Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Roger Blackmore was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Members and Partners of the Committee are asked to give apologies for their colleagues if appropriate.

Apologies were received from Councillor Russell and apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Coley.

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

Councillors are asked to declare any interests 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 interests that they may have in the business on the agenda and declare that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

None were received.

The Committee is asked to confirm that the record of the meeting held on 1 November 2007 is correct.  A copy of the record is attached.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the Area Committee meeting held on 31 January be confirmed as a correct record.

There will be a report back on the responses to questions raised by members of the public at the last meeting.  The report is attached.   

Discussions took place on the responses to questions asked at the last Area Committee meeting and are outlined as follows:

224 – A member of the public queried whether Leicester City Council could claim costs for the cleanup from people who put up posters illegally. The Chair commented that on previous occasions officers had gone round and put cancelled stickers on the posters. 

229 – A member of the public commented that she hoped the play equipment had gone to Crescent School. A member of the Committee stated that this may be an issue in Community Meetings.

230 – A member of the Public stated that the place belonged to the Chip Shop nearby and was still in a awful state and that the owner kept saying someone will be there but no one had turned up. A Member of the Committee stated that best way to tackle the issue was to contact the Council directly.

233 – The Chair reported that he had met with the Cabinet Lead for Education in regards to this issue. 

234 – A Member of the Committee stated that the local newsagent had raised the issue with him and he had then raised it with another member of the Committee who was responsible for the specific Ward. He added that a statuary notice had been served however there still was a considerable amount of bricks there. He commented that the situation would continue to be monitored. The Chair announced the pile of bricks was reducing but the issue would be taken forward to the Western Park Community Meeting.

235 – A Member of the Committee stated that there had been a planning application submitted for the old factory however it had been refused. She added that the Planning Officers had been chasing the application to see if a amended application had come in. It was reported that there was an empty building on Western Road that had been attracting flytipping. A Member of the Committee commented that was a property that the Council was looking to begin a Compulsory Purchase Order to bring it back into use. It was commented that the area was attracting graffiti and anti-social behaviour. A Member of the public questioned how serious the council were at getting the area cleared. The Chair stated that there had been a funding application at a previous Area Committee however he wasn’t sure if the money had been used and he would ask the Member Support Officer to look into the matter. A Member of the Committee stated that there would be a proposal in the new budget where there would be no charge for graffiti to be removed in the city.

At each meeting there will be at least 30 minutes allowed for you to raise any local issues that concern you with your local Councillors and people that work for and with the Council.  The purpose of this session is to collect questions from members of the public. 

The Committee Services Officer will write the questions down.  If we know the answer we will give a response immediately, but in most cases we will need to take the question to a relevant officer after the meeting for a full response.

If you would prefer to write your question down, there will be a question form on your chair.  The top copy can be passed to the Chair and you can keep the bottom copy.  You can either read your question out or indicate that you wish the Chair to read it on your behalf.

Please make sure that your question is clear so that we can make sure that we get an appropriate answer for you.  You can get more information about how to submit questions and what will happen to them from Your Guide to Area Committees.

You can have a written response to your question if you wish - please state this on the question sheet, giving your name and address, or speak to the Committee Services Officer.

The following questions were raised:

238) What are the long terms plans for Manor House?

239) Any chance of reducing the subsidy for the 10/11 bus service?

240) What provisions will there be for disabled access into the Market Place?

241) I’ve experienced problems with the traffic island on the A47, road users in the middle have been dangerously turning right at this junction. What could be done to alleviate this problem?

Chris Gale, Temporary Member Support Officer will provide a presentation on the new format of Community Meetings which are going to replace Area Committees.

Chris Gale, Temporary Member Support Officer provided a presentation on the new format of Community Meetings, which would be replacing Area Committees.

Chris reported that the plans for the new format of meetings had been approved by Council in November 07 and that the first round of meetings would take place sometime between April and June 2008. Chris added that there would be a quarterly cycle of meetings with there being the option of holding more meetings if it was needed. It was reported that the first part of the meeting would be informal where information could be shared and issues identified. The second part of the meeting would be a more formal decision making process.

It was stated that there was a feeling that the current format of meetings covered a large area and the new format of meetings would be more local. It was also reported that Community Meetings would strengthen the role of Ward Councillors. Chris commented that there was no reason Wards could not work together if they wished.

It was commented that an action plan would be agreed which set out the priorities for each ward. Chris stated that the intention of Community Meetings was to focus on around the needs and interests of local communities and that it could highlight the successes and achievements along with the areas of concern. He added that the hope was that Community Meetings would lead to services that were better co-ordinated, more responsive and more sensitive to the needs and circumstances of local communities.

It was stated that the Community Meetings would have close links with Neighbourhood Policing and other local organisations that represented the local residents. This included working closely with key agencies such as the Police and Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Information on the Community Meetings budget was given, it was reported that in the first year there would be £10,000 per ward rising to £15,000 in the second year. Chris stated that two thirds of the budget would be focused on ward priorities as set out in the action plan and the other third would be available for community projects.

Chris commented that they were in the process of updating the guidance on the ward budgets and the application process to make requests for funding. He added that were also in the process of engaging the local community and developing working relationship with external partners and relevant council services. It was reported that the information and updates would appear on the Council’s internet and that meetings would be advertised using communication methods such as posters, leaflets and local newsletters.

Chris informed the Area Committee that there would be a launch event on Thursday 28 February at the Leicester Tigers Conference Centre with two sessions for members of the public to attend and get more information. These were planned for 2-4pm and 6-8pm.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting on this item.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, gave a verbal update on Braunstone Hall. He stated that there had been ten bids submitted at the design stage however only three or four had maintained their interest. It was reported that the final decision on the hall should be completed in the next few months and the Braunstone Park and Rowley Field Members had agreed to meet with the officer concerned.  A Member of the Committee commented that it was important that the property department were sensitive during the process of the sale as they were selling a piece of Braunstone and that the issue would be carried forward to the Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Community Meeting.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer will report on this item. Information concerning the Area Committee budget is attached along with a list of projects that have been funded.

There is one application for funding:

Braunstone Grove Youth Forum                                                 Appendix C2

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer presented this item and informed the Area Committee that there was £4,240 remaining in the budget to allocate for applications. He also added that there were two applications for funding. The Chair took each application in turn:

C1            Braunstone Grove Youth Forum

RESOLVED:

                        that this proposal be accepted and £3500 be allocated as                                requested subject to approval from Cabinet.        

C2       Tariq’s Plot

RESOLVED:

                        that this proposal be accepted and £945 be allocated as                           requested subject to approval from Cabinet.        

Steve also reported on the progress on previous applications that had been approved for funding from the Area Committee. It was reported that the application for the Braunstone Adventure Playground Mural Project agreed at the last meeting had not received funding from the Arts Council and therefore was not going ahead.

Members of the public will be invited to present petitions to the Committee on local problems.

There were no petitions received.

Members of the Public and Councillors will have the chance to inform the Committee of any upcoming events, local items of news or points of general interest.

A Member of the Committee reported how 170 members of a girls group aged between 5 and 25 had auditioned for a TV show and this showed that young people could participate in positive events and not always get involved in anti social behaviour.

A Member of the Committee reported that Ross Dimmock would be replacing Inspector Bill Knopp as the Police Officer for the area.

A Member of the Committee stated that there would be a fundraiser for the Tickled Pink charity on Thursday 14 February.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending the Area Committee meetings and stated that he hoped the new system of Community Meetings worked well. He encouraged all of the areas to keep in touch and report on what was happening in each of their areas.

The meeting closed at 8:30pm.