Agenda and minutes

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.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were given.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Action Log of the meeting held on 2 October 2018 is attached for information and discussion.

The Action Log of the previous meeting held 2 October 2018 was noted.

The Community Engagement Officer said that the actions arising from the meeting related to Highways issues and had been reported to Highways officers. It was unclear what had been actioned and Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manger agreed check progress on the following:

Action: Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager

·         Benches –there were two benches on the junction of Troon Way / Gleneagles Avenue (one of each side of the road) which needed repair. The glue was coming away making the benches unsuitable to sit on.

·         Overgrown grass and weeds on Glencoe Avenue and Troon Way.

·         Uneven slabs on the pavement between the Cash and Carry and BP Petrol Station / Spar on Melton Road and on Lockerbie Avenue / Kincraig Road.

·         Bicycle racks on Cooper Street / Belgrave Road were not secure as they could be easily lifted out of the ground.

·         Patchwalk to be carried out around the recently completed flood works on Loughborough Road.

·         Woodbridge Road – the double yellow lines on the corner needed to be re-painted.

The Councillors will provide an update on any issues they have been dealing with since the previous meeting.

Attendees were asked to note an update from the Councillors on the issues they had been dealing with. This included the following:

·      Councillors had been pushing for more affordable housing and adequate facilities to meet increasing demand. Some unscrupulous landlords were charging extortionate rents. A Planning application had been submitted for more housing in the Harrison Road area as well as for a hotel and wedding venue on the old Indigo site.

·      Councillors had been helping residents with school appeals where their child had not been allocated a place in their first choice school; in particular for Soar Valley College and Rushey Mead Academy. Some of the problems arose with new arrivals to the area or where the parent / carer submitted their child’s application after the deadline.

·      Complaints had been received about rodents and attendees were reminded not to put out bread. This was inappropriate for birds and was also classed as littering which could result in a £150 fine.   People who wished to provide food for birds were asked to put proper bird food (seeds, nuts etc available from shops) into bird feeders or on bird tables.

Following concerns relating to food being dropped on the grass in Rushey Mead Park, a request had been made for some permanent metal signs to be erected. The City Warden said that in the meantime he could arrange for temporary signs prohibiting the practice.  Action: City Warden

·      Councillors had been working with Neighbourhood Watch at Bath Lane and Lanesborough Road to get the area tidied up. Trees had been cut back and they were trying to make the area safer. 

·      £8000 had been spent on improvements to the recreation centre and an attendee asked for details of the improvements and for sight of the charges. Councillors agreed to ask for that information.   Action:  Councillors

·      A request had been made at January’s Council meeting for additional money to be spent on the Centre and had been advised that a new cooker would be provided.

·      Some attendees sought confirmation as to how long both the recreation centre and the library would remain open. Councillors explained that the Council faced ongoing budget pressures and hoped that it would remain open for the foreseeable future. Elections were being held on 2 May 2019 and the outcome of the elections was unknown, but a commitment was given that if the councillors were re-elected, they would at ward level continue to fight to keep both buildings open. Some attendees expressed dissatisfaction that Councillors would not give a definite commitment as to how long the recreation centre and the library would remain open.

·      An attendee said that something was going to be done about the road markings on Strathaven Road, but this had not happened. Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager from Highways said he would follow this up.

Action: Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager

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

Attendees were asked to note an update on policing issues from Sgt Adam Goodenough. Points made included the following:

·      In the build up to Christmas, there had been significant problems including damage to vehicles around the Dunblane Children’s Home. The police had tried to deal with the problems sensitively but the policing profile at the home had been raised.

·      Following anti-social behaviour and knife crime issues, policing priorities had been raised for Rushey Mead Academy and Soar Valley College. The police were working with staff, the youth offending service and parents at both schools.

·      A significant number of number plates were being stolen and the police were giving out anti-theft locking screws at their beat surgeries along with advice on how to fit them.

·      Two road crime operations had been carried out where untaxed vehicles or vehicles that were blocking the road were towed away. Two operations with the Environmental Crime team had also been carried out. Sgt Goodenough said he would be interested in linking in with the City Warden on issues such as fly tipping.

·      In response to a concern from an attendee that cannisters and balloons had been found on Dalkeith Road and surrounding area, Sgt Goodenough said he would look into this but the cannisters were not drug related and were not illegal. The attendee was asked to contact Sgt Goodenough directly should she have concerns in the future. The Chair asked the attendee and the Sergeant to discuss this further at the end of the meeting.

·      Where an issue was reported that was not a policing matter, the police would raise it with one of their partners.

·      Rushey Mead officers had moved to the Hamilton Police Station in Keyham Lane where Sgt Goodenough was based.

An attendee asked whether the increase in the police element in Council Tax would result in more police officers in Rushey Mead. This was said to be a question for the Police and Crime Commissioner, but the Chair commented that the gap in funding needed to be bridged by a major allocation from central government. All areas were being squeezed financially but all partners were trying to support each other.

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

Attendees were asked to note an update from Jethro Swift the City Warden for Rushey Mead. Points made included the following:

·      Jethro had been City Warden for Rushey Mead since the beginning of February as the previous warden, Mo Patel had taken up a promoted position in the Environmental Crime Team. Councillors said that Mo had worked very hard in Rushey Mead and it was agreed for the community meeting to pass on their thanks to Mo for his work in Rushey Mead.  Action: The Community Engagement Officer.

·      Jethro had been patrolling in the ward and on Rushey Fields dealing with dog mess issues. A question was asked as to how many people in Rushey Mead were fined for allowing their dog to foul, and Jethro said he would find out. Action: City Warden

·      An attendee requested signs prohibiting dog fouling, to be placed on lampposts, Jethro explained that the City Warden service did not have the funding for metal signs but could put up temporary laminated signs and stencils on the pavement.  Jethro said that the wardens relied on members of the public to tell them where dogs who foul were being walked. A suggestion was made that Jethro should patrol the park in the mornings and evenings.

·      In response to a concern about dogs being let off the leash, Jethro explained that it was not a crime to let a dog off the leash, but an incident should be reported if the dog was aggressive.

·       

The meeting will receive an update on highways issues affecting Rushey Mead.

Attendees were asked to note an update form Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager. Robert explained that the responses from the consultation relating to the parking scheme on Harrison Road and surrounding area were currently being analysed.

·      An attendee reported a pothole on Hardy’s Avenue.

Action: Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager to investigate

·      An attendee expressed concerns at the expense of deploying a civil enforcement officer on a Sunday in the Braemar Road area and queried how much this cost, when the money could be spent elsewhere. Councillors explained that they had been under pressure to increase the numbers of enforcement officers and people had asked for a greater presence in Rushey Mead. It was agreed that the details of the cost would be requested, but this might not relate to a specific area. 

Action: Community Engagement Officer to contact the Parking Enforcement Manager.

·      An attendee asked whether the disabled boxes marked on the road outside someone’s house were enforceable and whether he could park there if no other space was available on the street. Robert said that he would find out.

Action: Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager

Sara Coy, the Active Travel Training Co-ordinator will provide information about ‘Community Group Walks’.

Attendees were asked to note an update on community group walks from Sara Coy the Active Travel Training Co-ordinator. Points made included the following:

·      The aim of the scheme was to encourage more people to get out and about. An attendee said that she was leading group walks on Monday mornings which set off from the library at 10.30am. Sara was pleased to hear that, offered support if required and said that she could help if people could not get to the existing walk.

·      The group walks helped to combat social isolation and build up participants’ confidence as they found they could further than they expected.

·      The group walks ran initially once a week for about six weeks and after that the aim was to train up a group leader so that s/he could lead the walks themselves.

·      Sara said that she would be available to talk to anyone at the end of the meeting if they wanted more information.

An officer will provide information about the Adult Skills and Learning Service.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Anna Parr from the Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service. Points made included the following:

·      The service operated from the old lending library on Belvoir Street and most of the courses were held there.

·      There was a range of courses on offer, including digital skills, skills for work and English as a Second Language (ESOL).  Some of these courses could be accessed for free.

·      There were also learning for leisure courses, where participants paid £1.80 per hour.

·      Digital skills courses were also offered at the Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre on Mondays from 12.30 – 1.30pm and from Belgrave Library from 2.30 – 3.30 pm.

·      Most of the courses were held at the old lending library. ESOL was delivered across the city and the service welcomed other ideas. The Chair commented that it would be useful to have a course offered either at the Rushey Mead Recreation Centre or the library.

There will be a presentation by the City Mayor’s ‘CrowdFund Leicester’ team to highlight projects in the Ward.

Attendees were asked to note a short presentation delivered by George Ballentyne from the City Mayor’s Office, on CrowdFund Leicester. Points made included the following:

·      Crowd funding had successfully helped a number of schemes including raising funding for a junior brass band on the Saffron Estate and for digital headphones at the Phoenix Cinema for people with hearing disabilities.  

·      CrowdFund Leicester was supported by an organisation called Space Hive which took 5% of the money raised if the project was successful in raising 100% of the target.  Money from the pledges would not be taken until 100% of the target had been raised.

Residents were asked to contact the Crowdfunding team if they were interested in the project or had ideas for initiatives to enhance the community.

Action: Residents.

Further information may be viewed on the internet by clicking onto the following link:

https://www.spacehive.com/movement/crowdfundleicester

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

An update will be given on the Ward Community Meeting Budget.

Punum Patel the Community Engagement Officer explained that several funding applications had been supported since the previous meeting. The applications were awaiting their final sign off and a list would be included with the action log of the meeting. Details of these are attached at the back of the action log.

Stuart Fraser from the Outdoor Pursuits Centre addressed the meeting and said that the centre had been cleaning up the river and since 2013 they had collected 1997 bags of rubbish that had been discarded by people into the water.   The river was now much cleaner, and a kingfisher had recently been spotted.

The centre was carrying out a project with Rushey Mead Primary School so that this year every pupil will have visited the centre where a variety of activities were available. An attendee commented that children from a special needs school had attended the centre and had been made very welcome.

Stuart explained that they were on the Crowd Funding Leicester site and had raised just under 50% of their target of £34,000 to reconstruct the kayak launch. Councillors said that there was no money left in the budget this year, but they would want to support the appeal in the new financial year. Stuart said that he would talk to George Ballentyne to see whether the deadline for the project could be extended.  Action: Stuart to discuss with the George Ballentyne

The Chair closed the meeting at 8.35 pm.