Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Cleaver was elected to Chair the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

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 interest they had 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. 

The minutes of the previous Eyres Monsell Community Meeting, held on 15^th December 2010, have been circulated and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous Eyres Monsell Community Meeting, held on 15^th December 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

The Ward Councillors will give an update on issues they have been involved in within the ward.

The Ward Councillors gave an update on issues they have been involved in within the ward.

Both Councillors paid thanks to the events committee for arranging the Christmas Event which was of great success, and hoped that such an event would occur on an annual basis in the future.

Councillor Palmer reported that the Eyres Monsell Community Centre was scheduled to re-open on Saturday 19 March following £100,000 of refurbishment works that had been undertaken.  When re-opened, the Centre would include a new reception area, a new kitchen and would allow the use of wi-fi.  Councillor Palmer stated that the revamped centre would provide significant benefit to those who accessed it. 

Councillor Palmer raised awareness of the work being led by Ben Manners at the local housing office to increase the support of volunteers working within the local community. 

Councillor Palmer stated that members had held meetings with representatives of the bus companies which operated in Eyres Monsell regarding ways of improving customer service.  In respect of this, several members of the public spoke of dissatisfaction towards the attitude of Thurmaston Bus drivers.  Councillor Palmer encouraged residents to report precise details of any particular incidents.  A resident was also of the view that it would be advantageous to re-instate the previous 68 Fox Cub service.  Councillor Palmer welcomed the suggestion but made it clear that it was difficult for the Council to exert authority over the bus companies, but suggested that representatives from relevant bus companies which operated in Eyres Monsell be invited to the next meeting to discuss concerns from residents and respond to suggestions to enhance service delivery. 

Councillor Cleaver reported that work had now been undertaken to alleviate the concerns around over-riding on the verge and bare ground problems at Kelso Green.

Sgt. Andrew Partridge will be attending the meeting to give an update on the Neighbourhood Policing Team’s work and the current priorities for the ward.

Sgt. Andrew Partridge was in attendance and gave an update on the Neighbourhood Policing Team’s work and the current priorities for the ward.

Sgt Partridge reported that levels of anti-social behaviour had reduced following the installation of CCTV, but was concerned that such incidents were now occurring on neighbouring streets; in particular Pawley Gardens. 

It was further stated that anti-social behaviour disturbances had also reduced outside Southfields Library following a series of interventions with the young people concerned.  A subsequent consultation with library users had been carried out which concluded that they were happy that the problem had been addressed.

Sgt Partridge explained that there was growing concern in relation to a series of low-level violent crimes that had taken place on Trenant Road.  He stated that these predominantly related to gang rivalries between pupils from different schools, and this was now a key policing priority in Eyres Monsell.

Concerns were voiced in relation to thefts of garden furniture.  In response, Stg Partridge confirmed that the police were aware of such a trend and stated that several perpetrators had been caught and dealt with.  He encouraged residents to ensure that items of garden furniture were appropriately secured overnight, and that he was also hopeful of gaining funding to provide security measures for residents’ gardens. 

Following concerns put forward from a resident, Sgt. Partridge agreed to investigate reports of young people playing football in the car park of the surgery on Pasley Road. 

In light of the police being based at Eyres Monsell Community Centre, it was questioned whether a direct telephone number for contacting them at the centre could be made available.  Sgt Partridge stated that he did not know whether a separate line would be installed but encouraged residents to continue to contact the police via 0116 2222222.  He added that the Police would in any case be more accessible once they were based at the Community Centre.  He did stress to those present that he did not envisage Police Officers being based permanently at the Centre as it was their priority to be out patrolling the local area.  Following a further query, he confirmed that a system would be in place to allow members of the public to leave messages for particular officers. 

In response to concerns raised in relation to the proposed Central Government cut in police resources, Councillor Palmer reported that strong representations would be made to the Home Office around concern on the level of the cuts and the likely consequent rise in the overall rate of crime.  Sgt. Partridge confirmed that the cuts were not presently likely to affect neighbourhood policing. 

Barbara Whitcombe, Team manager (City Wardens) will give a brief presentation on ‘One Clean Leicester’.

Barbara Whitcombe, Team Manager (City Wardens) was present to give a brief presentation on ‘One Clean Leicester’.

Barbara informed residents that in order to allow cleansing issues to be reported more quickly, a system was now in place to allow a photograph of such problems to be sent to the Council via I-phone, blackberry or by describing the problem as part of a text message.  Such incidents that Barbara requested to be reported in this way included dog-fouling, littering and fly-tipping.  The meeting heard that personal and sensitive information such as people’s faces and car registration numbers would be edited by officers. 

It was explained that each photo report would be allocated to an appropriate team of officers, and that particular cases could be monitored via the Council’s website. 

In response to concerns from several Members of the Public, Barbara confirmed that incidents were able to be logged via Ward Councillors and encouraged those who did not use the technology required to submit a photo report to alternatively notify a local Councillor. 

A resident reported that local football teams who played matches on Eyres Monsell Park had been leaving litter after their game.  Barbara explained that she was aware of such incidents and confirmed that the council was trying to work with the Football Association to address the problems.  It was also agreed that the City Warden would visit the park at times when these problems were likely to arise. 

A representative from the NHS will give a brief presentation on dental health.

This item was withdrawn.

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.

The following applications for funding have been received  and Councillors are asked to consider whether to support them.

Application 1

100% Best Attendance Project - £500

Police and Community Support Group

Funding for this project is being sought from Eyres Monsell, Aylestone, Freemen and Knighton Wards.

The following applications had been received and were dealt with as follows:

Application 1 – 100% Best Attendance Project – request for £500 from the Police Community Support Group

It was noted that this application encouraged school attendance.  The project was being facilitated by the Police, who had also sought funds from three other wards.  A similar project had been previously funded by the Community Meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £500 be granted with £429 allocated from the Ward Action Plan budget and £71 allocated from the Ward Community Fund  budget, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and the Leader of the Council.

Application 2 – Back to Netball – request for £745 from Val Kindred (Leicestershire County Netball).

It was explained that this application consisted of a 10 week course to encourage women to get back into Netball at a local venue targeted at mothers at the SureStart group.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £745 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan budget, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and the Leader of the Council.

Application 3 – Saffron Fete Expenses – request for £700 from the Saffron Fete Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £467 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan budget, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and the Leader of the Council.

Application 4 – Pampers Day (celebrating Motherhood) – request for £100 from Linwood Centre Chairers and Carers Group.

It was explained that this application was for an event for local Mothers to offer advice and support to each other and was also seen as a way of promoting the Linwood Centre.  It was noted that funds had also been sought from the Freemen Community Meeting. 

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £100 be allocated from the Ward Community Fund budget, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and the Leader of the Council.

Members also agreed to fund the remaining money for Highways Maintenance to help deal with potholes in the Ward.  Councillor Palmer stated that such work was required as a ward priority, given the detrimental condition of many roads following the recent harsh winters

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £1,720 be allocated from the Ward Community Fund budget, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and the Leader of the Council.

Ian Stapleton, Housing Area Manager for Saffron and Eyres Monsell raised awareness of estate inspections and walk-abouts and reported that these were publicised in each edition of the Monsell Mail.  He stated that the format of the inspections had changed, and this was partly as a result in the reduction of staff based at the Housing Office.  He appealed to those present to contact the Housing Office should they wished to participate in estate inspections.  It was explained that these presented useful opportunities for residents to identify issues that could be addressed.  Officers explained that a schedule of the inspections was available in the Housing Office.

Further to this, Ian stated that the door entry systems that had been recently installed on the flats on Featherstone Drive were to be extended to cover all neighbouring blocks. 

The meeting closed at 11:48am.