Agenda and minutes

The Chair will introduce those present and note any apologies for absence.

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

Councillor Pantling, Chair for the meeting introduced those present at what was the first meeting since before the pandemic.

There were no declarations of interest made.

·         Councillor Pantling reported on past events, pre-pandemic noting that Christmas events had been well received. At residents’ request, Councillors would check that posters for the events were being placed around the estate.

·         It was noted that the Christmas Fair 2021 was a well attended evening. Ward Community funding had ensured that children had received chocolates and a teddy.

·         Councillor Pickering noted the Council would be launching a campaign about staying safe during the darker months. The CEO would circulate information to the EMCC and EMCYP (boys club).

·         Volunteer awards would be organised for a date in March 2023. Nominations were requested. Councillor Pickering was also looking to develop a Young Persons award and hoped to engage more young volunteers.

·         A litter pick had taken place with another planned for October 2022. Lots of bags of rubbish had been collected.

·         There had been many Jubilee events across the ward, including events at Pork Pie and EMCC. It was noted that the park would be a good place to hold an event, which would be looked into for Summer 2023.

·         For Christmas 2022, a quote was awaited for the Lighting of the Tree event on 2 December 2022. Included would be a winter wonderland in the garden, with grotto, and hopefully mulled wine and mince pies.

·         Saturday 10 December 2022 was Christmas Fair day, with Santa and stalls, with local groups having tables.

·         A community Christmas Party was set in EMCC for 14 December 2022, 12.30 – 3.00pm, with party food and entertainment. Ideas for the party to be forwarded to the Ward Councillors.

·         A ‘Soup for the Soul’ event would be arranged, to be accompanied by suggested recipes that residents could try out at home.

·         A project was being looked into for unemployed people to held them gain their Health and Safety, and Food Hygiene Certificates to help them get back into work.

·         Being discussed was EMCC becoming a Warm Bank.

·         Residents suggested the local newsletter be brought back (subject to funding) to provide relevant information to Eyres Monsell residents on events, activities and learning. Sue Green to liaise with Louise Wylie / Tracey Inchley to discuss circulation.

·         The Chair thanked people behind the driving force to get Featherstone Drive open space removed from the Local Plan as a site for development. Next steps would be to look at how best to protect the site because of the biodiversity that situated on what was a well-used site.

·         There would be further consultation over a six-week period on amendments to the plan, which would then be sent to central government. It was believed to be a good plan and residents were thanked for their input and support.

·         There were three other sites noted in Eyres Monsell:

o   Exchange – 15 houses

o   Spendlow Gardens (part of the green) – 9 houses

o   Southfields Newry – 53 houses

·         Ward Councillors had taken paper copies of the previous consultation to Spendlow Gardens, and no objections were raised.

·         Southfields Newry was due commence March 2023 and would be social housing with a mixture of flats, 1-2 bed houses, and some bungalows. Great consultation had been undertaken with the people in that area.

·         The Council was looking to county to take on some of the quota of housing.

ACTION: The Local Plan to be placed on the next meeting agenda.

The Chair led on thanks given to Dee at Goldhill for the provision of food and advice given to people. Thanks were also given to Louise and her team at EMCYP, and to Tracey for the work they did in providing space for Covid testing.

Tracey reported that her staff had been present at Aylestone Leisure Centre and had also visited houses to hand out test kits. EMCC was also run as a testing station which had been crucial during the pandemic to get people tested. The centre had then become a vaccination centre with local staff, delivering vaccines to many people which had in turn saved a lot of lives.

Local volunteers had also shopped for local residents.

·         EMCYP – Intergenerational Work/Developments

·         MAGGPIE – Hospital School

·         Post Office - Update

Steven Deadman (Hospital Schools, Willowbank Hospital School, Magpie Learning Centre) provided the following information:

·         The in-patient team provided bedside education.

·         There is an outpatient Willowbank for children who lived at home but were too ill to go to school, mainly to do with mental health, diabetes, and chronic fatigue.

·         Willowbank was getting busier and busier with increased referrals from Leicestershire and Rutland. There were around 80 children on the role pre-Covid, but had since run out of space. ran out of space, children needed one-to-one.

·         Willowbank has since been expanded with a couple of classrooms.

·         Space was looked for in the area, and the Magpie was taken over with support from Councillors. The Council agreed to fund the refurbishment inside which is now bright and airy.

·         Children were moved from Willowbank to Magpie, and the school could not take primary age children, supporting them through to get them back into school.

·         The school had some of the garden area, and with being central in the community, were keen to help with litter picking, food organising, printing of newsletters / information and were keen to have a stall at the Christmas fair.

Councillors said that mental health issues would continue to grow, and that the area was lucky to have the Willowbank Hospital School in the area.

ACTION:  Residents suggested that it was a good news story and should be considered for the first newsletter.

A resident reported issues with stoma after care when discharged from hospital, and the inability to receive support and information.

ACTIONS: Councillors to raise the issue with the GP surgery to see if they had capacity to assist in teaching stoma care to patients.

The CEO would include the information on the newsletter.

Excess crops from the garden could be used in the ‘Soup for the Soul’ kitchen.

Tracey Inchley, Service Delivery Manager, asked if the fence between EMCC and Magpie Centre could be moved so that only the school’s staff could have access to the parking. It was noted there was an issue with travellers trying to access the site.

ACTION: A request would be made to Estates and Building Services.

Steven Deadman informed the meeting he had already made enquiries for funding for the next financial year and was happy to contribute to funding.

Louise Wylie, Centre Manager at EMCYP (also known as boys club), informed the meeting that predominantly it was youth provision but since Covid the centre had taken a community approach. During Covid, a foodbank had been set up with staff volunteering to deliver food from Fare Share, at one point up to 100 bags a week. With ward funding the centre was able to buy a shipping container to develop into a pantry. Membership for the pantry scheme which was open four times a week was 3 months at a time, and enabled members to purchase goods for approximately half the retail price. The centre also received deliveries once a week from Samworth fresh food. Fare Share also provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

There were no police present at the meeting. The feeling from residents was the lack of presence at the meeting was a reflection of the lack of support people felt they were receiving from the police.

Councillors reported they did meet with the police and had asked them to do a walkabout, and that whenever they received queries from residents, they were always reported back to the police with a request for extra patrols.

ACTION: In response to residents’ request, Councillors would send a letter of complaint to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The police had sent a statement through which informed the meeting of the following:

·         Due to incidences in east of city, most police had been extracted to cover that area.

·         A bike operation had been undertaken during the summer, that had brought a few new people to the attention of the police. Bikes had been taken away and had drastically reduced in the area.

·         There was a still a drug presence in the area.

·         A pod camera had been placed on the Exchange to act as a deterrent against anti-social behaviour, and had provided evidence to charge offenders.

·         Residents were informed that the more reports they received from residents, then the more evidence there was to have police in the area. Reports could be made on Telephone Number 101.

Residents were feeling frustrated at the last of response from reported issues.

It was suggested that the police use the office at EMCC, and hold surgeries at the centre.

Councillors reported that they also held surgeries three times a month where people could drop in:

·         Pork Pie Library and Community Centre – third Friday of each month, 10.30 – 11.30am

·         Eyres Monsell Community Centre – second Monday of each month 9.30 – 10.30am, and fourth Tuesday of each month 6.00 – 7.00pm

Noel Cazley, City Warden, was present and informed the meeting of the following:

·         He had worked through lockdown, patrolling parks and handing out stickers to businesses to assist them to work in a covid-safe environment.

·         Most issues in the area were dog fouling and fly tipping. If an incident was not witnessed by the City Warden, then a witness statement is required from the resident to be able to get a person(s) prosecuted or to obtain information from the DVLA in the case of fly tipping. A good example of evidence was door camera footage.

·         Dog fouling was an issue across the city. As much information should be given as possible, such as the description of the person and dog, and time the incident occurred.

·         Residents could use the Love Leicester app to report issues, but were ensure that photos were uploaded before moving away from an area to that the GPS position can be sent to the cleansing team.

·         The App could also be used to report pot holes, obstruction to highway, trees hanging etc.

·         For people not able to use the App, orange bags had a generic number printed on them, and customer services would pass on the information to the City Warden.

·         Civil notices could be served for incidents.

·         Dog fouling in a communal garden was a grey area, but the key thing was the tenancy agreement as a starting point. If the dog was causing a nuisance or the tenant was not cleaning up after it, Housing could submit a breach of tenancy. The Housing Officer would need to be contacted in the first instance before City Wardens could act.

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

An update will be given on the Ward Community Budget together with a summary of grant applications submitted for consideration since the last meeting.

A summary of the ward community budget for 2022/23 was provided.

The total number of applications received to date was 11.

The meeting was informed that remaining money was committed to Christmas events, Soup for the Soul and Featherstone Drive open space.

A public rally against the cost of living crisis ‘Enough is Enough’ was planned for Saturday 1 October at Jubilee Square.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 12.55 pm.