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 Govind, elected as Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from Helen Pettman – Evington Echo, Philip Thompson – Flood Risk Manager, Nicole Powell – City Warden, Andrew Dhillon – Parks Officer, Luke Crown – Biffa and Tariq Latif – Handy Persons Team (leaflet attached to this action log).

There were no declarations of interest.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 11 February 2016 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 from the meeting held on 11 February 2016 was circulated and confirmed as a correct record.

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

Evington Ward Councillors gave feedback on issues they had been dealing with in the ward, since the last meeting. The following was discussed:

Both Councillors Hunter & Govind informed the meeting about the patch walks which had taken place in the ward since the last meeting with Ward Councillors and various Officers. It was noted that several highways, traffic and parking issues were highlighted; one of these included parking issues on Freeman Road North & Uppingham Road, and other related issues would be discussed under the Highways update.

·         Councillor Hunter gave an insight into her past year as a Councillor, previous and present works/ committees with the Council and stated her dedication to improving several aspects of the Evington Ward including neglected areas such as Rowlatts Hill and Goodwood Estate.

·         It was noted that the Ward would be having a new outdoor gym in Humberstone Park.

·         Councillor Hunter had been dealing with constituents and working with some of them to look into areas dedicated for dogs in the ward.

·         Councillor Bajaj discussed several community events which had taken place in the Ward and also events that Evington Community had taken part in.

Upcoming events included:

·         Coleman Evington Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) family fun day which would take place on Saturday 23rd July 2016 at Coleman Neighbourhood Centre from 10am.

·         Evington Village Fete & Show – Sat 13th August – 12noon until 5pm – held on the Village Green, Church Road.

·         A meeting had been held regarding the improvement of the skate park in Humberstone Park and a petition was currently in circulation.

·         Councillor Govind discussed works which had taken place to reduce Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in the Ward.

·         It was noted that the structure for Evington’s Ward Community Meetings would now be;

·         Two Ward Meetings per year and one patch-walk.

·         The meetings would now be in two parts; 6.30pm – 7.00pm would be a chance to meet the Evington Ward Councillors and discuss issues and concerns. 7.00pm onwards would then be the Ward Community Meeting with presentations and discussions.

·         It was noted that Councillors were available at their surgeries to discuss other personal issues. Details of surgery times and changes were provided.

·         Councillor Govind provided information on the Ward budget and application process.

An update will be provided on a number of transport and highways issues in the Evington Ward.

Mike Pears, Team Leader for Highways Asset Management reported on highways works in the Evington Ward since the last meeting. The following was reported:

·         Goodwood Road – Double yellow lines which needed to be repainted – had now been completed with white and yellow lines.

·         Councillor Hunter and Councillor Govind described the several areas of the Ward’s roads which had been proposed to Highways for new or repainted yellow / white lines. Some of these areas included:

·         Coming in from Coleman Road to Greenacre drive - double yellow lines would be painted on both sides.

·         Going down Coleman Road – there would be new railings to prevent grass verge parking and double yellow lines.

·         Barnes Heath Road – newly painted lines.

·         Mike discussed the timescale for the above works, whereby the process would commence with the proposals being advertised in the next few weeks, in total the process would take several months.

It was noted that other highways works in the Ward were either taking place or had been proposed, such as the following;

·         Marydene Drive – remedial works on the road surface were in progress and due to be completed on the day of this meeting.

·         Newhaven Drive – patching of the carriage way would be carried out.

·         Linden Drive – surface treatment on the carriageway and footway would be carried out after the drainage works were completed.

·         Spencefield Lane – renewal of the road lining had been completed.

·         Downing Drive – resurfacing of the road was now complete.

·         Wakerley Road/ Falmouth Road – due to parking on grass verges, there was a proposal for bollards to be installed to restrict vehicle access via pedestrian crossing points.

·         A bench had been installed outside the leisure centre on Downing Drive by the son of a past resident, as a memorial to his mother.

·         There were some suggestions to install bollards at certain locations in the ward – finalisations as to which suggestions would be carried out was currently in progress, remaining suggestions would be carried forward to next year.

·         It was noted that three meetings would take place in August with Ward Councillors, the City Mayor and Highways Officers; for feedback and the opportunity to take proposals for consideration into next years or future year’s highways programme.

Residents’ and Councillors concerns:

·         Two residents of Goodwood Road had concerns that due to a gap in between their houses, several motorists often used this as a short cut. Mike would look into this.

·         Councillor Bajaj reported that a meeting was held with the Police and Community Safety Team with regard to an ASB issue at the back entrance of the shops on Downing Drive. It was reported that Highways had stated that a gate could not be installed there however; other alternative measures were being looked into.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in Evington Ward.

Sergeant Ady Webb and PC Chris Brown attended the meeting and gave the following update:

All to note:

·         A new Sergeant called Ady Webb introduced himself to attendees.

·         Explanations of how  Police ‘problem solving plans’ operate were provided and also details of a system called ‘Sentinel’ whereby the Police and partners could jointly share and manage cases in relation to ASB or regular reported incidents.

·         It was noted that there were currently 10 Sentinel reports for the ward.

·         A problem solving plan was in place for ASB issues around Coleman Neighbourhood Centre, the Police responded by setting up an office in the centre and dealing with the issues using dedicated patrols. Following these implementations, it was reported that the area had seen a reduction in ASB and improved situations.

·         It was reported that an arrest was made of someone with the intent to supply ‘Class A’ drugs.

·         High harm areas in Evington were noted as Uppingham Road, Harwin Road, Ethel Road, Clovelly Road and Freeman Road North.

·         A resident expressed concern for drug abuse in her area. The Police discussed one method they were using to tackle this issue by educating children in schools on the dangers of drugs. The Police would speak to the resident following the meeting.

·         It was requested for residents to report any issues of crime to the Police.

PC Chris Brown gave crime figures for the Evington Ward:

·         A high profile burglar was arrested and had been remanded.

·         Sergeant Webb explained the various grades in reported issues and Police response times.

·         It was noted that Police officers would be present at the Coleman NC family fun day on 23 July.

An update will be provided of the flooding matters in the Evington Ward.

Randeep Singh Mattu, the Evington Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) gave an update on the flooding issues and concerns in the ward. Please see the update attached at the end of this action log.

Housing officers will be present to give a presentation on housing matters.

Andy East, Team Leader for Housing gave an update on the housing improvements currently taking place and the proposed improvements.

All to note:

·         Due to ASB in the area, several alley ways in the Rowlatts Hill estate were identified and closed off or in the process of being completed.

·         It was noted that fly-tipping was a concern on Goodwood Road, Housing and the City Warden would be working together to install bollards.

·         Andy discussed the proposed play area at Oxon Way – it was noted that Housing were trying to allocate funds and awaiting plans for this. The information would be shared when it became available.

·         Coleman Evington TARA would be having their next quarterly meeting on Wednesday 27th July and Andy East planned on being present.

2017-18:

·         It was unsure as to what funding would be available but there were concerns that it would be vastly reduced.

·         Nothing had yet been decided in terms of schemes to develop for next year; however ideas, suggestions and costings were currently being compiled.

Dependent upon available funding housing would look into the following;

·         Knee high railing at Waterfield Close working in collaboration with Highways and also at Cordery Road grass verge area.

·         A parking scheme in parts of the ward, fire safety and security improvements, Hextall Road bungalow lighting and Illingworth Road communal painting.

Residents’ concerns:

·         There was a request from a resident for an additional/ more trees on Ethel Road.

·         A resident discussed a fire safety issue with door mats in communal areas. Andy explained the procedures that Housing fulfil in regards to carrying out fire safety assessments and removing any hazard risks from communal corridors with the zero tolerance policy. It was noted that the Council had a duty to ensure these corridors were kept clear and would continue to remove them in compliance with the law.

·         It was requested for the grass to be cut more often. Andy noted the grass was cut by the Parks team who were reported to have had issues/ reasons for not cutting it often.

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

City Warden leaflets were distributed at the meeting. Councillor Govind informed the meeting of the following:

·         A new bin had been placed by the maternity unit outside the General hospital.

·         The garages at the end of Goodwood Road had been cleared up.

A representative from the Parks Team will attend and give an update on Humberstone Park.

Randeep Singh Mattu, the WCEO gave an update on Humberstone Park. The following was presented:

·         Sleeper style steps had been fitted to allow access to the already established graffiti wall.

·         The hedge (that sides on to the changing room) had been reduced, as it was repeatedly targeted by graffiti vandals and had not been targeted since. Feedback from park users had been positive. Further reductions of the hedge that borders the sunken garden in the winter months to allow more natural surveillance would be looked into, with increased planting in the garden.

·         The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) group had a planned schedule of works and had been carrying out working days at the park, the next one would be 25 July 2016 which will include cutting back encroaching vegetation that was over hanging the paths in the nature area and strimming back where needed.

·         The Parks Team had a day with volunteers planting and weeding in the sunken garden with more planned for the future.

·         The Probation service had repainted the bowling club exterior doors and wall at the back of the building.

·         Brook works were now complete as part of the Environment Agency’s flood defence scheme (phase 1) and they were now looking at (phase 2) as being a priority to naturalise the main stream. This would depend entirely on funding being available in the coming years.

·         A local patch walk was booked in for 15^th August 10.00am meet at Saltersford Road car park.

·         Looking at linking with the park warden service for a two hour dog fouling initiative reminding park users of their duties.

·         New bins had been installed around the cricket pitch area due to regular complaints received regarding littering.

·         The youth shelter was removed because of complaints received following ASB issues.

·         A resident requested an update on any new plans for Sedgebrook Park and the Village Green, as the swings/ surface had previously been removed.

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 Ward Community Budget will be provided at the meeting.

Randeep Singh Mattu, the WCEO gave an update on the Ward Community Budget. The budget sheet has been attached at the end of this action log.

·         A resident requested for the budget information to be included on future agendas.

·         Councillor Govind confirmed that information regarding the ward budget including the applicants, the amount applied for and the reasons for granting or not granting the funding would be provided at the next meeting.

·         In regards to a resident’s concern relating to the new Evington meeting structure and budget decision making, Councillor Hunter informed the meeting of the reasons and the procedures went through for adopting this new structure.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8:35pm.