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.

Councillor Dempster, Chair for the meeting, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 22 March 2017 is attached at Appendix A and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record. Any update on actions taken since the last meeting will be reported at the meeting.

The action log of the meeting held on 22 March 2017 was agreed as an accurate record.

Update on actions from the previous meeting:

·         It was noted that the equipment demonstration at Hamilton Park outdoor gym would not take place before Easter 2018.

Marlene Blake – Neighbourhood Housing Team Manager noted that:

·         The fallen trees on Pearl Way had been removed.

·         Columbine Road to Mallow Close - The overgrown tree had been cut back and highways had been informed of the slippery paths.

The Humberstone & Hamilton Ward Councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the Humberstone & Hamilton Ward.

Bus Shelter requests:

·         In regards to the bus shelters requested for Sandhills Avenue and nearby roads, it was noted that the bus company had recently removed two bus shelters from Pendlebury Drive (not in the Ward) and it was proposed by Councillors that these shelters be moved to Sandhills Avenue.

ACTION: The process for this would firstly require; a consultation with residents who live nearby. Following the consultation, a request would need to be made to the bus company for the bus shelters to be moved to Sandhills Avenue.

·         It was hoped that this could take place within the next three months.

General issues:

·         Councillor Sandhu had been continuing works on the adoption of roads in the Ward.

·         School admissions/ places was noted as still an issue.

·         Attendees were informed that Hamilton College had now been taken over by Rushey Mead Academy. A representative from the Hamilton Residents Association (HRA) encouraged communication to/ from the school and agreed to contact Rushey Mead’s head teacher via HRA newsletter.

·         It was encouraged for residents to inform the Lord Mayors Office if there were any events that they wanted to request the Lord Mayor to possibly attend.

WCEO ACTION: Punum Patel - Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) was to request feedback from John Wright at Arriva Bus Service in regards to the discussion which took place at the previous Ward Meeting.

Officers from Leicestershire Police will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in the Ward.

Sergeant (Sgt) Robert Merrall gave the following update:

·         It was noted that vehicle crime was the main issue across the Ward. Residents were advised on vehicle safety and to also advise neighbours of the current issue.

·         A new PCSO had started work in the Ward that week.

·         The Police were planning on visiting Hamilton College in order to solve some of the concerns regarding students causing issues in nearby streets.

Residents request:

·         Road markings were requested at the Bellflower Road and Sandhills Avenue roundabout.

POLICE ACTION: Sgt Merrall would take a look at this.

·         Councillor Dempster noted the speed concerns from the large roundabout and enquired if the Police could occasionally stand and use the speed camera.

POLICE ACTION: Sgt Merrall confirmed that as there was a now a new PCSO this was more likely, he also noted that he could request for the static speed van to park up and would aim for two between now and Christmas.

·         Concerns were reported of people drinking persistently and making a lot of noise until 2am in the morning behind Orpine Road (near Pearl Way/ Diamond Way). Sgt Merrall requested that residents email this type of information via the online reporting system on the Police website.

POLICE ACTION: He would try and send one of his Officers to the location to look into this concern.

·         Councillor Dempster asked residents if they wanted to allocate some of the Ward Community Budget towards printing a flyer about ‘how you can help your area’ relating to issues such as theft from vehicles, fly tipping and inconsiderate parking.

A Highways Officer will provide an update on a number of issues and developments in the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward including parking issues.

Robert Bateman – Team Leader for Highways & Traffic Design had received feedback from Highways Officers and presented the following:

·         Un-adopted Streets – Three developers had now bought the roads up to standard, paperwork and solicitor communications were in progress.

·         It was noted that by November all the roads in Hamilton should be adopted.

Keyham Lane road widening:

·         Complete and open to traffic.

·         Work on Keyham Lane 20mph zone traffic calming install date would commence 11 September for approximately 5 days.

·         The 20mph speed limit would be implemented 18 September.

·         Speed cushions would be installed on 11 September.

·         The scheme for Kestral Fields 20mph zones were at stage 1 - preliminary consultations. After the consultations were complete, a report would be provided to the City Mayor.

·         Turner Road – the new speed limit would come into force 11 September.

Residents and Councillors concerns:

·         It was queried regarding a previous request for signage to be displayed at the roundabout of the Sandhills Avenue shops; 1) for people to be aware of the turnings. 2) for information of the shops location.

HIGHWAYS ACTION: Robert informed attendees about the guidelines which Highways must adhere to regarding signage but agreed to take a look at the location.

·         A resident felt that the signs/ school children posts would be helpful at Kestral Fields Primary School.

·         Councillors and residents at the meeting discussed possibilities of having banners produced to display on lampposts in the Ward.

Marlene Blake – Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader will be present at the meeting to provide information on housing issues and schemes taking place in the Ward.

Marlene Blake - Neighbourhood Housing Team Manager provided the following update:

·         Transforming Neighbourhood Services – Humberstone Housing Neighbourhood Office was proposed to be closed and services moved into St Barnabas library. It was noted that a report had recently went to Scrutiny and the outcome would soon be known.

·         Marlene welcomed suggestions for improvements to the housing estate.

Residents requests:

·         Could Housing Officers look at streets with parking issues to see if a reduced rate for dropped kerbs could be provided to housing tenants and to non housing tenants.

WCEO ACTION: was to feed this back to Highways for consideration.

WCEO ACTION: Councillor Dempster advised for the WCEO to contact Housing Options to find out which Housing Associations were dominant in the Ward and requested that they be invited to a future Ward Meeting.

Nicole Powell - The local City Warden will be present to provide an update on any environmental works and activities in the Ward.

Nicole Powell – City Warden for the Ward gave an update on works the City Warden had been involved in, in the Ward.

Dog Fouling:

·         A resident requested dog fouling stencils on Brompton Road.

CITY WARDEN ACTION: stencil request.

·         The City Warden had submitted a request for a camera to be installed on Armadale Road, however, this was a difficult and ongoing process.

·         Nicole informed the meeting of ‘dog bag pack’ campaign that she had carried out in a different ward which was reported to have been quite successful. These were small packs containing dog fouling bags that would be placed on a dog’s collar.

·         Nicole noted that the approximate cost of the campaign was £600.

·         Councillor Dempster asked residents at the meeting if they were happy for a similar dog fouling campaign to take place in the Ward with support from the Ward Community Budget. Most residents at the meeting welcomed this idea.

·         It was also requested that information on the campaign be added in the next HRA newsletter.

·         A representative from the HRA noted that the dog bag packs could be given as a freebie at one of the HRA’s events.

·         Nicole noted that a campaign on incorrect chewing gum disposal would be taking place on 2 October.

CITY WARDEN ACTION: to look into action requests from previous meeting – Topaz Way and Tesco (near Chinese takeaway).

·         A resident had concerns that the public bench had been ripped out in the park near Hilltop Road. This was noted as Parks remit.

WCEO ACTION: to inform Parks.

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

An update on the Community Ward Budget will be provided at the meeting.

Punum Patel – WCEO gave the below update on the Ward Community Budget.

Applicant: Guinean Community of Leicester

Project name: Ivory Coast National Day Celebration

Result: Application not supported.

Applicant: Humberstone and Hamilton armchair aerobics

Project name: Humberstone and Hamilton armchair aerobics

Result: Grant of £500 supported.

Applicant: St Barnabas Library & Hamilton Library

Project name: Spark Arts performance

Result: Grant of £140 supported.

Applicant: Hamilton Residents Association

Project name: Art Club

Result: Grant of £388 supported.

Applicant: Hamilton Indoor Bowls

Project name: Bus trip and meal

Result: Grant of £500 supported.

Applicant: Reality Youth Project

Project name: Ncounter Summer 2017

Result: Grant of £225 supported.

Applicant: Young at Heart

Project name: Seated/ Chair exercises

Result: Grant of £735 supported.

Applicant: Humberstone and Hamilton Councillors

Project name: Junior First Aid Courses

Result: Grant of £500 supported.

Applicant: Hamilton Residents’ Association

Project name: Jerome Project: Hamilton Community Garden

Result: Grant of £607 supported.

Applicant: City Wardens

Project name: Fly tipping – removal of waste from car park

Result: Grant of £155 supported.

Applicant: Malawi Association UK

Project name: Celebrating Malawi Achievements

Result: Grant of £500 supported.

·         It was noted that the next deadline was the end of September 2017.

·         Ward Community Budget applications were available online.

·         £15,500 remained in the budget.

·         A resident noted walks currently taking place from the Town Hall (City Centre) as a way of encouraging adults to become more active. These walks were reported to be organised by Sara Coy – administrator for ‘Leicester Walks Scheme’.

RESIDENT ACTION: The resident volunteered to contact Sara Coy to see if a similar scheme could take place in the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward.

·         Councillor Dempster proposed that it would initially be short walks and would want it to be funded for 12 months.

Representatives from the HRA/ art club at Hamilton library noted the following:

·         A gardening group met every 1st Saturday of the month, residents were welcomed to take part. Volunteer litter picking opportunities were also available on the day – equipment provided.

·         The art club had increased in numbers and the representatives noted that the charges of the centre.

WCEO ACTION: Councillor Dempster requested the WCEO to ask Shilen Pattni – Senior Project Manager for Neighbourhood and Environmental Services to call Councillor Dempster to discuss the art club rates.

·         The HRA representative queried whether another band of pricing for community groups could be looked into.

WCEO ACTION: Punum Patel would take this query back to the Neighbourhood Services Team.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.50pm.