Agenda and minutes

FORMAL SESSION

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Dempster was elected Chair for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Paul Westley.

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 might have in the business on the agenda and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1972 applied to them.

There were no declarations.

The minutes of the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting, held on 15 September 2009, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record. 

The meeting was asked if there were any comments or clarifications on the minutes of the previous meeting.

There were no comments.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th September 2009 were confirmed as a correct record.

Samuel Larke from the ‘Enterprise as a life’ project will be in attendance to give a short presentation on the services which they can provide to people looking to start up their own business.

Samuel Larke from the Enterprise as a Life project was in attendance at the meeting and gave a brief presentation on the services which the project could offer.

Samuel explained that this was a European Union funded project which sought to give people support who wished to start up their own business. One to one support and the services of specialist consultants were part of what was on offer. He said that people only needed to come up with an idea and they could help from that point onwards. He noted that 8 people had approached the project already and 1 was now running their own business.

A resident suggested that Samuel linked up with the Multi Access Centre based at Braunstone Working. Samuel confirmed that this was already happening.

The Chair thanked Samuel for attending the meeting.

An update will be provided on the key areas of the Ward Action Plan:-

- Street Cleaning – Environmental Services

- Crime / Anti Social Behaviour

- Youth Services

STREET CLEANING

Barbara Whitcombe, City Warden Manager gave the meeting a presentation which outlined the work areas which the City Wardens would be undertaking and gave residents the chance to give their opinions on areas which needed a greater focus to keep them clean.

The following areas were raised as needing extra cleansing attention.

- Black Pad – issues were raised at a public meeting with regard to bin clearance, dog fouling and litter.

- Barleycroft shops – problems with litter left by school pupils at lunchtimes.

- Heacham Drive to Christ the King Church – bus shelters with litter problems.

- Astil Lodge Estate – problems with dog fouling – it was queried whether prosecutions ever took place? Barbara confirmed that they did and a press release would soon be going out.

- The area near the BMX track at the rear of the leisure centre – there was a problem with dog fouling and trolleys being dumped.

- There were fly tipping problems at the back of Blue Gates Road and Pitchens Close.

- There were dog fouling problems on Castle Hill Park, even though dog mess bins had been installed.

- It was queried whether fines could be levied on horse owners for horse fouling on bridleways? Barbara said that this wasn’t possible.

The Chair in summary recommended that the Head of Communications at the Council be approached to put an article in the Link Magazine as well as the  press release on dog fouling prosecutions. She also asked that a letter be sent, and signed by the Chair to the Head of Parks with a request to put some dog mess bins in the area around the BMX track.

YOUTH SERVICES

Kim Thorrington gave the meeting an update on the projects which had been funded through the Ward Community Fund. He said that the general idea behind the projects which had been supported was to reach those young people who wouldn’t normally engage with Youth Services.

Young Parents Group

This had become well established with a number of the members training to become Youth Workers and to lead the group themselves. It was undertaking various activities such as a residential visit to provide advice for sexually active young people and doing similar in schools and youth clubs.

Friendship Group for Young People with Mental Health Problems

This was a project aimed a young people suffering from a range of conditions such as depression, bi-polar and Autism. The group was about giving of support for each other and providing some fun as well.

‘Street Corners’

This was a youth action group, led by young people. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Leo Daniels – Neighbourhood Housing Manager for Beaumont Leys will give an update on the Housing Capital Receipts Initiative. He will outline the proposals which have been received to make improvements in the ward which residents can give their views on.

Leo Daniels, Beaumont Leys Neighbourhood Housing Manager gave the meeting a brief outline of the proposals from the Ward, which had been put forward for consideration under the Housing Capital Receipts Initiative. This was a scheme where money received from the sale of Council properties or land was used to pay for improvements.

There were 6 bids. A ‘Performance Panel’, made up of tenant’s representatives, would consider the bids alongside those from the rest of the city and decide which ones would be successful.

- 9 flats at 285 Butterwick Drive - This would be a range of improvements such as clearing greenery, block paving, fencing, brick cleaning, rendering, door painting and double glazing.

- Beaumont Crescent – This would be new flooring to communal areas in flats and PVC cladding for the outside.

- 43-75 Blue Gates Road – It was intended to remove shrubbery and lay turf to make the area more manageable for maintenance.

- Amadis Road / Trigo Close – Again, this would be shrub removal, but using grass seed to replace.

- Lime Grove and Bluegates Road  – It was intended to double glaze the open landing areas of a number of flats.

- Thornholme Close – security doors were proposed.

A resident suggested that people from the area could be involved in undertaking any improvements. Leo said that it would be possible to look into using people from the Community Payback scheme. He was also happy to consider any other ideas which community groups may have.

Leo said that the final decision on which schemes were successful would be taken in April, he would report to the Community Meeting in June.

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 officer will give a brief update on the current budget position.

The meeting will consider the following budget applications:-

B1)            Friends of Castle Hill Country Park – Proposal for improvements to Castle Hill Country Park at a cost of £1211.

B2)            Babington Flying Club – Proposal to set up a radio controlled model flying club at Babington Community College at a cost of £975.52.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer gave the meeting an update on the current position with the budget. There was £14,292 remaining in all three budgets at beginning of the meeting.

The following budget applications were considered.

Beaumont Leys Flying Club – a proposal to set up a radio controlled model flying club at Babington Community College at a cost of £975.52.

Tony Edwards from the Club explained to the meeting that the he had some very touching experiences with the young people at the school, where it was clear that involving them in something like this, there were able to overcome barriers of race and religion. The Chair welcomed the fact that this project was making a difference.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £975.52 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

Friends of Castle Hill Country Park – a proposal for improvements to Castle Hill Country Park at a cost of £1211.

Troy Laver from the Friends group outlined details of the proposals, which included new benches, ‘V’ gates, bridges, tree & bulb planting and the purchase of a cordless drill.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £1211 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Association – a proposal for a Christmas disco for children and young people at a cost of £500.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £500 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

Evergreens Club – a proposal for a Christmas lunch and coach hire at a cost of £500.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £500 be allocated from the Ward Community Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Association – a proposal for brush seals to provide noise elimination at the Neighbourhood Centre, at a cost of £434.70.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £434.70 be allocated from the Ward Community Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

North West Unity Boxing Club – a proposal for insurance cover for the boxing club at a cost of £650.

Steve Letten suggested that quotes for the insurance be sought, before this application was approved. Councillors however felt that even if the insurance was less than the amount applied for, it was a worthwhile project which could make use of any extra money.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £650 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan Fund subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 1 March 2010.

The next meeting would be held on Monday 1 March 2010.

The meeting closed at 5.35pm.