Agenda and minutes

Councillor Clarke will Chair the meeting.

Councillor Clarke announced that he would be Chair for the meeting and he welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Councillor Clarke stated that he had a statement to make on the previous meeting and asked that it be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.   He stated that “an anonymous leaflet was distributed prior to the previous meeting. The content of the leaflet was of a political nature and named individuals and could only have been intended to have created antagonism at the meeting. While these meetings should contain lively debate they should be a-political and should not be deliberately antagonistic. They should be conducted in a spirit of respect, honesty and integrity. Leaflets of this nature do not help achieve this and as a result on this occasion extra council resources were deployed.”

Apologies for absence were received from Mr I Bufton, Mr Gale, Ms Hill, Mrs Howarth, Mr Nightingale, Mr A and Mrs C Poulter, and Ms Sparsa.

Councillor Clarke declared an Other Disclosable Interest in community budget items as he had been involved in discussions on the grant applications and he had also previously been involved in discussions with various groups associated with the proposals for the closure of Sharplands and was also on the Steering Group for the Basketball Arena Project.

Councillor Porter declared an Other Disclosable Interest in community budget items as he had been involved in discussions on the grant applications and he had also previously made comments in relation to the closure of Sharplands and the Basketball Arena project.

In accordance with the Council’s new Code of Conduct these interest were not considered so significant that they were likely to prejudice Members’ judgement of the public interest.  The Members were not, therefore, required to withdraw from the meeting during discussion on these items.

The minutes of the previous Aylestone Community Meeting, held on 22 January 2013 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

Councillors were asked to agree the minutes of the previous meeting of the Aylestone Community Meeting held on Tuesday 22 January 2013.

A Member of the public referred to Minute No. 169 (Update on the A426 Bus Lane) and commented that the minutes stated that ‘a number of local residents were against the scheme’ and this should have said ‘there was unanimous opposition to the scheme.’  The Democratic Services Officer stated that there had been several people at the meeting who had spoken in favour of the scheme.  A member of the public also confirmed that there was not unanimous opposition to the scheme.  

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the Aylestone Community Meeting held on Tuesday 22 January 2013 be agreed.  

Kevin Routledge, Leicester City Riders, will give an update on the Community Sports Arena Project.  This is a joint project between the Leicester Riders, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester College.  An outline of the project was reported at the last meeting and an open day was held at the County Cricket Ground on 23 February to see the full extent of the project.

Kevin Routledge, Leicester City Riders, gave an update on the Community Sports Arena Project.  This was a joint project between the Leicester Riders, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester College.  An outline of the project was reported at the last meeting and an open day was held at the County Cricket Ground on 23 February to see the full extent of the project.

Kevin explained that the open day went well and approximately 600 attended. Leaflets were distributed to 10,000 surrounding properties, (although some residents in Hawksby Road indicated that they had not received one).   Anyone who missed it could get a copy of the presentation by contacting him.  The project was valued at £3.3m and £2.4 m had been raised to date.  A bid had been submitted to Sport England and the outcome of this should be known the following week.  There were now two projects one for the Arena (the size of approximately 12 badminton courts), which would be owned by a non-profit making company, and one for a development of 14 flats which would be owed by the Cricket Club, and income from the rents would be used to support the club’s finances.  

A joint planning application was being made for both projects.  The external design of the Arena had been completed and ECB approval was being sought.  Local residents had been invited to a meeting to discuss their concerns expressed over parking and access and egress arrangements.  Representatives of the Cricket Club had been present and had taken these concerns away and would be reporting back to a further meeting in two weeks to address the issues.

The next meeting would be held on 27 March 2013 a 7.00pm in the Fox Bar at Grace Road and anyone was welcome to attend.   All the three partners in the project were keen to establish a group of local people to address issues surrounding the proposed scheme and to assess whether any proposed solutions were working.  The Cricket Club’s Chief Executive had been in post for two years and was unaware of some of the local concerns that had been expressed.  The Club were keen to address these issues.

Steve Brown, Team Leader Planning Services, stated that no planning application had been received.  Although the Council supported new sporting and housing developments in principle, any proposal had to satisfy issues of accessibility, traffic, environment and noise and disturbance to residents.  Once a planning application was received, there would be widespread consultation with surrounding properties and a consultation period of 5-6 weeks could follow.  The final decision on the application would be taken by the Planning Development Committee and would not be delegated to officers.

Following questions from members of the public, Mr Routledge stated that:-

·         The Cricket Club would receive the income from the proposed 2 storey flats together with the rent for the Arena and corporate events.

·         The period of construction would be 6 months if there were no delays, but this was dependent upon the cricket  ...  view the full minutes text for item 180.

Sue Holden, Drug Alcohol Action Team, Leicester City Council will give a 5 minute presentation on alcohol awareness.  

Julie O’Boyle and Priti Raichura, Drug Alcohol Action Team, Leicester City Council gave a short verbal presentation on alcohol awareness.

50 people per year died as a result of alcohol related illnesses in Leicester and there were also 7,000 admissions per year at an annual cost of £10m to the NHS.  Alcohol abuse also contributed to increased levels of anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, crime and social harm.  The death rates for males from alcohol related illnesses in Leicester were the 2^nd worst in the East Midlands and the fifth worst in the country. 

Following a question from the public, Julie stated that there was evidence that the price of alcohol affected levels of consumption.  The price of alcohol can have an effect upon people who have a serious drinking problem.  There was also evidence to suggest that the later in life young people started to drink alcohol, the more responsible they were in its consumption.  Reference was also made to the cultural and psychological differences between the British attitude towards consuming alcohol, compared to those for Eastern Europe and France for example.  There was more evidence of binge drinking in Britain than on continental Europe.   There was also a worrying trend that more people were being diagnosed with severe liver disease in the 50-60 year age range, and the age of people being diagnosed was falling.

Leaflets advising upon alcohol consumption, and the resultant effects upon health, were circulated at the meeting.  Further advice could be obtained the Council’s website, Change for Life, Alcohol Concern and the NHS website.

Julie and Priti were thanked for their presentation.

Louise Ross, National Health Service will give a 5 minute presentation on ways to stop smoking.  13 March 2013 is National No Smoking Day. 

Mark Endacott, National Health Service gave a short verbal presentation on ways to stop smoking.  This coincided with 13 March 2013 being National No Smoking Day.

There were 7 Nicotine Replacement Therapy products that could be used to assist smokers to stop smoking.  These ranged from gum, patches, inhalers, mouth and nasal sprays, tablets and lozenges and Champix (a product that mimics nicotine and blocks receptors to reduce the craving for smoking).

People were more likely to stop smoking with a supported programme than just giving up and having withdrawal symptoms, which usually resulted in the person starting to smoke again.  Each of the therapies used a step down approach to reduce the requirement for nicotine over a period of time until the craving no longer existed. 

Assistance could be obtained through national helplines, contacting the local Public Health Team and through local pharmacies.  Leaflets were distributed giving contact details. 

Following a question in relation to the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes, Mark stated that these were not currently licenced for use in the NHS and he was, therefore, unable to comment upon their effectiveness.

Mark was thanks for his informative and helpful presentation.

Jayesh Parmar, Team Leader, Traffic Engineering, Leicester City Council will give an update on the impact of the closure of Sharplands and in particular the problems of turning right onto Glenhills.

Jayesh Parmar, Team Leader, Traffic Engineering, Leicester City Council gave an update on the impact of the closure of Sharplands and in particular the problems of turning right onto Glenhills.  

He stated that a number of petitions had been received from local residents in relation to traffic issues in the area. 

Extensive surveys of traffic flows had been carried out from 7.30am to 9.30am and 4.30pm to 6.30pm and these indicated that the junction was not critical compared to the flow of traffic on this corridor, but it was a pinch point where delays occurred to both side roads when flows were heavy on Glenhills corridor.  The traffic flow surveys did show that there were reasonable two way flows for Glenhills Way and on the side road.  As a consequence, the signal timings had been adjusted (by reducing the cycle times) at both Lutterworth Road/Soar Valley Way and to the ‘Pork Pie’ island, to create gaps in the traffic flow to allow the side road traffic to access the main road.   The Toucan crossing had also been re-modelled to have a double cycle during peak time.  Also, the control room operators were monitoring the two sites and when they observed a queue on the side road, they were able to force the pedestrian demand and make sure it did not significantly impact on traffic on the ring road.

The accident records for both sites and supporting data showed that there was not a dominant pattern that warranted a remedial solution as a priority. There were many demands on the Council’s capital programme, and, based upon the information set out above, it was not felt that the works would attract sufficient priority to confirm funding to enable the work to be carried out in the next few years. 

An option to install a yellow box and intelligent detector which would trigger the nearby pedestrian, crossing was outlined to the meeting.  The cost of the works was approximately £10,000 for each site (£1.5k for the yellow box which included traffic management and £8.5k for the signal works). 

It was suggested that the funding from the Aylestone and Eyres Monsell Ward Community budgets could be used to fund this work. 

A member of the public questioned why Sharplands had been closed and suggested that it be re-opened.  A number of the public explained that the issue of closing Sharplands had been requested by a petition and had been discussed at several community meetings since March 2012.  The proposals to close Sharplands had been the subject of public consultation.  The majority of people living in Sharplands and the surrounding streets had welcomed its closure

Jayesh was thanked for his update.

It was AGREED: that consideration of funding this work be deferred to the next meeting to allow an application to be submitted.

To receive an update on Policing issues in the Ward.

PC Moore, Leicestershire Police reported upon crime in the Ward.  He reported that there had been 3 burglaries and 3 robberies in the last 60 days.  Garages and sheds had been broken into and he reminded everyone to make sure these were securely locked.  Thefts from vehicles had been affected by the parking for rugby and football matched and had mainly involved thefts of satellite navigation systems left on view in the vehicles.

The meeting will receive an update on street scene enforcement issues from the City Warden.

Roy Smith, City Warden, gave an update on the issues dealt with since the last meeting.  He reported upon the following:-

·         There had been an increase in incidents of dog fouling in the last two months as the weather improved. Additional plain cloths patrols from 6.00am were being implemented.

·         Wardens were targeting smoking in ‘smoke free vehicles’ (work’s vehicles) and two fixed penalty notices had been issued. 

·         10 fixed penalty notices had been issued for littering from vehicles.

A member of the public reported an issue with graffiti in Vernon Road and the City Ward agreed to investigate and report back.

The City Warden was thanked by the public for dealing with issues in Knighton Lane and Aylestone Road.

A problem of a dog owner cleaning up after their dog in Percy Road and then leaving the bags of dog waste on a nearby property was reported and the City Warden agreed to investigate this.

Several members of the public referred to problems of parking on the pavement and on roads causing an obstruction.   It was noted that the Civil Enforcement Officers could only take action if the road was subjected to a Traffic Regulation Order.  Otherwise, it was the responsibility of the Police to take action against parking that caused an obstruction.  However, the Police did not generally take action where pedestrians still had a metre of space to walk by a car parked on a pavement.

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.

The approved expenditure for on Grants so far this year for the Ward is £9,279.50 which leaves a balance of £8,720.50 for the remainder of the year and any bids submitted for approval at the meeting.

The following applications have been received and are to be considered by the meeting.

1)    Gilmorton Development Group                                      £989

An application (No 1378) has been received from the Gilmorton Development Group to provide a small computer network and internet connection at the Gilmorton Community Rooms.  Internet access and training will be free to help residents to access essential online public services.   It is hoped to set up a Work Club with the support of the Neighbourhood Learning Centre.

2)    Gilmorton Development Group                                      £500

An application (No 1379) has been received from the Gilmorton Development Group for Pink Lizzard Youth Activities involving football and rugby and the hire of rooms.

3)    Leicester City Council Parks Services                         £498

An application (No 1380) has been received from Leicester City Parks Services for the repair of St Andrews Church Footpath.  The crazy paving slabs have lifted in places and are causing a trip hazard.  The Parks Services don’t have a budget for footpaths etc in closed church yards.

4)    Leicester City Council Highways                                  £400

An application (No 1381) has been received from Leicester City Highways to provide Grit Bins for Hopyard Close and Montrose Road at the car parking area at the closed end of each place.  If provided by the Ward, the bins will be maintained and filled with salt as and when necessary at no cost to the Ward.

5)    Gilmorton Development Group                                      £500

An application (No 1382) has been received from the Gilmorton Development Group for a Spring Summer Fete for Gilmorton Estate.  There will be rides, stalls food and refreshments.  The event will also encourage people to volunteer and help in projects to improve the  estate.

6)    Saffron Resource Centre                                                 £1,500

An application (No 1383) has been received from the Saffron Resource Centre for Welfare Advice for people on Gilmorton Estate.  There is no face-to-face welfare benefits or debt advice for the Gilmorton Estate residents.  The funding would provide a weekly advice session at the Community Rooms, Hopyard Close.  The project will be administered by a qualified advice worker, client contacts and outcomes will be monitored to AQS standards and an evaluation report will be compiled at the end of the three month pilot to support applications to Charitable Trusts and Foundations for continuing funding.  

7)    Bio Blitz                                                                                £2,000

An application (No 1384) has been received from Bio Blitz for an event that will take place on Aylestone Meadows Local Nature Reserve on 17 and 18 May 2013.  The aim is to record as many different species within the timeframe allowed and encourage the public’s interest in their local biodiversity.  The  ...  view the full agenda text for item 186.

It was noted that the approved expenditure so far this year for the Ward, was £9,279.50 which left a balance of £8,720.50 for the remainder of the year and any bids submitted for approval at this meeting.

The following applications had been received and were to be considered by the meeting.  Councillor Clarke stated that the value of the bids received was in excess of the funds available and that any bids that were not approved at the meeting could be considered at a budget meeting at the Town Hall after 1 April 2013 when the budget for 2013/14 would be available.

1)    Gilmorton Development Group                                     

An application (No 1378) for £989 had been received from the Gilmorton Development Group to provide a small computer network and internet connection at the Gilmorton Community Rooms.  Internet access and training would be free to help residents to access essential online public services.   It was hoped to set up a Work Club with the support of the Neighbourhood Learning Centre.

RESOLVED:

that consideration of the application be deferred as Councillor Porter had asked for further information.                          

2)    Gilmorton Development Group                                     

An application (No 1379) for £500 had been received from the Gilmorton Development Group for Pink Lizard Youth Activities involving football and rugby and the hire of rooms.

RESOLVED:

that a grant of £500 be approved.

3)    Leicester City Council Parks Services                        

An application (No 1380) for £498 had been received from Leicester City Parks Services for the repair of St Andrews Church Footpath.  The crazy paving slabs had lifted in places and were causing a trip hazard.  The Parks Services didn’t have a budget for footpaths etc in closed church yards.

RESOLVED:

that a grant of £498 be approved.

4)    Leicester City Council Highways                                  £400

An application (No 1381) for £400 had been received from Leicester City Highways to provide Grit Bins for Hopyard Close and Montrose Road at the closed end of each car parking area.  If provided by the Ward, the bins would be maintained and filled with salt as and when necessary at no cost to the Ward.  Councillor Porter stated that he had received representations from residents stating that if there was requirement to provide the grit bins then the City Council should fund its provision.

RESOLVED:

that consideration of the application be deferred until a Budget Meeting in April or May 2103.

5)    Gilmorton Development Group                                     

An application (No 1382) for £500 had been received from the Gilmorton Development Group for a Spring Summer Fete for Gilmorton Estate.  There would be rides, stalls food and refreshments.  The event would also encourage people to volunteer and help in projects to improve the estate.

RESOLVED:

that consideration of the application be deferred until a Budget Meeting in April or May 2103.

6)    Saffron Resource Centre

An application (No 1383) for £1,500 had been received from the Saffron Resource Centre for Welfare Advice for people on Gilmorton Estate.  There was no face-to-face welfare benefits or debt advice for the Gilmorton  ...  view the full minutes text for item 186.

A member of the public referred to the number of potholes in Milligan Road to Aylestone Way and asked what the City Council proposed to do about them.  Councillors agreed to make further enquiries and report back to a future meeting.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.45pm.