Agenda and minutes

Councillor Waddington was elected as Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Cassidy declared a personal non prejudicial interest as he worked for De Montfort University

The minutes of the previous Fosse Community Meeting, held on 9 March 2011, have been circulated and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

As there were no Members present who attended the previous meeting, the minutes were agreed as a correct record by the residents.

There will be a presentation on the De Montfort University Square Mile Project.

Mile2 is an initiative of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dominic Shellard and forms part of his mission to demonstrate that Universities are a public good. Over the next 18 months, De Montfort University will work in partnership with the local community to demonstrate how the skills and knowledge of a University can assist and sustain the development of a community and improve the wellbeing and prospects of the residents.

James Gardner, Jason Wood and Sarah Thomson from De Montfort University provided a presentation on the Square Mile project.

Residents reported that the project would improve the wellbeing and prospect of residents in the area.

It was reported that some of the ideas that had been suggested including community gardening, developing small plots of land around the university and a history project involving residents looking into issues such as personal history. Other proposals included improving energy efficiency in the home and the introduction of a community radio station.

Residents were informed that this was the first time in the UK this type of project had been undertaken. The focus would be on the Newfoundpool, Fosse, Tudor Road and Woodgate areas in the ward. Residents were asked to submit their contact details to be kept informed with the developments of the project.

Jason explained that a door knocking exercise had been conducted and some of the main issues raised by residents that had arisen out of this consultation included:

·         Better community spirit was needed.

·         More togetherness was needed.

·         A better physical landscape.

·         Better facilities for older people.

In response to a query, Jason explained that the academics and the community will be working together and a financial strategy was currently being developed. It was hoped to involve residents in the steering group and there would be regular updates at the Community Meeting. The costs for the project were all fronted by the University and support was sought from the Council and external finders. Jason added the project would be trying to reach people who had been let down by service providers.

A resident queried if the centre for social action involved. Jason commented that the University worked really closely with them.

In response to a query regarding the geographical area, Jason explained that the area included the Fosse area, Woodgate, start of Frog Island, just over into Western Ground and the Fosse Recreation Ground being on the border. The area encompassed around 2,000 houses.

Councillor Cassidy stated that this was a huge opportunity for the area and the investment would help the community.

Residents were invited to suggest ideas to be involved as part of the project.

There will be an update on the latest developments with regards to Rally Park.

Rob Hincks, Senior Officer – Development Team provided an update on the improvements being done in Rally Park.

Rob explained that £475,000 funding had been obtained from the Strategic Green Infrastructure fund to make the open space better. About £120,000 had been contributed by the developer for play equipment in the park.

Residents were informed that a consultation had been carried out with the community. The BMX track would now not be removed as users of the park had wished to retain it and a new facility would be developed for young children and families. The consultation also highlighted the communities wanted to see more CCTV and lighting. Whilst there is currently no funding to put more of these items on the park, Rob said that other potential funding sources were being looked at.

Rob explained that since the last update there had been £40,000 worth of clearance completed which included the removal of trees, vegetation and items from the river. There had been 300 hours of volunteering for the clean-up. Tools had also been supplied to Kirby and West to remove the graffiti which had been on their wall.

Other proposals for the park included a toddlers play area, adult gym and more planting and flowers. Work on the park would commence on 18 July and it was hoped to be completed by December 2011.

In response to a query about Japanese knotweed, Rob explained that £4-5,000 had been spent on removing this in the park.

A resident suggested having access to the park through King Richards Road. Rob explained that this was being looked into and further updates on the development of the park would be provided.

The City Warden will provide an update on Environmental issues in the ward.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Manager provided an update on environmental issues being tackled in the ward. 

Barbara reported on the latest initiative to clear bins on streets. She explained this was the third week of the initiative and it had been hugely successful with a success rate of 90%. With regards to alleygates, residents were informed that the plan was to get the locks of all alleygates changed and then give the new keys out. The money generated from fixed penalty notices was being used to fund this work.

The following updates were also provided:

·         Graffiti - There were free graffiti kits available for the public.

·         Recycling – There would be a change to how items were recycled with different colour bags being used and this would be rolled out across the city.  There would be a chance to recycle more items than previously.

The new City Warden, Jethro Swift was introduced to residents. The Chair suggested that new waste bins were possibly needed in the Tudor Road and Newfoundpool areas.

Concern was also raised on people cycling on the pavement. Barbara commented that any issues could be raised with Jethro and he would deal with or pass on the queries to the relevant officers.

There will be an update provided by the Police.

PC Steve Reeves provided a policing update for the ward.

PC Reeves informed residents that the Police were working under challenging times due to cuts to their budgets and reduced staffing.

With regards to issues in the ward, PC Reeves reported that since the introduction of the ‘mosquito’ alarm there had been a 78% reduction in anti-social behaviour. Concern was raised at the lack of youth provision in the area.

Overall there had been a 33% reduction in crime in the ward. Residents were informed that the Police had arranged a consultation event however there had been no attendees despite leaflets being placed in 1000 households.  Residents were encouraged to talk to the Police if they had any issues to raise.

In response to queries, PC Reeves commented that any offences which were alcohol fuelled had to be recorded. A resident raised concern at two pairs of trainers hanging on a telephone line on the corner of Marshall Street which signalled drug usage in nearby properties. PC Reeves commented that the Council had been contacted and would take them down. There was also concern raised about trainers on the telephone line on Tudor Road.

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.

There will be an update on the Community Meeting Budget. Please find summaries of applications received for consideration below. Full application

forms can be accessed by contacting Democratic Support on 0116 2298814 or by visiting the Council’s website at www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk. An overview of the Community Meeting spend between 2008-11 is also attached for residents information.

The following budget application has been received:

Application 1

Applicant: Cornerstone PCC (Church of England) with Churches together in North West Leicester. Organiser: Trevor Hesselwood

Amount: £1,000

Proposal: Community Picnic

Summary:

Saturday 10^th September 2011, 1:30pm to 4:30pm.

Venue – Grounds of Alderman Richard Hallam School. Avebury Avenue.

The event aims to build on the events held over the previous four years. This year we aim for more community involvement, to reintroduce major attractions to encourage the 11 to 15 year olds to return. The event is free – no charge will be made for those who attend except for refreshments.

Application 2

Applicant: Maya Group

Amount: £3,052

Proposal: Maya Group Well-Being Project

Summary:

The project is based at the Aapaka centre in Pool Road, The project is to sustain health and well-being of the elderly women who attend the project by providing innovative, manageable exercises like Bollywood dance and Kathak dance, armchair exercises, tai chi. These exercise are specifically designed to help women build stronger muscles, give more flexibility, help to improve cardio-vascular health and their mobility. The group also is an arena for members to socialise and befriend each other and helps to lessen the isolation, depression that some of our Members have.

The funding will be used to pay specialist tutors who will be teaching the exercise, the rent for the room and volunteer expenses. We intend to run the project over six months starting from August 2011.

The beneficiaries of this project are elderly aged 50+ who are from the local community and further afield. A majority of the members are suffering from mobility, health problems – diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, depression and often isolated.

In order to measure the impact and success of the project, we will keep an attendance list, use feedback forms, observation to measure the success and improvement of our members health. We will provide exercise sheets with diagrams so that the women can do them in their own home when the project ends.

Jerry Connolly, Members Support Officer presented the Community Meeting budget.

Jerry reported that the Community Meeting had access to £15,000. Residents were informed that last year’s budget had been divided into three different areas including an extra £2,000 for community cohesion. However this year there would just be one general budget and a decision on community cohesion funding was yet to be made. Residents were informed that Members were able to approve £500 or less between meetings.

The following applications were submitted for consideration:

·         Community Picnic, Cornerstone PCC (Church of England) with Churches together in North West Leicester - £1,000.

It was explained that the application was for a community picnic, which would be taking place on Saturday 10^th September 2011, 1:30pm in the grounds of Alderman Richard Hallam School, Avebury Avenue.

Members agreed to contribute £500 towards the application as they felt 50% of attendees would be from the Fosse ward.

RESOLVED

that the application be supported and £500 be allocated subject to final approval from the relevant Cabinet Lead.

·         Maya Group Well-Being Project, Maya Group - £3,052

It was explained that the application was to sustain health and well-being of the elderly women who attended project through innovative manageable exercises such as Bollywood dance, Kathak dance, armchair exercises and tai chi. The events would take place at the Aapaka Centre in Pool Road. Members agreed to fund £1,000 towards the project and requested a feedback report on the project. Jerry commented that further funding could possibly be applied for through the community cohesion fund.

It was reported that the following application had been approved by Members through the fast track process:

·         Circus Skills Workshop “Have a go Circus, Fosse Library, £250.

A resident queried what the latest situation was with regards to Fiveways House. It was agreed this would be looked into.

It was queried whether a Fosse ward website could be developed. A suggestion was made that items could be placed on the ward Community Meeting website. Another suggestion was the square mile website could be used.

The Chair raised concern about the lack of provision for young people in the ward and it was agreed this would be on the agenda for the next meeting.

The meeting closed at 7:54pm.