Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

RESOLVED:

                        That Councillor Potter be elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mugglestone and Shah.

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 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 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.

Councillor Potter declared that she was formerly a member of the Netherhall Crew and had recently withdrew her membership from the group.

Members are asked to agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 7^th October 2008. A copy of the minutes are attached.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 7^th October 2008 were confirmed and agreed as correct.

The Community Meeting to discuss issues around public transport provision in the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward. A representative from FIRST Leicester will be attending the meeting to discuss the provision of FIRST bus services in the area, and to receive feedback from residents present at the meeting.

The Chair explained that the purpose of this community meeting was to discuss issues around public transport provision in the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward.  She introduced Steve Zancker, Commercial Director, FIRST Leicester who was in attendance to discuss the provision of FIRST services in the area.

Councillor Potter began the discussion by stating that there was a distinct lack of public transport in Humberstone and Hamilton, and that many residential areas were not adequately served by buses.  In particular, several members of the public stated that Danbury Gardens suffered from a lack of services, and that many residents had to travel to amenities such as Tesco by taxi. 

Steve was asked whether it was FIRST’s policy to terminate services that did not make a profit.  Steve explained that as a limited company with shareholders, the company attempts to make a profit, whilst providing quality services to residents.  He stated that most of the services were currently profitable.

Steve informed the meeting that from January 2009, the 38 and 38a services would increase in frequency, and that when this came into operation, the timings of the buses would be checked via the star trak system to see if buses could be diverted at off peak times to help people making shopping trips.

In response to several queries from members of the public in relation to services that had been reduced, Steve reported that commercial bus companies were entitled to operate the services that they wished to, and that the provision of additional services was the responsibility of local authorities, should they be deemed necessary.  Julian Heubeck, Public Transport Co-ordinator informed the meeting that since deregulation was formed in 1987, bus companies have been able to regulate all of their routes. Local authorities were able to operate non-commercial services providing that there was a social need for this.  It was explained that the Council spent roughly £1m each year on such services.  Julian stated that when a company made an alteration to a route, the council assessed whether they needed to make a change to their services.  It was made clear that the council was unable to run any supporting services in opposition to existing commercial services.  Julian was encouraged by Steve’s comments that FIRST would be looking into running bus services on Hamilton Lane. 

Several members of the public raised concerns around the projected increase in bus usage due to the relocation of Gateway College to Hamilton.  Julian explained that when a large development was introduced to an area, the authority asked the developer to contribute financially towards transportation or to supply bus services themselves.  Furthermore, the college would be required to provide travel plans for all of their students.  Nick Goffin, Principle of Gateway College was present and stated that he would be entering discussions with bus companies and the City Council in the near future.  He explained that he was aware of the additional public transport demand the move to Hamilton would create and stated that the college would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Jayne Linney, Members Support Officer will provide an update on the Community Meeting Budget.

The Members Support Officer introduced the budget and presented the following applications.  It was suggested that each bid be formally received and considered by Councillor Potter, and that views on all bids be sought from Councillors Mugglestone and Shah prior to consideration by the Cabinet.

1.            Humberstone, Hamilton and Netherhall Community Transport Project

            The Members Support Officer explained that the bid submitted by the at the meeting on 7 October 2008  had since been withdrawn  and had been replaced by a new bid for £5,000 from the Netherhall CREW to address the loss of public transport in the area.  The proposal was aimed towards all elderly and disabled residents who live in the parts of the ward with inadequate public transport. 

The Members Support Officer stated that he had already consulted Councillors Mugglestone and Shah who had both expressed support towards the bid.  Councillor Potter also stated that she supported this application.  

            RESOLVED:

            That the proposal for £5,000 from the Ward Action Plan be supported.

2.         Youth Consultation and Engagement 

            The meeting heard that this bid from Netherhall CREW was for the sum of £1,000 to carry out a price of research in an             attempt to clarify the needs of young people aged 13-19 in the Netherhall, Humberstone and Hamilton areas of the ward. It was reported that anti-social behaviour had been identified as a ward priority, and consequently this bid was for money from the Ward Action Plan budget. 

            It was recommended that further discussions with the youth service             took place prior to the bid being submitted to Members.

            RESOLVED:

                                    that further discussions with the youth service took place                           prior to the bid being submitted to Members

3.         Senior Citizens Residential

            The Members Support Officer outlined this bid and explained that the bid from the Netherhall Travel and Social Committee             for £508 to provide transport and carers to enable elderly people an opportunity to participate in a residential visit.  The applicant agreed to reduce the bid by £9 in order for it to be processed through urgency procedures.

            RESOLVED:

                                    That subject to consideration by Councillors Shah and Mugglestone, a revised proposal of £499 from the Ward Community Cohesion Fund be supported, and that it be processed through the urgency procedures.

4.            Securing Field Access (Sapphire Way/Bryony Close)

            It was explained that this bid from Michael Suffolk for £1,590 was for a combination of three barriers to defer unauthorised entry to the field.

The Members Support Officer agreed to pursue alternative sources of funding.  Councillor Potter agreed to support the application in principle if alternative funding within the current financial year was not possible.

            RESOLVED:

                                    That the applicant meets with the ward councillors to                                     provide additional information in connection with the                                               application and to discuss ways funding it.

5.         Hope Hamilton Church (3 applications)

In addition to the bid which had been submitted to the meeting, the applicant explained that there were two further bids.              The three bids from Hope Hamilton Church were as follows:

a)            £2,000 for materials for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The meeting closed at 7:40pm.