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 Khote was elected as Chair and welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were passed on for Councillor Osman’s absence.

The Action Log of the North Evington Community Meeting held on 11 April 2018 is attached for information and discussion.

The Action Log from the previous meeting held on 11 April 2018 was agreed and noted.

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

Attendees were asked to note the Ward Councillors feedback which included the following issues:

·      Councillors had been working closely on the Anti-Social Behaviour problems in different parts of the ward. Certain Locations however, such as Sparrow Park were still experiencing anti-social behaviour.

·      Fly tipping was a major concern in the ward and hot spots had been noted. It was noted that there was a need to change attitudes by educating people.

·      Housing issues: people wanted to move locally within the ward and rehousing tenants had become a major issue.

The local City Warden will present information on environmental works within the North Evington ward.

Jethro Swift, the City Warden gave the attendees an update on his recent activities within the ward, and also took information from residents.

·      Fly tipping was a major issue in various hot spots within the ward which had resulted in a number of cautions and a fine.

·      Fines were not the solution to the problem however, educating people and changing attitudes would be more effective.

·      A distribution of letters related to the risks of fly tipping has been planned for the ward.

·      A CCTV unit has been installed and was moved frequently to hot spots to monitor fly tipping.

·      Concerns were raised about the Humberstone Road area, residents shared their concerns over rubbish and there was a suggestion that the rubbish was related to the CostCutters store on Humberstone Road.

·      There were concerns with abandoned shopping trolleys within the Humberstone Road area that were being used by children to play with, putting them at risk. The City Warden informed residents that if the trolleys had company names on them the city council were unable to remove those. Action: Residents are asked to contact the stores to which the trolleys belong to if possible.  

·      Concerns were expressed about shattered glass on Oak Street that had not been cleaned up by the council. A local resident had cleaned the entire street including blocked drains and weeds. Jethro stated he would inform the Cleansing Manager: Action: City Warden

·      Concerns were raised relating to fly tipping outside the garages on Prospect Hill and the recent rise in anti-social behaviour in the area, but residents were aware that the school holidays were a factor. A request was made for CCTV cameras there. Jethro responded that there were a few cameras that went into different locations around the city and he would add Prospect Hill to the waiting list. Action: City Warden

·      Concerns were raised with the condition of the Charnwood Estate. Residents were unhappy with the quality of the work that had recently been carried out on the estate and surrounding areas. Comments were made that grass cutting work that was currently being done was not as good as that previously carried out by the Probation Service scheme. The Chair stated that they would request that the grass was cut properly in the future. Action: Housing Officer.

·      Certain areas of the ward had not had the weeds cut in a long time and were now completely overgrown.

·      Concerns were expressed about the problem of discarded food. Jethro responded that discarded food had damaged the grass on Charnwood Walk and he had put signs up.

·      Concerns were raised about fly tipping and anti-social behaviour on Farnham Street.

·      A request was made for the Council to tell people in community centres and places of worship not to put food in public areas to feed the birds. Jethro commented that he would put forward the request to his manager, although with the budgetary cuts, the City Wardens did not have the resources to educate. Action: City Warden.

·      The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The local Police Teams will be present to provide a Policing update.

Police were unable to attend the meeting.

An update on Highways and Transport works in the North Evington ward will be given.

Officers from Highways and Transport were unable to attend the meeting. The Chair added that the altering of a few streets to one way to ease traffic in the ward was currently in consultation.

An update on Housing works in the North Evington ward will be given.

Marlene Blake the Housing Officer gave an update on Housing issues:

·      The Humberstone housing office was now closed and sold.

·      The housing office services had moved to St Barnabas Library.

·      All tenants had been updated on the changes by letter. The Chair expressed concerns that many residents could not read in either English or in their own language.

·      Currently about 30 to 50 people visited the new library venue weekly.

·      An increase was expected with the closure of the housing office in Rowlatts Hill, but it was believed that a lot more tenants were going digital with their queries.

·      Planned renovation was due to improve the reception area for security reasons as personal information was dealt with.

Marlene provided an update on the environmental budget:

·      Improvements would be made to the courtyards and consideration was being given to ways to improve bin storage.

·      This year the budget would not be spent on further improvements in relation to parking. Marlene had carried out a study on parking issues in the area and had concluded that the parking issues were predominantly during the day with the cause being the Merlyn Vaz Centre. There was ample parking available at other times.

·      Marlene stated that the Probation Scheme ‘Leicester to Work’ would be in the ward towards the end of September and she would try to get them to help out in the Charnwood estate. They had previously carried out cutting at the grass edges.

·      Concerns were raised about tenants running businesses from their garages and parking multiple large vehicles in the T junction at the top of Sherrard Road. Marlene asked residents to report such issues to trading standards, but some residents commented that council officers should report the concern to relevant department. Action: Housing Officer. 

·      Concerns were raised with overcrowding in the council let flats on the Charnwood Estate. Marlene asked for details of which flats were overcrowded. Residents were unable to give exact addresses but said it was several flats and asked the housing officers to investigate. Marlene responded that officers could only investigate when a particular address had been identified.

·      Councillors raised the point to the housing officer about the concerns raised in these meetings by residents should be followed up. A response from the Housing Team was requested: Action: Housing Officer.

·      Councillors expressed strong concerns that they had not been invited to the patch walk that was highlighted as an action at the previous community meeting. Councillors requested that a further Patch Walk be arranged and for them to be invited. Action: Community Engagement Officer.

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

An update will be given on the Community Ward Budget.

The Community Engagement Officer read out an update of the Community Ward Budget.

·      Memon Youth Association £1000

·      Parks Services £500 – Anti Social Behaviour reduction in Sparrow Park.

·      St Barnabas Library £250 – Reading Challenge.

·      Straight Path Resettlement Project £1000 (joint bid to Spinney, Wycliffe and North Evington Wards).

·      Highway Asset Management £600 - for railings outside Sacred Heart Church, Mere Road.

The Chair informed attendees about the planned road closure of Uppingham Road from the Coleman Road junction up to Tennis Court Drive from 25 July 2018.

The Chair announced that the next meeting would be held on Wednesday 14 November at 6:30pm at the Sacred Heart Church on Mere Road.

The Housing Officer explained that she may be away on that date but will try and arrange cover.

The meeting closed at 7:45pm