Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Dawood was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were receieved from Councillor Dr Chowdhury.

The first main item on the programme is Declaration of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything in the programme 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.

There were no declarations fo interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2009 are attached and Councillors are asked to agree that it is a correct record.

This next part of the agenda covers items where input from you on issues that affect your community is welcomed.

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 2 March were agreed as a correct record. 

Representatives from Leicester City Council’s Regeneration, Highways and Transportation Department will give a presentation on traffic related issues in the local area. 

Representatives from Leicester City Council’s Regeneration, Highways and Transportation Department gave a presentation on traffic related issues in the local area. 

Jeff Miller, Director, Regeneration, Transport and Highways explained that the most prominent traffic and highways issues in the Spinney Hills ward were around a lack of parking, obstructive parking and speeding traffic.  Jeff informed the meeting that work has now been completed on the Mere Road traffic calming measures.

Jeff raised the following points as part of his presentation:

• There are 490 miles of road, 808 miles of footways and 19 miles of rights of way in Leicester.
• There are 43,000 street lights and illuminated signs in Leicester.
• There are 321 traffic lights
• There are 21,000 “highway” trees
• There are 138 hectares of highway verges
• There are 8 car parks and 1 bus station

Andy Thomas, Head of City Development also explained that there was lots of competition for parking space on the Victorian streets within Spinney Hills.  Furthermore, it was reported that the police have assisted in dealing with problems with lorries and cars that parked on pavements.  Verge hardening was described as one way of addressing the problem of a lack of parking.  Ways to curb selfish parking were stated as being imposing double yellow lines, an increased presence of Civil Enforcement Officers, and installing bollards. 

With regard to issues with speeding motorists and general road safety, Jeff explained that the methods taken to curb these problems were undertaking traffic speed surveys, installing vehicle activated signs and safety cameras and reducing speed limits.  Jeff explained that a pilot project to install vehicle activated signs was to take place in part of the city, before being rolled out to the whole of the city.  He did state however, that Leicester had the second safest roads in the country. 

Jeff informed the meeting that the Council was very keen to promote the use of public transport, and worked with the bus companies on the Quality Bus Partnership.  In response to a question from a Member of the Public, Jeff reported that the Council had no influence in determining the price of bus fares, but administered the Government’s concessionary fares scheme. 

In respect of the work on Mere Road that took place to reduce the height of the traffic calming measures, Jeff stated that the Cabinet Lead Member for Regeneration and Transport had been consulted around the effectiveness of the changes.  It was reported that the level of feedback from the works was positive and that similar work could be rolled out across the rest of the Spinney Hills ward.

A Member of the Public was of the view that there was inconsistency with the placement of double-yellow lines in the ward and felt that the length of lines on particular roads should be reduced whilst others did not have lines at all that perhaps should have.  Andy explained that the entries to roads were usually kept clear to allow emergency vehicle access, but that the extent of a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Officers from Leicester City Council along with representatives from the local Police will be in attendance to discuss community safety issues in the Spinney Hills Ward.  

Officers from Leicester City Council along with representatives of the local Police were in attendance to discuss community safety issues in the Spinney Hills Ward. 

Sergeant Chohal, Spinney Hills LPU, reported that a covert operation had been in place to try to alleviate prostitution in Spinney Hills.  He reported that the view of most residents was that the situation had improved during recent weeks, but was aware that there was still a significant problem in the area.

Several Members of the Public were of the view that there was still a significant amount of prostitution in the Maidstone Road area, and that the problem of prostitution tended to move location rather than become alleviated altogether.  One resident reported that a problem had also developed in the St Matthews area.  It was widely felt that despite efforts by the police to discourage prostitution on Maidstone Road, the message had not seemed to deter both clients and prostitutes.

One measure described by the police to tackle the issue was the installation of further lighting on Maidstone Road.  It was reported that funding had been obtained to provide this.  In addition, Kelvin Bates, Team Leader, Community Safety reported that lighting as well as CCTV was to be installed in the park close to Maidstone Road.  It was acknowledged that a multi-agency approach was required to successfully tackle the problem.

Neil Canham, Leicester Anti-Social Behaviour Unit Manager made it clear that tenants were in breach of their tenancy if their premises were used for drug or vice purposes.  He urged suspected cases of misuse to be reported to the Police and the Housing Office.

Several Members of the Public were of the view that problems with drugs in Highfields were also rife.  Sergeant Chohal explained that the Police were aware of several drug related operations. 

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in the budget applications, and/or indicated whether Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act applies to them.

Steve Letten, Members Support Officer will give an update on the latest position of the Community Meeting budget.  The following applications have been received.

B1 –    St Matthews Community Solution Centre – application for £3,500 from    Adan Hassan.

B2 –             Leicester United Sports and Culture – application for £5,800 from             Hassan Omar.

B3 -     Multi-Cultural Bonanza – application for £750 from Shree Patel Samaj.

B4 -     Multi-Faith Football Match – application for £1,750 from Community             Football Academy.

B5 -            Somali Super Cup – application for £500 from Leicester United Sports             and Culture.

B6 -             Football In The City Project – application for £7,200 from Inner City     Club Football.

B7 -     Multi-Cultural Awareness Project – application for £998.50 from Kaine             Management Group.

As part of this item, Ansaar will be giving a short presentation on the work that they have achieved with the money granted to them by the Community Meeting.

Steve Letten, Member Support Officer introduced applications for funding from the Community Meeting budgets.

Steve reminded Members which applications had been funded from the previous years’ budget.  In terms of this years’ budget, it was reported that the total amount available was £17,000, with £10,000 of this allocated towards the ward action plan and sums of £5,000 and £2,000 allocated to the Ward Community Fund and Community Cohesion budgets respectively. 

It was explained that four meetings were scheduled for the 2009/10 municipal year, and that the current budget had to last until May 2010.

Steve stated that eight applications had been received.  The applications were dealt with as follows:

B1)          Adan Hassan –St Matthews Community Solution Centre– request for            £3,500

To pay for tutoring, studio hire, film/radio production, transport and DVD reduction to support 12 young people as well as 8 middle aged people who are unemployed to train in radio and media production training.

AGREED: that Members be give further consideration to the bid, following the receipt of additional information from the applicant. 

B3)           Shree Patel Samaj–Multi-Cultural Bonanza– request for £750

            To provide a musical and dance extravaganza.  To pay for venue hire,             tickets and leaflets printing and musicians.

            AGREED:  that £750 be recommended for approval from the Ward                                    Community Fund.

B5)      Leicester United Sports and Culture – Somali Super Cup – request for         £500

            To pay for field hire, trophies, voluntary expenses and football kit for a sporting event.

            Although Members wished to defer consideration of applications for    football activities, it was agreed that this application be recommended       for approval as it was for a relatively low amount of money.

            AGREED:  that £500 be recommended for approval from the Ward                                    Community Fund.

B7)      Kaine Management Group – Multi-Cultural Awareness Project –        request for £998.50

            To provide two workshops and a sharing opportunity for up to 30 young           pupils from two primary schools in the Spinney Hills Ward.

            AGREED:  that £998.50 be recommended for approval from the                                         Community Cohesion Fund.

B8)      Leicester Stars FC – Cross Country – request for £2,782.

            To pay for athletics coaching, staffing expenses, transport costs,          equipment and leafleting.

            AGREED:  that Members be minded to support the bid, subject

                                to receiving further information from the                                                                 applicant. 

Members agreed to defer consideration of the following three applications (B2, B4 and B6) as they all related to the provision of football activities, and Members wished to meet with each of the applicants to discuss the best way of providing football activities in Spinney Hills

B2)           Hassan Omar –Leicester United Sports and Culture – request for                  £5,800

            To provide 12-weeks of continuous football training. 

B4)      Community Football Academy – Multi-Faith Football Match – request          for £1250.

To pay for pitch hire and match equipment, medals, refreshments,        marquee hire, first aid and insurance for the football match.

B6)      Inner City Club Football – Football in the City Project – request for    £7,200

            To provide facilities, equipment, travel and education for football          coaches.

In addition to the consideration of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Future Spinney Hills Community Meetings will take place on the following dates:

Monday 28 September 2009

Monday 14 December 2009

Monday 1 March 2010

All meetings to commence at 6:00pm.

The following dates were confirmed for future meetings of the Spinney Hills Community Meeting:

Monday 28 September 2009

Monday 14 December 2009

Monday 1 March 2010

All meetings to commence at 6:00pm.

The meeting closed at 8:40pm.