Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Keeling was appointed as Chair for the meeting.

No apologies were received from Councillors. Apologies were received from Mark Hughenden.

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

Councillorsare 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.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or declare of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

Councillor Keeling declared a personal interest in the budget item, “Dog Waste Bins,” as he had submitted the application.

The minutes of the previous Freemen Community Meeting, held on 10 June 2009, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the Freemen Community Meeting on 10 June 2009 were agreed as correct.

Andy Thomas, Head of City Development, will give an update on highways issues in the ward and will consult about changes to the proposed residents’ parking scheme.

Paul Commons, Team Leader, Traffic Regulation Team, explained that a consultation was taking place about the possible introduction of a residents’ parking scheme in part of the Freemen Ward. This followed a previous consultation on a much larger area which was rejected. Paul explained that there had been more “yes” votes from the area now being consulted, so it was felt that the option of a smaller scheme was worth considering. He pointed out that the Council did not want to impose a scheme, and it depended entirely on whether a suitable majority of residents voted for it. Questionnaires had been hand delivered to all properties on the affected streets. Anyone who lived just outside the proposed area would not be consulted.

Discussion took place about the scheme and residents raised the following queries and were answered by Paul:

1)     Some premises/homes didn't receive the questionnaire.

Assurance that all were hand delivered, but more can be supplied to anyone who asks.

2)     Can we have more if lost/not received?

Yes

3)     Concern about parking for businesses.

The scheme would be tailored to the area's needs if approved and not all spaces would be for residents – some bays would be for limited stays.

4)     Lack of clarity on the form - some people thought they didn't have to fill it in if they had not got a car.

They don't have to, but the more we get in the better.

5)     Why not issue permits just for Saturday match days?

This would cost the same as a full scheme, and problems have been reported with commuter parking in the week. 

6)     Why isn't more ticketing done on match days?

There is a limited amount of wardens. They are concentrated on the worst areas in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.

7)     Why can't the football and rugby clubs be forced to provide a Park & Ride? Also there are concerns about capacity increases.

Aylestone didn't want a park and ride. Clubs paid a fee to cover some improvements and we can't force them to do any more. If we refused planning permission on parking grounds, it would likely be overturned by the Planning Inspector.

8)     Difficulties visiting friends in areas covered by parking schemes. It is an extra cost for people who have a lot of visitors. 

We would not impose a scheme unless a good majority want it.

9)     Rutland Avenue has been included even though we don't want it. It would reduce available spaces even further.

It has been included in the consultation as it would be affected if surrounding streets had the scheme, as more vehicles would try to park on streets without restrictions. Residents of the street can vote no.

10) If I didn't get the questionnaire or invitation to the meeting, how would I know about the consultation?

Details had been made available in many places, including the press, on line, on the BBC website – we’ve done as much as we can to draw attention  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Alyson Taylor from the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) will introduce a consultation about the reconfiguration of substance misuse services in the city.

Mark Aspey from the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) explained that substance misuse services had been in operation for many years and had helped a large amount of people. Improvements in services meant that it took much less time for someone to get help.

He explained that a consultation had been launched to find out from residents what services they thought were important and where they should be prioritised. Questionnaires were available. This consultation was taking place through to mid-November. Following this, a model would be designed, which would then be put to the public again to make sure that it was appropriate.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will give an update on policing issues in the ward.

PCSO Jim Muddimer from the Saffron Lane Estate Beat gave an update on work of the Neighbourhood Policing Team. He introduced his colleagues, Jackie  Berry from Saffron and Steve Barnes from Aylestone, both of which covered parts of the Freemen Ward.

Jim gave a presentation on the work of the team in the ward and it was noted that all crime, except for domestic violence had reduced. He said that operations had been carried out in the vicinity of the Linwood Centre and names of graffiti taggers had been obtained.  A successful operation had been carried out near Stonesby Avenue seizing alcohol. Shifts had been changed to deal with upcoming Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas. He asked that residents let them know of specific issues.

Residents asked why the gates on the footpath to Meadow Gardens were still kept locked during the day, as they hindered residents. They felt that the gates should only be locked at night, and also felt that they didn’t stop graffiti, as intended. They asked for this to be looked into as a priority.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Manager, will give an update on the work of the City Wardens and will introduce the new Warden for the ward, Scott Clark.

Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Manager, introduced the new City Warden for Freemen and Eyres Monsell, Scott Clark. Scott was an experienced warden  and had transferred from Castle Ward.

Barbara distributed post cards which showed the issues they dealt with, a photograph so that residents could recognise them, and contact details. She outlined work that was being done in the area, including education work with schools. She asked anyone with contacts with the schools to encourage them to allow them to come in. Assembles, lesson plans and games were available. Barbara said that prevention was cheaper than dealing with the problems.

Residents mentioned a problem with a build-up of leaves on Meadow Gardens, and Barbara said that she would ask the Cleansing Team to look at the issue.

Scott said that he was addressing a problem of drinkers using a bench on Saffron Lane near Jalaram News. The area had been cleaned and the bin moved closer. He had also talked to the drinkers to ask them to use the bin. More patrols had been arranged. Scott also mentioned that work had been done to stop people leaving bins on the streets, resulting in a 65% reduction in the last two weeks. Barbara said that they were working with the Fire Brigade, as there had been several bin fires, some of which had been serious.

A resident thanked Scott for his work on Cavendish Road, as nearly all the bins had been removed.

Nicola Newman, Call Centre Manager, explained the work of the Council’s Customer Services. She explained that there was a variety of ways of getting in touch, including at contact centres, by phone, email letter and internet. Customer Services could offer advice and assistance with a full range of Council services, as well as having links with other agencies, such as the police, Welfare Rights and benefits services.

The Customer Services phone line was open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday, making it easier for people to get in touch.

The meeting discussed how Customer Services could help with waste issues, and advice was given about entitlement to bulk collection and garden waste collection.

A resident thanked Nicola for the service, and said that she had used Customer Services on a number of occasions and had received a very good service.

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.

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer, will give an update on current spend on the Community Meeting budgets, and will introduce any applications that have been received.

The following applications have been received and are attached to this agenda:

B1 – The Saftas – Saffron Community Health Alliance

B2 – Community Association Health & Safety bid

B3 – Dog waste bins

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer, introduced applications for funding that had been received. The applications were discussed as follows:

B1 – the Saftas

The meeting agreed to support this application, as it was a strongly supported community initiative.

AGREED; that the meeting supports the application for £950 from the Ward Action Plan Fund.

B2 – Community Association Health and Safety Bid

It was noted that this application was to replace dangerous and unsuitable furniture and storage.

AGREED: that the meeting supports the application for £745.20 from the Ward Action Plan Fund.

B3 – Dog Waste Bins

AGREED: that the meeting supports the application for £646.40 from the Ward Action Plan Fund.

It was also noted that, since the June 10 2009 meeting, the Eyres Monsell Community Meeting had agreed to fund half of the application for mobility scooters. This matched the funding supported by the Freemen Community Meeting.

HOUSING ISSUES

The Chair invited John Thomson, Neighborhood Housing Manager, to explain to the meeting the schemes that had been agreed for the annual environmental budget allocation. John stated that the proposals had been devised through consultation with tenants and groups of residents in the vicinity of the specified sites.  The bids had then been approved by the grants panel.

A major piece of work had been approved for the overgrown land at the rear of the Fairway shops, near Heathcote Road and Neston Gardens. Contributions to funding were also being made by the Police Joint Action Group (JAG) and through the Housing budget. Work was to include removing poor condition trees, landscaping, adding chicanes to reduce speed of cyclists without hindering wheelchair/scooter users or people with pushchairs, provision of a play area with colourful matting and lighting improvement.

Other approved bids included the following:

• Installing privacy panels to some properties so that residents couldn't see into each others' properties when entering or leaving their homes.
• Security lights to selected bungalows
• Security lights to Neston Gardens
• Road markings on Montrose Road
• Flood lamps on Grace Road
• A pilot of noticeboards in communal areas of flats. If these were successful, they would be rolled out to all communal flat areas.

John also mentioned that the Council was to start building new homes for the first time in many years. Two sites in the ward had been identified. One site on Heather Road would have nine homes, as would the other site of the old depot on the Fairway. Plans for these sites would be made available on the Council's website and would have to go through the normal planning process.

SPEEDING TRAFFIC

A resident raised concerns about speeding vehicles, particularly on Knighton Lane, near the Post Office. The police agreed to pass this issue on for investigation.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was reported that the next meeting would be held on Monday 18 January 2010, at 1.30pm, at the Wheatsheaf Theatre, Knighton Fields Road East.

Residents asked for an item on the next agenda regarding youth services, and this was agreed. Information about the Integrated Services Hubs and issues regarding use of the Kingfisher Youth Centre would be included.

The meeting closed at 7.49pm.