Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Porter was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Brim Collett, resident.

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 interests they may have in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

Councillor Porter declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the budget applications relating to the St Andrews Football Club (items B6, B8 and B17). Councillor Porter left the meeting for the consideration of those items, which had not previously been agreed on the grounds of urgency.

Councillor Porter further declared a personal and prejudicial interest in that he had helped to submit the funding bid for the security alarms (B4). This had previously been agreed on the grounds of urgency.

Councillor Mrs Chambers declared that she was a Member of the Planning and Development Control Committee and would not be able to give any views on the planning issues under discussion, although she would listen to the comments that were made.

The minutes of the previous Aylestone Community Meeting, held on 21 January 2009 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

A amendment was requested to minute item 28, Traffic Issues in Aylestone, paragraph 6, to record that problems were rife with vehicles turning out of Old Church Street, and not Church Street as stated.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting held 21 January 2009 subject to the above amendment, be confirmed as a correct record.

Officers from Leicester City Council will be at the meeting to discuss and answer questions relating to highways and transportation issues in Aylestone.

Wilf Morgan, Acting Engineering Design Manager, Leicester City Council gave a short presentation on work that was being planned for construction of the footways along Aylestone and Lutterworth Roads, including outside the shops in Aylestone. He explained that the proposed works were those planned to be carried out under the Highway Capital Maintenance Programme and not the Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) scheme.  Residents heard that it was intended that some of the existing paving would be replaced with block paving and some street furniture would be re-fitted or replaced as necessary with standard items. Any new special furniture such as seats and planters would have to be funded directly by the Community Meeting budget.  Councillor Porter explained that this work would be carried out in response to comments arising from an earlier meeting when an action plan for the Aylestone Ward had been drawn up.

The following comments were made:

·        There should have been more consultation with residents.

·        The problem of people parking their cars on pavements needed to be addressed before any street furniture could be fitted.

·        There was a need for a community notice board.

·        There was a need for all the pavements to be replaced not just a few.

·        It was suggested that a disability organisation should be consulted on the proposed improvements.

The residents were advised that consultation would take place with shop owners and residents for the Quality Bus Corridor scheme.

One of the residents explained that she had also drawn up a design for improvements in the Aylestone area. These had been available for residents to look at before the formal meeting commenced.

Councillor Porter asked residents to indicate if they were interested in forming a Focus Group to look at improvements in Aylestone and suggested that they met up briefly immediately after the formal meeting to exchange details.

An Officer from the Planning Department, will talk to residents about planning issues in the Aylestone Ward.

Mike Richardson, Head of Planning, Management and Delivery was introduced to the meeting and it was explained that planning issues concerning the football pitches on Aylestone Playing Fields, the Aldi store and the Bloor Homes development would be discussed.

APPLICATION FOR CLUBHOUSE AND ARTIFICIAL SPORTS PITCHES ON AYLESTONE PLAYING FIELDS.

Shaun Miles, Sports Project Manager, Leicester City Council Sports Services was present to talk to residents about the proposed football pitches on Aylestone playing fields.  Shaun explained that a planning application had been submitted for a clubhouse, artificial surface sports pitches with fencing, floodlights, car parking and landscaping. He added that there would be 17 football pitches in total.  Shaun said that objections had been received which included objections relating to the loss of ecology and the impact of flooding.  He added that there were proposals to increase the habitat and it was hoped to strike a balance between the provision of sports facilities and the loss of ecology.

A number of comments and concerns were addressed by residents, which included the following:

• The proposed football pitches would not actually be on Aylestone Playing Fields but on Aylestone Meadows, a site to the east of the playing fields. The Council were using an incorrect and out of date map.

• Aylestone Meadows was defined as a local nature reserve and residents considered it to be a ‘gem’ of a country park. There were concerns that it would become fragmented if parts of it were built on.
• The work in mitigation would not compensate for the damage to ecology.
• The Council should do more to support green spaces in the City rather than damaging the areas such as this.
• The Council should be making improvements to the Meadows.
• The proposal for 17 pitches with floodlights was vast and would spoil the beauty of the park
• There were concerns over the number of environmental groups that had objected to the proposal.
• The proposal was not supported by the local community.
• There had been no consultation on the proposals apart from the usual planning notices, though Shuan explained that there had been consultation events.
• There was already very heavy traffic in Aylestone.

Mike Richardson addressed the meeting and explained that the comments from residents had been very valuable and they would be fed into the planning process. He added that Green Wedge policies permitted developments in green wedge areas that provided for sporting facilities and therefore the proposal did not contradict those planning policies. 

Shaun explained that they had been unable to find anywhere else in the city to accommodate 17 football pitches but the Council were looking for alternative sites.

Members of the public were asked to indicate by a show of hands whether they were in favour or against the proposal. The vast majority of residents present indicated that they were against the proposal.

The Chair suggested that residents should write to Planning, Management and Delivery to give their views on the proposal.

ALDI AND BLOOR HOMES

Representatives from Aldi and Bloor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members of the public will be given a short briefing on the Glenhills Boulevard Flats Improvement Plans.  

John Thomson, Saffron Housing Manager gave the meeting a brief update on the Glenhills Boulevard Project. John explained that the car park and bus stops were at the rear of the flats and people accessed the flats through the rear doors by walking through the bin stores. This area was surrounded by walls, which led to a fear of crime. The tarmac in the courtyard was also worn and the courtyard area was a ‘dead space’. It was planned that the following work would be carried out to improve this area as follows:

• The walls would be removed and replaced with fencing.
• The existing tarmac would be removed and replaced with a more attractive surface.
• The existing bin stores and sheds would be removed and replaced with a low level bin store.
• Some robust rotary dryers would be fitted and picnic tables and benches provided to enable the residents to use the courtyard as an amenity.

John explained that various strategies had been used to consult the residents including questionnaires and a door to door survey.

John was thanked for updating the meeting on the project.

Members of the public will be given a short briefing on the Open Minded Play Space Project.

Representatives from the Open Minded Play Space had been in attendance for the information fair but were not present at this point to give a briefing on the project.

An officer from Leicestershire Constabulary will be present to give an update on policing issues in Aylestone.

PC Kev Butler and PCSO Steve Barnes from the Welford Road Local Policing Unit were introduced to the meeting.

PC  Butler explained that the Police priorities for Aylestone were as follows:

• To tackle drunken youths who were causing damage to vehicles in Knighton Lane.
• To tackle alcohol-related anti social behaviour in the Mill Lock area on Aylestone Meadows. 

The meeting heard that from January 2010 there would be new priorities and residents would be notified of these in their newsletter.

A resident expressed concerns that there was a problem with cars being damaged in Wigston Lane and the Chair asked the Police to make a note of these concerns. Pc Butler explained that someone had been charged with causing damage to 6 cars but the resident commented that this was still an ongoing problem.

PC Butler informed that meeting that from January 2010 there would be changes to the Aylestone Police beat boundary and these would result in two additional Officers.

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, the Member Support Officer to the Community Meeting will give an update on the Community Meeting budget. Jerry will also present the following budget applications:

·        YMCA, YMCA Youth Enterprise - £1,400                                 Appendix B1

·        Mrs Angela Dore – Montrose School, Gardening in the School Grounds

 - £600                                                                                          Appendix B2

·        Welford Road LPU, Delivering Service Excellence – £50     Appendix B3

·        Councillor Nigel Porter, Security Alarms - £500                      Appendix B4

·        Police & Community Support Group, 100% Best Attendance - £300

Appendix B5

·        St Andrews FC, Funding Floodlights upgrade/repair - £1,000             

Appendix B6

·        Parks Services Area Four and supported by Friends of Aylestone Hall, Aylestone Hall Gardens Tennis Court Fencing - £500     Appendix B7

·        St Andrews Football Club, Aylestone Summer Soccer Scheme - £1,250                                                                                             Appendix B8

·        Groundwork Leicester/L’shire, Gilmorton Community Orchard - Involving young people in construction of kissing gate - £1,000      Appendix B9

·        Groundwork Leicester/L’shire, Gilmorton Community Orchard – creative interpretation involving young people - £1,000               Appendix B10

·        Parks Services, Addressing public requests for bins on Aylestone Meadows - £2,683                                                          Appendix B11

·        Parks Services, Cleaning the brooks and streams of litter and flotsam

- £1,300                                                                                        Appendix B12

·        Parks Services, Support of volunteer workers on Aylestone Meadows LNR - £3,388                                                                                     Appendix B13

·        Parks Services, Volunteering support for community working - £776

Appendix B14

·        Spirit of Aylestone Community Group, Carols in the Park 2009 - £559.94

Appendix B15

·        Eyres Monsell Allotment and Garden Society, Disabled Toilets for Allotment users - £2,400                                                 Appendix B16

Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer to the Aylestone Community Meeting presented an update on the budget.

Jerry explained that the following funding applications, B1 to B8 had already been considered and supported by either Councillor Mrs Chambers or Councillor Porter, or both. The procedure rules allowed for Ward Councillors to approve funding applications up to a value of £500 in between meetings, on the grounds of urgency. These applications were brought to the Community Meeting for information purposes.

B1 YMCA Youth Enterprise had requested £1,000 from the Community Fund, for a community event in the grounds of the YMCA, Belvoir Drive to be held during the Easter holiday 2009.

Two separate bids of £500, making a total of £1,000 in respect of the above application had been supported.

B2 Mrs Angela Doore, Environment Group Leader, Montrose School had requested £600 from the Community Fund, for gardening in the school grounds.

The funding application to the value of £500 had been supported.

B3 Welford Road Local Policing Unit had requested £50 from the Ward Action Plan, for Delivering Service Excellence Monthly Awards.

The funding application to the value of £50 had been supported.

B4 Councillor Nigel Porter had requested £500 from the Community Fund for security alarms which could be issued to domestic and club premises.

Councillor Mrs Chambers had supported the funding bid to the value of £500. Councillor Porter had declared a personal and prejudicial interest on this application as he had helped to submit the bid.

B5 The Police and Community Support Group had requested £300 from the Community Fund, for a 100% Best Attendance Project.

The funding application to the value of £300 had been supported.

B6 St Andrews Football Club had requested £1000 from the Community Fund, for an upgrade to floodlights and for repair costs to a damaged security door following a break in.

Councillor Mrs Chambers had supported the funding application to the value of £500.

Councillor Porter had declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the application.

B7 Parks Services supported by the Friends of Aylestone Hall had requested £500 from the Community Fund, towards the cost of replacing the current chain link type fencing that surrounded the tennis courts at Aylestone Hall Gardens.

The funding application to the value of £500 had been supported.

Councillor Porter having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the following two funding bids left the room for the consideration of the budget applications.

B8 Darren Creed, Football Coach, St Andrews Football Club had requested £1250 from the Community Fund for the Aylestone Summer Soccer Scheme at St Andrews Football Club.

Jerry explained that £500 of the bid had already been supported on the grounds of urgency and the balance of £750 was brought to the Community Meeting for further consideration.

RESOLVED:

that a further payment to the value of £750 in respect of the funding application, be supported.

B17 Jerry Connolly explained that this funding application had not been attached to the agenda, but copies had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Chair thanked members of the public for coming and reminded those people who wanted to form a Focus Group to look at improvements in Aylestone, to meet immediately after the meeting to exchange details.

A resident questioned how the meeting was publicised and was informed that approximately 1000 leaflets had been distributed and the meeting had also been publicised in the Leicester Mercury.

The meeting closed at 8.25 pm.