Agenda and minutes

Traffic Calming/Future Traffic Calming

A representative from Highways section at the City Council attended the meeting and informed the meeting that the traffic calming on Ivychurch Crescent had been installed since the last Community Meeting. Traffic calming for the rest of Keyham Lane was currently being planned and that ten features were required as there were difficulties with the number of driveways on this stretch of road. There were also issues around the angle of the exiting bend in the road near to Keyham Lodge school and the Council were looking to reduce the angle of the bend by utilising some of the strip of verge at the side of the road.

A member of the public who was also a Governor at a local school expressed concerns at the potential loss of greenery at this location but it was stated that the land to be taken was likely to be minimal and little greenery would be lost.

Community Meeting Budget

The Chair reported that a small amount of Community Meeting funding had been left from 2010/2011 and it was proposed to utilise this to carry out a Community Clean-Up.

Several suggested areas were suggested as follows: -

·         Footpath from Columbine Road near postbox – ditch full of bottles

·         Kestrel Road and road by Gateway College – lake area full of rubbish.

It was agreed that the areas highlighted would be targeted as part of the planned Community Clean-Up

An officer from the local Area Housing Office presented a list of priority projects identified to be funded by the City Housing Capital Receipts Initiative. The 3 projects reported were as follows: -

·         Construct footpath from outside Costcutter/Post Office across the green area to the bus stop, Netherhall Road. Estimated Cost £11,500.

·         Erect fence around green area between Selby Avenue and Keyham Lane West. Estimated Cost £7,400.

·         Construct parking bays adjacent to Selby Avenue/Keyham Lane West. Estimated Cost £38,000.

AGREED:

that approval be given to submit the 3 schemes identified for funding by the Capital Receipts Initiative.

Keith Vaz M.P. attended the meeting and spoke on several issues pertinent to the area.

i)             Policing Issues

Mr. Vaz stated that it was fortunate that the Local Policing Unit Commander was based locally. Recently Mr. Vaz had accompanied a police patrol and had been impressed. As a result of this Mr Vaz stated that he intended calling the LPU Commander and the Chief Constable, as required, to his Government Enquiry Team on Anti-Social Behaviour.

ii)            Management of Green Spaces

Mr Vaz stated that he was aware that some of the green space at Hamilton was managed by the City Council, some by Mainstay (Greenbelt) and the rest by the developer. He stated that, in his opinion the City Council should have responsibility for maintaining all of the green space, with a proportion of the funding provided by the developers.

iii)           Social Centres

Mr Vaz stated that there was a need for additional facilities to be provided to make Hamilton a vibrant centre.

iv)           Public Transport

Mr Vaz stated that for those residents living on Columbine Road the question was whether buses should travel along this road or not.

v)            Stakeholder Meetings

Mr Vaz stated that he was of the opinion that the former stakeholder meetings that had previously been held on the estate should be continued.

Questions from Members of the Public

i)             A member of the public stated that there were a number of problems with Greenbelt, the Land Management Company responsible for maintaining a large proportion of the green space in the area. It was further stated that it was understood that the City Council were able to take over the management of green spaces from developers after a period of five years.

A further concern was that was a shortage of primary school places on the estate and it was apparent that the number of children on the estate had been under-estimated.

The only doctors surgery on the estate had opened some 7 years previously, it was too small then, priority should be given to address this shortfall of doctor provision.

The largest land owner at Hamilton was Tesco and there was a need to extract from them the funding to provide the facilities that were desperately needed, outlined earlier.

Mr Vaz stated that regarding green spaces, the City Council could, subject to a number of conditions being met, take over the maintenance of green space but that this process could be much longer than five years. An alternative might be to form a grass cutting collective but should the view be for the City Council to take this work over then the process to achieve this should be started.

It was further stated that contact would be made with Greenbelt to arrange a meeting to discuss issues on Hamilton.

ii)            A member of the public stated that in one of the national newspapers reference was made to Government proposals to speed up the granting of planning applications. As a direct result of this it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Councillor Patel informed the meeting that an informal meeting had been held at the Town Hall on Wednesday, between the Ward Councillors, the two lead petitioners, officers and a representative of Arriva (Midlands). The purpose of the meeting had been to try and reach a meeting of minds.

As a result of the petition and the exhaustive campaign opposing the routing of the 58/58A Bus Service along Columbine Road Arriva had chosen to lodge notice with the Traffic Commissioners to remove the 58/58A Service from Columbine Road with effect from 18^th July and move the timing point for the service to Sandhills Avenue. A petition calling for the retention of the 58/58A Bus Service along Columbine Road had also been received.

Arriva however had stated that, should public opinion prove otherwise, be prepared to re-instate the service along Columbine Road, with the timing point remaining on Sandhills Avenue.

It was stated that the City Council had no powers to decide whether the route was retained as at present, or withdrawn, as it was a commercial service not subsidised by the City Council. The Council wanted to make sure that residents got what they wanted and feedback from this meeting would be provided to Arriva. If the service was to be re-instated then this might not be seamless.

The two lead petitioners were invited to speak.

Mr Jakhura, opposing the retention of the bus service, referred to the petition he had collected with 96 signatures and this had been presented to Council in January 2011. The petitioners had opposed the bus service on the grounds of noise, vibration, health issues and damage to residents cars. The nearest bus stop in Sandhills Avenue was close by.

Mr Vyaz, in favour of retaining the bus service, referred to his petition of 180 signatures that had been presented to the City Council.

At this point three members of the public in favour of keeping the service and three members of the public opposing the retention of the service were allowed to speak: -

            For the Service to be retained: -

·         Lived in area for number of years and, with friends, used the service regularly

·         Changed mind since signing original petition to remove the service as have since retired and used the bus frequently

·         People with disabilities would take up to 20 minutes to reach Sandhills Avenue.

Opposing the retention of the Service

·         Live near the existing bus stop but have no difficulties in walking to Sandhills Avenue

·         Recently one bus for 40 minutes at stop with engine running. 17 buses counted recently with no passengers on.

·         Before Arriva consider re-instating bus service they should speak to people who signed  the original petition to assess their views. The distance to/from Sandhills Avenue was not too far away from Columbine Road.

Officers stated that Arriva had no strong view either way. As things stood the service would cease to use Columbine Road w/e from 18^th July. Should the community decide to keep  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Pc. Peberdy attended the meeting to give an update on local policing in the area.

Work was in progress dealing with prosecutions in respect of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) incidents on Cranesbill Road. Work was also underway to, in conjunction with the Leicester Anti-Social Behaviour Unit (LASBU) to tackle ASB issues on Bessingham Close and Netherhall Road.

Several incidents of thefts and gatherings of youths had been recorded around the Sandhills Avenue shops.

A number of prosecutions were underway for graffiti offences in the Hamilton area.

The following recorded crime statistics were reported for the period 26^th March to 26^th June 2011: -

            178 Recorded Crimes

            Burglary Dwellings                          - 26

            Burglary Others                                - 11

            Damage                                             - 50

            Damage to Motor Vehicles             - 31

            Theft from Motor Vehicles              - 21

            Theft of Motor Vehicles                   - 2

            Theft from Stores                             - 37

A member of the public stated that in Maidenwell Avenue stones and bottles were often thrown. The Police stated that they had received no reports of such incidents and urged the public to report incidents as they occurred.

A member of the public stated that he had nearly been knocked over by a cyclist riding on the pavement in Main Street Humberstone. The cyclist had been stopped and gave the member of the public verbal abuse. The police stated that if they witnessed cyclists riding recklessly on pavements they would stop them and give a verbal warning. If cyclists were riding sensibly then they were left .

A member of the public stated that there had been a recent incident on Columbine Road where youths had thrown bricks at bus windows. The Police stated that they would be looking into these incidents.

A member of the public stated that there was graffiti on one property on Foxgloves Road and the owners had been told it would be £140 to remove. The Police stated that there were a lot of problems with graffiti on Hamilton. The Graffiti Team at the City Council had been contacted and had agreed to offer graffiti removal to householders at cost price.. Contact would be made with the Graffiti Team to ascertain whether a compromise could be reached. Barbara Whitcombe stated that the City Warden service had several Graffiti Removal kits available for dealing with smooth surfaces.

A disabled member of the public stated that he was experiencing difficulties with cars parked on pavements, particularly on Saxthorpe Road, and this was causing difficulties when out on his disability scooter. The Police stated that several complaints had been received and, if available, a PCSO was sent out to knock on doors top try and get the vehicles removed, although this was not deemed a priority.

AGREED:

                        that the information be noted.