Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct

Councillor Joshi elected as Chair, introduced and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Nicole Powell (City Warden),

Darren Print (Tesco Hamilton Store Manager) and Transforming Neighbourhood Services (TNS).

Councillor Joshi and Councillor Sandhu declared they lived within the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward.

The Action Log from the meeting held on 1^st May 2018 is attached and Members will be asked to confirm it as an accurate record.

City Warden has requested a few amendments be made to the previous Action Log (1 May 2018)

Amendments had been made to the published version of the Action Log from 1 May 2018 as agreed with the City Warden.

·      Waste disposal services will collect 15 bags of green waste every 2 months.

·      Grass verges cannot be arranged to be cut through the City Wardens services.

·      City Warden has made a request to the city council for a mobile camera vehicle to visit the ward.

Action: Councillors to request this through Parking Team.

Councillors will provide an update on Ward related matters.

·      All three Ward Councillors have continued to hold surgeries at the library every two weeks, Councillor Joshi thanked Councillor Sandhu for filling in and holding most surgeries during Councillor Joshi’s role as Lord Mayor and in Councillor Dempster’s absence.

·      Appreciations, were extended to residents for well attended surgeries to air personal concerns in the ward. Most concerns were related to housing, traffic, litter and Anti - Social Behaviour (ASB).

·      Councillor Joshi thanked the police for their work on the ward tackling drugs.

·      Ward Councillors and other officers were working together to bring the drugs and ASB issues under control in the Netherhall area.

·      New measures were being put in place with the aim to address speeding issues, tackling speeding on Maidenwell Avenue was a priority and work was well on the way with the introduction of speed cushions around the area.

·      Councillor Joshi was pleased to say Hamilton Residents Association (HRA) was doing very well to make the area look neat and tidy, Councillors welcomed everyone to get involved.

·      Volunteers that work on keeping the gardens at Hamilton Library presentable, requested Councillors and public to encourage more people especially young people to volunteer and enquired whether some form of recognition for their work i.e certificates would be possible.

Action: Councillors / Ward Community Engagement Officer to enquire whether the volunteers work would receive some form of recognition.

·      It was noted that Krishna Avanti School had been invited to the meeting regarding the development of the new school on the ward, however no response was received as yet.

·      A request was put forward for road signs to be placed in more visible places where there is road works underway.

Action: Traffic and Highways Officers

·      Progress has been made with ASB, images that had been received by Councillor Sandhu had now been passed onto the Police.

·      Concerns were raised that people with drug issues were being housed in an area that was predominantly elderly people and within close proximity to primary schools. A resident expressed concern of not being able to contact Housing Officers and believed the breakdown in communication between departments is part of the problem.

·      Concerns were noted over ASB and disturbances at Moat Court behind the McDonalds, with residents finding it unbearable to live there. Disturbances during the early hours of the morning, continuous drug related issues, litter visible all over the estate and even an incident of knife crime.

·      Concerns with the condition of Netherhall Road were raised in relation to potholes and cracks, creating dangerous and un-safe conditions for cyclists. The Chair informed residents a recent meeting which took place with Humberstone & Hamilton Ward Councillors, the City Mayor and Highways Officers whereby it was noted that amongst other things a programme of actions / works were confirmed for Netherhall Road.

·      Residents requested for the bus shelter and seating arrangements for the bus stop on the corner of Carty Road.

·      It was felt that the cancellation of the bus route from Hamilton to Catherine Street and the Belgrave  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

An officer from Leicestershire Police will be invited to provide an update on local policing issues in the Ward.

PC Phil Smith – Lester gave an update on policing in the ward:

·      A decrease in the number of burglaries, theft and robberies was noted.

·      The main issues were around ASB on the ward, whereby several hot spots had been located including:

- Rayleigh Green area.  A bid had been submitted for an off-road bike to tackle ASB with motorcycles in this area.

- Bankside Parking.  Cars had been removed from Bankside where residents were allegedly running businesses.

- McDonalds.  Up to 20 warning letters had been sent out and requests to switch off the WiFi which attracted young motorists to congregate in the car park, however McDonalds have not been very receptive.

- Moat Court. Consultations have been taking place with residents of Moat Court regarding ASB and planned interviews were soon to commence in attempt to resolve the issues at hand.

·      A request had been submitted by residents to add the McDonalds car park to the patrols carried out by response officers after the PCSO’s shift.

·      Ongoing Sentinel Report were noted to be in progress which is a system where the police and partners such as Housing and Crime and Anti - Social Behaviour Unit (CrASBU) jointly share and manage cases in relation to ASB or regular reported incidents.

·      With the ongoing drug problem in the area residents requested the installation of pod cameras in hotspots like Grantham Road, Netherhall Shops, McDonalds and Moat Court. Police agreed to look into this.

·      Councillor Sandhu had written to the Housing Department in relation to alleged drug dealing from one of the residents on the Upper Hall Close estate. Residents shared their concerns with the council and the police have been notified.

·      Police were informed of motorists gathering on DrumcliffRoad and drinking alcohol, Police informed residents that they were aware of certain hot spots in the ward and the police were currently running ASB OP, which is an operation where police run patrols at night to monitor ASB. Residents requested that Moat Court be added to the patrol list.

·      Police reported to be conducting consultations with residents of the area to come to a solution.

·      The Police will be conducting a Beat Surgery at Hamilton Library on 9 August 2018 between 4PM - 6PM to discuss ongoing issues in the ward. Residents recommended that the beat surgery be advertised more widely to keep the locals informed. More information is available via the Police website or on the Police social media pages.

Action: Police to Email Hamilton Residents Association (HRA) to circulate Beat Surgery dates to their database.

Action: Police to Feedback statistics on knife crime in the ward at future meeting.

An update will be given about fly-tipping and litter issues.

Darren Print the store manager from Tesco Hamilton was unable to attend the meeting however a written update was provided, as below:

·      Fly Tipping – All fly tipping had now been removed of site.

·      Rodents – The site has had problems with rodents for many years due to the scale of trees, bushes and litter from customers and college students.

·      Most of the area comes under Tesco but some comes under the council. Over the last six months Tesco has been working closely with Rentokil and their cleaning team to bring the rodents under control. To date Tesco has removed many bushes and cut channels into bushes around the site to install bait boxes deep into the vegetation. This has dramatically brought down the number of rodents. Currently Tesco has 70 bait boxes around the site with weekly inspection visits. Over the past 4 weeks there has been no reported rodent sighting from both customers and staff.

·      With a new cleaning manager on site and a Ride – On car park cleaning machine there is visible change. Time has been allocated to cleaning the car park daily and the purchase of a new bin located next to the take – away shop has also made a difference.

·      Currently working alongside the police to bring down ASB.

Action: Councillor Joshi noted that the points that Darren had raised would be monitored.

An officer from the Highways team will invited to give an update on issues affecting the ward.

Highways Officer Robert Bateman gave an update on recent developments in the ward:

·      Robert apologised as there was no update on busses or bus shelters but agreed to email the relevant manager to obtain this.

Action: Highways Officer

·      Kestrel Fields 20 MPH (Miles Per Hour) zone work had started and was aimed to be finished by 18 August 2018.

·      It was noted that unadopted roads had now been adopted.

·      A previous request for the installation of signs for the Sandhills shops could be done through a group of traders bidding to the Highways Team.

·      Traffic congestion and parking around the schools - the Councils aim was to bring down the number of car users and get people back to walking.

·      Robert provided details on the rules and regulations in installing village banners. However, Robert stated these could be installed for Council events.

·      The number of potholes in the ward had decreased from 240 last year to 131 this year.

Action: Residents request to include Highways Officers when a Patch Walk is planned.

·      Robert reported that Blacksmith Place, Maidenwell Avenue and Waynewright Avenue were on the programme for potential bollards.

·      Concerns were raised that there was no Cul De Sac sign on Moat Court and motorist were regularly using the road and then having to re-route.

Action: Installation of Cul De Sac Sign on Moat Court to be considered.

·      Concerns were raised as the work on Krishna Avanti School was in progress with an estimated 1300 more students and the local busses were already running on full capacity.

Action: Ward Community Engagement Officer to get a response for the Highways Officer.

·      Double yellow lines were not painted all the way down Lower Keyham Lane resulting in cars being parked on the left-hand side of the road and on Splitter Islands.

Action: Highways recommends that if residents could send pictures that would be very helpful.

The City Warden will be invited to give an update on issues in the Ward

The City Warden was unable to attend the meeting but sent a hand out which was distributed at the meeting.

Councillors are reminded that under the Council’s Code of Conduct they should declare any interest they may have in budget applications.

An update will be given on the Ward Community budget as well as a summary of grant applications submitted for consideration since the last meeting.

The Ward Community Engagement Officer gave an update on the latest Humberstone or Hamilton Ward community budget, all to note:

·      From 1 April 2018 the opening balance of the Ward Community Budget was £19,500 following a carry forward of £1,500.

·      Since the last ward meeting there have been 9 applications received. 4 applications have been successfully supported with 5 currently still in the process.

·      A total of £3,135 has been awarded to date, leaving a balance of £16,365.

·      More bulbs and plants to be planted.

·      Applications have been supported by ward Councillors.

·      Clubs within the ward were encouraged to put in applications.

·      St Marys Church hold an annual event every May that had a turnout of up to 700 people, on Saturday 4 August 2018 they are being judged by East Midlands in Bloom at 11:30AM at Hamilton Library.

·      Ward Community Meetings to be advertised more widely to get more people involved.

Action: Ward Community Engagement Officer

Meeting closed at 8:00pm