Agenda and minutes

Councillor Grant was elected to chair the meeting.

It was noted the Paul Bonnett from the Knighton Parish Centre wasn’t present, but he hoped to be present later in the meeting to feedback on the recent funding bid.

The first main item on the agenda 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.

Members are asked to approve the minutes of the previous Knighton Community Meeting, held on 11 March 2013.

The minutes of the Knighton Community Meeting held on 11 March 2013, were confirmed as a correct record.

The City Warden for Knighton Ward will be present to provide an update on environmental issues for the area.

Chris Bramley-Browne, City Warden for Knighton Ward was present to provide an update on his work tackling environmental issues in the ward.

Chris commented on the following matters:-

-       The ward had generally been quiet with few issues.

-       There had been monitoring of the bins situation on Sandown and Malvern Roads, with assisted collection issues having been dealt with.

-       Shackerdale Road shops were being monitored for litter problems and shops approached to do litterpicks where there were particular problems.

-       There was now a £30 weekly fee to have a skip on the highway.

-       New environmental powers would be reported to the next meeting.

A resident asked some details about the litter on Shackerdale Road. The City Warden commented that it was typically polystyrene and drinks cartons, thrown about by youths. Whilst businesses could be asked to clear up litter that was specifically a problem outside their business, there were limits if the problem was beyond that.

Brian Quinn will be present to talk about the work of Street Vibe Youth and the work that they have undertaken with the local community and the options for service delivery which can be delivered locally.

Street Vibe Youth is a city-based youth activities group which specialises in providing outreach work and the delivery of services in an informal and non-hierarchical way.  They have been asked by local police to help in getting feedback from local youngsters.

Laura Hill and Clare Nutting from Street Vibe Young People’s Service were present to outline some of the work they did and a proposal to provide some services in the Knighton Ward. This followed a request from PC Whittle to help her with an outreach project aimed at youngsters in the ward.

The Streetvibe service was able to take a mobile youth centre (on a bus or similar) into an area, engage with young people, who wouldn’t normally use youth services and work through any issues with them in order that they will eventually use mainstream youth services. The service had been successful in a number of areas of the City (including the centre, Braunstone, Fosse and Eyres Monsell) and beyond (Northampton).

The facilities on the bus included Playstation, iPads (with educational apps) and dj equipment, and youth workers were always present to have discussions with the young people. It was noted that as it was a bus, services could be provided almost anywhere. The bus could provide services for all young people, including those with disabilities.

It was planned to use funding from the Ward Community meeting to provide one session per week over the summer holidays in the Pendlebury Drive area of the ward. This will be evaluated after the holidays to see if further sessions should be provided. It was hoped that the evaluation could provide details of all the youth facilities in the ward.

PC Lou Whittle commented that the bus had been successful in reducing anti-social behaviour in Eyres Monsell and she strongly supported having the bus in the ward.

RESOLVED:

The bid for providing youth sessions in the ward was supported (This would cost £2100).

There will be a Police update for the area.

PC Lou Whittle was in attendance and introduced herself as the new Beacon officer for the Knighton Ward. She reported the following crime figures / issues for the past quarter:

-       10 burglaries – one of which was a distraction burglary. These were generally rear access, smashed window entrances.

-       1 vehicle stolen.

-       2 thefts from insecure vehicles – people were still leaving things on display, a leaflet drop was being undertaken to remind people not to do this.

-       1 robbery – where it was people known to the victim.

-       1 incident at Allandale road where a pin number was stolen and subsequently cash was taken.

-       There had only been a couple of minor Anti-Social Behaviour issues and these had been between neighbours.

A resident queried where the burglaries were taking place? PC Whittle commented that they were mainly in Stoneygate and South Knighton.

It was also queried what the difference was between a Beat Officer and a Beacon Officer. PC Whittle commented that it was largely just the name, but the Beacon Officer was meant to be the ‘face’ of the neighbourhood.

PC Whittle also reported that a no cold calling initiative may be undertaken, hopefully to be funded by the Ward budget. This would assist vulnerable people who may be at risk of distraction burglaries. Those present at the meeting generally commented that they didn’t appreciate cold calling at the front door, but noted that some charity callers may be legitimate.

A community event is planned for Northcote Road which will involve closing the road. Details of the event will be provided.

Two residents from Northcote Road, spoke to the meeting about a plan to close the road for a short time, with a view to holding a small event which would allow neighbours to get to know each other and children to play safely on the road. It would require all residents to agree to the closure and they would have to clear the road of cars.

Residents raised a number of comments in relation to this proposal.

-       A road closure wasn’t considered necessary for people to become friendly with their neighbours.

-       It would give people without children a chance to get to know local young people.

-       Experience of other street parties was generally positive.

-       It was noted that other streets had funded closures themselves.

-       If funding was provided it should be a one-off, but funding the first one would help demonstrate what was possible to residents.

-       Concern was expressed at the Council fee for road closures when it was thought that little work was involved.

-       It was noted that funding had been provided to pay for road closures for street parties in Knighton and other wards.

-       It was suggested that it would be good if, out of the development of this event, a Neighbourhood Watch association where neighbourhood relations could develop on an on-going basis.

-       A further suggestion was made that the event take place on August 7^th which was national Play Day, which could help with funding.

The view of the meeting was that the event should be supported on a one-off basis.

RESOLVED:

That the application for £220 to support the playing out on Northcote Road event be supported.

Ward Councillors are interested in hearing the views of residents for items to discuss at future meetings.

The Chair introduced this item. He commented that the ward meeting was often too focussed on highways issues and he and his Councillor colleagues were keen to hear ideas from residents about what they may want to discuss at these meetings. It was planned to arrange dates of meetings and venues so that better publicity of the meetings could be undertaken and encourage more people to attend.

A number of residents raised deep concerns about a current issue that they were facing in relation to funding of transport to schools, in particular, faith schools. A number of comments were raised as follows:

-       Parents had only been told of this decision very recently – far beyond when choices about schools had been made.

-       The official decision had been taken in April, yet parents had only been informed now.

-       This decision could leave the parents of two children facing a cost of hundreds of pounds a year – this may mean children having to move school.

-       There were particular concerns about a bus service that was provided by the County Council, whether this service would still be available? Or what route it would be taking? Phone calls to both the City or County Councils hadn’t been able to clarify the situation.

-       There was an acceptance that cuts may need to be made, but this sort of change should have been phased in to lessen the impact.

-       It was generally felt that the timing and the quality of information around these decisions had been poor.

Councillor Moore felt that good points had been made, but noted that Leicester was generally a poor City and had to made lots of difficult cuts. She felt that answers should be provided about why it took so long for this information to be raised with parents and what was being done to prevent similar happening again. She also noted that schools had funds and negotiations were on-going to see if they could fund these services.

Councillor Grant undertook to raise concerns with the City Mayor and Councillor Dempster, the Assistant City Mayor for Children, Young People and Schools. He would ask them (or if not them, then relevant officers) to attend a parents’ evening at St. Paul’s School on the Thursday after this meeting to respond to parents concerns. He also noted that a recent decision on funding cuts for post-16 home to school transport had been amended to a phased process.

On the wider issue of items for future meetings, the Chair commented that it was the intention to have a varied range of items on the agenda for future meetings, possibly including a discussion on developing a policy for road closures for street parties and feedback on projects which the Community Meeting had funded.

The Chair also commented that he welcomed ideas from residents for items for future meetings.

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.

A statement outlining the current budget position is attached to this agenda.

1.            Applications for Consideration

Application 1

Applicant: Robert Hall, Leicester University of the 3^rd Age (U3A)

Amount: £50

Proposal: Open Day - 14^th August 2013

Summary: An event is planned for 14^th August at Christchurch Hall Clarendon Park to show the public what U3A do and what they can offer members of the community, who are retired or partly retired, in terms of educational, social, sporting and fun activities.

Leicester U3A is a self-financed charitable organisation which meets monthly at Christchurch Hall. It is a non-religious, non-political body which believes that ‘learning is for life’ and offers interest groups on a wide range of subjects. Membership is open to anyone who is no longer in full-time paid employment.

The funding will assist with the hire of the hall, refreshments, advertising and other associated costs.

Application 2

Applicant: Orhan Ahmed on behalf of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (MKA)/Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) Leicester

Amount: £500

Proposal: Funding for Sporting Activities and Kits

Summary: The proposal is to obtain funding to organise more sporting events, to subsidise sporting kits and equipment and to subsidise costs for sporting activities.

Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (MKA) is a youth organisation which serves not only its members, but society as a whole. It has a longstanding history of working with charities, providing fundraising, homeless feeding session and undertakes and annual charity challenge, such as a 10 run/ walk which since its inception in 1985 has raised over £1million for British causes.

Money raised by the organisation is used for charitable purposes, therefore there is no real funding for fun activities such as sports and activities have had to be cancelled due to the lack of funding in the past, particularly as there was no team kit when they organisation entered into leagues / competitions.

The funding would also support equipment for badminton / cricket which would be part funded by members.

Application 3

Applicant: Councillor Lynn Moore

Amount: up to £900

Proposal: Knighton Community leaflet

Summary: The proposal is to produce a community leaflet to all households in Knighton ward to inform them about the ward fund and how the funding was spent in 2011/12 and how they can bid for funding.

The leaflet will be A3 folded and in colour and costs will be for design and print for around 6500 households.

2.         Feedback from Previous Ward Applications     

            The Community Meeting will receive feedback from any applicants present who have been awarded funded from the community meeting budget.

The Knighton Parochial Church Council and the Growing Together Project have been invited to attend to feedback on their projects funding by the ward meeting.

Councillors were asked to consider the following budget applications:

1.    Application for £50 from Leicester University of the 3^rd Age, to support an open day 14^th August.

RESOLVED:

that the application of £50 be supported in full.

2.    Application for £500 from Orhan Ahmed on behalf of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya(MKA) / Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) Leicester to support sporting activities and kits.

RESOLVED:

That the application be deferred to seek more details about how the application links to Knighton residents.

3.    Application for up to £900 by Councillor Lynn Moore to fund the production of a community leaflet which would be circulated to every home in the Knighton Ward which would promote the Ward budget and Ward Community Meetings.

Councillors and residents had a detailed discussion about the merits of producing this leaflet. There was general agreement that these meetings and the ward budget should be promoted more widely. There was disagreement between those present, both Councillors and residents about whether the ward budget should be used to fund this leaflet. There was also discussion about the best way to promote these meetings, whether that was by leaflets, Leicester Link, posters, emails, social media etc.

It was suggested that the existing budget used to promote ward meetings be considered in the first instance to produce the leaflet (with subsequent lack of usual publicity later in the year) and any further funding necessary would come from the Ward budget. A vote was taken amongst Councillors to consider this amended proposal and it was supported 2:1.

A resident suggested that competitive quotes should be sought.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported up to £900, but funding be sought from the Community Meeting publicity budget in the first instance to fund the leaflet and any further requirement for funding come from the approved funding.

4.    Late application – A late application for £2950 was received from the Parks Service to assist with the funding of the annual Knighton Park Fun Day. It would cover the costs of first aid and other facilities for the day.

It was noted that this request was lower than that requested last year.

RESOLVED:

That the application of £2950 be supported in full.

Feedback from Previous Budget Applications

Knighton Parish Centre – funding of around £10,000 was received for improvements to the Centre and it paid for a number of improvements, such as the car park surface being renewed, lighting, kitchen refurbishment, and blackout curtains. The centre is being used for things like plays, by church groups, non-church groups and children’s parties.

The Community Meeting was welcomed to hold one of its meetings at the Centre. The Chair welcomed this opportunity.

Growing Together Project - Laura Newcombe from the Growing Together project was present at the meeting to feedback on the funding of £1,879 which was to support the project to enable people (mainly with learning disabilities) to learn skills with regard to growing produce and then selling it. A full board meeting had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Please note that future meetings will take place on:

14 October 2013

7 January 2014

10 March 2014

Dates of meetings for the rest of the municipal year would be as follows, all at 6.30pm:

14 October 2013

7 January 2014

10 March 2014

Venues would be circulated in due course.

Carol Blackburn, a local resident informed the meeting that an older people’s charter had recently been signed by the City Mayor. She felt that it would be a good idea for the Community Meeting to be informed about it. The Chair agreed that it could be on the agenda for the next meeting.