Agenda and minutes

Councillor Potter will Chair the meeting.

Councillor Potter was elected Chair for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Mr. J. Burrows (Resident) and Andy East (Neighbourhood Housing Office).

The first main item on theagenda is Declarations of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything on the agenda 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.

Councillor Mugglestone disclosed a personal and non-prejudicial interest as a City Council appointed Governor at Kestrels Field Primary School.

Councillor Shah disclosed a personal and non-prejudicial interest as a City Council appointed Governor at Gateway College.

The minutes of the previous Humberstone and Hamilton Community Meeting, held on 11^th November 2009, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 11^th November 2009 were confirmed and agreed as a correct record.

To provide an update on the action taken since the recent problems that took place in Humberstone Village.

Inspector Steve Riley, Local Policing Unit Commander, Keyham Lane Police Station attended the meeting to update the meeting on the recent problems that had taken place in Humberstone village.

It was stated that their had been issues regarding gateway College since early January 2010, when the major incident had taken place in Humberstone Village. The incident had been regarded as a spontaneous one and the Police had responded with a large amount of resources. Since the incident analysis had taken place to assess what had happened and why, 6 arrests had since taken place. Community Officers had now been allocated solely to Humberstone village since January to undertake high profile patrols, and whilst the ongoing investigation continued, further arrests were expected.

Insp. Riley stated the Police had been working with Gateway College and it was made clear that not all of the people arrested were students at Gateway. A special bus service had been set up by Gateway with the aim of bringing students to/ taking students away from Gateway College.

Neil Canham, Leicester Anti-Social Behaviour Unit (LASBU) attended the meeting and stated that a location for a CCTV camera had been identified in the centre of Humberstone village and that this would be installed and linked directly to the City Council CCTV Centre on Blackbird Road. LASBU were working closely with the Police on follow-up work, including warning letters.

Question

A member of the public questioned whether, if it was known that 2 separate factions were involved, then would it be a good idea for gateway to ensure that one faction to arrive/leave the College before the other.

Response

Inspector Riley stated that this was an issue for Gateway College to address on their premises. Once off the college site the Police would deal with anti-social behaviour, although it was not felt the position had been reached whereby students would have to be escorted on/off buses.

Liz Iliffe, Deputy Principal, Gateway College stated that a minority of students had been involved in the January incidents, not all of which were from Gateway. 12 students had been suspended on Principal’s contract, meaning that they had to meet with representatives from the College every 2 weeks. Should any of these students step out of line during this period they would be expelled, although this would be an absolute last step.

Gateway College were working closely with the Police and had put staff on duty to walk with students to the bus stop. A special bus service had been provided, as stated earlier, and starting times/leaving times were already staggered to avoid large numbers of students arriving/leaving the site at any one time. Most students were horrified at the recent events and discussion had taken place at tutorials and liaison was underway with local religious leaders.

Work was now underway to meet with local Community and Sports Leaders with a view of entering into a partnership to allow students to work out of the College and for other students to come into  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

To discuss the provision of bus services in the Humberstone, Hamilton and Netherhall areas of the City. The following bus company representatives have been invited to attend the meeting: -

            Steve Zanker                        representing First Leicester

            Steve Smith              representing Arriva Midlands

            Carl Grayston            representing Thurmaston Bus.

The following people attended the meeting to discuss local bus service provision: -

            Steve Smith             - Arriva Midlands

            Steve Zanker                        - First Leicester

            Carl Grayston            - Thurmaston Bus

            Julian Heubeck            - Public Transport Co-ordinator

                                                  Leicester City Council

It was stated that there were ongoing issues around the provision of bus services in the area, particularly in the New Romney Crescent area of Netherhall estate.

Steve Zanker stated that First Leicester had no plans to make any further bus route changes in the area and realised that there were issues around the New Romney Crescent area, although to run a service here was not commercially viable. In 2008 a decision had been taken to link existing services across from Thurnby Lodge to Netherhall, in effect bringing extra buses into the area.

First Leicester/Arriva operated commercial services. Services that were not commercially viable could be subsidised by the City Council, subject to certain criteria being met.

In response to several comments from the public regarding the 38/38A service to Netherhall/Thurnby Lodge and of the attitude of some drivers. Steve suggested that the publicised Customer Call line be used to convey any concerns to First Leicester, where all comments were responded to and recorded.

In response to a comment from a member of the public it was stated that smaller vehicles at off peak periods would not be economically viable as they could only be utilised on certain routes and they still required the costs of a driver and regular maintenance, as well as having shorter life spans than full size vehicles. Overall bus companies favoured larger vehicles, as they were more economical overall.

Steve Smith responded to a comment around the possible reinstatement of the former 18 bus service to Keyham Lane. Steve stated that the service had been started in 2002 and funded as part of a section 106 agreement relating to the then new Hamilton development. Funding for the route ceased in 2006 and, as the route was not commercially viable, it was stopped and there were no plans to reinstate the route. In response to a question about provision of a bus service to the Danbury Gardens Steve stated that the area would not sustain a commercial service but, should the City Council wish to fund such a service, then it could be provided.

A member of the public stated that since the 1985 Transport Act when the bus industry outside London was de-regulated there had been a number of issues around multi-national companies and the provision of services. Currently the Competition Commission were part way through an investigation into the supply of bus services in the United Kingdom, excluding Northern Ireland and London, with a completion expected by June 2011.

Steve Zanker stated that both First Leicester and Arriva Midlands were part of multi-national companies and were driven by shareholders to make profits, although it was realised that customers needed to be looked after to achieve these profits. In developing bus routes most companies targeted frequent bus users  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

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.

Peter Cozens, Democratic Support to report on the current position regarding the Community Meeting Budget and to present budget bids received since the last meeting as follows: -

Ward Action Plan Budget                                                     £

1.         New Shoots Gardening Club                                       1,566.38

            Purchase of secondhand storage container

2.         Hope Hamilton Primary School                                               5,680.00

            Wildlife pond and fencing

3.            Gateway 6^th Form College Garden Project                       10,508.00

            Creation of garden area at the college, comprising

            four separate phases, outlined in the budget form.

4.         The Unit Youth Project                                                              1,500.00

            Equipment/resources for young peoples’ sessions

            At ‘The Unit’.

Ward Community Fund

5.         West Humberstone Allotment Society                                        449.06

            Purchase of a petrol brushcutter and harness.

6.            Santana Football Club                                                        1910.00

            Parents/ Children Badminton Sessions.

Ward Community Cohesion Fund

7.            Humberstone Community Village Forum                             1,774.00

            Humberstone Carnival –  Sunday 1^st August 2010.

The views of the Community Meeting are sought.

Peter Cozens, Members Support reported on the Community Meeting Budget. It was reported that the following bids had been received since the last meeting: -

Ward Action Plan Budget

1.         New Shoots Gardening Club                                                      £

            Purchase of secondhand storage container                                1,566.38

            It was questioned whether planning permission would be required to             site this container in the grounds of Hope Hamilton Primary School.

            RESOLVED:

                                    that full support be given to the application in the sum of                              £1,566.38. It was further agreed that, should planning                                              permission be required, then further funding would be                                            made available to cover the cost of the planning                                              application.

2.         Hope Hamilton Primary School

            Construction of wildlife pond and fencing                                        5,680.00

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the application be supported in full in the sum of                                                 £5,680.00.

3.            Gateway 6^th Form College Garden Project                                   10.500.00

            Project divided into four separate phases to create series of separately             themed garden areas.

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the application be supported in the sum of £5254.00,                              representing 50% of the funding requested.

4.         The Unit Youth Project                                                                       1,500.00

            Equipment/Resources for young people’s sessions at “The Unit”.

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the application be supported in full in the sum of                                                 £1,500.00.

Ward Community Fund

5.         West Humberstone Allotment Society                                              449.06

            Purchase of petrol brushcutter and harness.

            RESOLVED:

                                    That the application be supported in full in the sum of                                                 £449.06.

6.            Santana Football Club                                                               1,910.00

Badminton Sessions for Parents/Children in the Humberstone, Hamilton and Netherhall areas.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported in full in the sum of £1,910.00 and that a breakdown of local users be reported to the Community Meeting when a report back is given.

Ward Community Cohesion Fund                                                 

7.            Humberstone Community Village Forum                                    1,774.00

            Humberstone Carnival – Sunday 1^st August 2010.

            RESOLVED:

                                    that the application be supported in full in the sum of                                                 £1,774.00 from available Community Meeting funding.

Reserve Fund

It was reported that after funding the applications listed above an amount of some £750.00 remained in the Community Meeting budgets.

RESOLVED:

that the balance of Community Meeting funding 2009/2010, amounting to approximately £750.00, be held as a reserve fund.

Humberstone Carnival

A member of the public stated that, as part of the Humberstone Carnival, he wanted to stage a “Humberstone has got Talent” competition and was hoping that pupils from local schools would be able to be invited to participate.

RESOLVED:

                        that the suggestion be supported.

It was noted that the date and venue for the next meeting would be notified as soon as possible.

The meeting closed at 7.47 pm.