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 Cutkelvin, Chair for the meeting, welcomed everyone and led the introductions.

No declarations of interest were made.

Apologies were received from Noel Cazley (City Warden), Jean Wynd, and Alan and Ann Sturgess.

Attached for information is the Action Log from the last Saffron Ward community meeting.

Page 1, Minute Item 62, Councillors Report

An amendment to read ‘There would be additional cladding on Bloomfield Road…’.

The Action Log for the meeting held on 8 March 2018 was confirmed as a correct record.

Councillors will provide an update on ward information.

·         Complaints had been received from residents on Boundary Road about excessive noise from the industrial site, from 6.00am onwards. The Council and owner of the site were contacted. Details of the complaint were forwarded to Jon Ashworth MP whose office has contacted the lead resident who made the complaint, and would hopefully resolve the issue.

·         A complaint was received from a resident on Shakespeare Street about:

a)    Japanese knotweed in a neighbours garden;

b)    Rails around Saffron Sports Centre in poor, rusty condition. Officers were aware of the issue. Cost was a factor, but hopefully they would be replaced.

Emails were sent to the relevant council departments, and responses received from the council on both issues were forwarded to the resident.

·         Both Ward Councillors were present at an on-site meeting earlier in the day regarding the St Andrews shops which had stood empty for six years – hopefully demolition will commence 25/6.

·         A meeting took place with CPSO Jackie Moore on Aylestone Recreation Ground (football pavilion). The area was seen as dark and intimidating. It had been established that the area has an electricity supply, and the installation of a security light would be looked into.

·         The Stars dance group previously had the majority of the old units, which were due to be demolished under the Using Buildings Better programme.

·         It was noted there were ongoing drug usage problems in the toilets on the park. A litter pick would be organised to tidy up the area.

·         Congratulations were made towards Terry Rogers who was awarded a British Empire Medal (BME) in this year’s Honours List for his contributions to the area over the past 25 years.

·         A change in legislation regarding ‘To Let’ boards will remove clutter from streets. Mainly affecting the ‘Nuts’ and ‘Lakes’ streets in the ward, it was applied for when agents failed to remove boards under the voluntary code.

·         Residents were still concerned about St Mary’s green space, and hard pathways – Councillors were still chasing a response.

·         Councillor Cutkelvin had asked a question at Council on residents parking – the council was looking to potentially start conversations with local residents soon.

·         Councillor Shelton had received a call from a resident regarding an aggressive dog in Thirlmere Gardens last week. The number for the dog warden was passed on, and a request made to the City Warden to visit the resident with further information. Councillors asked that an item be added to the next meeting agenda on the powers of the Council and Police to deal with aggressive dogs.

·         General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came into force on 25 May 2018. Residents who receive an email from the Community Engagement Team were being asked to sign an ‘opt-in’ sheet to continue to receive emails.

At the request of the Chair, the agenda order for the meeting was changed.

A local Police update will be given on any Policing matters within the Ward.

PC Ricky Townsend was present to update the meeting with the following information:

·         Police were pointing people in the director of the website Police.UK to for crime statistics.

·         Live updates on what was happening in an area could also be received via email at https://www.neighbourhoodlink.co.uk/

·         Police boundaries no longer followed council ward boundaries, for example, police operated in Freeman area which covered several wards.

·         It was reported there were no major problems in the ward currently, though there had been some incidences of criminal damage.

Councillors were concerned that figures and the breakdown of certain crimes were not being given at meetings, which could potentially generate conversation on issues the people would not necessarily be aware of. It was explained that the police were often quizzed as to why figures on one site were different from another, and it was due to reporting headings being different. It was further explained that people were being redirected to the websites where people could find out the information for themselves.

A resident reported an issue at Neston Gardens – youths with loud music, drugs and baseball bats – due to availability, police had not attended when called. Councillors asked for a presentation on the different layers of police across the Ward.

A resident was concerned with children riding bikes on Heathcott Road on the blind bend. A number of conversations had been held regarding the removal of shrubbery on the bend. Councillors requested the police contact Lancaster Boys to remind them to be careful whilst cycling on the road.

The Police were thanked for the update.

There will be information on parking schemes and highways works within the Saffron Ward.

A Highways officer presented the following information:

·         An overarching piece of work was undertaken in Saffron and Aylestone areas - residents parking schemes had been discussed with various groups.

·         There were three areas with controlled pavement parking

o   Braemar Drive

o   Harrison Road

o   Aylestone – the village area had different problems to the greater area, which included part of Saffron ward at the crossroads.

·         Pavement parking was looked at, and several surveys at different times done e.g. football matches, cricket. There was a definite issue with football parking in Saffron and Aylestone, with an increase in poor/pavement parking, next to junctions. It was not illegal to park on the footway, though obstructions were dealt with by the Police.

·         Officers had also looked at ‘through’ routes (rat running). The joint project between Saffron and Aylestone would take some time. Ideas and things learnt from Braemar Drive would be discussed with the Councillors for the Wards before public consultation.

·         Councillors asked for officers to discuss with Aylestone Park Residents Group and feed issues back to Councillors.

CPSO Jackie Moore reported that people on Percy Road had requested dropped kerbs which had been declined – names and addresses of the residents would be provided to Councillors for inclusion in the project.

It was further noted that work on the chicane on Knighton Lane East was imminent. The bridge had yellow and black markers over the carriageway only, but was due to have a different sign on.

The Highways Officer was thanked for the update.

An update on Housing works within the Saffron Ward will be delivered.

A Saffron Housing Officer was present to update the meeting on improvements in Saffron Ward:

·         Cladding programme – completed on Bloomfield Road, Great Arler Road, Knighton Lane and Shakespeare Street.

·         Fencing had been erected around Thorpe House. Trees had been removed, and gardens trimmed back by the Community Payback Team.

·         External bin stores had been installed at blocks of flats to prevent fire risk. Internal bin stores could now be used to store bicycles. Efforts were being made to ensure Biffa relocked the external bin stores – self-locking stores were more expensive.

·         Lottery funding had been approved for universal fencing that backed onto the pocket park on Martindale Close. uPVC panels to the flats on St Andrews would be jetwashed.

·         Housing were working with Highways to discuss parking issues.

·         Universal Credit (UC) was being rolled out across the city. Tenants are to be reminded that UC is not a council benefit, but issued by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Claims now had to be made online. Officers had made all efforts to help people prepare for the change. There were now four in-house trained officers in UC to assist tenants with difficulties and concerns. Some outreach sessions would be held at the Pork Pie Community Centre, but advice could also be obtained from the job centre. Councillors stated they would also assist people who were struggling and refer them on to the correct team.

The officer was thanked for the update.

A City Warden update will be given on environmental works within the Ward.

The City Warden Noel Cazley was not present, but provided an information update (attached to the action log for information).

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

An update will be given on the Ward Community budget.

It was reported that the opening balance for 2018/19 was £18,416.

The following applications for Ward Funding had been approved:

·         Joint application with Eyres Monsell and Aylestone – Pork Pie Library, Young Readers Programme – supported in full for £100.

·         Aylestone Allotments Society – new roof for community hut – supported £500.

·         Joint application with Aylestone – Leicester Banks Petanque Club – part supported £417 towards improvements to their resurfacing of the driveway for disabled parking.

Balance £17,399.

Until final sign off, there were several applications in progress.

·         Community Safety would be added as a regular agenda item.

·         Information to be brought to a future meeting on Dog Wardens / Dog Controls.

·         Police news – a new drone was not in use and had been used for the first time looking for a missing person. Drones can stay up all day for little cost. Some police officers were trained as pilots for the drone. Can be useful, e.g. following bikes, finding missing persons.

·         A Christmas event would be held at the Kingfisher Centre on 7^th December, and pantomime on 18^th December.

·         Katy Edge, Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour officer informed the meeting of an anti-social behaviour campaign, and working with the police and schools to target groups, for example, young people, against missile throwing. The campaign would be taken to several venues, and posters were available for those that wanted a hard copy. A presentation was planned at Aylestone Park Residents Group 2/8/18.

The meeting closed at 7.21pm.