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 Joshi, Chair for the meeting led introductions and  welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies were received from Councillor Dempster, David Haslet, Suresh Lakani and Nina Lakhani.

The Action Log of the meeting held on 6^th September 2017 is attached and Members will be asked to confirm it as an accurate record.

The action log of 6^th September 2017 was agreed as an accurate record.

Councillors will provide an update on Ward matters.

Councillors reported that:

·       Bus Shelter requests were being pursued. Suppliers had responded that a shelter was possible at Carty Road but there was an issue with width of pavement and shelter would need to be installed on hard standing at edge of pavement. Ownership of that piece of land needed to be resolved before moving forward. In terms of Sandhills Avenue it was not feasible to place a bus stop opposite due to the width of pavement and proximity of houses but other suggestions for Sandhills Avenue could be considered.

·       Complaints had been received from residents affected by nuisance parking near Hope Hamilton CE Primary School and Councillor Joshi had attended and observed obstructive parking and abusive responses from those parking there.

ACTION: Police or Highways officer to write to Headteacher of school asking them to remind parents about obstructive parking.

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

Sgt Rob Merrall gave a brief update of local policing matters across the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward.

·       School parking – was an issue across the ward, the local policing team were conducting joint ops to tackle this issue. Kestral Fields had been visited recently and further visits were planned – several tickets and warnings had been issued.

·       Comparative crime statistics during November 2017 noted as follows:

Ward                                Total Crimes reported

Humberstone                              114

Charnwood East                          174

Evington                                     134

Stoneygate                                 148

Coleman                                     110

Wigston                                      153

·       Residents were reminded that crime statistics could be found on the police website at www.police.uk

·       There had been a large number of ASB reports spanning several months. The majority of incidents were around McDonalds on Netherhall Road and recently had begun to include Tesco Hamilton and Netherhall Road shops. The local policing team would continue to act on reports and intelligence and were also visiting local schools to educate and identify suspects.

·       Re: burglary on Pickhill Road investigation ongoing. Sgt Merrall reported that this was an unusual burglary and reassured those present that burglary and in particular this type of burglary was rare.

·       Residents reported that speeding on Sandhills Avenue continued to be an issue. Sgt Merrall confirmed that action was ongoing.

ACTION: CEO to liaise with Community Safety Team and Councillors to look to produce a flyer using community funds to circulate to residents in the area on how to tackle issues such as theft from vehicles, ASB, nuisance parking etc.

·        A resident raised concerns about school parking on Bessingham Close – Councillor Joshi asked the resident to speak to Councillors/Police outside this meeting.

An officer from Highways and Traffic will be present to give an update on Highways matters in the ward.

Robert Bateman from the Highways department gave a brief update which included the following:

·       Un-adopted streets – almost all roads were now adopted and highways could address any issues that occurred on those.

·       Keyham Lane widening works had been completed.

·       Kestral Fields 20mph zone proposal had finished consultation process and a report would be prepared to the City Mayor.

·       Turner Road new speed limit now effective.

·       Sandhills Avenue shops signage on roundabout – this could not be funded by the council and would need private funding. It was suggested that the shop owners might contribute to signage but any signage would have to meet certain criteria.

ACTION: RB to investigate possibility of sponsorship for signage.

·       School Children signs at Kestral Fields Primary School – the council were running a programme to try and change behaviour, an officer would be visiting the school to talk about what could be done and encourage more walking/cycling to school. Other options were also being considered i.e. road bollards, yellow lines and banners.

·       Re: Village banners to display on lampposts – it was noted that there had previously been a scheme as part of the Historic Villages – Story of Leicester programme.

·       Concerns were raised about poor lighting along the footpath adjacent to Hamilton Way under the bridge near Gateway College.

ACTION: RB to investigate street lighting in the area.

·       An issue was raised about the 3^rd lamp post on left side of road past roundabout near KFC towards Tesco which was very loose in its foundations.

ACTION: RB to investigate and arrange repairs.

·       Concerns were raised that the flow of traffic on Keyham Lane was being impacted upon by cars parking close to the central refuge which compromised the gap and would prevent emergency vehicles getting through.

ACTION: RB to explore possibility of yellow lanes on that section of road.

A local Housing Officer will provide an update on housing matters in the Ward.

Marie Morris from Nottingham Community Housing Association gave an overview of housing provided in the ward by the housing association which included the following points:

·       The housing association had over 8000 properties across the East Midlands and the housing association had worked with developers since 2004 to build new houses in the area

·       The housing association provided 400 properties in Leicester with 51 properties in the Hamilton area which included some supported housing.

·       There were 17 units that were wheelchair accessible and this included several 1, 2 and 3 bedroom properties on Keyham Lane that were all wheelchair accessible.

·       All properties were currently let and there was a very low turnover of properties in Leicester with on average only 8 properties coming available each year.

·       The housing association worked closely with Housing Options team and properties were let through the council choice letting scheme.

·       The housing association had an environmental budget that could be used for the benefit of its tenants e.g. with planting programmes. There was also a Tenants Funding pot that could fund some community matters.

ACTION: Marie to provide email contact address to CEO to relay to Humberstone Residents Association.

Marlene Blake – Neighbourhood Housing Team Manager reported that there were currently no emerging issues and it was noted that housing officers were working in conjunction with Highways to look at parking issues across the ward.

TNS East District was progressing and the Humberstone Housing office would be closed and relocated to Rowlatts Hill temporarily at end March 2018.

Fatema Burani, Crime and ASB Officer was introduced and gave a brief outline of her role as the new CRASBO officer dealing with the east side of the city and working closely with local police teams and housing teams. Those present were encouraged to report any incidents of anti-social behaviour to the duty desk officer using tel: 0116 4540250.

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

Nicole Powell, City Warden provided a brief update on issues across the ward and circulated a leaflet updating on progress and giving information on city warden services and the bulky waste collection service.

It was noted that:

·       Dog fouling stencils would continue to be sprayed subject to weather. Cleansing services had been very quick to clear up highways when issues were reported.

·       Untidy private land around Laburnum Road was being tackled and a notice had been served to get the resident to clear that.

·       Flytipping was an ongoing issue. Residents commented there was flytipping around Grantham Road. City Warden noted that this had not been reported in and reminded those present that the service relied on reports being made so that issues could be tackled.

·       Concerns were raised about littering and food waste from McDonalds.

ACTION: CW to speak to McDonalds.

·       Concerns were also raised about littering around Tesco Hamilton and residents asked that a representative from Tesco be invited to a future meeting.

ACTION: CEO to invite representative from Tesco Hamilton to a future meeting to discuss residents concerns.

A representative from the Arriva bus company will be present at the meeting to give an update and respond to questions.

A representative from Arriva was not available to attend the meeting; however a written update had been provided and was read to those present:

“The councillor’s request for consideration of a bus route between Hamilton and Belgrave was forwarded to the commercial team who had looked through the proposal. Unfortunately this has not made it onto the round of alterations for this year.

I will of course try again next year to see if there is any room for this new venture. As you can appreciate everything is still very tight finance wise, and we as everybody are still experiencing the need to make more and more cuts.

I am sorry that there is not a more positive answer but I will try again.”

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

a)      An update will be given on the Ward Community budget; and

b)      Recipients of ward funding will be invited to give feedback on their projects.

The Community Engagement Officer advised that 5 applications had been received since the last meeting.

Humberstone Residents Association – Art Club £485 supported.

Humberstone Residents Association – Xmas event £490 supported.

Northfields Play Barn – Ice Rink £1750 supported.

Humberstone Residents Association – Solar Xmas tree £912 supported.

Humberstone Residents Association – Diwali event £450 supported.

The remaining balance of the Community Budget was £11462 and a number of recently submitted applications were awaiting final approval.

The Chair encouraged applicants to lodge their applications by the end of January 2018 deadline for the next round of bids to be considered.

Applicants were also advised that all applications should be submitted online and the Community Engagement Officer could be contacted for advice and assistance on making a bid.

AOB 1

Humberstone Residents Association gave a brief report of their activities and how community funding had been put to use which included:

·       Art Club, was open to all and now averaged 13 attendees each week,

·       The Xmas and Diwali events had both been very well received,

·       A spring event was being planned,

·       At the end of this year it was intended to hold a “Festival of Light” rather than 2 events,

·       More work would be done to publicise events,

·       A table tennis club had been set up using community funding, this was very well attended and attendees were making a voluntary contribution of £2 each session so that the club could become self-sustaining,

·       Another bid was being made for an outdoor table.

·       Planting project – lots of bulbs had been planted last year and the benefits of that should be seen as spring approached.

Local councillors were thanked for their support.

AOB 2

Residents asked what was happening with the new Avanti school as there were rumours that this would be opening at Manor Farm. Councillor Joshi asked officers to provide an update to the next meeting.

ACTION: CEO to liaise with Children’s Services officers to ascertain plans for the Avanti School and report to next meeting.

AOB 3

Outdoor gym instructor led sessions may be available for a limited number of sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesday between 9-45am and 10-45am accommodating approx. 10 people at each.

ACTION: CEO to arrange sessions to commence from February.

To note the date of the next meeting:

Wednesday 2^nd May 2018 at 6.30pm at Hamilton Library, 20 Maidenwell Avenue, Leicester LE5 1BL.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 8.25pm.