Agenda and minutes

To note that Councillor Potter will be Chairing the meeting.

Councillor Potter was elected as Chair for this meeting

Councillors Shah and Mugglestone sent their apologies.

Apologies were also received from John Burrows, Chair of the Humberstone Residents Group.

Councillor Potter welcomed the attendees to the meeting and introduced the officers. Councillor Potter explained that the agenda items would not be taken in the order as set out on the agenda.

The first main item on the programme is Declaration of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything in the programme they have a personal interest in. For example if a 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 they have a personal interest in that.

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.

There were no declarations of interest made at this time.

Members are asked to agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th May 2008. A copy of the Minutes are attached.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14^th May 2008 were confirmed and agreed as correct.

Adrian Russell, Service Director, Environmental Services will give a presentation of the Environmental Services work carried out in Humberstone and Hamilton Ward and give an update on the work of City Wardens.

Adrian Russell gave a presentation regarding Environmental services in the ward.

Collection and Recycling

He advised that the “Five for Free” service for collecting bulky items had been very popular in the ward with over 1100 collections made in the first six months of the year. He added that only in 1 in 2000 bins have been missed and those reported had been collected the next working day.

Composting and recycling rate for the ward was 33% last year with a further 9% being used for fuel. This equated to 42% of domestic waste diverted from landfill. Adrioan explained that all metals and plastic was automatically extracted from the kerbside collections at the Bursam Recycling Site.

Clean Streets

The Council has area-based street cleaning teams working throughout the city to deal with the removal of flytipping, abandoned vehicles, discarded needles and graffiti.

Following national guidelines, levels of cleanliness were monitored monthly with levels of litter, graffiti, flyposting and flytipping assessed in a random selection of streets.

Graffiti removal   

A new graffiti removal service had been started to remove graffiti from Virgin Media cable boxes. Virgin Media had agreed to provide funding so that the Council could paint over graffiti on their boxes. Since the scheme began in June of this year 83 boxes had been painted in the ward and a further 1116 city wide.

Pest Control

The Councils pest control team has provided treatment for a wide range of pest in the ward and it was noted that the wards mouse problems were below city average.

Dog Wardens

Dog wardens dealt with stray, dangerous and nuisance dogs and had dealt with incidents in the ward that were in line with the city average. From September this year Dog Control orders had been introduced giving tougher penalties and fines to persons who failed to clean up after their dogs and dogs were now excluded from children’s play areas.

Noisy Neighbours

Many of the noise problems occur outside normal working hours, therefore the Noise Control team had a call out service which operates between 9.00 am and 2.00am Mondays to Fridays and 2.00 pm to 2.00 am Saturdays and Sundays.

This is one of the busiest services provided by Environmental Services and it had dealt with a wide range of complaints during the previous 6 months. Warning letters were sent to those responsible, but if this did not resolve the problem, legal action could be taken, that could also include the confiscation of noisy equipment.

Food premises

The Business Regulations Team had inspected 7 food businesses in the area in the previous 6 months. Businesses are rated on a “Smiley Face” basis. And businesses were encouraged to display these results in a prominent place in their premises.

Licensing – Street Trading

It was stated that there was a general issue around food vans trading outside schools in Leicester. Now all such street traders throughout the city were required to obtain a street trading licence. The Council have a general presumption against  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Jayne Linney, Members Support Officer will report the priorities identified at the first meeting and explain the next steps in producing the Ward Action Plan.

The Chair informed the meeting that Priority cards had been circulated at the last meeting and those people present had been asked to select three priorities for inclusion in the Ward Action Plan for the Community Meeting to address.

The Chair explained that the priorities would be discussed in order of priority.

Priority 1 – Public Transport

The Chair explained that the issue of public transport was overwhelmingly the most frequently mentioned issue on the priority cards

The Chair explained the problems regarding the lack of provision of bus services to particular areas of the ward. The Chair also explained that Centrebus had refused to restart the previously ‘re-routed’ Outer Link service. The public present suggested that a meeting be arranged as soon as possible to discuss what the officers had planned to help alleviate the situation. They felt that the meeting should be open to the public and that an invite sent to the bus companies and Mr Vaz MP, although it was stated that the bus companies might decline to attend a public meeting and that Mr Vaz’s schedule may also not allow him to attend. The Community Meeting was advised that the Forum for Older People had previously invited representatives of the bus companies to attend their meeting but they had declined.

The Chair agreed that Mr Vaz MP might have difficulty attending such a meeting but agreed to inform him of the issues. The Chair also confirmed that the Bus company representatives were unlikely to attend but felt it necessary to invite them to explain their point of view.

Priority 2 – Traffic Lights

The Chair informed the meeting that the Regeneration and Culture Department had been informed of the issues in the Ward and would be checking these out and report back in 2009 with a response.

Priority 3 – Road markings

A member of the public commented that the residents had been waiting for a level crossing outside the school for over a year. Leicester City Council had been informed but advised that they could not do anything at the present time as the road had not been adopted. The Chair advised that she would investigate further and request a response.

Priority 4 – Anti-Social behaviour

A representative of the Police advised that not enough information had been passed to them regarding this matter. The Anti- Social Behaviour unit and the Police would be working together to address this issue and make it easier and safer for the general public to report. The representative of the Police advised communication between the residents and the Police could be improved.

Residents voiced opinions that the anti-social behaviour stemmed from the lack of provision of amenities for children and teenagers in the area. They agreed that even though the Police could help with short-term solutions, it was the council’s responsibility to implement the provision of facilities.

The Chair agreed to try and arrange a resident’s consultation meeting on the matter.

RESOLVED:

                        that the actions proposed be noted.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Jayne Linney, Members Support Officer will introduce and explain the different funds available: -

            £10,000 per Ward, broken down as follows: -

·        2/3 to fund Ward Action Plan priorities

·        1/3 Community Fund (other activities)

plus £2,000 per ward Community Cohesion funding.

The Chair explained that the community meeting budget of £12,000 per ward was divided into three separate budgets for use in the community.

·        Community Chest

·        Community Cohesion Funds

·        Ward Action Plan priorities

The Chair advised that three bids had already been made.

1.            Netherhall Community Transport Project          

Netherhall Crew had submitted a Ward Action Plan Proposal for £5000 to enable the previously Area Committee funded (£1500) taxi service to continue. The service provided transport for elderly residents to and from essential amenities in the area.

2.            Winter Wonderland

Netherhall Crew had submitted a Community Fund Proposal to fund a Christmas themed social inclusion event held in the community centre organised by The Netherhall Crew. The bid was for £300 to help with the organisational costs.

3.            Humberstone Carnival

Humberstone Village Community Forum had applied for £500 from the Cohesion Fund for an all day carnival including stalls and events for all the family. The Chair advised that as the Carnival was due to take place in August 2009, it would be more appropriate to apply for funding in February.

The meeting was informed that, as the meeting was not quorate, the support, or otherwise, was sought from the meeting and that the proposals would then be circulated to Councillor Mugglestone and Councillor Shah for their comments.

RESOLVED:

That the following comments be noted: -

1)Netherhall Community Transport Project - Proposal Supported

2)            Winter Wonderland – Proposal Supported

3)Humberstone Carnival – Applicant requested to re-apply nearer the event, from the 2009/10 Budget, as the event was to take place in August 2009.

To receive an update on progress with the Special Olympics to be staged in Leicester in 2009.

The representative for the Special Olympics did not attend.

To note the process for engaging Community Partners.

Jayne Linney explained that the council were looking for volunteers to sign up to be community partners. People with a range of skills who wanted to see a difference in their community, had effective communication skills and were able to dedicate some time were asked to apply. The community partners would be consulted about priorities in the ward and take an active part in addressing ward issues.  Applicants were informed that they would need to fill in the relevant form and, if successful,  would be appointed early next year.

1.         Youth Club

It was reported that a community youth club had been started on the 7^th October in the retail unit, donated by Tesco. 3 days a week for young people at the following times.

Tuesdays -    15.00 – 17.30 for the 11-14 year old age group

Thursdays -    15.00 – 17.30 for the 15 to 18 year old age group

Fridays -        20.00 – 22.00 for the 15 to 18 year old age group

It had proved very successful and popular, however, the group were looking for adults to volunteer as supervisors. 

2.         Manor Farm Community Project

The Manor Farm buildings, under ownership of Leicester City Council, were soon to have their tenancy renewed. It was suggested that an initiative be drawn up and submitted to the City Council to help ensure that the facility can be best used by the community

3.            Community Requirements

The Community Meeting was asked to identify facilities most needed in the area. The following suggestions were put forward: -

1.      Community Centre

2.      Local Post Office

3.      A Playground

4.      A local day-care centre for the elderly

The Chair advised that the issues around the provision of a post office had already been raised and that the possibility of siting a post office at Tesco was currently being investigated. 

To note that there will be a further 2^nd round meeting of the Humberstone and Hamilton Community Meeting held at 6.00pm on Wednesday 22^nd October 2008 at Thurnby Lodge Community Centre, Thurncourt Road.

It was reported that the next meeting was scheduled for 4^th or 11^th of February with the possibility of an interim meeting with the Bus companies and Keith Vaz. MP.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.03 pm.