Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Hunt was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Hunt welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were given

The first main item on the programme is Declaration of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything in the programme they have a personal interest in. For example if a meeting wanted to talk about digging up a road and one of the Councillors lived on that road, he or she would have to say they have a personal interest in that.

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.

No declarations were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 May are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Knighton Community Meeting, held on 19 May 2008, be confirmed as a correct record.

Adrian Russell, Environmental Services, will give a presentation of the Environmental Services work carried out in the Knighton ward and invite suggestions for the 10,000 Trees Project.

Adrian Russell, Service Director, Environmental Services gave a presentation on Environmental Services in the Knighton Ward.

Adrian stated that there were a wide range of services offered in areas such as waste management, street cleaning, environmental health, trading standards, licensing and building control and parks and green spaces. He added that there would be a newsletter to take away after the presentation, which would provide further information.

• Refuse Collection and Waste Recycling

Information was provided on refuse collection and waste recycling in the area. Adrian commented that there were two community recycling centres available in the city. There was currently a weekly kerbside collection operated which collected recyclables and residual waste and there was also a bulk collection service. Adrian reported that there had been 1, 564 missed bin collections citywide between January and June 2008, this was at an average of 71 per ward with the number of bins not collected in the Knighton ward being 100 which was higher than the average. There had also been 1,000 bulk collections. Adrian mentioned that any missed bins should always be collected the next day as long the Council were told.

Statistics were presented on how much waste was being recycled, composted and diverted from landfill between January and June 2008. Adrian commented that currently 33% of waste was being recycled and composted and 9% of waste was being recovered and used as fuel. This meant that currently 42% of waste was being diverted from the landfill. Adrian stated that the target was to divert 60% from the landfill and they hoped to achieve that target this year.

• Cleansing Services

Data was presented on Cleansing Services. Adrian reported that there had been 1,608 fly tipping incidents in the city, which averaged out at 73 per ward. In the Knighton ward there had been 58 fly tipping incidents reported which was below the city wide average. There had been three reported abandoned vehicles in the Knighton Ward. It was also mentioned that there had been 1 incident reported of discarded needles and 11 incidents reported of Graffiti removal in the Knighton ward, which were both below the city wide average.

• Street Cleaning

Street cleanliness inspections had found that the Knighton ward had average cleanliness rates compared to citywide averages with regards to litter, graffiti, fly posting and fly tipping. Adrian commented that the inspections depended on how the streets chosen to be inspected looked on the day when the assessments were carried out.

Adrian commented that with regards to graffiti on the green cable boxes they had reached an agreement with Virgin Media who owned the boxes to provide some funding to help clear up the graffiti. However Virgin Media had stated that there were only 1,000 green boxes in the city whereas this figure was thought to be much higher.

• Rubbish & Litter on Private Land

Statistics were presented on incidents concerning rubbish and litter on private land, pest control and dog wardens and how the Knighton ward compared in all these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, will present the findings from the Priority Cards that people were invited to fill in at the first meeting and will explain the next steps in producing the Ward Action Plan.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, presented information on the ward priorities that had been agreed for the area following suggestions from the residents.

Steve stated that the top five priorities that had been agreed for the area were

• CCTV for the shops at Allendale Road and Francis Street
• Traffic
• Christmas decorations at shops on Allendale Road and Francis Street.
• Parks and trees
• Pavements

Steve commented that at the agenda meeting the Councillors had agreed to separate issues relating to the shops on Allendale Road and Francis Street and deal with these issues separately at an extra meeting so the main priorities without those issues were:

• Traffic
• Parks and trees
• Pavements
• Policing

Steve commented that he was currently looking for comments and that the final draft of the plan would be going to the third meeting.

A member of the public commented that there was only so much that could be done with traffic. He added that a problem like speeding tended to be a national problem that was dealt with nationally as well. Steve commented that if a traffic problem was chosen to be looked at then Council officers would look at the situation and see what could be done.

The Chair commented that the first meeting was held at Overdale Junior School and the venue for this meeting was close to that venue as well. He added that it would be more useful to get a better representation of the western side of the ward.

Councillor Grant commented there were two particular references to Overdale Junior School and there had been a lot of unhappiness before however there was now going to be a 20mph speed limit around the school.

A member of the public queried whether young children were being taught about the green cross code. The Police Community Support Officer commented that she would be going into Overdale Junior School to talk to the children about traffic and the green cross code.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, will introduce and explain the different funds available to the Community Meeting.

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.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, presented information on how the budget for the Community Meeting would be structured.

Steve commented that there were three types of funding available.

• Ward Priority Fund

The first was the Ward Priority Fund, which would be used to deal with the agreed ward priorities, and there was £6,700 available in this fund.

• Community Fund

The second was the Community fund, which would be used to fund Community projects in the area, and there would be £3,300 available in this fund.

• Community Cohesion Fund

The final fund was the Community Cohesion fund of which there was £2,000 available to spend on any Community Cohesion projects in the area.

Steve added that there were forms available on the side and they were available on the web as well. Any applications would be considered at the Community Meeting itself and the final decision in regard to applications would be decided by the cabinet lead.

Steve announced that there had been one application received from Reverand Christopher Allen at St Mary Magadlen’s Church for the cut back of vegetation and trees growth around the perimeter of the church. The application was for £320 plus VAT and it was supported by the local police. Steve commented that the pulling back of the trees and vegetation would be beneficial for public safety reasons and this is why the application was being considered as funding was not normally allowed to religious groups. If the vegetation and trees were cut back this would reduce the chance for an attacker to hide in the trees or bushes and jump out. A member of the public commented that they had done a patchwalk in the area and when the area was dark then it was very difficult to see.  The Police Community Support Officer commented that they had received a number of complaints regarding safety about the area. The Members approved the application however commented that it should be investigated to see if the relevant department of the Council were able to carry out the work for a lower price.

RESOLVED:

that the proposal be accepted and £320 be allocated as requested subject to approval from Cabinet however it be investigated if the relevant department of the Council are able to carry out the work for a lower price.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, presented information what the role of a Community Partner would be and how they would be involved in the Community Meeting.

Steve commented that the role of a Community Partner would be to act as a Link person between the public and the Councillors of the ward, be involved in ward action planning, be involved in sub groups of the Community Meetings, participate in activities such as patch walks in the area and help publicise the Community Meeting to get a greater number of people to attend as possible.

The skills required for someone to be a Community Partner included being keen, having a genuine interest in the area, capacity available to carry out the tasks, the ability to work effectively in a team, communicate effectively, have the ability to chair meetings when needed and have good problem solving skills.

A representative from South Knighton Community Group was present to provide some information about his group. He commented that the group was local neighbours getting together for a variety of events that took place at Holbrook Hall. He commented that it would be good to see similar events rolled across Knighton. The Group was actively looking at attracting people from all age ranges. The Group met on the first Saturday of each month at Holbrook Memorial Hall and there was a small entrance fee depending on the event being held.

The representative expressed concern that the land of Holbrook Memorial Hall was owned by the nearby church and they were looking at the option of demolishing the hall. He added that since South Knighton was viewed as a wealthy area there was no community facility available. He commented that they were desperately looking to retain the hall and there was petitioning in the area against the demolishing. 

A representative was present to provide information on the Special Olympics that were due to take place in Leicester between 25 July and 31 July in 2009. There were scheduled to be 1500 participants in the Olympics and there were 1500 volunteers needed to help out during the event. The Walkers Stadium would be hosting the Olympic village. Members of the Public were informed that all volunteers needed to be over 16 and would undergo a Criminal Records Bureau check. The representative commented that they were looking at getting more people involved in the events.

The meeting closed at 9:00pm.