Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Palmer was appointed as Chair for the meeting, and it was agreed that Councillor Cleaver would chair the next meeting.

Apologies were received from Justine Mulcahy.

Councillor Palmer introduced Councillor Cleaver, who was elected on 6 May 2010, and welcomed her to the meeting.

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.

Councillors were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or declare if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

Councillor Cleaver declared, for the avoidance of doubt, and in respect of the general business of the meeting, that she was a member of the Neighbourhood Management Board.

The minutes of the previous Eyres Monsell Community Meeting, held on 3 February 2010 have been previously circulated, and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

Due to the minutes not being available at the meeting, their consideration was deferred.

Anna Parr, Youth Worker, will give an update on progress with the Parkour Park.

Members of Leicester Parkour gave an update on progress with the development of the Parkour Park. It was reported that the layout had been marked, fences built and construction started. It was hoped that the site would be running in a few weeks’ time. The design had been checked for safety and amended accordingly. Residents’ issues had been negotiated successfully. The group were aiming to hold an official launch in July 2010.

In response to the meeting’s queries, the group explained that it would be open for anyone to use in the same way as a play area would. It would contain a variety of obstacles and would be on grass.

Anna Parr, Interim Youth Worker at the Magpie Centre explained that there would be a summer programme of sessions on how to use the site safely. Young people from the group were trained and would teach younger children.

Councillor Palmer stated that it was fantastic to see it taking shape and congratulated the group for their achievement, being one of the best youth-led projects in the city.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Manager, will introduce the new Eyres Monsell city Warden, Matthew Copley. They will explain the City Wardens’ work and discuss residents’ concerns.

Matthew Copley, the new City Warden for Eyres Monsell introduced himself and explained that each ward now had its own dedicated warden to deal with environmental and street scene issues. He had been learning about the area and identifying problem spots to concentrate on.  He asked residents to keep him informed of any issues of concern so that he could deal with them. The meeting discussed problems with rubbish on the Invincible site and Matthew said that extra patrols would seek to stop the site deteriorating again.

Hughie Blair, Graffiti Manager was present to explain that the Exchange site was one of three areas in the city that would benefit from a clean up of graffiti shortly, and more CCTV would be used to catch offenders. He explained that there had been no reply from the owners of the Invincible, so, unfortunately this could not be included without their permission. Residents asked about graffiti on bus stops and Hughie explained that contractors for the bus companies were responsible for these. Residents praised the work done on the walls of the Magpie Centre and asked if such work could be done on other buildings. Members of Leicester Parkour stated that graffiti art was a way of young people expressing themselves freely. It was noted that the issue of graffiti and providing places for such graffiti art was complicated and Councillor Palmer agreed that it would be looked at in more detail at the next meeting.

Officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Unit will give an update on policing activity in the area and discuss current priorities.

PC Tom Longden gave an update on current local policing priorities as follows:

1) Antisocial behaviour on Swinford Avenue and the shops.

Evidence had shown that there had been a reduction of incidents. He also outlined action taken against some offenders, including one Criminal Antisocial Behaviour Order (CRASBO), although residents were concerned that the person could not be named. Tom reported that this issue was being considered at court to see if this restriction could be lifted. If so, it would be reported in the Mercury and Monsell Mail, and distributed on Swinford Avenue. He also reported that a juvenile had been charged who had been causing significant problems,

2) Traffic campaign to reduce speeding around schools.

A high visibility campaign had been held 10-15 May and speeders stopped during school opening and closing times. A poster campaign was to be launched with the schools to reinforce the importance of keeping zig zag lines free.

Tom also encouraged residents to keep him informed of issues, and messages could be left for him at the housing office.

Residents suggested that the Monsell Mail be used as much as possible to keep people informed of policing issues, including the outcomes of arrests or charges.

The Council’s new OnePass for over-60s will be explained, and the discounts and benefits available will be outlined.

Councillor Palmer explained the new Onepass that was replacing Over 60’s bus passes and offered, in addition to free bus travel, a variety of concessions and discounts for services and at venues, restaurants and stores across the city. He urged recipients to make the most of the offers available and stated that passes were currently being automatically replaced.

Eligible residents welcomed the scheme, but questioned that a majority of the information was available on the internet and concessions were only available out of peak hours. Councillor Palmer stated that further offers were continually being negotiated in addition to the booklet that was sent out. This booklet would be updated annually, but Customer Services would be able to provide up to date information and the One Pass logo would appear in windows of participating businesses. He suggested that the issue be considered further at the next meeting to gain feedback and whether there were areas that could improve.

Ian Stapleton, Neighbourhood Housing Manager, will report back on the inaugural Eyres Monsell Awards.

Ian Stapleton, Neighbourhood Housing Manager, gave an update on several issues as follows:

MONSELL MAIL

Two issues had been published. He encouraged residents to provide information and articles for future editions, care of the Community Centre or by email. Residents congratulated the editorial team for the newsletter and asked how many there was funding for. Ian stated that four more editions could be funded, and costs were kept down by the hard work of volunteers in its production and distribution. He was looking into possible other sources of funding, such as sponsorship and local business advertising, but was conscious that such advertising should not take up the majority of the space.

THE EYRES MONSELL AWARDS (EMAS)

Ian reported that this had been a successful event, which recognised residents’ contributions to the quality of life in Eyres Monsell. He showed pictures of the event and thanked everyone involved for their work on the event.

THE INVINCIBLE

Ian reported that there had been complaints about rubbish and graffiti. It was the responsibility of the landowner to clear the site. Negotiations were taking place with the landowner for a legal agreement. A notice had been placed on the site which had recently expired and the company now had a period of time to appeal.

Councillor Palmer stated that he shared residents’ frustrations regarding slow progress with the redevelopment of the site, but said that there had been difficulties beyond anyone’s control, as the owning company had gone bankrupt and the site had changed hands for the fourth time since negotiations began. The current owners had been offered a last chance to put in a planning application before legal routes were explored.

COPS AND ROBBERS DAY

It was reported that an event was to take place on the Glen and park on 17 July 1-5pm with a Cops and Robbers theme. Funding had been obtained through a grant application from crimefighter training courses for activities relating to crime fighting. This was the only successful application out of a potential 46 people who could have applied. Ian said it was an absolute credit to those involved that they were able to get this grant. Information would be available about crime fighting issues on the day.

There will be an update from Councillors on issues they have been involved in.

Councillors gave an update on some of the issues they had been involved in, in addition to those on the agenda.

Councillor Cleaver stated that she had been working to address parking issues on Kelso Green. She had held a meeting with Ian Stapleton and Highways Officers to look into possible solutions and make life better for residents. She had also talked to residents about the issue. These would be followed by letters and questionnaires to residents before taking further action.

Councillor Cleaver also reported that both she and Councillor Palmer had worked hard to address issues of the likely closure of Saffron Court. They were doing all they could to support affected people and had looked at getting other organisations involved.

Councillor Palmer reported, with regard to the Pork Pie Island, that there had been 40% fewer accidents since the traffic lights had been installed. Residents expressed concern that the traffic lights increased pollution, due to queues, but Councillor Palmer felt that safety was of paramount concern, and that increased pollution was caused by more cars on the road.

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.

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer will give an update on the current budget position and outline applications that have been received.

The following application has been received for consideration at the meeting.

Application 1 – Eyres Monsell School Fete

Councillors have supported the following application, as it falls within the threshold for agreement between meetings. The meeting is asked to note the Councillors’ support.

Application 2 – Bike locks

Councillor Palmer introduced the applications that had been received, including applications circulated at the meeting.

With regard to Saffron Fete, he explained that Eyres Monsell should fund 40% of the bid to reflect the proportion of the ward’s residents who enjoyed the day.

The meeting discussed the application for dog waste bins, as it was unclear whether these bins would be combined waste bins as previously considered. It was agreed that if the bid was approved, it would be on the understanding that it was these combined bins that would be provided.

It was noted that the application for bike locks had been supported by Councillors outside the meeting, as it fell within the threshold for them to do so.

AGREED:

that all submitted applications be supported as follows for recommendation to the Leader and Cabinet Lead for approval:

·        Eyres Monsell School Community Fete, £1,220 from the Community Cohesion Fund

·        Dog waste bins, £5,100 from the Ward Action Plan (subject to the condition outlined above)

·        Saffron Fete, £680 from the Community Cohesion Fund

·        Cops and Robbers Community Summer Fun day, £500 from the Community Fund.

Residents were invited to the Annual Horticulture and Craft Show on 4 September. Councillor Palmer stated that it was a very successful event and encouraged everyone to support it.

It was suggested that a future agenda item could be the possibility of academies. It was agreed that this would be more appropriate at a stage when and if an actual proposal was formed.

The meeting closed at 7.55pm.