Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Patrick Kitterick was chair for the meeting.

A minute silence was held in memory of former Castle Ward Councillor, Philip Gordon who sadly passed away following the last Community Meeting.

Councillor Neil Clayton gave his apologies for the meeting.

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.

Councillors were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Senior declared a personal interest as her partner worked for the Highways and Transport Division in the Council, this was in case of any highways matters being raised at the meeting.

Councillor Senior declared a personal interest in the budget application for the Queens Road Autumn Fair as her employer was Age Concern and they had a shop on Queens Road.

Councillor Senior also declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the Proposed Health Centre, Victoria Park Road item due to a friendship with one of the agents involved in the development of the Health Centre. She left the meeting for discussion on this item.

The minutes of the previous Castle Community Meeting, held on 24 March, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the Castle Community Meeting held Wednesday 24 March 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

This item will include the following:-

- Youth Inclusion in the Castle Ward – a short outline of services in the Ward.

- Citizens Eye – details will be available about this community reporter scheme for young people.

- Summer Play-schemes 2010 – details will be provided.

- Voluntary Action Leicester - Engaging young people with Community Meetings

Councillor Kitterick introduced this item, noting that it came about as a result of enquiries by local residents about what services were available for young people in the ward. 

Danielle Williams, Strategic Lead for Participation at Leicester City Council gave the meeting a brief outline of the work that she undertook and the ways in which young people could engage in the decision making process about matters which affected them. This included:

-          User groups at each youth centre

-          Young People’s Council

-          A project which involved young people who were looking to ‘youth proof’ meetings such as this one to ensure they were accessible to them.

-          The Youth Parliament which has local representatives.

-          The Children’s Council

-          The Advisory Boards for the forthcoming Integrated Service Hubs – venues where a range of services would be provided for young people.

Danielle said that people were welcome to contact her about any of these or other areas where young people could become involved in the decision making process in areas which affected them.

Fiona Bedford, Area Youth Work Manager gave the meeting some details about the numbers of staff and types of facilities which were available to support young people’s activities in the Ward.

Stacey Beazer, Senior Youth Support Worker gave details of the dance related activities which she was involved in providing. This included:

-          Dance classes,

-          Choreograph work,

-          Dance for deaf young people

-          ‘Night Owl’ sessions.

An event at the Athena venue would be taking place on the 26 August where young people could showcase their skills.

Sarah Vernon, from the Inclusion Project gave details of the wide timetable of events that were taking place at the Watershed. She offered to provide details of these to enable them to be disseminated.

Dominic McCarthy, Music specialist outlined the music facilities available at the Watershed and the different types of sessions provided such as those aimed at young people with mental health difficulties; those not in employment education or training; and those who were excluded. The aim of the sessions was to improve self esteem and help develop useful career skills, and to work towards special events such as when a showcase took place with professional session musicians.  Developing websites for promoting music was also undertaken.

Councillor Senior raised a query about how young people could find out about these activities. It was noted that promotion of them took place in schools, but also the Activities 4 You website contained details of all of the available activities. It was agreed to include details of the timetable for the Watershed with the minutes.

One of the young people who took part in the Dynamise dance group informed the meeting about the activities which she took part in. She praised the wide variety of facilities and sessions which were available, noting that there was strong local interest. She did feel however that funding for singing and dance activities could be a problem.

Councillor Senior asked about how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

New Developments – Eastern Boulevard

A resident expressed a number of concerns relating to developments on Eastern Boulevard. They were as follows:

-            A 8-14 storey building was originally proposed and a detailed opposition to the development was lodged by residents.

-            It was felt that Parking would be a problem with all the new residents.

-            Concerns were also expressed about how the new residents would interact with existing residents and where they would spend their amenity time.

-            Further concern was expressed about the space available for all the construction related vehicles and materials whilst the building was taking place.

-            Disappointment was also expressed about the closure of Rydal Street for six months which has taken place as part of another development and access difficulties this caused for residents.

-            The new building would block sunlight from residents houses.

Councillor Kitterick commented that he had objected to the application, but noted that if the Council rejected applications such as this and subsequently a planning inspector approved them; the Council could receive a large fine and court costs. He also noted that as a compromise the height of the proposed building was increased at one end to create a tower and reduced at the other end. This was done to allow more light into existing residents houses.

David Cotton from the Council’s Planning Management and Delivery team was asked to comment on issues relating to problems residents may face during the construction period and other impacts on residents. David stated that once the application had been approved, there was little that the Council could do in terms of the construction of the building. Building Control could ask for some limited screening, but exact details of residents concerns would be needed before any action was taken. David also stated that students would not be allowed residents parking permits when moving into the new buildings. He also noted that tests had been undertaken as part of the planning application which showed that local houses should only be in shade for about an hour as a result of the new building.

Representatives will be present from the architects and representatives from the proposed health centre and the Primary Care Trust.

Residents will be able to find out the current situation with regard to the proposed health centre.

Councillor Kitterick started off this item by explaining his position in relation to the development of the Health Centre. He explained that he had changed his position and had come to the decision to represent resident’s wide range of views, but mostly those who were opposed to the new Health Centre.

Simon Gould, from Assura gave a presentation on the proposed health centre. He covered the following areas:-

-          Why a new centre was needed – mainly because the existing building was not suitable for current needs.

-          Why this site – it was a good location which would be central for both students and residents.

-          Why other sites were not possible – they were either too out of the way or due to land values, it wasn’t possible to compete with housing developers.

-          How the centre would be funded – Assura were a private developer who would purchase the site and build the centre. The Health Centre would then pay a regulated level of rent to Assura.

-          Other facilities on the site – there would be an ancillary pharmacy and no other commercial activity at all. The site would have a restricted covenant which would prevent any kind of other use of the site in future.

-          Car Parking – the Council had requested an increase in parking spaces from 16 -22. Reconfiguration of double yellow lines on Victoria Park Road was also being considered.

-          Sustainability – the building would be built to the BREEAM (the industry sustainability measurement standard) level of ‘Excellent’ which was the highest possible measure.

Residents raised a number of questions on the following areas:-

Would the building meet the One Leicester aim of being carbon neutral?

It wouldn’t be carbon neutral, but meeting the BREEAM excellent standard would mean that it would address a wider range of sustainability issues such as ecology, energy use and sustainability. Plus the new building would be more sustainable than the existing building.

Was there a report available which gave more details about the unsuitability of the existing health centre site?

Laura Norton from Leicester City Primary Care Trust explained that a survey of all GP surgeries had been undertaken considering 9 issues, such as physical condition, environmental impact and potential for development. This had shown that the existing Freemans Park health centre was in the worst condition of all health centres in the city. Laura offered to provide the report.

Is the existing health centre and would the new one would be just for students?

Practice Manager, Samantha Rogers explained that of the current 15000 patients just under 50% were aged 18-24, the rest were outside of this age group. It wasn’t monitored whether they were students or not. Students did not receive preference. The health centre was currently not taking any new patients as it been given clearance not to do so because of its lack of capacity.

It was queried whether other surgeries in the local area had open lists and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The local City Warden will be in attendance at the meeting to give details of the One Clean Leicester initiative which is putting extra resources into cleaning the city and taking measures against those who make it dirty.

This item was deferred.

A resident expressed concern that people were having barbecues on Victoria Park and this was not being addressed.

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.

Francis Connolly, Member Support Officer will give a brief overview on the current position with regard to the Community Meeting budgets for the current financial year.

The following applications have been received for consideration at this meeting:-

B1) Centre for Indian Classical Dance – request for £4,533 (the project also covers the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards – both contributing the same amount.) support an administrator for a programme of workshops which aim to give education on how to lead a healthy way of life and develop cultural exchange.

B2) Wimbledon Fever – a request for £307 to support a tennis coaching programme.

B3) Highfields Area Forum – a request for £2666.67 (the project also covers the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards – both contributing the same amount.) for funding of a consultant to undertake the development of an area plan for Highfields.

B4) A Taste of Africa – a request for £475 for a programme of cultural events, through food, readings and music to promote the cultural heritage of Africa.

Francis Connolly, Member Support Officer outlined the position with the Community Meeting budget, noting that there was a total of £17,000 available at the beginning of the financial year, but a previous commitment to fund a project at a meeting last year meant that there was now £14,814 left in the budget for the current year.

The following applications were considered and decided upon at the meeting.

B1)   Centre for Indian Classical Dance – a request for £4,533 (the project also covered the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards) to support an administrator to support a programme of workshops which aimed to give education on how to lead a healthy way of life and develop cultural exchange.

RESOLVED:

That the application be rejected as it wasn’t felt that the project was feasible and didn’t provide suitable obvious benefits for the Ward’s residents.

B2) Wimbledon Fever – a request of £307 to support a tennis coaching programme.

Members proposed to reject this application because it didn’t demonstrate obvious benefits for Castle Ward residents, however a refined future application which did meet this concern would be considered.

RESOLVED:

That the application be rejected on the basis that there were not clear benefits to the residents of the Castle Ward.

B3)   Highfields Area Forum – a request of £2,666.67 (the project also covered the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards) for the funding of a consultant to undertake the development of an area plan for Highfields.

Councillor Kitterick commented that whilst it was only a small part of the ward, there were a number of issues in South Highfields which did need addressing.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £1000 be allocated, from the Community Cohesion budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

B4)   A Taste of Africa – a request for £475 for a programme of cultural events, through food, readings and music to promote the cultural heritage of Africa.

B5)   Leicester Interfaith Gardening Work Project – a request of £1,320 to, carry out a programme cultural events and to host visitors from overseas.

For both the B4 and B5 applications Councillors felt that the applications didn’t specifically outline how the residents of Castle Ward would benefit from these proposals and that they didn’t address a specified need within the ward. It was also commented that the Community Meeting budget would not always be the most appropriate means of funding all projects. John Coster commented that he was happy to work with projects to enable identify funding opportunities.

RESOLVED:

that that applications be rejected at this point, but further details were welcomed about how the projects would benefit residents of the ward.

Late application) Queens Road Autumn Fair – a request of £3000 to fund road closures, security, first aid, decoration etc for an autumn fair to be held on Queens Road, for an event which aimed to integrate the new student arrivals to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The next meeting would be held in the City Centre and would be considering issues relating to licensing, particularly in relation to pubs and other late night establishments.

The meeting closed at 9.05pm.