Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Bhavsar was elected chair for the meeting.

No apologies for absence were received.

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.

Councillor Marriott declared a personal and prejudicial interest in budget item B2: Friends of Mowmacre. Councillor Marriott agreed to leave the meeting during the consideration of the funding application.

Councillor Marriott declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in budget item B7: Community Trust Library, as his wife was a member. Councillor Marriott agreed to leave the meeting during the consideration of the funding application.

Councillor Marriott declared a personal and prejudicial interest in budget item B9: Community Events Planning Partnership as he was on the committee for this organisation. Councillor Marriott agreed to leave the meeting during the consideration of the funding application.

Councillor Byrne declared a personal and prejudicial interest in budget item B4 Welcome club. Councillor Byrne agreed to leave the meeting during the consideration of the funding application.

The minutes of the previous Abbey Community Meeting, held on 15 December, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the Abbey Community Meeting held on 15    December 2009 were approved as a correct record of the meeting.

New Ward Sergeant Michelle Zakoscielny will be introduced to residents to talk about ward police priorities and upcoming issues affecting the Ward. Residents have the chance to help shape police priorities in the Ward and tell the police how they are doing.

New Ward Sergeant Michelle Zakoscielny was introduced to residents and talked about ward police priorities and upcoming issues affecting the Ward.

Sgt Zakoscielny explained that she had been working in the area since June 2009 (the police beat in the area was formerly called 8 Beat), and the beat was now aligned to the Abbey Ward boundaries and was covered by 6 PCs and 6 PCSOs.

She said the police set three priorities for the area in consultation with the public usually every three months. It was emphasised that feedback from the community in the ward was vital in setting the local priorities. Once the issues around a priority had been resolved a new priority would be set.  The three current priorities for the Abbey ward were to deal with:

1)     Anti-social behaviour around Tophill park, especially quad bike and mini-moto use.

2)     Robberies on Abbey Park, which increased in the summer months.

3)     Shed thefts in the Abbey Rise area. It was stated that several alarms had been fitted on outbuildings in the area, as part of the focus on this issue.

Residents were invited to give their views on the ward priorities during the next agenda item.

Sgt Michelle Zakoscielny will lead a discussion about local issues that effect you. Residents have the opportunity to raise issues that affect them.

Sgt Michelle Zakoscielny led a discussion about local issues that affected residents.

Residents raised concerns about speeding traffic during the daytime on Dersingham Road especially as there were a lot of small children in the area. Sgt. Zakoscielny stated police would visit the street and carry out speed tests with handheld cameras (DIPs) and pass the data on the Council’s highways section. Residents also stated that speeding was also an issue on Parker Drive and Somerset Avenue, and that speed detection equipment on Parker Drive was faulty and inaccurate. The Chair stated that this would be raised with the Highways section of the council.

A resident stated that the problems with house burglaries on Parker Drive had improved with secure locks provided to some residents, but there was still an issue with shed burglaries. Sgt. Zakoscielny stated that the police were aware of this issue. The most effective way of catching culprits was by having police officers on the streets, and the police maintained as big a presence as possible with the officers they had available.

Residents also raised concerns about anti-social behaviour in the Leadbury Green area with groups of youths. It was stated that residents had an idea of the identity of the culprits but were unable to prove anything. Sgt. Zakoscielny stated that when feedback was provided to police they could start to deal with the problems and information could be given in confidence.

Sgt Michelle Zakoscielny will talk about recent successes in the ward achieved by partner community organisations working together.

Sgt Michelle Zakoscielny talked about recent successes in the ward achieved by the police and partner community organizations.

It was stated that crime in the area had been generally reduced recently overall by 40%. For example there had only been one house burglary in the ward in the last two weeks, when there would usually had been on average one a day. Sgt. Zakoscielny explained that plain-clothes police patrols in the area had led to increased arrests for burglary.

Sgt. Zakoscielny thanked PC Warren Heath, residents, the Council’s housing section and Councillor Byrne for their hard work and cooperation that enabled the recent closure of a local crack house by police. It was stated that this was a good example that showed that when residents talked to the police about issues in the ward, the issues could often be solved. It was hoped that similar successes would follow over the coming months and Sgt. Zakoscielny emphasised that residents could inform the police of problems in complete confidence.

The Chair thanked Sgt. Zakoscielny for her contribution.

There will a presentation on the rollout of the City Warden Service across the city and how this will benefit the Abbey Ward.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Warden Manager gave a presentation on the City Warden service.

Barbara explained that the City Warden service had initially been a pilot project that would now be rolled out to all wards in the city and every ward would have a City Warden from 12 April 2010.

Barbara informed the Community Meeting that from May 2010, the City Council would be launching a new service called “One Clear Leicester” whereby members of the public would be able to take a picture, send it to the City Council and then the team within the Council that was responsible for the issue would deal with the problem as quickly as possible.

Barbara explained that previously residents had identified the priorities for the ward and the City Wardens aimed to work on these areas along with problem hotspots they identified themselves when patrolling. These included littering, dog fouling, bins on streets and graffiti. The Wardens provided educational events and worked with the community, included school visits, carnivals and festivals.

Barbara said that the City Wardens had recently purchased litter pick kits to be used in Big Tidy Up litter picks across the city. Residents were informed that if they wanted to organise a litter pick in their area then they should contact the City Warden service who would help organise the clean up. The best contact for this was Angela Vodi on 2527001.

A DVD explaining further the services provided by the City Wardens was then played.

Barbara explained further some of the issues covered by the City Wardens:

·        Littering – The City Wardens had attended assemblies in schools across the city to educate children about littering.

·        Dog Fouling – There had been increased signage informing people of how to dispose of dog waste.

·        Bins on Streets – Barbara stated that fines were not issued to residents leaving their bin on the street straight away, only after the following process:

Week 1: a leaflet was posted through the door that informed the resident of the issue

Week 2: a card was posted through the door that informed the resident of services available if they had difficulties removing the bin

Week 3: a visit would be arranged from Council Officers.

If there was still no co-operation after a visit, only then would a legal notice be served resulting in a fine.

·        Fly posting – It was explained that last year 17,500 fly posters had been removed in the city. Clubs and individuals had also been prosecuted and club promoters in Sheffield no longer put up posters in Leicester as they were removed so quickly. 

·        Fly tipping – There were duty of care inspections where the waste disposal procedures of each business were inspected.

·        Graffiti – A fixed penalty could be issued if someone was caught writing graffiti. Offensive material was removed within 24 hours, however it could take longer for the removal of other graffiti especially if on private property, as permission of the property owner was required  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

Information will be provided to promote recycling and on how recycling rates could be improved.

Sophie Glover, Community Liaison Coordinator, Biffa provided information on recycling in the city. Currently 50% of the city recycled waste via the green boxes and Biffa wanted to work more with residents to increase recycling rates. Sophie said that currently 70% of waste was currently diverted from landfill and recycled. Waste went to the Ball Mill site at Wanlip, where recyclable materials such as metals and organic waste were extracted. Biffa only collected three types of recyclable waste in the green recycling boxes as there was not enough space in the city for residents to have separate bags for different recyclable materials. 

A DVD showing residents how to dispose of waste and how waste was processed was played.

A resident asked when recycling boxes would be made available at the flats at Kinley Road. Sophie replied that due to a lack of space boxes were not provided to residents in flats but recyclable material was extracted from the waste deposited in the main bins.

A resident questioned the lack of provision of dog bins in some areas and the European-style separate bins for different materials in the Highcross Shopping Centre was mentioned as a model for encouraging more recycling. Sophie stated that both these queries were dealt with by the Council’s City Cleansing section, but dog waste could be put into street bins if it was placed into plastic bags. As all un-separated waste in the city was processed at Ball Mill separate waste bins for different materials may not be that effective in increasing recycling rates in the city.

A resident asked what happened to the waste generated by students in halls of residence in the city as he was aware that it was classed as trade waste in Coventry. Sophie replied that this waste was not classed as trade waste in Leicester and Biffa had contracts with Leicester and De Montfort universities to collect waste from communal bins, and collected a lot of glass bottles in particular. Not all the student halls of residence were located in the city, but trade waste in the city was also sent to Ball Mill.

A resident asked what would happen if the main waste processing machine at Ball Mill broke down as it dealt with all the city’s waste. Sophie replied that it had broken down in the past on several occasions but repairs were done quickly so the service was unaffected. A team of engineers was onsite at all times; on one occasion when the site was affected by fire and the plant was out of action for a prolonged period collections were unaffected.

In response to a resident’s question Sophie stated that fortnightly collections in Leicester were very unlikely because the high population density meant a weekly collection was a neccessity.

The Chair thanked Sophie for the presentation.

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.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, will give a brief update on the current budget position.

The meeting will consider the following budget applications:

B1) Taxi scheme

B2) Friends of Mowmacre Easter Event

B3) Little Tykes Twinlakes Trip

B4) Welcome Club

B5) Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan Trust

B6) North West Unity Boxing

B7) Community Trust Library

B8) Boxercise4Health

B9) Community Events Planning Partnership

B10) Playground Landscaping

Steve Letten, Members Support Officer gave an update on the current budget situation. At previous meetings there had been a lack of applications but thanks to a publicity effort there were now eleven applications to consider.

B1) Taxi Scheme

Steve introduced the first budget application that was for £100 to pay for taxis for representatives from St Patrick’s Afternoon club to attend Community meetings. Kay Shorten of St Patrick’s Afternoon club explained that without the Taxi service members of the club would find it very difficult to take part in Community meetings and the Forum for Older People. Steve said that it was a relatively small amount of money that provided a valuable service for elderly representatives.

RESOLVED:

That the funding application for the Taxi scheme be supported to the value of £100 from the Ward Community Fund.

B2) Friends of Mowmacre Easter Event

Councillor Marriott, having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, left the room for the consideration of this item.

Steve introduced this application that was for £700 to fund an Easter event for children and parents on 8April.  Jacqueline Marriott, Friends of Mowmacre Treasurer explained that this event in the Easter holidays provided an opportunity to bring children of all ages and parents in the community together. Steve indicated that this event would be made available to parents and children in all areas of the ward not just Mowmacre Hill.

RESOLVED:

That the funding application for the Friends of Mowmacre Easter Event be supported to the value of £700 from the Ward Action Plan Fund, on the condition that the event be publicised in all areas of the ward.

Councillor Marriott returned to the meeting.

B3) Little Tykes Twinlakes Trip

Steve introduced this application that was an application for £1647 to arrange a trip to Twinlakes Family Theme Park in August for Little Tykes Parent and Toddler Group. Councillor Byrne explained that this trip was invaluable in giving local children a chance to leave local estates in safety for a day and experience a different environment. The application included provision for older children as well and parents would contribute towards the trip.

 RESOLVED:

That the funding application for the Little Tykes Twinlakes Trip be supported to the value of £1500 from the Ward Action Plan Fund, the remaining £147 would be funded by the group.

B4) Welcome Club

Councillor Byrne, having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, left the room for the consideration of this item.

Steve introduced this application that was for £1010 to fund various coach trips for the Welcome Club, an older persons social club.

A resident queried whether granting this application would be of much benefit to the wider community. It was felt that the club was a small, isolated group with membership limited to the Mowmacre part of the ward, and previously the club had been able to provide trips itself without financial support from Community Meeting funds.

Steve advised that conditions could be placed on any funds that required the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

A resident raised a concern about the condition of the road surface on Abbey Lane, especially near the Corporation Road junction as there had been a number of accidents and asked when it would be repaired. This concern would be passed on to the highways section.

Councillor Byrne announced that burglary reduction coffee morning mentioned at the previous meeting would be held at Stocking Farm Healthy Living Centre on 13 April at 10am. The police would be there to offer advice and money put aside from the Community fund could contribute to making properties more secure.

The meeting closed at 8:37pm.