Agenda and minutes

The following information stands were sited in the room. Members of the public visited the stands and were given an opportunity to meet Councillors, Council staff and the local Police and to bring enquiries and raise any issues.

            Table 1          Ward Councillors

            Table 2            Leicester Energy Efficiency Advice Centre

Responsible for the promotion of energy efficiency across Leicester and Leicestershire

            Table 3          Waste Management  (BIFFA/Leicester City Council)

Responsible for recycling and for the removal of household waste

            Table 4            Emergency Management

Responsible for the effective co-ordination and management of civil emergencies.

At the conclusion of this informal session members of the public were invited to take their seats and take part in the formal session of the meeting.

Councillors will elect a Chair.

Councillor Bhatti was elected as Chair of the Community Meeting for the remainder of the municipal year 2008/2009.

Apologies were received from Sue Bishop, Leicester City Primary Care Trust.

Councillor Bhatti welcomed those present to the first meeting of the Rushey Mead Community Meeting.

The first main item on the programme is Declarations of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything in the programme they have a personal interest in. For example if the Community Meeting wanted to talk about digging up a road and one of the Councillors lived on that road, he or she would have to say that they had a personal interest in that matter.

Councillors are asked to declare any interests they have in the business on the programme, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Councillors were asked to declare any interests they might have in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act applied to them.

No declarations were made at this time.

Councillor Ross Willmott will give a brief presentation on the new Community Meetings and what this will mean for residents in the Rushey Mead Ward.

At this point the meeting will break and members of the public will have an opportunity to visit the Information stands located around the room and to meet Councillors, Council staff and local Police, as well as to bring any enquiries or raise any issues.

‘CAROUSEL’ SESSION

Councillor Willmott gave a brief presentation on the new Community Meetings: -

• £10,000 budget to be available in 2008/09, £15,000 in subsequent years
• To consult on City Council’s Local Environmental Works Budget
• Community Meeting to meet every 3 months. Consideration will be given to meeting informally in different locations across the area in between the Community Meetings
• Will be asking public to list 5 local issues of concern that could be solved, to form basis of a Draft Action Plan
• Next meeting will receive Draft Action Plan that will then be formulated into the agreed Action Plan
• Third meeting will prioritise items in the agreed Action Plan

Questions were asked from the public present, and answers given as follows:-

i)                    This is the first Community Meeting in this area, what was the success, or otherwise, of the former Area Committes?

It was stated that the current City Council administration did not feel that Area Committees were successful and could be improved. The Community Meetings were being rolled out in all wards across the City.

It was reported that a further aim of the new process was to make City Council services more accessible to local people by way of regular attendance by senior officers and frequent displays, as seen at this meeting.

ii)                  I am disappointed at the attendance at this meeting tonight. Maybe more could have been done to publicise the meeting such local radio and the City Council LINK magazine?

It was stated that the point raised was a good one and although the immediate area had been leafleted a few days before the meeting and posters had been displayed at a number of locations the City Council were open to suggestions to try other methods. The use of local radio and LINK magazine would be followed up, together with the use of the Council Internet site.

Members of the public will have an opportunity to discuss what priorities they would like to see in their Ward Action Plan.

At this point of the meeting the public were invited to split into two groups to identify ward priorities for inclusion in the Draft Area Plan.

The following issues were highlighted: -

• Traffic pressures generated in Rushey Mead area from other areas such as Hamilton
• Parking problems in certain areas
• GE Thorn lighting site – concerns over the future use of the site. Local residents should be consulted on future proposals
• Difficulty in accessing certain resources – schools locked up during holidays as an example
• Voluntary Action Leicester – Focus Group with Young People – resourcing issue
• Employment – issues around short-tem employment and longer-term unemployment partly caused by language problems. Local Employment Project would be useful.
• Improve provision and quality of local health and leisure facilities
• More Police Officers on beat. Local Police Station could be more user friendly
• Street Scene – litter around shops and schools
• Reduction to First Leicester 21 bus route – some people now have to use 2 separate bus services to get to the City Centre.

Regarding concerns around litter it was stated that specific locations would be required to address the problem effectively.

Regarding the GE Thorn Lighting site it was reported that the site was designated as employment land and that GE Thorn Lighting were trying to market the site as this use. Should the current marketing be not successful then negotiations would commence between GE Thorn Lighting and the City Council to look into other uses for the site. It was stressed that it was important to regenerate this site.

It was stated that the concerns raised above would be incorporated into a draft Local Action Plan that, it was anticipated, would be sent out for consultation prior to being presented at the next Community Meeting.

There were no items of Any Other Business.

A list of suggested dates for future meetings was reported at the meeting. It was accepted that a Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring cycle of meetings would be preferable.

It was agreed that the next meeting would be held between 6.30pm and 8.30pm on Tuesday 1^st July 2008, at a venue to be confirmed.

A list of further suggested dates for the remainder of the year would be brought to the next meeting.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.12pm.