Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Westley was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Inspector Toby Day.

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. No declarations were made.

The minutes of the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting, held on 3 March 2010, 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.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2010 be agreed as a correct record.

• Introduction of Inspector Toby Day
• Local Issues Update including developments on illegal motorbikes and drug arrests
• Positive Community work (focus on young people)
• How to protect yourself from being a victim of crime
• Domestic Violence

Sergeant Rich Jackson and PC Martin Birch gave an update on the policing ward priorities, as described in their newsletter. Sergeant Jackson pointed out that there had been a significant reduction in the numbers of incidents of core crimes in the last quarter. He highlighted issues and progress as follows:

DRUG MISUSE: Work had been very successful. Arrests had been made, high value items seized and a cannabis factory found. Work was being done on a house eviction. A car driver had been remanded following being found with cash and heroin. Community contacts had assisted with these successes. Thanks from residents were expressed, as it had previously been difficult to raise the issue with young people.

UNDERAGE DRINKING AND SMOKING: residents had been reporting issues and a designated van to tackle antisocial behaviour was soon to patrol key areas.

MOTORCYLES: There had been a press release on the issue of nuisance motorcycle use. Several motorcycles had been recovered and destroyed. There was a single point of contact for reporting incidents. These had been sporadic this year, and an improvement on previous years, and it was felt that joint working with Highways officers to restrict access to certain areas had achieved this successful result.

Philip Thomson from Highways reported that two features had been installed on the Black Pad and rear of Osprey Road. These were lockable bollards and a horse stile. Councillor Dempster stated that it had been agreed that three features would be installed, and Philip reported that there were three, as one existing feature had been left in and funds were limited.  Councillor Dempster asked that residents who had raised the issue should be consulted again to ensure that the features had achieved the desired outcome.  Philip agreed to write to these people asking for their feedback.

WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE:

It was reported that various activities were taking place to interact with young people, such as football events and attendance at youth clubs. A drama group had been set up at Babington College, which gave young people who were at risk of offending an understanding of the criminal justice system and the consequences of their actions. This activity also counted towards GCSE work.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

Work had been done to raise the profile of domestic violence, as there was a high incidence in Beaumont Leys. There was a single point of contact for this issue and officers were leading on policies and procedures to tackle the issue, including offering support, bringing to justice, prevention and management. Dedicated officers attended incidents and wore head cameras to record for potential future prosecution. These officers were accompanied by a representative from Women’s Aid and had support packs for victims.

SUMMER BURGLARY:

Residents were reminded to be vigilant and lock all doors and windows during the summer. There had also been a trend of bicycle theft and it was advisable to revise security of outbuildings where they were kept.

The Chair thanked the officers for their hard work and success. He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Leo Daniels, Neighbourhood Housing Manager will give details about successful projects involving young people in Beaumont Leys created by the Future Jobs Fund.

Leo Daniels, Neighbourhood Housing Manager, gave an update on the Future Jobs Fund, explaining that it assisted 18-24 year-olds by offering placements if they had been unemployed more than six months. This allowed them to gain skills and a work ethic, and a reference. Over a thousand young people had been taken on the programme in Leicestershire and the City Council had taken on 100, some of which were working on projects in Beaumont Leys, such as clearing Home Farm car park, Cross Hedge Close, Tilling Road and Bluegates Road. Work had also been done at Babington College to clear woodland for use as an outdoor classroom. It was hoped that some of these young people would gain apprenticeships with the Council. Leo reported that there was sufficient funding to retain the scheme for a year, but its future was uncertain following government decisions.

Leo Daniels, Neighbourhood Housing Manager will give details about how the Environmental Works Budget can be used to benefit Beaumont Leys.

Leo Daniels, Neighbourhood Housing Manager, explained the Environmental Works budget, stating that £142,000 had been allocated to Beaumont Leys and Abbey for projects to tackle large environmental projects that affected housing land and property. He stated that he aimed to set up a group of people, including residents, to work up ideas on how to allocate the funding for submission to the next meeting.

Councillor Westley stated that he, as Cabinet Lead had approved this funding across the city, and hoped that residents would get involved in preparing ideas for appropriate projects. Leo stated that this funding could also act as a catalyst for regenerating certain parts of the ward wand bring in additional funding.

Carlym Sandringham invited residents to a fun day and health event at Barleycroft Healthy Living Centre on 9 August. There would be a range of fun activities and health promotions. The Chair encouraged all to support this event.

Helena O’Brien, Conservation Officer, introduced a proposal to create a wetland on an extensive area of the Castle Hill Country Park. This would replace low quality grass land and introduce reed beds, ponds, meadow and trees to provide a habitat for a variety of wildlife, and also be a pleasant area for visitors. It would contribute towards the City’s biodiversity plan. There would be a feasibility study and public consultation. Funding would be largely sought from Biffa.

It was noted that there was to be a walk in the area on 9 June, meeting at Astill Lodge Road. The Chair expressed his support and enthusiasm for the scheme.

Matthew Davidson introduced himself as the new City Warden for Beaumont Leys. He stated that he would deal with litter, flytipping, dog fouling and other environmental issues. He asked residents to keep him informed of issues. He also reported that a recent project had taken place to reduce the number of abandoned trolleys.

The Chair welcomed Matthew and asked that he give updates on his activities at future community meetings.

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 application:

B1) Budget Statement

B2) Save Our Benches

B3) Tuesday Friends Projects – Christ the King Church

B4) Boxing Club

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer, introduced applications for funding that had been submitted. He reported that three applications were received after the agenda was published, and papers were circulated at the meeting for these. He reported that, at the last meeting, it had been agreed to part fund the Police/ Mash Up bid with £1350 from the 2010-11 Ward Action Plan budget.

New applications were considered as follows:

Installation of sleepers to stop cars parking on grassed area at Paterson Close - £1069 from Community Fund

A resident outlined the problems and dangers faced at the site. Members agreed that such work was needed, but wished to defer consideration of the application for an investigation into whether the funding could come from other Council budgets. A representative of Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Association stated that residents should work with the Association to support each other with such issues.

RESOLVED:

that consideration of the application be deferred to allow for investigation into whether the work could be funded from other Council budgets.

Tuesday Friends Projects, Church of Christ the King – Summer outings for young parents and isolated older people - £1500 from Community Fund

It was noted that this was deferred at the last meeting for the submission of a more coherent bid. Reverend Ford gave details about the bid, stating that it offered links between local people, as some of the young people were helping out with the older people’s activities. Members discussed whether it would be more appropriate for activities for homeless families to be funded directly by the Council, but acknowledged pressures on the budget. It was agreed that the Chair would contact the Director of Housing Strategy and Options on this matter. 

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £1500 be allocated from the Community Fund, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

Unity Boxing Club, ABA affiliation - £546 from Community Fund

Ajmal Butt gave an update on the success of the club, noting that ABA affiliation would offer a development path for users, even to the Olympics. The club was currently full and here was further demand. Several high profile professionals were working with the club. The meeting noted that boxing had increased in popularity and the Council had recently funded a Boxing Development Officer post, recognising boxing’s benefits and positive impact.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £546 be allocated from the Community fund, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

Boxercise4health, Boxercise to music courses - £1000 from the Community Fund

Residents and Members expressed support for the application, and it was noted that this fitted with the Ward Action Plan priorities.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and £1000 be allocated from the Community Fund, subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Residents were invited to a consultation and community engagement event at Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood Association on 26 June 11am to 4pm. This event would celebrate one year of the facility being open and to find out what was being done well and what should improve.

The meeting closed at 7.55pm.