Agenda and minutes

Councillor Potter will Chair the meeting.

Councillor Potter was elected Chair for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Nick Goffin, Principal, Gateway College, who had indicated that he would be prepared to host a future meeting at the new College.

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.

There were no declarations made at this time.

The Minutes of the Humberstone and Hamilton Community Meeting held on 20^th May 2009 are attached and members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 20^th May 2009 were confirmed and agreed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment: -

            Minute 32 – Declarations of Interest

To note that Councillor Shah is a member on the Board of Governors of Gateway College, not Hope Hamilton School as stated in the minutes.

To receive a brief update on developments at Manor Farm.

Alan Gratrix, Chair, Manor Farm Community Project attended the meeting and gave a brief history of the project and its aims. The project was formed out of the Humberstone Community Forum, the aim being to protect the land at the farm as it is now. Mr. Dilks was the current tenant of the farm that was owned by the City Council, on a tenancy basis. The land was designated as public open space and comprised 18 acres of open space plus several buildings, a strong archaeological interest. There was a lot of interest locally to retain the land for Community use, following on from a couple of surveys that had been undertaken, funded by Grant-Aid that had been obtained. £12,000 had since been secured from the former Humberstone, Hamilton and Thurncourt Area Committee to undertake an in-depth survey.

Councillor Mugglestone questioned how the link with Gateway College had been progressing and Alan stated that the project had been working closely with Nick Goffin, Principal at Gateway College, and it was generally agreed that it was something to be proud of to have Gateway College in this area.

It was reported that the new Gateway College was complete and would be operational from September. The College were not however able to hire out rooms at the present time, due to issues around VAT, but it was anticipated that this would be reviewed at the earliest opportunity. It was further stated that surely conditions had been imposed at the outset to ensure that the community were able to use the new facility and it was confirmed that this had been the case. It was suggested that the issue of community use be discussed with Nick Goffin.

RESOLVED:

                        that the information be noted.

To receive an update on progress with the local Sure Start provision at Kestrels Field.

Les Price, Area Manager-Early Prevention for this area of the City attended the meeting and stated that for the past 18 months he had been engaged on provision of Children’s Centres.

The Government had granted £1.8 million to the City Council to develop 5 Children’s Centres across the City to complete the network. Currently the Skills and Apprentice Bill was going through the Parliamentary process and if passed would put the control of Children’s Centres under the control of Local Authorities.

Les stated that Hamilton had been in the frame to have a Phase 3 children’s Centre and much work had been carried out around how such a Centre would fit in and where it would best be located. Les stated that the approved Phase 3 Children’s Centre sites across the City were: -

            Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School

            Kestrels Field Primary School

            Lansdowne Neighbourhood Centre

            Mayfield (former) Children and Family Centre

            St. Saviours Road (building currently linked to Highfields Children’s             Centre)

After looking at a number of sites Kestrels Field School Site was selected and include in a recent report to Cabinet. Completion of the Centre was due by 2010, although it was possible this could be delayed. Several of the factors in choosing Kestrel’s Field had been the very supportive Head Teacher and Chair of Governors. The Centre would be housed in a purpose converted mobile building, necessary due to constraints on the Council capital Budget. Positives were that there was a real possibility under the Primary School Strategy to help ensure that the Children’s Centre would get a permanent access in the newly developed school.

Les stated that the Kestrels Field Centre would be one of 7 Children’s Centres across the City that would not be put up for tender to be managed by external management. Les further stated that National Government guidelines were suggesting Voluntary Sector input to the provision of services and therefore local authorities should be considering voluntary sector management of Children’s Centres. Should this approach be taken each Centre would still have a Management Committee that would maintain local accountability as this was an essential, management did not have to be local to the Centre.

Les was thanked for his presentation. Contact details were given as follows: -

            les.price@leicester.gov.uk                                     0116 223 2358

            jane.hammond@leicester.gov.uk                         0797 6347946

Concerns were expressed as to the potential problems of yet more traffic on Maidenwell Avenue and it was stated that these concerns would be addressed later in the meeting.

RESOLVED:

                        that the information be noted and that the local community be                         kept up to date on developments regarding the management of                     Children’s Centres.

A representative from Tesco has been invited to attend the meeting to outline development proposals at the Hamilton store.

Councillor Mugglestone informed the Community Meeting of information received from Tesco.

Tesco stated that there had been limited activity with the scheme for a couple of months due to personnel changes within Tesco. It was intended to transfer the scheme to the new development manager in September.

Tesco had discussed the requirements and specifications for the relocation of the Hope Hamilton Unit and plans were being drawn up detailing the location and size of that building at present. Tesco confirms that the Hope Hamilton Unit would be located at ground floor level by the pedestrianised area.

Plans were not available to be circulated as detailed design concepts were being drawn up following further design discussions with the City Council. Tesco stated that at this stage there was nothing new to see in terms of overall layout that had not been seen previously.

Tesco were now intending to liaise with the City Council on the final proposals before a planning application was submitted during early autumn. The overall concept of the development was broadly similar to the plans previously seen.

Tesco would be circulating details as soon as they were available.

RESOLVED:

                        that the information be noted.

Gerry Burke, Area Youth Work Manager has been invited to attend the meeting to provide an update on Youth Services in the area, in particular relating to the Armadale Centre.

Gerry Burke, Area Youth Manager, Haldene Broomes, Armadale Centre and Abdul Gafar attended the meeting and updated the Community Meeting on Youth Services in the area.

Gerry stated that his team was tasked to look at the local youth provision and to provide floodlights for the Ball Court at Netherhall Neighbourhood Centre, for which funding was currently being sourced.

Haldene stated that provision at the Armadale Centre was currently 4 evenings per week, although there was no provision on Fridays and Saturdays. Funding had recently been secured to re-furbish the centre and the computer suite had been upgraded. Work was ongoing to develop the centre to make it more attractive.

A member of the public stated that there had been little publicity locally regarding activities at the Armadale Centre and that, as a local facility, publicity would be welcome. Haldene stated that leaflets had been left in local shops and in shops in other areas. The Chair stated that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication between local people and local facilities that needed to be advertised more.

A member of the public stated that the Armadale Centre was currently closed and he questioned the number of youths using the facility and stated that one of the key factors in the provision of successful youth provision was the reliability of that provision. Haldene stated that 35-40 youths attended some sessions whilst 15 or so attended others.

It was stated that the Hope Hamilton Voluntary Unit was a local provision and was open all year and included some summer provision.

Abdul Gafar introduced other youth workers that worked locally and who had got together to make contact with young people in order to assess their needs and put provision in to run beyond September. Abdul stated that youths who had previously benefited from previous provision were being encouraged to come back and meet members of the team and go out and visit ‘hotspots’ and speak to young people and ask what they want so that appropriate resources could be put in place.

A local resident stated that there was also a unit based locally, run by volunteers in the community, that operated on Friday nights at present throughout the summer until the end of September. The unit went out to find young people to work with, targeting anti-social behaviour issues, and then worked with other groups and shared facilities.

RESOLVED:

that the information be noted and that a report on progress on youth activities in the area be brought to a future meeting.

To receive an update on Local Policing in the area.

Pc. Katie Burnham, beat officer for Humberstone and Hamilton attended the meeting and provided an update.

Speeding traffic on Netherhall Road and Ivychurch Close had been looked at with the result that 85% of traffic on Netherhall Road had been found to be exceeding the speed limit. Easures to address this would be undertaken in liaison with the City Council, but in the meantime a temporary measure would be an electronic sign informing motorists of their speed.

It was further stated that there had a recent high number of burglaries in the Humberstone area. Advice on preventative measures was available from the Police.

To receive feedback on Highways and Transportation issues raised at the last meeting.

Mark Wills, Head of Transport Strategy attended the meeting to respond to issues that had been raised at the previous meeting, and a subsequent meeting held locally around traffic issues.

Netherhall Road/Ivychurch Crescent

Mark stated that following recent concerns ad-hoc enforcement of traffic on Netherhall Road had been instigated, as outlined by the Police earlier in the meeting. The City Council had now been asked to prepare a Traffic Calming Scheme for Netherhall Road and Ivychurch Crescent, although this scheme was in the early stages and it was not yet possible to state what measures would be incorporated into the scheme. Consultations would take place

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

Peter Cozens, Member Support Officer will give an update on the latest position of the Community Meeting Budget.

Peter Cozens, Members Support Officer reported that, for 2009/2010 only, all unspent monies from the Community Meeting Budget 2008/2009 would be carried over to the current year.

It was reported that the previously funded Humberstone Carnival had recently been held and had been a great success.

Peter reported that the following bids had been submitted:-

Community Fund

B1            Twilight Group –                                                                                £550

            Senior Citizens Residential

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the bid of £550 be supported and an additional £200                           be also made available to the group, subject to receipts

                                    being submitted.

B2       Sense Experience                                                                            £3,000

            Access to Heritage and Culture at Village India

            And Experience Gujurat Festival

It was noted that this bid had been WITHDRAWN as it had been agreed to deal with the request on a Corporate basis.

B3            Armadale After School Care                         

            End of year Celebration/Healthy Cooking

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the bid of £500 be supported.

Community Cohesion Fund

B4       ‘New Shoots’ Gardening Club

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the bid of £210 be supported.

Youth Facilities

It was reported that discussions had taken place prior to the Community Meeting where it had been proposed to allocate £5,000 to part fund the provision of floodlights at the Netherhall Neighbourhood Centre Ball Court.

RESOLVED:

that the proposal to allocate £5,000 to part fund the provision of floodlights at the Netherhall Neighbourhood Centre be supported

Play Facilities in the Area

Peter Cozens reported that it was proposed to bring all relevant people together and discuss play facilities in Humberstone and Hamilton Ward and to see how these could be improved.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Conmmunity Meeting would be held at 6.00pm on Wednesday 11^th November 2009, venue to be confirmed.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.25 pm.