Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Kitterick was elected Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

Councillor Senior disclosed a personal and non-prejudicial interest in the issues to be raised around Highways, as her partner was a City Council officer in the Traffic Section of the Regeneration and Culture Department.

Councillor Senior disclosed a personal and non-prejudicial interest in the Community Meeting Budget proposal, relating to the Clothing Heritage Project and the commissioning and siting of a statue on New Walk, as she was a resident living nearby the proposed site.

The minutes of the previous Castle Community Meeting, held on Tuesday 7 July 2009, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the Castle Community Meeting held on 7^th July 2009 were received.

RESOLVED:

                        that the minutes be agreed.

Officers from the Council will be in attendance to talk about Highways and Transport issues in the area including road safety and sustainable transport.

Ravi Mohankumar, Acting Team Leader, Traffic Impact Team attended the meeting to give an update on the Highways and Transport issues raised at the previous meeting as follows: -

Traffic Lights – London Road junction

Were being looked at.

Car Parking

Big issue, enforcement started in Castle area and information required as to areas to target.

• Outside Schools – problem largely caused by parents
• Road Safety Partnership – working with parents to highlight the dangers they are causing

Encouragement of people to car share, use buses, walk or cycle

Queens Road, Clarendon Park Road etc. – consultation took place in 2006 and outcome was that the residents did not want residents parking scheme

Clarendon Park Road – traffic calming introduced together with junction tables and raised crossings

Clarendon Park Road – assessment made of speeding traffic

Condition of Roads – Roads inspected on a regular basis. Feedback welcomed on potholes and these would be dealt with

Accident Blackspots – identified from information contained in road traffic statistics. When identified a scheme was drawn up to improve safety. 26 such sites had been identified this year

Cycling and Walking to Schools – City Council had introduced ‘Safer Routes to Schools’ schemes at a number of schools, although not all schools had such plans. Many parents drop children at school on way to workand then collect them on the way home. Some schools have large catchment areas. Work to address these issues was being looked at.

At this point questions were asked by the public present and responses were given as indicated.

Question 1

A Large area of derelict land was situated adjacent to Avenue Road Extension/Clarendon Park Road and it was questioned whether it would be possible to turn this site into a car park, although it was understood that there could be petrol and diesel storage tanks under the surface.

Response

The Chair stated that the land in question was actually owned by a private individual who was looking to develop the sites with residential properties. It would not be realistic to purchase this land for car parking. It was accepted that the site was an eyesore and the Council had limited powers to do anything about it. The owner had, so far, shown no interest in submitting a planning application to the Council. It was suggested that the City Wardens would be asked to speak to local people on their views regarding the future use of the site.

Question 2

Officers were asked to explain the process for the erection of temporary signs relating to road works. At the top end of Hazel Street recently a temporary sign had obscured a ‘No Entry’ sign meaning that for a couple of weeks Hazel Street had become two-way.

Response

Ravi stated that contractors should first get the necessary permissions from the Traffic Team at the City Council before any signs were erected.

Question 3

It was stated that a number of designated cycle lanes across the City ended abruptly, or were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

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.

Kate Owen, Members Support Officer, will update the meeting on the current position of the Community Meeting budget.

The following applications have been submitted to the Community Meeting:

Clothing Heritage Project: £2,000 – Appendix B1

Wall Discomfort Bid: £1,280 – Appendix B2

Steve Letten, Members Support Officer reported the receipt two applications for funding, as set out below: -

1)            Clothing Heritage Project                                                                  £2,000

            The Friends of New Walk

To erect a piece of artwork on New Walk that will commemorate the significance of the clothing industry in Leicester.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported to a limit of £1,000 at the present time and that the applicant be asked as to where the sculpture will be sited. Should there be sufficient funding available towards the end of the year then the applicant would be encouraged to submit a further application.

2)         Wall Discomfort Scheme                                                              £1,280                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

            Jordan Developments (UK) Ltd

Wall discomfort measures to act as deterrent to drunken gatherings in the car park at Lillie House, Conduit Street, London Road.

RESOLVED:

                        That the application be supported.

3)            Previously Agreed Application for Funding

            Friends of Queens Road Allotments

A representative from the group attended the meeting to thank the Community Meeting for previously supporting an application for £2500 (Similar funding was also granted by Stoneygate Community Meeting) to fund the installation of a fence and security gates around part of the allotment site. The measures had resulted in a much reduced level of vandalism at the Allotment site.

i)          Skate Park - Equipment

A member of the public questioned when the equipment for the Skate Park would be installed, as funding had been previously allocated from the Community Meeting Budget to the City Council and, as yet, there was no evidence of the equipment being installed.

Officers agreed to look into this issue and report back to the member of public.

ii)         City Warden – Ian Greenshield

Ian introduced himself to those present and outlined his background, prior to being appointed as the City Warden for the local area.

Graffiti

Councillor Senior stated that she had been made aware of graffiti in the Howard Road and Victoria Park Road areas. A member of the public stated that he was aware of the fact that if graffiti was perceived as being racist or personal then the City Council would treat its removal as a priority. Officers confirmed that this was the case and that all graffiti containing signatures or ‘tags’ was recorded to assist in future prosecutions.

Officers stated that a meeting was due to be held to establish a Plan to tackle Graffiti problems citywide.

Students

Councillor Senior stated that she had received a number of complaints around noise and general anti-social behaviour by students and stated that she would like to see Student representatives invited to future meetings of the Community Meeting. Universities should be requested to engage with students to try and encourage them to be good neighbours as the issues raised tended to occur each year around the time of the new academic year. Councillor Kitterick suggested that it might be an idea to try and encourage students to take a route home from their evenings out in the City Centre that avoided, where possible, residential side streets.

Officers stated that they were already working with local Universities with a view to tackling the concerns raised. Powers were available to confiscate equipment from those people continually playing loud music in an anti-social manner.

‘The Donkey’ Welford Road

A member of the public stated that they lived in the vicinity of this public house and which was noisy at times.

Officers stated that the City Council licensing Team would be able to advise on the times and conditions imposed on this particular public house.

Offices – Charles Street

A member of the public stated that he was aware of the amount of discarded cigarette ends outside several office buildings on Charles Street.

Officers stated that they would make contact with the relevant offices and request that they make proper arrangements to ensure that staff disposed of cigarette ends responsibly.

RESOLVED:

                                    that the actions outlined be noted.

iv)        Local Development Framework

The Chair stated that this document stated how the City Council would plan future development in the City. Comments on the Strategy were required by 30^th October and copies were available in local libraries.        

The meeting closed at 7.50 pm.