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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Sir Jonathan North Community College, Knighton Lane East, Leicester, LE2 6FU

Contact: Angela Martin, Community Engagement Officer, (Tel: 07971 326 307 ) (Email:  angela.martin@leicester.gov.uk)  Angie Smith, Democratic Support Officer (Tel: (0116) 454 6354) (Email:  Angie.Smith@leicester.gov.uk)

Items
No. Item

19.

INTRODUCTIONS

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

 

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

Councillor Gugnani in the Chair

Everyone welcomed and introductions given

No declarations of interest were made

20.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Received from Richard Cheetham and Peter Carr

21.

NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUM (NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING) - UPDATE

Residents will be given an update from the Neighbourhood Forum.

Minutes:

All to note:

·           The Neighbourhood Forum had been successfully launched and a Steering Group established;

·           A first meeting of the Steering Group’s had been held and further meetings would be held in March in different parts of the Ward;

·           When a Neighbourhood Area Plan had been developed, a local referendum would be held on whether residents accepted it.  The whole process therefore could take 12 – 18 months to complete;

·           Anyone interested in the development of the Plan could be added to the mailing list.  Posters also would be put up in the Ward to advertise forthcoming events.

22.

ACTION LOG pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Attached for information and discussion.

Minutes:

The Action Log from the meeting held on 24 November 2015 was received and noted.

23.

WARD COUNCILLORS UPDATE

·         Highways Progress Update

·         Consultation on Permit Parking

·         Post Office Closure – Update

·         Doctors Surgery Closure – Conference and Further Information

Minutes:

a)     Highways Progress Update

All to note:

·           Priority at the junction of Craighill Road and Gainsborough Road would be changed, so traffic on Craighill Road gave way;

·           A pedestrian refuge would be installed on Northcote Road / Houlditch Road;

·           Works to be undertaken on Chapel Lane to reduce traffic speed from the Craddock Arms down the incline;

·           Prominent signage to be installed at the junction of Chapel Lane and Knighton Road advising drivers of the road layout;

·           As a one-year pilot project, the bushes on the slip road on to Asquith Boulevard to be cut down to improve sight-lines;

·           Signage warning drivers of the need to give way to be installed at the junction of Overdale Road and Welford Road;

·           Consideration is being given to how pedestrian safety can be improved when crossing Welford Road at Muston Gardens;

·           Discussions to be held with the police about problems with speeding traffic in the Carisbrooke Road, Guildford Road  and Shanklin Avenue;

·           If sufficient funding was available, consideration to be given to obtaining mobile traffic activated speed warning signs;

·           Problems with speeding traffic in the Ward had been identified by the Police Joint Action Group and monitoring would be undertaken

 

b)     Consultation on Permit Parking

All to note that the responses received to consultation on introducing a residents’ parking scheme in Clarendon Park were being considered.  Concerns had been raised that the consultation did not include residents of this Ward who would be affected by the proposals.

 

c)     Post Office Closure - Update

Ward Community and Engagement Officer to find out if the Post Office on Queens Road has closed permanently or just for refurbishment.

 

d)     Doctor’s Surgery Closure  - Conference and Further Information

All to note that the Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) could not stop a doctor resigning.  With regard to the practice in Queens Road, if other doctors joined Dr Lenton on his contract with the CCG, the practice would continue when Dr Lenton left.  However, this was a private matter for the doctors to determine.

24.

LOCAL POLICING

Officers from Leicestershire Police will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in Knighton Ward.

Minutes:

All to note:

·           Welford Road Police Station would close on 14 March 2016.  Officers currently based there would move to be based at Wigston Police Station; and

·           In the last 30 days there had been seven burglaries in homes, most premises being entered from the rear.  There also had been 2 other burglaries, 1 report of graffiti on Queens Road, 4 thefts from vehicles, 1 stolen motorbike and the theft of a purse.

All reminded to make their premises as secure as possible and to leave a light on in homes if going out at night.

City Warden to liaise with Cleansing services to see if the burnt-out car on Pendlebury Drive can be removed as an abandoned vehicle.

25.

CITY WARDEN pdf icon PDF 48 KB

The City Warden will give an update on issues in Knighton Ward.

Minutes:

All to note the update provided by the City Warden at the meeting, a copy of which is attached at the end of this Action Log for information.  In addition:-

·           Problems with litter on Pendlebury Drive were being investigated; and

·           A new customer reporting system was being introduced from 2 March 2016, which should be easier to use and could provide updates in real time.  Alternatively, problems could still be reported using the Love Leicester app.

City Warden asked to:-

a)     Arrange for the furniture left on a grass verge to be removed; and

b)     Investigate the condition of the path on Dawson Way open space and arrange for remedial work to be done if possible.

26.

WARD COMMUNITY BUDGET - YEAR END

Councillors are reminded that under the Council’s Code of Conduct they should declare any interest they may have in budget applications

 

a)     An update will be given on the Ward Community budget; and

 

b)     A list of grant applications submitted for consideration at this meeting are detailed below.

 

 

5136 (3rd) Art Beat Festival 2016 (Joint bid with Castle ward)

 

Applicant: Artbeat

 

Amount Requested: £2,000

 

 

1648 Purchase of Shed / Conveyancing Fees

 

Applicant: Friends of Queens Road Allotments

 

Amount Requested: £3,300

 

 

1669 Purchase of Public Liability Insurance for Road Closure

 

Applicant: Northcote Road Playing Out Initiative

 

Amount Requested: £78.22

 

Minutes:

·           Equipment Replacement Programme – Grant of £1,000 to 68th Leicester Scout Group supported (application ref: 1353)

·           Fire Alarm Installation – Grant of £1,000 to Knighton Parish Centre supported (application ref: 1359)

·           Knighton Spinney Footpath Improvements – Grant of £1,020 to The Conservation Volunteers supported (application ref: 1390)

·           Establishment of Communal Plot – Grant of £3,300 to the Friends of Queens Road Allotments supported (application ref: 1648)

·           Northcote Road Playing Out Initiative – Grant of £78.22 to Northcote Road Playing Out supported (application ref: 1669)

·           ArtBeat Festrival – grant of £2,000 to ArtBeat supported (application ref: 5136)

All to note that £3,324.78 remains in the Wards Grant fund.  Any money remaining at the end of the financial year will be put towards the purchase of Variable Message signs for use on roads in the Ward.

All to note that:

o    From 1 April 2016, Ward Community Grants will be considered in three tranches during the year;

o    Deadlines for grant applications for Ward Councillors’ consideration will be 31 May 2016, 30 September 2016 and 31 January 2016;

o    Ward Members will decide in what format feedback is to be made on grants approved;

o    The maximum number of Wards to which an application for funding for a project can be made remains as three, but close attention will be given to how such projects benefit the Wards to which applications are made.

27.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minutes:

a)     Section 106 Funding

All to note:

·           When developer contributions are made, if no investment is needed in the area in which the development is taking place, the contributions are pooled; and

·           Not many developments in Knighton Ward were of sufficient size to enable developer contributions to be sought.

 

b)     Development at the rear of Meadvale Road

All to note that Planning Enforcement Officers were investigating the clearance of the area behind the shops on Meadvale Road.  The Council’s Conservation Officer also would be visiting the site due to concerns about the loss of wildlife habitat.

28.

CLOSE OF MEETING

Minutes:

The meeting closed at 7.40 pm