscape. The Council that owns the site has elected to give it to a Housing Association for affordable homes although this has proven difficult to do and a private developer appears a better option. The Association is committed to work with Torbay Council to ensure any development is sympathetic and offers benefits to the Community.
ROTH recognises that the area used to be the commercial heart of Torquay in the early Victorian period and would like to revive the historic importance of the area. This will be done by working with the Town Centre Executive to hold a Street event of some kind in the future.


7. PART OF THE TOWN CENTRE COMMUNITY PARTERSHIP
ROTH is being intergrated in to the new Torquay Town Centre Community Partnership. ROTH believes this offers significant benefits to our local area and enables us to work alongside other local groups for mutual benefit. 

8. CAMPAIGNING FOR BETTER STANDARDS
ROTH believes that the introduction of a properly managed scheme that requires minimum standards in private rented accommodation will bring benefits to Landlords and tenants alike.

9. CAMPAIGNING FOR IMPROVED SERVICES
ROTH continues to express a belief that extra revenue created in this Community from introducing Council Tax liability on the smaller properties created by dividing larger houses should be partly used to provide additional support from Street Wardens in this area.

10. KEEPING EVERYONE INFORMED AND INVOLVED
 ROTH produces regular newsletters called Your Place and are delivered free of charge to every home in the Community. We encourage residents who may not have access to this website to participate in expressing a view or opinion about what happens in their neighbourhood.
We are getting a public noticeboard installed in the Community to keep local residents and visitors informed of events and information. We hope to pursuade the Council to formally recognise our area by installing signs with the words - "Welcome to Melville Hill" at the entrances to our Community to recognise the regeneration now happening.


11. CANVASSING LOCAL OPINION 
ROTH isn't a group of individuals that make decisions for everyone else.  We are fully inclusive and encourage everybody to have a say about the place we live in. This happened when we used our newsletter to see if people wanted us to pursue a one way system in the area which could offer potential for a residents parking scheme but this was democratically declined.