Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

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

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

Councillor Clarke as Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Councillor Porter declared an interest that since consultation on residents parking in Aylestone Ward had taken place, he had become co-owner of a business in the area where consultation had taken place.

Councillor Porter also declared that in 2019 he had campaigned against the Council introducing a Workplace Parking Levy, and had visited some residents who had concerns about parking issues around Leicester County Council Cricket Club.

Councillor Clarke declared that for the purposes of discussing the business on the agenda, he was a school governor at Granby Primary School.

Apologies for absence were received from Inspector Jackson.

The Action Log for the last meeting held on 26 February 2020 is attached for reference.

The action log from the last meeting be noted for reference as the meeting had been over two years ago.

Councillor Clarke asked that his declaration be removed from the previous action notes, as he had not made the declaration.

ACTION: DSO to remove the declaration and republish the action notes.

 AGREED: that the notes of the meeting on 26^th February 2020 be noted subject to the amendment above.

An overview on the community action and support received during Covid will be presented.

The Chair gave a presentation on Covid information or Aylestone up to the current date (attached for information) with information available on the Council’s website. Points noted were:

·         For Aylestone there had been to date 4,138 positive tests with 298 reinfections.

·         There had been 224 Covid-related hospital admissions, with 106 people who had passed away with Covid-19 recorded on death certificates.

·         Over 8,500 people had received vaccinations. Around 2,350 people were unvaccinated, which was frustrating and not as high a level of vaccinations as there could be.

·         It was heartening to see how the community had pulled together, including businesses such as the chemist and Black Horse pub, who had given time and resources to support the covid effort.

·         A post card had been delivered to every resident with Councillors’ contact details.

·         Information had been provided through leafletting, such as funding for food parcels.

·         Project Hope had seen the delivery of food and other much needed items to those housebound across the ward and city.

·         Community Ward funding had been used for 18 ward applications, nine of which were Covid-related projects receiving just short of £11,000, including cohesion and befriending work.

·         The Chair thanked Aylestone Local Action group for the work over the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, with special mention of the flowers.

·         Funding had been made available for an Eyres Monsell allotment plot to be used for community gardening. It was noted that allotments had been kept open over the pandemic.

·         There had been light trails around the village and rainbows in windows creating trails. All had done their bit to ensure the community stayed as well and healthy as possible.

Councillor Porter expressed disappointment that Leicester had been left in lockdown longer than it needed to be. He added he had arranged for over 2,000 P2 masks to be given out to people in Aylestone.

An officer from Highways will deliver a presentation on the proposed scheme.

Jolanta Obszynska, Transport Development Officer, delivered a presentation on results of consultation for a residents parking scheme in Aylestone Park area. The presentation is attached for information. Points made were:

·         Online consultation had commenced in October 2021, and over 4,000 letters sent to properties in the affected areas, with public exhibitions held. There was the option to respond to the consultation on paper.

·         Issues identified by residents during the first stage of consultation included rat running speeding, and pavement parking across Aylestone and Saffron.

·         During the first stage of consultation workshops were held at Leicestershire County Cricket Ground and Aylestone Leisure Centre.

·         The Council had engaged early with residents and local businesses to address the parking issues with a number of options available to deal with the issues.

·         A map of affected areas was included in the presentation showing areas affected by football match and cricket event parking, with overspill into other areas. The Red and Blue areas were more in favour of some form of parking scheme. 50% of respondents were in favour of a Residential Parking Zone.

·         Next Steps would see councillors work up the proposal, working with and taking the views of the community on board.

In response to questions the following information was provided:

·         As an observation, the maps were small and it was difficult to see the schemes proposed areas. It was also asked if there could be more information on proposals for other schemes to control rat running and speeding, for example, 20mph zones be provided. The officer acknowledged it as a valid point.

ACTION: Maps to be provided in larger scale at future meetings.

·         A resident noted that a residents parking scheme cost money and did not guarantee a parking space, and was worried that it would encourage people to block pave their front gardens. It was noted that the cost of the scheme would be 50p per week, per vehicle, which covered the cost of the scheme and did not generate revenue for the Council.

·         A resident stated there were lots of roads with double yellow lines that were not policed.

ACTION: The Chair asked the someone from Civil Enforcement attend the next meeting to discuss the policing of schemes.

·         It was asked that residents be given the facility to respond to an address on the consultation, as not all had access the internet.

·         An issue of parking in bays that were meant for shoppers in Aylestone village was raised.

·         It was further reported that people who parked without a pass in a residents parking scheme area would be fined.

ACTION: The officer to take the question back that if the fines were increased, could it make the scheme free for residents.

·         Residents asked and were informed that there would be provision for visitors under the scheme. Requests for parking permits for carers would be looked at on an individual basis

ACTION: Information on carers parking to be provided at the next meeting.

The Chair informed the meeting that the football club  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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

The Police were not present at the meeting.

The Chair reported on some issues that were presenting themselves on Aylestone Meadows:

·         There were anti-social behaviour issues such as littering which were difficult to police, though there was legislation in the form of public protection orders. The Police were looking at what could be done in terms of additional resources.

·         A meeting was due to take place with the police and parks to discuss extra cctv and drone use.

·         It was noted that people were still having BBQs and should be treated as a wildlife and environmental crime.

·         Motorbikes and e-scooters on the meadows was a real issue and illegal on public land. Arrests were being made but was still happening. There had been six e-scooter confiscations.

ACTION: The Chair to speak to the police about having a seize and destroy policy.

·         The issue of electric bikes was also raised, as they could travel at some speed. With motorbikes, electric bikes and cars along Great Central Way it was a serious, dangerous issue. Cars could get GCW via access near a ball court at Gilmorton.

ACTION: The Council to be contacted to install a gate.

·         There was CCTV but not known if the cameras were in operation. The Chair noted there was a camera at Canal Street entrance, and some were deployable and could be moved to different areas.

ACTION: Residents asked that the Council monitor the CCTV cameras on Great Central Way 24/7.

A resident advised caution about taking photographs of vehicles on the Great Central Way as people could become aggressive.

The City Warden will give a general overview on issues in the Ward.

Noel Cazley, City Warden was present and reported the following:

·         City Warden’s had continued working throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, including installing floor stickers in parks and streets, through to assisting businesses.

·         City Wardens could deal with nuisance parking in the form of car dealers having vehicles for sale or the repairing of vehicles on the public highway.

·         The Parks Team also had equipment and powers to issue fines to individuals, for example, Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) could be issued for using BBQs.

·         There was not much fly tipping in Aylestone.

·         Most issues were usually bins on streets in the terraced areas that caused obstructions. The bin men only serviced bins and orange bags. Anything else would be left.

·         The City Warden had started a bins campaign to deal with commercial bins.

·         Residents could use the downloadable Love Leicester app to report anything impeding the public highway. Residents were advised to take a picture from a few meters and to stay in the area while the picture was uploaded to ensure the GPS location was accurate. If people did not have a smart phone the orange bag number could be called to report issues, including abandoned cones and fencing from building works.

·         The bins from the bank of shops in Aylestone village had now gone. It was found that the business had changed suppliers. It was noted the City Wardens had a duty of care to carry out inspections and could request businesses show contracts of how they controlled their waste.

·         A resident asked if a local pub could be forced to install a cigarette bin.

·         ACTION: The City Warden to check if it was a planning or licensing condition.

·         Fly tip photos were presented of asbestos in allotments, Witness statements had been gained, and the culprit prosecuted and given an 18-month community order.

·         Offensive graffiti would be removed by the Council. If not offensive and on private property, the Council would remove it at a cost.

Councillor Porter stated that because there was so much graffiti allowed through special events, it made it harder to tackle and control, which in turn led to anti-social behaviour. He added there needed to be a degree of control over the quality of the allowed works. A resident reported that the Church of the Nativity had been graffitied.

ACTION: The City Warden to investigate the levels of graffiti in the Ward and provide details to Ward Councillors.

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

An update will be given on the Ward Community Budget for the current financial year, plus a break down of project supported during Covid.

The Community Engagement Officer provided information on the Ward Community Budget:

·         The ward had received a yearly budget of £18,000.

·         10 applications had currently been supported with £6,419 spent. Of that £2,000 had been spent on Jubilee events.

·         The remaining balance was £11,581.

·         During election period in 2023, the budget would be closed down around February and residents were asked to please submit application forms well in advance.

·         Residents asked that information on approved applications be contained in the minutes so that bids were not overlapped.

·         A resident reported that over several years the impression of local shopping facilities had deteriorated, with the loss of post office, hair dressing.

·         The area was a conservation area and should the public be allowed to have a say on what the Council allowed in premises during planning.

·         It was commented that Fosse Park had damaged local village centres.

Councillors responded that the Council was still consulting on the Local Plan which covered village centres and shopping districts. Residents were encouraged to put forward their views to influence the plan and could possibly dictate what needed to be in Aylestone and encourage other businesses to move to the area. This could be done through writing to Councillors who would put forward residents’ comments to the Planning section. It was noted that further consultation on the Local Plan would be held towards the end of summer.

·         Residents commented on the lack of parking in the area. It was noted that there was parking at the back of the social club on Middleton Street and that the club could possibly be approached to provide some public parking.

·         A resident raised objection to the proposed Workplace Parking Levy (WPL).

The Chair responded that there had been unprecedented response to the consultation, with over 4,000 individual respondents providing over 20,000 responses which officers continued to work one.

It was noted the WPL was a manifesto pledge, but there had been no decision made at the current time to implement the WPL. The Chair added that people were being listened to, but at the same time there were environmental activists also who wanted the WPL introduced.

·         A resident raised concern over the development on Franklin Road, as people were worried that their cul-de-sac on Conaglen Road would be compromised.

The Chair reported the entrance had been moved during planning process, and the road was due to be closed off completely with bollards.

ACTION: The Chair to check with planning to confirm.

There being no other items of business, the meeting closed at 8:14pm.