Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Keeling as Chair welcomed everyone to the Freeman Community Meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Shelton and Ian Stapleton, Area Manager, Housing Services.

The first main item on theagenda is Declarations of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything on the agenda they have a personal interest in. For example if a meeting was due to discuss a budget application put forward by a community group and one of the Councillors was a member of that group, they would not be able to take part in the decision on that budget application.

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

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

Councillor Keeling declared that in respect of item 9, The Budget, there was an application from the Saffron Community Health Alliance for the Saftas, and he had received a Safta award last year. In addition, in relation to item 5, The Wheatsheaf Works Planning Application, Councillor Keeling declared that he had sent a letter to residents to inform them that this item would be on the agenda for today’s meeting.

The minutes of the previous Freemen Community Meeting, held on 1 September 2010 have previously been circulated and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the Freeman Community Meeting held on 1 September 2010 be agreed as a correct record.

Councillor Keeling requested a two minute silence in tribute to local resident Brian Muddimer, who died recently.

Developers Richard and Tom Hazleton and JSP Architects will be present to lead a discussion on the plans for the Wheatsheaf Works site, along with officers from the Council’s Planning Section.

Tom Hazleton, Developer from Urban Rhythm and Justin Fox, JSP Architects gave a presentation to the community meeting on the Wheatsheaf Works planning application.

Tom and Justin made the following points:

• It was planned that there would be a wholesale refurbishment of the site which would include new buildings and refurbishment of the existing building.

• The existing building was ‘listed’ and it was intended to maintain the character and integrity of the building.

• It would cost approximately £10m to convert the listed building and because of the expense, a high density development was planned.

• There had been concern that because the site had been made secure, work had already started on the site. However, the site had been secured because lead had been stolen and the developers had a responsibility to protect the listed building. In addition, work had been carried out with the conservation officer as part of the ongoing investigations.

• It was intended that there would be a mix of housing, but it would be mainly affordable.  There was also an aim to put the focus back on family style housing in the area.

• It was hoped that the development would attract a wide range of people, including older people and young people and that people would stay and become part of the community.

• Urban Rhythm and JSP Architects had long histories of converting listed buildings and their aim was to complement and not devalue the building.

• The Hazletons would have a management role over the development  and a concierge would be provided.

• A request for a traffic survey had been made by the council on 12 July and in response, a survey was carried out three days later. The survey was carried out in term time as the schools were still open, although students from university had returned home.

• 165 parking spaces would be provided and there would be 2 cycle spaces for every house.

• The developers were required to submit a travel plan to the council, and as part of the plan, bus passes would be provided for new residents. It was acknowledged that some people would not want to use the buses, but for others, a one month bus pass could be sufficient to encourage use of public transport.

• The possibility of providing a hire car facility was being explored.

Residents raised the following questions:

• Will the Wheatsheaf Theatre be completed before the new building starts?

Tom and Justin responded that the work would be carried in several phases, over approximately 4 -5 years. It was intended that some new building would be carried out in the first phase, which would generate finance for work on the listed building.

• Could you create more parking spaces and reduce the new build?

Justin explained that as much parking space had been provided as possible as the plans had to fall within the city council planning policies.

• Parking at the Wheatsheaf Theatre is difficult and people have to park on the street. Will any parking be provided there?  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Elizabeth Botmeh will explain the services offered by the Multi Access Centre which is based at the Linwood Centre. The Centre offers employment and training support.

Elizabeth Botmeh, from the Adult Skills and Learning Service was present to talk to residents about the service that was available at the Multi Access Centre. Elizabeth made the following points:

·        The Multi Access Centre (MACs) is part of a multi agency approach to help people to improve their skills with the aim of helping them into employment or training.

·        This is a local service, working from a range of local venues such as Saffron Resource Centre, Saffron Lane Housing Office and the Linwood Centre.

·        They can offer referrals to sector specific vocational training programmes developed in consultation with employers such as Routeways courses.

·        The MACs work with a number of partners such as De-Montfort University Voluntary Academy, Business Link and local organisations such as Pink Lizard.

·        They can offer support with CV writing, job applications and preparing for interviews.

Elizabeth added that if anyone wanted further details, leaflets with additional information were available.

This item was deferred from last meeting.

A response will be given to the question asked at a previous meeting regarding the Knighton Fields Arts Centre.

Jerry Connolly, the Member Support Officer to the Freeman Community Meeting explained that he had been given an update on the Knighton Fields Arts Centre which he read out to the meeting.

Jerry made the following points:

• The Knighton Fields Arts Centre was run by the city and county councils on a collaborative basis.

• The centre was the base for the Leicestershire Arts in Education service which provided music, dance and drama opportunities for children and young people across the county and city.

• The centre was used for after school and evening lessons and rehearsals.

• There had been a decision by the county council to withdraw core funding from this service as part of their budget cuts. Consultation on a new phase of the service was being currently being carried out, however it was possible that the use of the centre might be discontinued within the next 12-15 months.

A member of the public commented that the centre was a fantastic facility, but it was under used by people in the Saffron, Freeman and Aylestone wards. He added that it should be used more by local people. Jerry responded that the information he had been given was that the centre was heavily used, though he was not sure whether it was used by the local schools.

It was agreed that an update on the Knighton Fields Arts Centre should be brought to the next meeting.

An update will be given on current policing priorities and work that is ongoing in the ward.

Police Constable Paul Archer gave a short update on the policing priorities in the area.

Paul explained that the policing priority to tackle anti-social behaviour at the Kingfisher Centre and Neston Gardens had been closed as anti-social behaviour had been reduced there.  However a new priority to deal with anti-social behaviour on Marriott Road had subsequently been identified.  Paul added that anti-social behaviour was still an issue in the area and that there were three individuals in particular who seemed to be causing problems.  Paul asked members of the public to let him know if there were any problems that they wanted the Police to deal with.

Paul stated that in future, the Police would spend part of their time working at the Linwood Centre and would have two computers based at there. In addition, there was a possibility that they would also work from the Saffron Sports Centre in the future.

Councillor Keeling thanked the Police for attending the meeting and praised them for the work they were doing.

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer will introduce budget applications that have been received. Applications received are summarised below:

Application 1 -  The Saftas - Saffron Community Health Alliance

£1,330

The Health Alliance wish to organise a community event to celebrate volunteering in the Freemen ward area.  The event shall be named the Safta’s and will be held in February 2011 at a suitable venue in the Freeman ward. Nomination forms will be distributed throughout the Saffron area via ‘Keeping Saffron Posted’.  To recognise the time, energy and hard work that volunteers in Saffron give to the area free of charge.

Last year Inspector Richard Toone awarded over 100 local community members with a trophy at the Safta’s and we hope that he will attend again this year.

The funding will pay for nomination forms to be distributed throughout Saffron in the ‘Keeping Saffron Posted’ project and the forms will be available in all public buildings.  The fund will also pay for the paper & printing of Certificates and a buffet dinner on the evening and entertainment & photographer.

Application 2 – Goldhill Adventure Playground Sports Project (GAP)

£250 – with remaining £250 requested from Eyres Monsell Ward

The project is aimed at providing young people (13+ year olds) sports equipment to utilise in a safe and friendly environment. This is to take place at Goldhill Adventure Playground in a supervised setting, to ensure that the young people are safe and free to socialise with other young people of their own age while engaging in physical activities.

The project is needed to ensure that options are available for young people to utilise the provided facilities in the supervised setting. A lack of such activities would mean that young people are not being engaged and as such will seek their own alternatives in an unsafe environment such as the streets or gardens where they may be likely to cause damage to property or be a nuisance to others.

Application 3 – Community Engagement – Saffron Arts Forum – Community Newsletter

£900

We want to make sure that every household on the Freemen ward is made aware of local relevant information. We do this by designing, interviewing, writing, printing and distributing The SAFF, which is a new magazine project that has proved very successful in its 1^st and 2^nd issues.

We have found from feedback that local people are keen to hear local news in this way. We want a section of the magazine to highlight what the Freemen Ward Meetings are about as well as try to encourage more involvement from the community, as well as highlighting, advertising and reporting on projects that the Ward Meetings have supported throughout the year raising the positive profile of the Freemen Ward and community for a year.

This magazine reaches every household on  ...  view the full agenda text for item 38.

The following budget applications were presented to the Community Meeting;

Welford Road Local Policing Unit, Neighbourhood Action Team Plain Vehicle

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer informed the Community Meeting that this budget application had been withdrawn.

Goldhill Adventure Playground Sports Project

A funding application for £250 had been received from the Goldhill Adventure Playground (GAP) for a table tennis table and assorted bats and balls to enable young people to play sports in a safe and friendly environment.  A further identical funding application had also been submitted to the Eyres Monsell Community Meeting. A resident praised the playground and stated that it was an important new resource for the area. He added that a considerable amount of the funding for GAP had come from external sources and that play workers had worked very hard on the project.

RESOLVED:

that the funding application for £250 for the Goldhill Adventure Playground Sports Project be supported.

Community Engagement

A representative from the Saffron Arts Forum explained that a funding application for £900 had been submitted for the production and distribution of The SAFF, a new community magazine project.  The magazine would help inform residents as to what was happening in their area and meetings, such as the Freeman Community Meeting would be publicised. The meeting was informed that every household in the Freeman Ward would receive the magazine, but this was later corrected to refer to houses in the Saffron Lane Estate.

Jerry expressed concern that the previous issue of The SAFF had contained an article that may have been construed as political, and as City Council funding was sought, it may be appropriate to have the magazine reviewed or edited before it went to print. There was some discussion over this issue as some members of the public expressed concern that this would in effect result in the community magazine being censored. The representative from Saffron Arts Forum commented that she had been aware that due to an oversight, an article that might be considered as political had been included in the magazine. Concern was also expressed from a resident that Community Meeting funding had already previously been given to a project that was for the benefit of the Saffron Lane Estate.

After some discussion it was suggested that Jerry should have further discussions with the Forum and that £300 for 2 issues should be supported in the meantime, with consultations to take place with Jerry on editorial guidelines.

RESOLVED:

that the funding application to the value of £300 (for 2 issues of The SAFF) be supported and that there should be consultation with Jerry Connolly on editorial guidelines.

The Safta’s

A funding application for £1330 from the Saffron Community Health Alliance, had been submitted to organise a community event to celebrate volunteering in the Freeman Ward area.  The Safta’s would be held in a suitable venue in the Freeman Ward in February 2011 and would recognise the time, energy and hard work that volunteers gave to the area free of charge.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

The meeting closed at 3.58 pm.