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

Apologies were received from Councillor Hunter, Nicole Powell (City Warden), Andy East (Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader) and several members of the community.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 2 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 from the meeting held on 2 March 2017 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.

Councillor Govind confirmed that updates would be provided throughout the meeting on some of the collaborative works Councillors had been involved in with various officers and departments.

Councillor Bajaj noted that knee high railings which were funded by the Ward Community Budget had been installed on Angela Drive.

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

PC Dave McCartney from Leicestershire Police provided the following update at the meeting:

·         Current Problem Solving Plans (PSP) in the Ward included street drinkers on Uppingham Road and Green Lane Road. The Police were looking at ways of dealing with this.

·         Some homeless people begging - which was reported at the previous meeting was noted as still an issue outside the Tesco Metro on Ethel Road. However, PC McCartney explained that due to old laws this was a difficult situation to deal with.

·         Ongoing work was taking place with the youth intervention group.

·         Dave alerted residents to be aware of a recent scam which had been taking place where scammers had been trying to convince people of winning lottery tickets.

Activities taking place at Coleman Neighbourhood Centre (NC):

·         It was noted that PC Jackson had set up a regular drop in session on Friday afternoons called ‘Coffee with a copper’, whereby residents were encouraged to go along have a beverage and chat to Police regarding any concerns, issues or just for a general conversation.

·         A youth group held on Wednesdays, 7-9pm.

·         It was noted that over the past 3 months the following crime statistics were recorded in the Ward, all of which the Police were working to reduce:

Residents’ concerns:

·         Vehicles being parked on the Gamel Road double yellow lines. Dave did confirm that Police are unable to currently ticket vehicles.

·         Tesco Metro – Ethel Road was reported to have a lot of nitrous oxide canisters.

Nigel Eggleton - Managing Director of First Midlands will attend the meeting and give an update on the 54 First bus route in the Evington Ward.

Nigel Eggleton – Managing Director of First Midlands was present at the meeting and provided the following update:

·         It was noted that a decision was made to remove Gamel Road from the no. 54 First Bus service to improve punctuality elsewhere on the route and also as the number of users was few. Nigel reported that the change proved to be successful in terms of punctuality and increased usage.

·         It was also reported by Nigel that the change to the service came as it was felt that Centrebus already provided a similar service to that area.

·         Due to residents’ concerns of the change of service, First Bus Officers have recently considered that it could be worth trialling a restoration of the bus service on weekday evenings from 7pm and all day on Sundays for three months. This would be at the times when Centrebus did not provide a service on that route. After this three month period the service would be reviewed.

·         It was noted as a requirement to inform the legal body eight weeks prior to change of service. Therefore, if the restoration was to go ahead it would take place approximately at the end of October 2017.

·         Nigel noted that it was important that if the service were to be reinstated that parking and traffic didn’t become a problem.

·         The target would be 15-20 passengers using the service in the evenings and 70-80 passengers using the service on a Sunday.

Residents’ concerns:

·         Some residents commented that they would prefer a daytime service rather than evenings.

·         It was noted that concerns were not only in the Goodwood Rd area but also all the way down to Ethel Road and also outside the church.

·         A resident reported that Centrebus did provide a service but it had its own issues i.e. the Centrebus service was in the opposite direction and occasional issues with no bus drivers.

·         There were concerns that not all residents were aware of the change of service.

·         Difficulties for elderly and people with disabilities due to no bus, especially when going up the hill. It was requested that there should be a service that went up the hill.

·         Residents felt that East Park Road was the cause of the bus route punctuality issue rather than Gamel Road and it was therefore requested that other parts of the route be looked into where time may be lost.

·         A petition from residents regarding the bus service and issues surrounding this was handed to Angela Martin – the Ward Community Engagement Officer at the meeting.

Mark Govan – Highways Officer will provide an update on a number of transport and highways issues and developments in the Evington Ward.

Mark Govan - Officer from the Planning, Development and Transportation Team provided an update on works taking place in the Ward.

It was noted that there was now an ongoing programme for installation of bollards/ railings/ knee high railing schemes to address the parking issues in the Ward.

20 miles per hour (mph) zones:

·         The Downing Drive consultation was now complete. It was now at the stage whereby Officers would be analysing the results and communicating with Ward Councillors.

·         Speed features for Whitehall Road were being looked at.

·         The consultation for proposals to implement a 20mph zone in the Evington village area would commence tomorrow. Consultation leaflets would soon be distributed.

School run Parking scheme:

·         Spencefield Lane - Meetings had taken place with Krishna Avanti Primary School and St Paul’s Catholic School in regards school run parking – proposals were currently being developed.

Residents’ concerns:

·         Susan Avenue - It was reported by one of the residents that there were concerns of teachers from Oaklands School parking in nearby streets (and outside his property) although the school apparently had their own car park. The resident approached the school with proposals for parking however, nothing had materialised. The resident was to send details to Mark Govan.

Another resident also mentioned a similar issue on Chatteris Avenue.

·         Gamel Road/ Davenport Road/ Harringworth Road – many residents had concerns about inconsiderate/ illegal parking in the streets, parking on double yellow lines, parking across driveways (whereby residents could not enter or exit), damage to walls/ bollards, parking on verges and footpaths which caused issues for wheelchair users and pushchairs from using the footpath. Residents requested the presence of Community Enforcement Officers (CEO’s) in the area issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’s) for offending motorists. Mark Govan would feedback to the team and inform the relevant officer to send out CEO’s.

·         A resident requested an update on the previous camera car discussion. Mark responded that there were plans to have the camera vehicle later on in the year to be used at a number of schools. However, schools would need to have the correct documentation in place. In addition, Highways were working on legal documentation, road markings around schools and signage for officers to be able to issue penalty tickets instantly and not get challenged.

·         Greenacre Drive/ Goodwood Road – Resident had concerns regarding congestion and difficulties exiting the property’s drive especially during term times between 8.00am-8.45am. Mark was to discuss this further with the resident after the meeting.

The local City Warden will be present to provide an update on any environmental works in the Ward.

Councillor Bajaj read out the update provided by the City Warden.

·         Councillor Govind advised attendees to download the Love Leicester application to report issues.

·         It was also advised that residents could contact the City Warden for the Ward – Nicole Powell if they had any issues.

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 Leader was present at the meeting and provided an update on Environmental Improvement Budget Schemes that the Housing team would be implementing during 2017-18. A copy of this has been attached at the end of this action log.

An update will be provided on the Transforming Neighbourhood Services Programme.

Marlene Blake also provided the Transforming Neighbourhood Services (TNS) update at the meeting and distributed East and Central area consultation/ questionnaire leaflets.

The programme was currently consulting on proposals for 11 neighbourhood buildings in the East and Central area of the city.  The consultation included proposals for three buildings in the Evington ward:

·         Rowlatts Hill Neighbourhood Housing Office;

o   To close the building and move services into the improved St Barnabas Library building.

o   Explore options for disposal of the building.

·         Coleman Neighbourhood Centre;

o   To retain the centre and the ball court.

o   Work with groups to increase use of the building.

·         Evington Library;

o   To retain the library.

o   Install key fob access to the library for community groups use out of hours.

An online version of the consultation/ questionnaire was available on the Council website at: www.leicester.gov.uk/tns.  No decisions had been made as yet – therefore residents were encouraged to fill in the forms and express their opinions on the consultation which would run until 25 July.

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.

Angela Martin – Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) informed the meeting of the following information, in regards to the Ward Community Budget. It was noted that:

·         Seven applications had been received, four of which were supported and three were currently awaiting decisions.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 7:45pm.