Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Dawood was elected as Chair. 

As Councillor Dawood had to leave the meeting at 7.30 pm, Councillor Aqbany chaired the meeting from that time.

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 interest they had in the business on the agenda and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

No such interests were declared.

The minutes of the previous Spinney Hills Community Meeting, held on 4 October 2010, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

Officers from the Home Energy Office will give advice on how this scheme can help those vulnerable to the cold due to ill health.

Lucy Birch, Project Officer with Leicester City Council’s Regeneration, Highways and Transportation service, introduced the Health through Warmth scheme, drawing attention to the following:-

·            The scheme was funded by npower, but those helped through the scheme did not have to be npower customers;

·            The scheme had been set up to provide help for people who were vulnerable to the cold because of long-term conditions.  The nature of the vulnerability could include illness, infirmity or age;

·            People assisted had to be either home owners or renting property from a private landlord.  (Council tenants could approach the City Council for assistance);

·            Assistance could be provided to buy items that people otherwise would not be able to afford.  This could be through funding from npower grants, or the sourcing of other funding, for things such as the provision of new boilers, or cavity wall insulation; and

·            Officers promoting the scheme were based at the Home Energy Office, but made home visits to assess all clients’ needs.

The following comments were made during discussion on this item:-

·            In 2010 this scheme helped over 300 people;

·            Referrals to the scheme could come from various sources, or people could make enquiries themselves;

·            If Councillors were interested in referring people, officers could visit Councillors to explain the scheme and leave some referral forms for them to use;

·            At least half the people seen by the officers received some assistance.  Officers also could provide advice, such as how to operate a heating system more efficiently;

·            As the benefits gained from this scheme could vary so much, it was difficult to say exactly what return had been gained from the money spent.  People were not asked to monitor their energy bills, either before or after assistance, so data could not be gathered through this; and

·            Some data had been collected on a Ward basis since last year, to identify Wards where there was a low uptake of assistance.  This could help target assistance more effectively in the future.

Post-meeting note:

Since the meeting, it has been established that:-

·               During 2010, 9% of Heat Through Warmth clients were from the Spinney Hills Ward.  (This was the highest percentage of clients in any Ward);

·               33% of  clients in the Spinney Hills Ward had already received heating / insulation measures or energy efficiency advice;

·               The cases of the other 56% were still in progress; and

·               The remaining 11% did not receive any measure, due to various reasons such as the client cancelling, or not responding to letters or phone calls.

Officers from Parks Services will be present to provide an update on the improvements to Spinney Hill Park.

Bob Mullins, Leicester City Council’s Standards and Development Manager (Parks and Green Spaces service), gave a presentation on the current improvements to Spinney Hill Park.  A copy of this is attached at the end of these minutes for information.

During the presentation, particular attention was drawn to the following points:-

·            It had taken some time to get final approval for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, but they had to be satisfied that the project could be completed properly;

·            The capital works were due to finish in August 2011, which was quite quick for this type of project.  The contractor would have to pay compensation to the Council if the work took longer than this;

·            The first works to be completed had been for land drainage, as there was an area by the brook that flooded.  New 6” drains had been installed;

·            A lot of site clearance work had been undertaken, (for example, in the ecology pond area);

·            Fencing on the St Saviour’s Road side of the Park had been removed for restoration.  This work was one of the conditions of the lottery funding;

·            The old building at the rear of the Police Station had been demolished.  To compensate for this, an extension to the maintenance building is being built;

·            The Infinity Garden would have raised areas, to enable those with mobility problems to do some gardening;

·            A programme of path sweeping and maintenance works had been set up, as the park was getting very muddy;

·            Dipping areas would be created at the brook and some hardstanding would be cleared, to make access to these easier;

·            Work had just started on an extension to the adventure playground area;

·            Anyone who wanted a tour of the works was welcome to contact Parks Officers, so that arrangements could be made; and

·            Unfortunately it was not possible to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a scheme while another scheme financed by that Fund was running.  However, due to the current economic situation, the Fund had reduced the amount of money that local authorities were required to provide for any scheme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

During discussion on this item, some concern was expressed about whether the Council would be able to afford to maintain standards in the Park once the works were complete.  In reply, Bob Mullins explained that this was a five-year project and part of the Lottery funding received was for a full-time gardener and a full-time parks officer, both of whom would be based at Spinney Hill Park. 

Another part of the funding from the Lottery Fund was to help provide training for a volunteer community group.  Contact had been made with Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire to initiate this.

The City Warden for Spinney Hills will be present to provide an overview of their work undertaken within the ward during recent months.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Team Manager with Leicester City Council, introduced herself and Yagnesh Antunes, Street Scene Enforcement Officer with Leicester City Council, to the meeting.

Barbara Whitcombe explained that the City Council had held a big campaign in the Ward to stop wheeled refuse bins being left on the street once emptied.  Over the whole Ward, 2,500 bins had been removed from the streets.  This made it easier for people to use the pavements and the Fire and Rescue Service had reported a 35% reduction in fires.  Only 20 households had not removed their bins, despite having several warnings, and they had been fined £10 per adult per household.  Yagnesh Antunes would monitor the Ward to make sure that people did not start leaving their bins out again.

The meeting was reminded to make sure that any company used to dispose of waste was a legal trader, not a rogue company that would just fly tip the rubbish.  It also was reminded that an assistance service was provided by the Council.  This meant that people unable to move their wheeled bin to the front of their property could still have their rubbish collected.  The Wardens service received a list of properties using the assistance service from Biffa, (the contractor), along with other details, such as abandoned bins.

It was noted that the City Council was running a campaign to educate people about the dangers and unsightly nature of paan spitting.  This was littering, so anyone caught doing it could be given a fixed fine, and there was a cost to the public as it had to be cleared away.  Posters about this were available in Asian languages and free “stubbies” were available in which the paan could be put.

The number of cars being sold on the street in the Ward had increased again.  These could now be dealt with by the Council as illegal advertisements, (under the Council’s Town and Country Planning powers), but if it was proved that someone was running an illegal business, it was dealt with by other agencies.  The notices issued in East Park Road had worked for a while, but it was happening again in this and other roads.

The Ward Members welcomed the work that the service was doing and reminded the community that it also had a responsibility to maintain the area.  It could help do this by reporting any problems as they arose.

There was some concern that Council services were very slow to respond to reports of problems and, when they did respond, they did not always provide the service requested.  In reply, it was noted that the Council did not have powers to deal with issues such as illegal parking, and could not deal with problems arising on private land, (for example, fly tipping).

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.

a)      The Members Support Officer will give an update on the latest position with the Community Meeting budget.  A copy of the Spinney Hills Ward Meeting Budget as at 17 January 2011 is attached for information.

b)      The following applications for grants are submitted for consideration:-

Application 1          

Applicant:       St Matthews’ Tenants Association)

Amount:          £1,100

Proposal:       St Matthews’ Right to Read

Summary:       This project sets out to produce a booklet that all residents will be able to access and enjoy and which will encourage them to read.  It covers issues including health and eating. 

                        The booklet will be distributed to every household in St Matthews and a survey will take place to ascertain how many residents can or cannot read.

                        The project is being run jointly by the TARA, the libraries service, the Housing Department, Sure Start and extended services. 

Application 2

Applicant:       Somali Community Parents Association

Amount:          £2,500

Proposal:       Office Capacity Project

Summary:       The purpose of this project is to build the capacity of this office in order to promote better the service that we do for the residents of Spinney Hills Ward.  The money will be used to pay the cost of promotional materials, phone bills and buy printer and computer. In addition, it will help communities to access ESOL, training through signpost arrangements and engaging colleges to provide classes in the communities.

                        The project also helps elderly people with their GP appointments by providing bilingual support as well as communities to access training and ESOL.

Application 3

Applicant:       Memon Youth Association

Amount:          £1,358

Proposal:       Annual Sports Tournament

Summary:       The association is planning to hold an annual sports tournament in March.  The aims of the project is to help tackle under-representation in sport and to create an environment which provides opportunity and access for participation and competition.  A further aim is to address health in sport, particularly in light of conditions that affect the Asian community like diabetes, heart disease and blood pressure as well as the impending obesity crisis.

                        Events in the tournament will range from Table Tennis, pool, snooker, table football, badminton, squash football and cricket.  The event will run on weekends over a period of four weeks. 

                        Funding as also been requested from the Charnwood, Coleman and Stoneygate Ward Community Meetings for this project.

Application 4

Applicant:       Taylor Road Basketball Development CIC

Amount:          £1,200

Proposal:       Taylor Road Year Six Development Day

Summary:       The application is to provide an outing to a professional basketball game, with an opportunity to interact with professional sports people.

                        We identify a need for this sort of programme due to the fact that a development day for year 6 children and their families is an opportunity that they could not otherwise afford.  We want the programme to give a lift to people in the most deprived areas of the  ...  view the full agenda text for item 29.

Steve Letten, Members Support Officer with Leicester City Council, advised that, in addition to the applications included on the agenda, expenditure of £1,000 for 5 grit bins had been approved by the Ward Members, so that the bins could be installed during the recent bad weather.  The bins had been installed around Mere Road.

Steve Letten then reported on budget applications that had been received. Applicants who were in attendance were invited to explain their bids and the applications were discussed as follows:

Application 1

St Matthews’ Tenants Association – St Matthews’ Right to Read – £1,100

The applicant explained that the Tenants Association wanted to be able to provide everyone with a book.  Recipients then would be tested, to see if they could read, and if help was needed, this would be provided.

RESOLVED:

                        that the application be supported to the sum of £1,100.

Application 2

Somali Community Parents Association – Office Capacity Project – £2,500

The applicant explained that the Association had been providing services for three years, signposting community members to services that could help them with language skills, finding work and integrating in the community.  This application related to a project to increase capacity, to enable the Association to help more members of the community.

RESOLVED:

that the application be rejected, but the applicant be encouraged to seek funding from the community budget for a new, more focused project.

Application 3

Memon Youth Association – Annual Sports Tournament – £1,358

The meeting noted that applications for funding for this project also had been made to the Charnwood, Coleman and Stoneygate Community Meetings.  The Association would be funding approximately £3,000 of the costs associated with this project.

RESOLVED:

a)         that the application be supported to the sum of £1,300; and

b)         that the applicant be advised to liaise with the City Council’s Standards and Development Manager (Parks and Green Spaces service) for assistance in the development of organised sports.

Application 4

Taylor Road Basketball Development CIC – Taylor Road Year 6 Development Day - £1,200

Further information had been requested on this application, including whether healthier means of getting to the event could be found, and whether the Leicester Riders could provide a subsidy on the entrance fee to the basketball game.  This information had not yet been received.

RESOLVED:

that the application be deferred until the information requested has been supplied.

Application 5

Mr Mazhar Ali – Champion Boxing Club – £13,531

In response to questions raised at the meeting, it was noted that the applicant was based at the S & S Gym and had approximately 40 young people involved in the project.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported to the sum of £1,000, on the condition that this be used specifically for the purchase of appropriate insurance and that evidence that this had been done be provided.

Application 6

Active Youth – Enjoy, Celebrate, Learn – £333

Although this event had been held on 21 December 2010, the application had been received before the event  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

a)     Ward Survey

Lesley Walker, from Leicester City Council’s Members Support Service, drew attention to survey sheets that had been circulated and asked that they be completed and left for collection at the end of the meeting.

b)    Housing Repairs

There was concern that some Council officers were not as helpful as they could be when called regarding housing repairs if there were language barriers.  Ela Krychowska-Hall, Area Manager with Leicester City Council, invited the person concerned to let her have the details of his case, so that she could look in to the matter.

c)     Parking on St Matthew’s Estate

A major problem on the St Matthew’s estate was that people living there were not able to park near their properties. 

One solution could be the introduction of a residents’ parking scheme, as this had worked well in other areas, but it needed to be recognised that this would not entitle anyone to park immediately outside their property.  Suggestions for other solutions were welcome and could be passed to the Ward Members.

d)    Housing Funding

In reply to a question, it was noted that details of proposed funding that would be ring-fenced for Council tenants had not been received yet.  It was hoped that clearer information would be available by the next meeting.

e)     Date of Next Meeting

NOTED:

that it may be necessary to change the date of the next meeting from Monday 4 April 2010.  If this happens, notification would be sent as soon as possible.

f)      Any Other Issues

If residents wished to raise any other issues, they were welcome to contact the Ward Members at any time.

The meeting closed at 7.45 pm