Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Grant was elected as Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

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 was due to discuss a budget application put forward by a community group and one of the Councillors was a member of that group, they would not be able to take part in the decision on that budget application.

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 17 November 2008 are attached and Councillors are asked to approve them as a correct record. The minutes are attached in Appendix A.  

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Knighton Community Meeting, held on 17 November 2008, be confirmed as a correct record.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer will present the Knighton Ward Action Plan. This will be circulated before the meeting.

This item was not considered at the 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 will present the Knighton Community Meeting Budget. The following funding applications have been received.

·        Knighton Partish Centre – disabled access improvements, £498 - Appendix B1

·        68^th Leicester Scouts – storage facilities, £1, 445 – Appendix B2

·        Friends of Queen’s Road Allotments – fencing, £2,500 – Appendix B3

·        Rianne O’Grady – rugby training support, £500 – Appendix B4

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer reported that there had been eight applications submitted for funding.

Steve went through the applications and gave details of the bids. The following bids were submitted:

1)                 Knighton Parish Centre – disabled access improvements, £498

Steve commented that the application was for the installation of a handrail.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £498 be allocated from the Community Cohesion Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods.

2)                 Friends of Queen’s Road Allotments – fencing, £2,500

Steve informed the meeting that this was a joint application with the Castle Ward where £2,500 would be requested from that ward as well.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £2,000 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and £500 be considered from next year’s budget when it is available

3)                 South Knighton Community Events, South Knighton Community Cinema, £3,000

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £253 be allocated from the the Ward Community Fund, £1,502 from the Community Cohesion Fund and £1,245 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods.

4)                 Rianne O’Grady  - rugby training support, £500

The applicant commented that she had been selected for the British College under 18 and under 20 East Midlands Teams. She commented that her current college had helped her with regional funding however she needed assistance with national funding.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £500 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods.

The Chair congratulated Rianne on her achievement

5)                 Police and Community Support Group – Rewards for school children achieving 100% attendance, £500

A representative from the Police and Community Support Group was present to provide information on the application. She commented that there had been a pilot scheme last year and it had been a success. It was noted that similar bids for funding had been submitted to Community Meetings in the Eyres Monsell, Freeman, Castle and Aylestone wards.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £500 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods.

6)                 Welford Road Local Policing Unit - Delivering Service Excellence – Reward for people working with or for the Welford Road Local Policing Unit and its area of operation, £50

Steve commented that requested for funding for similar schemes had been submitted in other wards as well.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £50 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods.

7)                 Friends of Knighton Park - Knighton park community day, £1,200

A representative from the group gave some information  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

There will be a discussion on the proposed Pennbury Eco Town development

Discussion took place on the proposed Pennbury Eco Town Development

The Chair stated that there was a number of issues on the newly proposed Pennbury Eco Town. He commented that the Co-operative Group had stated that they were not prepared to attend any more meetings however would be willing to meet the Members in a one to one situation. 

Kevin Feltham, CASCET (Campaign Against Stoughton Co-Op Eco Town) was present at the meeting. He provided some background information about the group. The group had formed just over a year ago when the proposals about the Eco Town had been announced. He added that he and his co-ward Councillor had joined with Parish Councils to form the group. The group had since been joined by a number of experts and professionals. He commented that the Co-op had not attended an event concerning discussion on the proposed Eco Town since October 2008.

Kevin commented on the proposal for the express bus service. He commented that in the Eco Town there would be 15,000 houses and 60,000 people. The Co-op had predicted a 60% retainment rate where people would stay and work in the Eco Town. He commented that nowhere in the country had this sort of retainment rate and it would then mean that 40% of residents in the proposed town would be commuting. There would be increased traffic on London Road. Kevin commented that there would be no space for a corresponding bus lane going out of the city and that the County Council had said it would be unworkable without transport improvements. 

A Member commented that if people would be kept within Pennbury then everyone would require servicing such as food. He stated that Knighton and Stoneygate would become full of traffic going in and out of the Eco Town. He stated that Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and North West Leicestershire had received funding to develop housing. North West Leicestershire was an ideal location to place houses as East Midlands airport had grown and the area was also served by the new railway station, East Midlands parkway and a considerable amount of people worked in East Midlands Airport.

A resident queried when the government make the decision. Kevin commented that the current planning policy statement was up for comment. There were currently 11 proposed locations on the list across the country for Eco Towns, which was reduced from the 15 there had been last year. He added that if the relevant Council, which was Harborough District Council, rejected the proposal then it would then go to the Secretary of State for decision.

A resident queried whether the tram proposal had been dropped. The Chair commented that the proposal was unbalanced as it would cost £300 millon and only service 15% of traffic. He stated that Co-Op would not be funding the proposal and he could not see where funding for the scheme could be obtained. He also commented that it would have to be identified how to get the traffic in and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

A member of the public thanked the Member Support Team for their assistance.

Concern was raised about the speeding traffic on Shanklin Drive as there were two nursery schools on that road. A member of the public suggested that speed bumps or a series of mini roundabouts could be placed on the road to combat the problem. The Chair commented that there was an electronic sign on the road that monitored speeding, however, it underestimated the speed of the vehicles. A member of the public queried why the sign was not working properly. The Chair commented that the sign had been recalibrated a number of times and he would ask the officers to calibrate it again. He commented that this query would be placed in the action plan and officers would look at the problem. The Chair commented that there had been a proposal to bring a 20mph zone on Overdale Road and that there was a commitment to extend 20mph zone limits across the city.

A resident raised concern at the planning application on Knighton Church Road for the demolition of a detached house and to build 5 houses. Members also raised concern at the proposal and people were encouraged to make representations to the Council.

A resident raised concern that Welford Road had not been gritted during the recent heavy snowfalls. They commented that the road was a hazard, however, people were still allowed to go on it.

A resident queried what was happening with regard to the zebra crossing on Overdale Road. The Chair requested that there be an update on this at the next meeting.

The Chair informed the Community Meeting that there would be a special guest appearance by Mark Cox at Leicester Tennis Club on Saturday 28^th February.

RESOLVED:

that there be an update at the next meeting on the zebra crossing on Overdale Road.

The meeting closed at 8:15pm.