Agenda and minutes

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

Cllr Ali as Chair led on introductions.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies had been received from Marlene Blake the Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader, PC Venables from Leicestershire Police and Fiona Singer from Gateway College.

The Action Log from the meeting held on 26 February 2019 is attached for information and discussion.

It was noted that item 24 on the action log from the previous meeting, “Humberstone Residents Association were commended for their contribution and engagement over the years”

Should read, “Hamilton Residents Association were commended for their contribution and engagement over the years”.

Ward Councillors will provide an update on local ward issues they have been dealing with since the previous meeting.

Councillors noted their involvement in the removal of the traveller group from a location on the ward.

It was noted that the proposal for a religious centre in Humberstone that residents were opposed to had withdrawn their application.

The Chair had been holding regular surgeries at Hamilton Library and was available to be contacted via email for alternative arrangements.

The Ward Community Engagement Officer explained the application process for the Ward Community Budget.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in the ward.

PC Kevin Mistry was present and provided an update on local policing matters.

It was noted that between 26 February and August 1 2019 there were:

·      47 reported burglaries

·      11 thefts of vehicles

·      44 thefts from vehicles.

This included thefts of number plates.

Residents were informed of the rise in vehicles being stolen from drives outside of people’s homes and were encouraged not to leave keys in the front door of their homes or anywhere that is easily accessible.

The police had acquired funding and had signal blockers available to store keys in, it was hoped this would help bring down the number in stolen cars. Thieves were using technology to get a signal from the car keys that would give them remote access to vehicles on the drive.

The police had multi agency work planned to be carried out in schools for the new academic year to help tackle the issues around knife crime. It was hoped this would help engage with schools, students and parents.

Driving related issues raised in the Humberstone area of the ward had resulted in a two-day action form the police. This had resulted in 7 speeding tickets, 2 vehicles with no insurance cover, 1 seat belt offence and 1 vehicle with illegal number plates.

The police were planning further similar days of action and working alongside the Council for traffic calming measures.

Residents were concerned with the anti-social behaviour and drug dealing on Armadale Green. It was suggested that the suspect in question was a Council tenant that had been housed in a predominantly older vulnerable residents’ area raising safety concerns.

Residents were concerned that an Officer from the Housing team was not in attendance at the meeting and Councillors suggested that a Housing Officer be in attendance for future meetings.

An Officer from the Highways Team will provide an update on highways matters in the ward.

Rupert Bedder the Highways Asset Manager was in attendance at the meeting and provided an update following the previous meeting.

It was noted that:

·      Work had been undertaken on Netherhall Road and Uppingham Road, with further works planned for Netherhall Road.

·      Patching works in Humberstone Village would take place over August and September.

·      Work was being undertaken with the issues around the school run parking. Officers were concerned that inconsiderate parking outside of schools was a safety concern and all schools had been visited. A plan for changing this behaviour was being drawn up.

·      A traffic survey on Sandhills avenue had indicated that the average speed of road users was 24 miles per hour (MPH).

Residents from Upperhall Close were concerned with the speeding vehicles in the area. With predominantly older residents in the area, residents felt traffic calming measures were urgently required.

Residents noted that over hanging foliage and the condition of the footpath in the Netherhall area was causing inconvenience to pedestrians.

ACTION: It was suggested that a patch-walk to visit the hot-spots in the ward would should be arranged.

Officers were aware of the issues in Humberstone Village and a resident meeting had been planned for September.

Housing Officers will be at the meeting to discuss housing realted matters in the ward.

No Officer from the Housing Team was in attendance and Councillors requested attendance to future meetings.

It was noted that social housing had now been allocated on the ward and some dated Council properties had been modernised.

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

Nicole Powell The City Warden was in Attendance and provided an update (attached) and answered to residents’ questions.

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.

An update will be given on the Ward Community budget and recipients of ward funding will be invited to give feedback on their projects.

The opening of the budget this year was £18,000.

Since April there had been 12 Applications received, 7 of which had been supported and 5 were still outstanding.

The closing budget to date was 13,708.

The Community Engagement Officers Team were available for guidance and support for applications.

It was suggested that the Ward Community Meetings be held across the ward to include people from across the ward.

There being no more items of business the meeting closed at 7:55pm.