Agenda and minutes

Councillor Dempster was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Carolyn Pawsley and Ela Krychowska-Hall (Housing, Leicester City Council).

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 to be discussed.

There were no declarations of interest made at this time.

The minutes of the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting held on 4^th September 2013 are attached, and Members will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the last meeting of the Beaumont Leys Community Meeting held on 4^th December 2013 be agreed as a correct record.

The community meeting to receive an update from the City Warden.

Barbara Whitcombe, Team Manager (City Wardens), was present at the meeting to discuss the Council’s current consultation on providing city wardens with powers to distribute Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to people spitting on land open to air and would be enforced like littering. She informed the meeting there were byelaws that could be used to prosecute people caught spitting, but these went against the Council’s enforcement policy. She added that people prosecuted under byelaws would gain a criminal record, which the Council did not want.

Barbara said the Council had worked with Waltham Forest Council who were successful at a Magistrates Court when defending a decision to distribute FPNs to people spitting, as they had used evidence from a public consultation in their defence. Barbara said thousands of responses for the consultation were needed as evidence, and consultation would end on 6^th December 2013. She said that over 1,000 comments had been received to date.

Barbara said that money obtained through FPNs was put back into enforcement action, education and prevention. She added that work had taken place with some schools, there had been community litter-pick days and there were litter pick kits available for anyone to obtain from the City Warden service.

The Chair thanked Barbara for the update.

The Community Meeting to receive an update on Local Policing.

The Police apologised as they were unable to attend the meeting. They provided the following information which was read by the Democratic Support Officer:

·         The were no planned Problem Solving Plans (PSPs) for the area, although there was an active plan on Oronsay Road shops to deal with people drinking and public nuisance. The number of incidents were decreasing, though were still sporadic, and the police continued to patrol the area.

·         It was reported there was a substantial haul of what police believed to be ‘Mcat’ or mephedrone from a house in Beaumont Leys. The case was reported in the Leicester Mercury. The house was a council property and the police were in talks with LASBU to see if the tenant would retain their tenancy.

·         There had been a significant rise in the number of thefts of motor bikes which were then burnt out. The police crime prevention advice was to notify anyone with a bike to ensure they were brought in when not in use and secured.

·         The police also advised that over Christmas people should keep presents out of sight, and not to keep anything in cars or on show.

·         The police had visited the Heathley Park area to check reported parking problems. They had not identifed anyone parking illegally that could be prosecuted.

Residents said the police drugs raid was a job well done.

An introduction of the local representative for the Young People’s Council and their role will be given.

Babita Kumar, Youth Participation Worker, was present at the meeting as an advocate to promote the Young People’s Council (YPC).

The meeting was informed that people of 14-19 years of age (secondary school to college age) were elected to the Young People’s Council on a two-yearly cycle. Babita said the next round of elections would take place in January 2014. She said that if anyone wanted to get involved with the elections, then they should contact the YPC at the Town Hall.

Babita said taking part on the YPC was a good way for people to develop their social and communication skills, and was an empowering experience. Roles on the YPC could include organising events to bridge communication gaps, for example, between young and old.

Babita was thanked for her attendance at the meeting.

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 Community Meeting to consider applications for funding received from the Community Meeting Budget (Opening Balance £18,000), and summarised below:

Applications for consideration and received since the last meeting

i)          Belgrave Football Club Ltd (Joint Bid with Abbey and Belgrave&Latimer Wards)                                          £500.00

Application received for funding for better facilities ate Belgrave Football Club.

ii)         All Nations Church Leicester – Joe Shrigley (Joint Bid with Abbey and Fosse Wards)                                                                     £1,918.00

Application for funding for a new Debt Coach to provide debt counselling in Leicester.

Applications received since the last meeting and approved under the Fast-Track process:

(i)            Christ the King Church Tuesday Club – Christmas meal and trip for the elderly - £350

(ii)          Ur Choice Young Peoples Project – Half term activities October 2013 - £500

(iii)         The Phoenix Agenda – Awards Event 23^rd November 2013 - £500

The Members Support Officer introduced the budget applications that had been submitted since the last meeting. Members were informed that there was £6,868.80 remaining in the budget following the last meeting. Following the introduction a discussion took place on each application and, following the completion of the discussion there was a short recess to enable Ward Councillors to reach their decision on each application.

The following applications were considered by the Community Meeting

i)          Belgrave Football Club Ltd (Joint Bid with Abbey and Belgrave & Latimer Wards)                                                                            £500.00

Application received for funding for better facilities at Belgrave Football Club. The application was presented by Mr Goddard.

Members agreed to support the application in full.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported in full - £500.

ii)         All Nations Church Leicester – Joe Shrigley (Joint Bid with Abbey and Fosse Wards)                                                                                 £1,918.00

Application received for funding for a new Debt Coach to provide debt counselling in Leicester. The application was presented by Mr Shrigley.

Members were concerned that the issues the application would address were already in place, and would be duplicated.

RESOLVED:

that the application be deferred and officers work with the applicant to find out what services were in existence in the ward and the city.

iii)        2013 Xmas Gala Night/Get Together – NDI IGBO Leicestershire (Nigerian Community Association (Joint bid with Coleman and Fosse Wards)                                                                            £400.00

Application received for funding towards the organisation of an event. The funding was requested for assorted food and drinks towards the occasion.

Members had no comments to make and agreed to part fund the application.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported to the amount of £300

iv)        Community cohesion – End of Year Get Together – Leicester Malawi Association (LEMA) (Joint bid with Abbey and Stoneygate Wards)                                                                                               £200.00

Application received for funding towards the organisation of an event. The application was presented by Mr Guga. The funding was requested towards the cost of a venue, food, entertainment and publicity.

Members asked how many Malawi was resident in Beaumont Leys, as the funding application appeared to be citywide.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported to the amount of £150

Applications received since the last meeting and approved under the Fast-Track process:

(i)            Christ the King Church Tuesday Club – Christmas meal and trip for the elderly - £350

(ii)          Ur Choice Young Peoples Project – Half term activities October 2013 - £500

(iii)         The Phoenix Agenda – Awards Event 23^rd November 2013 - £500

Residents are invited to attend the meeting to discuss concerns in relation to parking on the estate.

Residents of Heathley Park Estate were invited to the meeting to discuss ongoing parking problems on the estate.

The Chair said it was recognised that there were ongoing issues and Councillors had met with Sunlight Laundry on several occasions. She said that the new owners might be open to suggestions from residents regarding issues.

Chris Middleton, Transport Development Officer, was present at the meeting and displayed a plan of the area with proposed changes outlined, as proposed by residents at the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting in September 2013, a copy of which is attached to the minutes for information. The following comments were made:

·         The majority of residents were in favour of the proposed changes to the double yellow lines.

·         The majority of residents wanted to remove the trees and shrubs on Heathley Park Road, to remove blind spots.

·         There were requests for extending the double yellow lines into Bramham Close.

Chris said a scheme would be prepared and would be presented to Councillors. New parking restrictions requested would follow a legal process that would take around four to five months to complete. Chris added an order had been made for the re-marking of yellow lines, and white lines at traffic calming islands which would improve safety.

Residents viewed and discussed the presented plan, and made the following comments:

·         Waiting restrictions. There were two-hour parking bays across from County Hall which were monitored once a month.

·         The Police had said people were not parking illegally, but it was not safe, particularly for children. With the parked cars driver could not see what was coming, or children who waited to cross the road.

·         Sunlight Laundry owners had said cars could not park on the car park as lorries required space to manoeuvre.

·         Residents should also park sensibly and not park across driveways.

·         The original planning application needed to be revisited to see what parking arrangements were planned on estate for Sunlight staff and Loros staff and visitors. Loros had improved their parking, though it had been reported visitors still parked on pavements in the area.

·         Some residents asked for parking restrictions to be removed. Any restrictions removed near to the Groby Road would result in traffic in the filter lane to turn into the estate getting stuck. It would also make it difficult for lorries and emergency vehicles to drive around the estate.

·         The Council introduced double yellow lines because there was an issue with parking and residents had asked for them.

·         Introducing restrictions would push the parking issue further into the estate, and would make it difficult for residents’ visitors to park.

·         The park and ride should be used and companies should provide a minibus for their staff.

·         A third party owned the Heathley Park pub car park. Restrictions were brought in because customers to the pub could not park in the car park.

·         Parking by Sunlight employees was also an issue for Stoke Close across the A50, and there had been several near misses.

·         Restrictions should be placed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The meeting closed at 8.24pm.