Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Batool as Chair led on introductions.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies were received for Councillor Malik and Darren Evans the City Warden.

The action log of the previous Spinney Hills Community Meeting, held on 21 February 2019, is attached for information and discussion.

The action log from the previous meeting held on 21 February 2019 was noted.

Councillors will provide an update on ward related matters.

The Chair shared information on individual surgeries that were held weekly, it was noted that currently Ward Councillors are holding 3 surgeries a month; the first Friday of the month was at Coleman Primary School on Gwendolen Road, the second Friday of the month was at Pakistan Youth and Community Association on Earl Howe Street and at the Leicester Islamic Centre (Leicester Central Mosque) on Conduit Street on the last Friday of the month.

Since the election the Chair had been working closely with residents on a range of matters from housing issues to social welfare benefits. It was noted that the Chair or the Co-Councillor for the ward were easily contactable and contact details could be found online.

Councillors had conducted a leaflet distribution across the ward with details of Ward Meetings and Councillor Surgeries.

An Officer from the Highways Team will provide an update on highways matters in the ward.

Abul Tarafder from the Highways Team was in attendance and provided an update.

It was noted that:

·      All Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) were now in place at Spinney Hills Primary School, Coleman Primary School, Crown Hills Community College and Mayflower Primary School since May. Both the signing and lining were now correct.

·      In addition, camera signs had been installed. This allowed the CCTV car to carry out enforcement.

·      Road maintenance was on going at different locations across the ward.

·      99 potholes had been filled across the Spinney Hills Ward compared to 127 for the same period the previous year.

·      The one-way traffic system scheme on Asfordby street and streets around that area had gone live.

Gwendolen Road was being considered for future one-way traffic schemes, but residents were asked to note that these schemes could take between 9-18 months to deliver.

Residents from Gwendolen Road and adjacent streets raised their concerns with parking issues and anti-social behaviour caused to the locals from the various commercial entities on Gwendolen Road.

Residents were concerned that the businesses in the area were not operating considerately and this was resulting in an unsafe area to live in. Residents suggested that the introduction of a Resident Parking Scheme and a reconfigured road layout to the area could help with resolving some of their concerns.

Residents shared pictures with the Chair of vehicles being sold on Constance Road, Margaret Road and Gwendolen Road. It was reported that the cars belonged to the garage on Gwendolen Road and some of these cars were not moved in months and were part of causing the parking problem in the area. ACTION: City Warden to investigate the area.

The Chair and the Highways Officer suggested that the residents were welcome to stay for the second part of the meeting where they could take note on individual residents’ concerns.

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the ward

It was noted that Darren Evans was the designated City Warden for the Spinney Hills Ward. The City Wardens role was linked to environmental Issues.

Residents who had concerns with issues such as bins on streets, fly-tipping or other environmental issues could report this to the City Wardens Team.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on police matters in the ward.

PC Adam Ahmed and PC Marcus Forrester were in attendance and provided an update.

It was noted that both officers had recently been allocated to the area and were working on getting to know the area and the people.

In relation to issues within the ward, it was noted that there had been robberies on Spinney Hill Park. Although this was more of a seasonal issue, this year it had begun earlier than anticipated.

2 arrest had been made in relation to the issues on Spinney Hills Park and the police were utilising support from officers based at different stations. This had given the opportunity for officers to be on the park more often and deter issues with their presence. However, the police did not want to discourage residents from using the park but just wanted to raise awareness of the matter. 

It was noted that the force were taking a pro-active approach and had a problem management plan to tackle knife crime by targeting nominals who were habitual knife carriers.

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 provided on the Ward Community Budget.

The Ward Community Engagement Officer updated the meeting on the ward budget.

It was noted that between April and September 2019 there had been 21 applications submitted. Of these 10 applications had been approved, 2 that had not been approved and 9 that were awaiting a decision.

So far from the £18,000 ward budget, £4,023 had been spent with a balance of £13,977 remaining.

Residents were encouraged to apply for funding projects that could be beneficial to the community.

Residents who were taxi drivers in attendance and reported their concerns with recent break-ins to their vehicles. They were concerned with some of the enforcement issues and suggested solutions to their problems. The chair asked if they could remain behind for the second part of the meeting and share more details so that the Chair Could follow up their concerns. ACTION: Councillor Batool to follow up.

There being no more items of business the first part of the meeting closed at 7:30pm.