Agenda and minutes

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Rae Bhatia welcomed everyone to the Beaumont Leys Community Meeting.  He explained that he would be changing the order of the agenda at the request of some of the people who were presenting items, as they needed to leave early.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Action Log is attached for information and discussion.

Attendees were asked to note progress on the action log from the previous meeting held on 30 September as follows:

Minute item 14: Speedway

Councillors had met with the person responsible for running the Speedway. They were only using one piece of land; two other pieces were being leased from the council but not being used. The council had now contacted the Speedway and asked them to relinquish that land so that it could be used for other purposes.

Minute item 18. Patch Walks – Castle Hill Country Park

A petition had been submitted requesting playground equipment. The Council had agreed to make some money available during the next financial year.

The action log from the Beaumont Ley Community Meeting held 30 September 2015 was agreed as a correct record.

Steven Taylor, a Get Healthy Coach with Parkwood Healthcare will be present to talk about his role which involves working in the community and providing free advice, support and motivation to help people improve their lifestyle to get healthier.

Steven Taylor, a Get Healthy Coach with Parkwood Healthcare was present to talk about his role which involved providing advice and support to help people improve their lifestyle to get healthier: Attendees were asked to note that:

·         The scheme was run by the Leicester City Council alongside the Clinical Commissioning Group.

·         As part of the scheme, he provided one to one motivation and support.

·         He had regular access with sure start centres and worked to raise awareness relating to a healthier lifestyle.

·         He was often at the Beaumont Leys Library and asked people to contact him if they had any queries or if they would like some support.

The Chair agreed to an update from Krupa, Voluntary Action Leicester (VAL). Attendees were asked to note that:

·         She had been working in the community earlier in the day to raise awareness of the different support that was available through VAL. Currently there were few referrals from Beaumont Leys.

·         VAL offered a variety of support, such as business planning, writing applications and accessing funding. There were also volunteering opportunities.

Councillor Waddington suggested that Krupa spoke to the young people from Ur Choice as  to how they could access additional funding

Officers from Leicestershire Police will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in the Beaumont Leys Ward.

Police Sergeant Yakub Ismail provided an update on policing issues. He explained that his objective was to be as accessible as possible and he could be contacted by emailing  yakub.ismail@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk

·         He had responsibility for the Home Farm area; this was no longer a problem profile because the situation there had improved. The area would however be monitored.

·         There had been increased anti-social behaviour on Upper Temple Walk. The Police had applied a way-marker and the situation was improving.

·         There was anti-social behaviour on Oronsey Road where young people had been climbing onto bins and then onto a roof. There were plans to replace the bins with plastic bins and to use anti vandal paint as a preventative measure. There was also a great deal of graffiti; the Police aimed to set up an action group with local businesses to try to improve the area.

The Councillors will provide feedback on the patch walks they have undertaken since the previous ward community meeting.

Attendees were asked to note an update from the Councillors on their patch walks around Beaumont Leys. Points made included the following:

·         The patch walks illustrated where and what the problems were. Leafletting took place to give residents advanced notice and their participation in the walks was appreciated.

·         John Calvert Court which had been empty for about three years had attracted a considerable amount of vandalism and anti-social behaviour. A meeting had been held with Sanctuary Housing and Asra. It was hoped to develop a plan to market the buildings. There had also been anti-social behaviour on Milton Crescent; but the problem had been improved by adjusting the lights on the basket ball court,

·         Problems had been reported at Upper Temple Walk (owned by Asra Housing). Councillors were going to meet with tenants with the aim of making it a pleasanter place.

·         Councillors had also worked to improve problems in other areas including Thurcaston Road, Glebelands. and Harris Road.

Lee Warner, Senior Project Manager, Neighbourhood Services will provide an update on the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme which is expanding to the North West area of the city.

Lee Warner, Senior Project Manager, Neighbourhood Services and Adrian Wills, Head of Neighbourhood Services provided an update on the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme which was being rolled out in the North West area of the city.  Attendees were asked to note the update which included the following points:

·         The council aimed to protect services but by using fewer buildings.

·         Previous plans to do this had been put on hold, but the comments from prior consultations would still be taken into account

·         Further consultations, including consultations with young people would be held. People’s views were sought as to what services were valued and which buildings were used.

Councillors stressed that it was important for staff to have the opportunity to input into the process before it went out to public consultation.

Attendees were informed that this would be brought back to the next community meeting in March 2016.

Cheryl Wilson, Netball Activator will be present to talk about her role to encourage more women to play netball in Leicester City. 

Attendees were asked to note an update from Cheryl Wilson, Netball Activator. Cheryl explained that she was employed by Leicester City Council to promote netball. Cheryl explained that:

·         Netball could include traditional netball and walking netball.

·         Netball activities were taking place at Braunstone Leisure Centre and at Aylestone Leisure Centre. She had also been talking to Roy Cole, Facility Manager, Sports Services about using Leicester Leys.

·         The first few sessions were free; after that there would be a small charge (but no more than £3 per session).

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the Beaumont Leys Ward.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Matthew Davinson, City Warden. Matthew stated that he had received 11 complaints since the previous ward meeting, which included complaints relating to fly tipping, dog fouling, bins on streets and an obstruction on the highway.

Matthew had received three complaints through the Love Leicester app. Environmental problems could be reported either by using this free app,  by speaking to the city wardens or by contacting the service on 0116 4541001.

The meeting will receive an update on housing issues in the Beaumont Leys Ward.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Ramila Dhobi, Team Leader, Housing.

·         Some Improvement work in the ward had been carried out with funding from the Environment budget. Some young people had participated in the work and the councillors asked Ramila to thank those involved.

·         There were 37 empty properties; some of these needed extensive work to bring them back into use.

·         To date, 150 cases of anti-social behaviour had been reported in Beaumont Leys / Mowmacre and there had been 2 evictions per month between September and November.

·         770 housing repairs had been carried out in October.

Attendees were asked to note that due to government policy, there would be a reduction in housing rents, but this would result in a shortage in the housing revenue account, which would impact on the service.

In respect of Universal Credit, there was a concern that there would be a detrimental impact on rent arrears, as the resident would become responsible for paying their rent themselves. Councillors asked that more information be made available to help tenants understand the new system. Ramila explained that a considerable amount of information had already been sent out. Councillors suggested that it would be useful to arrange a meeting with officers from Housing and other agencies to try to work out an integrated approach in respect of the implementation of Universal Credit.

Councillors are reminded that under the Councillors’ Code of Conduct they should declare any interest they may have in budget applications.

a)    An update will be given on the Ward Community Meeting budget.

b)    A list of grant applications that have been submitted since the previous meeting are as follows:

Project: Women of Peace Initiative

Submitted by: Restorative Justice Initiative Midlands CIC

Amount requested: £1698

Project: Maintenance of Playing Field and Improved Security at Club House and Playing field areas

Submitted by Belgrave Rugby Football Club (joint bid to Abbey, Belgrave and Beaumont Leys)

Amount requested: £1000 from each Ward.

c)    Previous recipients of ward community funding have been invited to provide a verbal evaluation of the outcome of their project.

Hetha Copland, Neighbourhood Development Manager, presented the ward community meeting budget:

Project: maintenance of playing field and improved security at club house and playing field area.

Submitted by Belgrave Rugby Football Club (joint bid)

Amount requested: £ 1000

Councillors had previously agreed funding for the club and on this occasion decided not to support the funding application.

Project: Women of Peace Initiative

Submitted by Restorative Justice Initiative Midlands CIC

Amount requested: £1698

AGREED: that the funding application be supported in full to the value of £1698.

The following funding applications were received too late for inclusion in the agenda.

Project: Fiftieth anniversary celebrations

Submitted by: St Luke’s Church Stocking Farm

Amount requested: £500

AGREED: that the funding application be supported in full to the value of £500

Project: Tanglewood Youth and Support Group

Submitted by: Tanglewood Youth and Support Group (joint bid)

Amount requested: £381.25 from each ward.

Hetha stated that Councillors supported the funding bid but asked that families in Beaumont Leys benefited from the award and requested feedback on this. If the group could not demonstrate that families in Beaumont Leys had benefited from the grant, Councillors would be unlikely to support any further funding applications.

AGREED: that the funding application be supported in full to the value of £381.25

Project: Christmas get-together for Beaumont Leys young people and adults

Submitted by: Beaumont Lodge Neighbourhood CIC.

Amount requested: £500

AGREED: that the funding application be supported to the value of £500

Project: Support to our Lunch Club and Food Bank

Submitted by: Christ the King Church

Amount requested: £800

AGREED: that the funding application be supported to the value of £800

Project: Milton House Club

Submitted by: Barbara Edgar

Amount requested: £500

Funding was requested for a shed or similar structure to store mobility scooters at Milton House. As the funding application had just been submitted, Councillors stated that they would consider this outside of the meeting.

Project: Barley Croft Youth Centre (Ur Choice Young People’s Project)

Submitted by: Katie Nicholas

Amount requested: £1180.50

It was reported that the funding application had been submitted but not received by the Councillors. The young people presented the project and councillors explained that they would consider the application outside of the meeting.

Roy Cole. Facility Manager, Sports Services questioned whether it might be possible to meet up at the start of the financial year to draw up a forward plan of activities to avoid any duplication.  The Chair responded that this was a good idea in principle, but it would be difficult to manage as new community groups might be set and submit bids part way during the year.

Recipients of previous ward community funding were then invited to provide a verbal evaluation of the outcome of their project:

Community Advice and Law Service – Advice Sessions at Barleycroft Community Centre

Hetha Copland thanked the community meeting, on behalf of the Community Advice and Law Service, for the funding given. Attendees were asked to note that their sessions were held on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The meeting closed at 7.35 pm.