Agenda item

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.

The following budget applications will be considered:-

Application 1

Applicant:       Addict Dance Studios

Amount:          £4050

Proposal:       Development of dance studio on Churchgate

Summary:     Addict Dance is a non-profit making community dance company which is looking to develop a fixed base for the organisation which currently uses a space at Leicester College, but it is limited in the hours it can use the space. Those who attend the classes receive high quality tuition and a range of wider self development benefits. The group has a number of regular participants with disabilities and special needs.

                        The proposal is to develop dance studios on Churchgate to provide a wide range of dance and other sorts (yoga, singing) of classes for all the community of Leicester. It is felt that these would promote community cohesion, develop confidence and help young people stay active and healthy.

                        The money would fund employing a specialist teacher / choreographer from London for a short term project, hiring a performance venue for the project, and the purchase of IT equipment for the project.

                        The classes would be open to all of Leicester’s communities.

Application 2

Applicant:       Friends of Welford Road Cemetery

Amount:          £500

Proposal:       Purchase of a laptop computer

Summary:       Welford Road Cemetery is Leicester’s oldest municipal cemetery, opened in 1849. It is home to a number of prominent historical characters who have helped shaped the history of Leicester.

The cemetery was the subject of a restoration project in 2005 that was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The grant enabled the creation of a new Visitor centre and various landscaping around the cemetery.

The Visitor Centre at the cemetery is staffed by the volunteers and members of the Friends of Welford Road Cemetery. The centre is open to the public for 3 days per week and receives visits and enquiries from the general public and people searching for relatives buried at the cemetery.

The Friends group have a number of historical records accessible on site, such as CD’s from the Leicestershire & Rutland historical society, giving details of where people are buried on site. However the existing IT equipment is now becoming antiquated and unable to deal with the enquiries now being received by the Friends.

Our proposal is for to buy a new laptop that would be stored and used at the Visitor Centre. It would be used to search historic records for enquiries received, whilst the portable nature of the equipment would mean that visitors would be able to view records on screen at the front counter. 

In conjunction with city council officers, the Friends are also exploring the possibility of an internet connection to the Visitor Centre. The current PC on site will not support the requirements for an internet connection, so new equipment is a necessity. Internet connection would enable records to be found online, such as those from the Commonwealth Grave commission and so forth.

Francis Connnolly, Member Support Officer introduced this item of business. He noted that there was £4332 left in the budget prior to the meeting.

Members considered the following applications:-

Addict Dance Studios – request for £1000 to assist with the setting up of dance studios in the city centre, to cover the cost of marketing and IT equipment.

All Councillors felt that this application was inappropriate for approval as it was a project which covered the whole of the city, not just Castle residents.

RESOLVED:

that the application not be supported.

Friends of Welford Road Cemetery – request for £500 to pay for a laptop to enable members of the public to access records about the cemetery.

Councillors felt that they could support this application as it was for a small amount comparative to the amount raised by volunteers and that the cemetery was local green space well used by local residents.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and a sum of £500 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan budget, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

There was some general discussion between Councillors and residents about the purpose of the budget and how it was allocated. Councillors noted that they had great difficulties in this ward due to the fact that it contained the city centre where there were hundreds of projects and businesses, most of which had service users from city-wide and the budget could not fund them all. Also, these projects often supported people who came from outside of the ward. Councillors indicated that they would be looking to develop a system of priorities of things they would support from future community meeting budgets.

A resident suggested that if there was any of the budget left over at the end of the financial year that it be put towards supporting the playground development at Nelson Mandela Park.