Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Grant was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Bayford.

The first main item on theagenda is Declarations of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything on the agenda 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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous Knighton Community Meeting, held on 21 June 2010 have been circulated and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the Knighton Community Meeting, held on 21 June 2010, be agreed as a correct record.

Members agreed to accept this extra item.

Dave Budd, Leicestershire Police provided a presentation on some of the work the Police had carried out in the area.

Dave reported that funding had been received from the Community Meeting of £500 towards the cost of a car to be used by the Police. Dave reported on some of the work done by the Police in 2010. This included:

• Using five cars to conduct anti social behaviour and crime patrols.
• Carrying out 125 Police operations.
• 138 arrests and 125 warrants.
• Recovered property valued at over £500,000 from items such as drugs, cars, cash, electrical goods and weapons.

With regards to the Knighton ward, the following work was reported:

• 15 arrests and 2 warrants issued.
• Recovered over £8000 of property.
• 560 hours of patrol to reduce crime and anti social behaviour.
• Reactive surveillance – this meant keeping an eye on individuals who had aroused suspicion.
• Intelligence gathering.
• Seized a number of vehicles.
• Cannabis factory observations.

Dave informed the Community Meeting that at the next meeting there would be DVD presentation by the Police on the work being done.

It was queried whether the goods recovered by the Police originated in Knighton. Dave stated that this would be case as in some circumstances criminals lived elsewhere however operated in Knighton.

The Chair thanked Dave for his presentation.

An Officer from the City Council’s Highways and Transport section will be present to feedback on Highways and Transportation issues that have been previously raised at the Community Meeting and consult on new traffic calming proposals in the ward.

David Poxon, Team Leader Road Safety, Transport Strategy and Graham Seaton, Transport Development Officer, Transport Strategy were present to consult on new traffic calming proposals in the ward.

David reported that with regards to the Overdale Safer Routes to School Scheme, a scheme involving area wide traffic calming was consulted on in 2007 however due to objections the scheme was halted. There had then been work carried out with local schools to revise proposals for an Overdale Safe Routes to School Scheme however following reprioritisation of areas, funding for the Overdale area had then been removed. David informed the Community Meeting that following concerns raised by residents, a small scale scheme for the Overdale area was now being considered.

David explained some of the potential scheme ideas, these included:

• Junction narrowing and a footway widening outside the school to help children cross the road.
• Traffic calming scheme on Overdale Road to lower the speeds. It was noted however that Meadvale Road residents may object due to displacement of traffic.
• Traffic calming scheme on Overdale Road and Meadvale Road.

It was noted traffic calming schemes may occur a larger cost. Some residents stated that any scheme introduced should not affect the property prices on Overdale road. Concern was also raised at the double decker bus going through the road and parents parking their cars. In response to a query, David stated that only the junction where cars turned in would be narrowed. Suggestions were made that speed signage may be a more cost effective method.

Concern was raised that junction narrowing would make it more dangerous for children and there would also be more cars parked together. David stated that it was illegal for cars to park on junctions and tickets could be issued for this. The Chair raised concern that currently parents were not taking any notice of the zig zag markings near the school. David stated that it needed to be asked whether residents wanted a general traffic calming scheme or one specifically related to when children were present.

In response to a query about ‘walking buses’, David commented that these were declining rapidly as children regularly moved schools. However there were incentives for children walking to school such as ‘star walkers’ which offered rewards for walking to school.

David explained where Vehicle Activated Signs were implemented and the potential difficulties with them. It was noted that:

• The City Council was preparing a system of prioritisation of these types of signs in the city and a policy for their future use because of high demand.
• Concern had been raised that the familiarity of the signs had lowered their effectiveness.
• Following guidance, the signs would be used where there was a collision problem, where excessive speed was involved and other measures could not be used.

David explained some of the problems associated with Vehicle Activated Signs, these were:

• Maintenance and running costs
• Failure to lower speeds to expectations.
• Speed only reduced by 2-3 mph.
• Funding the cost of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

The City Warden for the Knighton ward will provide information on how they are tackling environmental issues in the area.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Warden Manager and Nik Krneta, City Warden for the Knighton ward provided a presentation on the work done by the City Warden service in the area.

Barbara informed the Community Meeting of the ‘see it, report it’ campaign against graffiti. She explained that there were litter pick kits available for people to organise community clean ups. There were also kits available for children. Residents were informed that the City Warden service could assist in the organisation of any community clean up event.

Barbara stated that Leicester had been selected as one of ten authorities to help promote keep Britain tidy by participating in an initiative to tackle dog fouling. In addition residents were informed that dog waste could now be placed in any bin. Barbara commented that there were also incentives available for people who did bin dog waste correctly. Nik stated that there had currently been problems with dog fouling and littering around schools. He added that 50 fixed penalty notices had been issued and two of these had been to dog owners.

Residents were advised that if they knew of any problem areas then they should contact the City Warden service.

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, Members Support Officer will give an update on the Knighton Community Meeting Budget. There have been no new budget applications. The following application has been approved under delegated powers:

·        Application to support the provision of bike locks, PC Lou Whittle (Welford LPU) - £200

Steve Letten, Members Support Officer presented the Community Meeting budget. The Community Meeting was informed that the following application had been agreed under delegated powers as the value of the application was under £500:

• Application to support the provision of bike locks, PC Lou Whittle (Welford LPU) - £200

Steve informed the Community Meeting that there was still funding available and encouraged people to apply.

A representative from the South Knighton Community Group which had received funding from the Community Meeting at the previous meeting for a Community Crop Swap event provided feedback on the event. It was stated that people from all age groups had attended the event and it was hoped to make the event annual.

There were no items of urgent business.

 The meeting closed at 8:01pm.