Agenda and minutes

As the intended venue for the meeting was unexpectedly unavailable, it relocated to The Western, 70 Western Road, LE3 0GA.

In order to allow people time to arrive at the new venue, the start of the meeting was delayed until 7.00 pm and no Information Fair was held.

Councillor Russell was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Councillors were asked to declare any interest they had in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

Councillor Connelly declared a personal interest in the application for grant funding from King Richard III Infant and Nursery School, under agenda item 10(b), “Ward Community Meeting Budget 2010/11”, as his daughter was a pupil at that school.

Councillor Russell declared a personal interest in the application for grant funding from King Richard III Infant and Nursery School, under agenda item 10(b), “Ward Community Meeting Budget 2010/11”, as her daughter was a pupil at that school and she was the Chair of the Governors for the school.

The meeting noted that, In view of the interests declared by the Ward Members, the views of the meeting would be passed to the Cabinet Member Health and Community Involvement to be decided.

The minutes of the Westcotes Community Meeting held on 20 September 2011 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The meeting noted that:-

·           The street referred to in minute 19(c)(iii), “Ward Community Budget 2011/12 – Grant Applications: Ward Members – Cycle Racks on Bede Street”, was Briton Street, (not Bede Street);

·           The cycle racks proposed for Briton Street had not been installed yet, but this should be done by the next meeting.  The Co-op store would be asked to contribute to the cost of these;

·           The Council’s Community Safety team was considering how an alcohol-free zone could be introduced in to Bede Park.  (Minute 15, “Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Last Meeting: c) Minute 5, ‘Bede Park’ “, referred); and

·           Although residents were grateful that a sign had been put up on the slide in Bede Park in an effort to reduce anti-social behaviour there, it could not be seen in the dark and was being ignored by many people.  In addition, anti-social drinkers were still congregating in the Park.  (Minute 18, “Police Issues Update”, referred).

AGREED:

                   That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2011 be agreed as a correct record, subject to minute 19(c)(iii), “Ward Community Budget 2011/12 – Grant Applications: Ward Members – Cycle Racks on Bede Street”, being amended to read as follows (new text shown in italics):-

“iii) Ward Members – Cycle Racks on Bede Briton Street

Councillor Connelly presented a verbal report of a request from members of the public for cycle racks to be provided on Bede Briton Street, outside the new Co-op store, so that cyclists could secure their bikes while they went shopping.  It was proposed that two racks should be installed, at a cost of approximately £250 each.  The bollards currently there would not be removed.

AGREED:

i)       that a grant of up to £500 be supported for the installation of two cycle racks on Bede Briton Street; and

ii)      that the Co-op store on Briton Street be asked to contribute towards the cost of installing the cycle racks agreed above.”

Officers from the Waste Management service will be at the meeting to provide an update on the new orange bag recycling scheme and answer any questions that residents may have.

Cristina Calleja, (Waste Minimisation Officer), advised the meeting that the new recycling scheme had started 6 weeks previously.  At this time last year, approximately 150-160 tonnes of materials were being recycled, but by week 5 of the new scheme this had increased to approximately 300 tonnes of recycling being collected from the kerbside.  This showed an increase in the kerbside recycling rate from 9% to 18%.  It was hoped that the new scheme also would encourage people to use recycling centres more.

The meeting expressed its appreciation of the new scheme and was advised that:-

·           The orange recycling bags should not ladder or tear all the way down if pulled.  However, a faulty batch had been received from the manufacturer, in which the bags had torn more easily than they should have done.  If households received a roll of faulty bags they could contact the Council’s Customer Services to have them replaced;

·           Refuse would be collected as usual over Christmas apart from households that have a Tuesday collection. These residents will not receive a collection on Tuesday 27th December and extra waste can be placed for collection the following Tuesday;

·           The Council did not want to change to fortnightly waste collections, especially in areas such as Westcotes, which had dense concentrations of housing.  However, consideration was being given to whether smaller bins could be provided, to further encourage people to recycle more;

·           Consideration was being given to whether it would be effective to give households in some areas orange refuse bins for their recycling materials, or to increase green waste collections in some areas; and

·           If problems were experienced with orange bags blowing around, they could be weighted down with items such as jars or bottles, as there had been no reported problems with including glass in the bags.

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the Westcotes Ward

Jamie Stubbs, (City Warden for the Westcotes Ward), invited the meeting to raise any issues of concern.

Some concern was raised that Jamie Lewis Residential appeared to be burning rubbish on land that it owned.  In reply, Jamie Stubbs advised that it was not possible to stop people leaving rubbish on their own land, or burning it there.  Residents were concerned that the situation could get worse when the development of new student accommodation started.

Officers from Leicestershire Constabulary will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in Westcotes Ward

Sergeant Simon Barnes of Leicestershire Constabulary updated the Meeting as follows:-

·           The Police had written a strong letter to the City Council about the way in which planning policies regarding student accommodation currently were framed and operated;

·           The Ward had gained a PC and a PCSO.  Although this was welcome, it was recognised that they had been relocated from elsewhere in the Local Policing Unit;

·           Although the country’s population had increased to 75 million, the number of police officers employed nationally was the same as it had been when the country’s population was 40 million.  This situation was unlikely to change.  Locally, the City Centre population was likely to increase by 40,000 due to developments for which planning permission had been given;

·           A new Neighbourhood Link initiative had started.  Regardless of where someone lived, they could log on to neighbourhoodlink.co.uk and sign up to receive information on issues of interest for their area.  They would then receive e-mails periodically about these issues, which would contain links to items of interest;

·           Locally, robberies had been targeted, as a result of which they had only increased by 6 over the same period last year, rising from 36 to 42.  The majority of these involved students leaving windows and doors open, so the police were working with De Montfort University to educate students about this;

·           Crime statistics were as follows:-

o  9 burglaries other than dwellings, a reduction from 25 over the same period last year;

o  7 robberies, a reduction from 11 over the same period last year;

o  7 thefts from persons, a reduction from 21 over the same period last year;

o  38 thefts from motor vehicles.  Most of these were due to people leaving items on display in their vehicles.  Work to educate people not to do this was on-going; and

o  11 anti-social behaviour incidents, which was an increase from 9 over the same period last year.  Positive outcomes had been seen in 5 of these cases;

·           A sign had been put up on the slide in Bede Park to deter people from misusing it.  Initially, there had been a problem with fixing the sign, as it was made to go on a lamppost, but the Council had successfully adapted it.  Some concern was expressed that it could not be seen at night, but Sergeant Barnes confirmed that it could be seen by people using the park during the day and the Police were satisfied that the sign was robust and would stay fixed to the slide;

·           Big Johns on Narborough Road had received a late licence for food only until 2.00 am.  Comments on this could be made on the City Council’s website; and

·           An application to use 2 Equity Road as a bar/food location had been received.  The deadline for comments on this was 10 December 2011.

With regard to applications for bar/food locations, the Ward Members advised that they were commenting that the area was at saturation point for these.  To date, this had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Councillor Connelly will give an update on planning and development issues in the Westcotes Ward.

a)     Student Accommodation

Councillor Russell advised the meeting that the development of a large block of student flats at the side of the Equity Shoes development had been approved at the Council’s Planning and Development Control Committee meeting on 22 November 2011.  This would have 5 storeys on the Western Road side and 8 overlooking Bede Park. 

An artist’s impression of the new development, (provided by the developer), was circulated at the meeting.

It was noted that Councillor Connelly had spoken against this development at the Committee meeting, due to the proposed size of the development and the way it would overshadow Bede Park.

After the elections in May 2011, the possibility of holding a student accommodation summit had been discussed with the City Mayor, along with how current planning policy could be changed to address these situations.  The summit had been held and planning guidance on student housing was being written, to try and find a balance between the need for student housing and the needs of the local community.

In the meantime, a moratorium on creating more student accommodation had been announced, although this only applied to new applications, not those already in the planning system.  Residents questioned whether developers would be able to fill all of the student housing being provided, as student numbers were likely to decrease.

Steve Brown, (Team Leader – Planning Management and Delivery), confirmed that the planning application referred to above had been received in July 2011, so did not fall within the moratorium on creating more student accommodation.  Officers had recommended approval of the application, after a long application process that had included substantial redesigns and reductions in the size of the building.

It was acknowledged that this would be a very large building, that would change the look of the area, but the view had been that, under current planning policy, the scheme was acceptable.  If refusal had been recommended, this could have been challenged at appeal, which could have incurred substantial financial consequences for the Council.

Residents expressed concern that their properties would be devalued and they would not be able to sell them once the new accommodation had been built.  In addition, many students had cars, so current parking problems would be made worse.

Steve Brown explained that potential parking problems had been considered throughout the planning process, including the impact that existing student accommodation had had on the area.  Consequently, the approval for the development contained a condition that strictly enforced a management plan that stated that students could not bring cars to this accommodation.  This would be enforced through not allowing students to buy in to the existing residents’ parking scheme.  Any breaches would be investigated and appropriate action taken, (for example, issuing a breach of condition notice or prosecution through the courts).

Councillor Connelly explained that his general concerns were:-

·           Pre-application discussions between planning officers and developers in 2007 had suggested that there could be 5 storeys on one side of the development and 8 on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

Councillor Russell will advise the meeting of new community funding streams

Councillor Russell advised that the government was making funding for community development available through the Community Development Foundation.  Money had been allocated for certain parts of the country, based on increases in the number of jobseekers and deprivation.  As a result, Westcotes qualified for just over £33,000.

To get this money, a panel of residents had to be established in the local area that comprised residents, businesses and voluntary organisations.  The panel had to be a voluntary body and had to have its own unique website.  It had to put together a 5 year plan of how it would improve its community and could consider applications for grants from £250 - £2,500, all of which had to be match-funded.  (If problems were experienced in finding match funding, consideration could be given to using some of the Ward Community Budget.)  A panel partner also had to be appointed.

All present were invited to supply contact details if they were interested in joining the panel for Westcotes.  It was noted that the Ward Councillors did not have to be on the panel.

The funding would be available for approximately 2½ years, but it was not known yet how the funding would be spread across that period.

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.

a)      An update on the 2011/12 Community Meeting budget will be provided.

b)     The following grant application is submitted for consideration:-

Project:           Year 2 Outdoor Pursuits Residential – in the cabins at Beaumanor Hall

Amount requested:     

£500 has been requested from both Westcotes Ward and Fosse Ward.

Total proposed income and expenditure is as follows:-

Applicant:      King Richard III Infant and Nursery School

Summary:

The school aims to provide all of its Year 2 children with the opportunity to go on a residential trip to Beaumanor Hall in Woodhouse, Leicestershire.  The challenge is to make it inclusive and affordable, whilst still offering a variety of adventurous activities not available in school, including a night away from home. 

Activities will include a treasure hunt, canoeing (at Quorn Hall), use of a rock wall (on-site), camp fire activities and outdoor adventures in the grounds and woods.  The objective, in line with Healthy School and Every Child Matters strands, is to develop independence, healthy lifestyles, outdoor learning and fun.

This is a new venture for the school, arising from the great success experienced when 12 of the school’s then Year 2 children attended a 6-week Outdoor Pursuits course during the last school year. 

Staff would like this year’s cohort of 60 children to experience this.  The aim is to make it affordable and productive and to cut down on the time taken going back and forth to the centre by using the residential facilities.  The children will have an evening meal in the Hall, sleep in a cabin in the countryside, have breakfast in the cabin and be provided with two days of packed lunches, as well as participating in a full programme of activities.

Half of the cohort (30 children) and 6 staff will travel by coach to Beaumanor Hall on 2 May 2012, to arrive in time for lunch.  The other half of the cohort and 3 staff will travel by coach  ...  view the full agenda text for item 30.

i)       King Richard III Infant and Nursery School

The meeting was reminded that both Ward Councillors had declared interests in this application, (see minute 23 above).

Councillor Russell introduced this item in her capacity as Chair of the Governors of the school, explaining that the school wanted to take all 60 of its Year 2 pupils to Beaumanor Hall for a residential outdoor pursuits visit. 

However, some children would not have suitable clothing and/or accessories and the school did not want this to be a barrier to them taking up the opportunity.  The school therefore proposed to buy something for each child.  It had raised a significant amount of money towards this, as well as finding other sources of funding, but there was a shortfall of approximately £1,200.  Applications therefore had been made to Westcotes Community Meeting and Fosse Community Meeting for grants of £500 from each one.

The Meeting agreed that trips of this sort were always worthwhile and very useful for the children involved.  On taking a vote, in which the Ward Councillors did not participate, it was unanimously supported.

AGREED:

That a grant of £500 to King Richard III Infant and Junior School towards the provision of items for Year 2 pupils attending a residential trip to Beaumanor Hall for an outdoor pursuits break be supported.

ii)     PS1011 Simon Barnes, Neighbourhood Police Team

The meeting noted that a grant of £88.92 had been agreed under the Council’s fast-track procedure for a permanent sign to be fixed to the large slide in the centre of Bede Park.

This would deter adult park users from climbing the slide out of hours, or in hours of darkness, and assist in being a tool for the Police to remove persons from the slide if no offences were committed but their removal was required to reduce noise and anti-social behaviour.

iii)    Manor House Community Association

Since the agenda had been circulated, an application had been received from the Manor House Community Association for a grant towards Christmas decorations.  This was tabled at the meeting.

The Association thanked the Community Meeting for its previous support and explained that this application had been submitted to enable the Manor House to be decorated for Christmas Fairs on 3 and 10 December.  Everyone was welcome to attend these.

Val Smalley offered to arrange for posters for these events to be displayed on the noticeboard in Bede Park.

AGREED:

That a grant of £500 to the Manor House Community Association for the provision of Christmas decorations be supported.

iv)    West End Association

Since the agenda had been circulated, an application had been received from the West End Association for a grant towards the installation of Christmas trees on properties on Braunstone Gate.  This was tabled at the meeting.

The Chair reminded the meeting that a similar application had been approved last year, when it was agreed that these decorations would not be funded by the Community Meeting every year.  It therefore was suggested that funding towards capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

If anyone is interested in attending meetings of the Forum for Older People, they will be very welcome.

Members of the Forum are aged 50+, or are from organisations representing older people. 

Meetings take place at the Town Hall, Town Hall Square, Leicester LE1 9BG and will be held at 2.00 pm on the following dates:-

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Tuesday, 10 April 2012.

If anyone is interested, please pass your details to any Council officer at the meeting and they will be added to the distribution list. (E-mail is the preferred method of contact.)

The meeting noted details of the Forum for older People and its forthcoming meetings.

The meeting closed at 9.10 pm