Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors Code of Conduct.

Councillor Patel welcomed everyone to the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

Apologies were received from the Police. Officers were still very busy because of the violent disturbance between fans the previous night, following the ICC Cricket Champions Cup Final.

The Action Log of the meeting held on 8 March 2017 is attached and Members will be asked to confirm it as an accurate record.

Action Log item 25: Transforming Neighbourhood Services - Feedback

Councillors requested the following addition to the end of item 25 on the Action Log.

In the work being done to implement the agreed changes and the proposed meeting with the Assistant City Mayor, the strong opposition to these proposals raised at this Community Meeting to be taken in to account when considering a way forward.

The Action Log with this amendment was agreed as correct.

Attendees were asked to note that in relation to parking in Bellholme Close and Mortoft Road, the request to ascertain whether narrowing the road entrance was a feasible option, was still to be investigated.  Action: Community Engagement Officer.

A discussion was held on item 25 on the Action Log: Transforming Neighbourhood Services  - Feedback  on the Action Log

All to note: 

·      Ward councillors had met with Cllr Master, the Assistant City Mayor for Neighbourhoods to explore other options for the disposal of the Rushey Mead Library building. Cllr Master had said that a decision for the disposal would not be taken until December 2017. It was understood that the Assistant City Mayor had scheduled in meetings with community groups to discuss options for disposal.

·      Councillors believed that the decision to dispose of the library building was not acceptable and they had been trying to obtain extra time to look for options to keep the building open, but had been unable to receive any such assurances that this would happen.

·      The Headteacher at Herrick had offered part of the school for use by the community, but in order to do this, new classrooms would be needed. This offer however had been rejected by the Council because there was no funding available to build those extra  classrooms.

·      Concerns were expressed by a resident that the library building had already been promised to a community group, but Councillors re-iterated that the Assistant City Mayor had said that this was not the case.

·      Councillors added that they would continue to do everything they could to try to ease the impact of this decision.

Action log item 30: Developments at Sainsbury’s Melton Road and Belgrave Road Sites (Henry Boot Developments) –it was reported that the development was at the pre-planning stage.

The meeting will receive an update on highway issues on Harrison Road.

All to note:

·      There was no further update in relation to the Controlled Pavement Parking scheme in the Harrison Road area; a consultant had not yet been appointed to carry out the detailed consultation: Councillors asked for this item to be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. Action – the Community Engagement Officer.  

Concerns were raised by residents that the action was needed urgently to address the parking problems there.

·      The scheme, already implemented in the Hardy’s Avenue area of Rushey Mead appeared to be working well. Over 200 visits had been made to the area by Civil Enforcement Officers and warnings to drivers and enforcement fines had been issued.

·      Residents expressed concerns about dangerous parking around the Jungle Club, Checketts Road; Councillors commented that they had previously asked for more enforcement to be carried out there. The Parking Services Manager reported that more Civil Enforcement Officers were being recruited.

·      Concerns were reported about irresponsible parking around Soar Valley College. The meeting heard that funding had been agreed for measures to tackle parking problems at schools across the City.

·      It was reported that people were parking in a bus lane by Rushey Mead Academy and it was questioned whether the bus lane enforcement camera could take images of people who were illegally parked. Action: the Parking Services Manager to investigate. 

Councillors reported that there was a new highways scheme at that site and it was agreed that details of the new scheme would be brought to the next meeting. Action:  Community Engagement Officer.

The meeting will receive an update on car parking issues at Watermead Park and in Alderton Close.

All to note that a Residents Parking Scheme had been introduced earlier in the year and appeared to be working well. Enforcement had taken place, with some fines being issued.

A Police Officer will be at the meeting to provide an update on local policing issues in the Ward.

As the Police were unable to attend the meeting in person, a written update was read out on their behalf.

All to note:

·      The Police had been very busy following the terrorist incidents in London and Manchester, as well as dealing with the previous evening’s outbreak of violence after the cricket cup final.

·      There had been a spike in the theft of motor vehicles; this situation was improving following a change of shift patterns.

·      An emergency Services Fun Day was due to be held at Mellor Primary School. Everyone was welcome.

Councillors and attendees expressed strong criticism of the behaviour of some of the people involved in the violence the previous evening; they expressed their gratitude and appreciation of the way the Police had handled the incident. It was suggested and agreed that a joint meeting should be held with Rushey Mead and Belgrave Ward councillors, residents and the Police to draw up an action plan, should there be a similar occurrence in the future. Action: Community Engagement Officer. 

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the Ward.

All to note:

·      In addition to the City Wardens; there were now new Parks Wardens who also had enforcement powers.

·      Issues were reported with dogs being let off their lead and frightening children in the play area (where the surrounding fence was broken) and also children from Bharat Football Club during their Saturday and Sunday morning sessions.  The City Warden to contact Parks Services to enquire whether the fence could be mended and also whether a Parks Warden could carry out a patrol on Rushey Fields during the Bharat Football Club sessions.  Action: City Warden

·      A problem was reported with the siting of a particular park bench and litter being left by people who sat there. The City Warden to investigate whether the bench could be moved to the outdoor gym area. Action: City Warden

·      A problem was reported at a house on Braemar Close where the resident was using the property as a base to sell cars.  The City Warden responded that he had previously spoken to the resident in question. He asked, if possible, for photographs of the perpetrator (or details of where previous photos had been sent ) so that action could be taken.

·      An attendee expressed concerns that although there were signs telling people not to feed the birds, some people were still doing so. The attendee was asked to take a photograph of the offender, providing it was safe to do so, and send the picture to the warden as it might be possible to identify and fine the perpetrator.

·      It was reported that unlicensed traders on Harrison Road /  Melton Road were selling mangos. Action: City Warden to forward the complaint to the Licensing Team.

Councillors are reminded that under the Council’s Code of Conduct they should declare any interest they may have in budget applications.

Information on the Rushey Mead Ward Community Budget will be provided.

All to note:

The opening balance at the start of the year was £19800. Seven applications had been received; of these, five were supported, one was not supported and one was withdrawn. The supported applications were as follows:

Mr Sharma  - funding for plants and small benches for Rushey Fields.

Bhajan Sandya -  Community gathering at Rushey Mead Recreaction Centre

Milap Group – Hire of rooms and trips

Rushey Mead Librarians -  NSA ticket subsidy

Family Health and Wellbeing festival – (awaiting support from another ward

The application from Premier Safety Training was not supported

Balance remaining of £14469.

Successful applicants were required to submit feedback on their project; failure to submit that feedback would result in any further bids from the applicant being rejected.

An attendee asked whether applications for the hire of rooms met the Community Meeting funding criteria; the Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for approval funding bids had previously indicated that she was against ward budgets being used in this way. Councillors said that they would check; they made the decision whether or not to support the funding application, but they were then passed to Assistant City Mayor for approval. Action: Community Engagement Officer

It was reported that free room hire was being offered at the Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre. Councillors responded that they had been told that there were no free lets, so this also needed to be checked. Action: Community Engagement Officer.

The dates of future Rushey Mead Ward Community Meetings are as follows:

Tuesday 3 October 2018 at 6.30 pm

Tuesday 27 February 2018 at 6.30 pm

All to note the dates of future Rushey Mead Community Meetings as follows:

Tuesday 3 October 2017 at 6.30 pm

Tuesday 27 February 2018 at 6.30pm.

The venues to be confirmed.

Attendees raised the following queries and comments:

·      A net around the outdoor gym area was requested to prevent people from throwing balls at users of the equipment.

·      Parks Services staff were clearing mess from some areas of the park, but not clearing mess from the community garden. 

Action: City Warden to raise these issues with Parks Services

Action: Community Engagement Officer to invite Parks Services to the next Rushey Mead meeting.

An attendee reported that residents had received a letter from Keith Vaz, M.P. to suggest that they all met with Ward Councillors to discuss the disposal of Rushey Mead Library. Councillors responded that they had not received that communication, but they had met with Mr Vaz about the library from the very beginning.

The meeting closed at 8.30pm.