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 Porter, Chair for the meeting, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Councillor Porter declared an interest as part of the proposal for traffic calming measures, as he had supported residents to present a petition to the Council and campaigned with residents to ensure that any improvements at Sanvey Lane/ Marsden Lane were appropriate.

Councillor Clarke declared that his daughter attended Montrose School.

Apologies for absence were received from Ann Sturgess (resident) and Noel Cazley (City Warden).

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 11 April 2018 is attached at Appendix A and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record.

The Action Log from the meeting held on 11 April 2018 was circulated and confirmed as a correct record.

Item 31 – A resident requested that the response provided by the City Transport Director following the meeting in regard to the potential increase in Aylestone Road traffic relating to Putney Rd developments, be more specific and actually specify the increased number of vehicles in figures.

Officers will provide an update on the Montrose 20mph consultation.

Martin Fletcher – City Highways Director, Ed Kocik – Traffic Operations Team Leader and Steve Warrington – Transport Development Officer were all present at the meeting contributed to the presentation and responses.

All to note:

·         Leicester City Council were currently rolling out the 20mph zone across Leicester City. The next phase was the Montrose area.

·         Consultation letters detailing proposals would be going out to residents via the post over the weekend.

·         Others could respond and submit their opinions online, parents of school children in the area would also receive the information.

·         Traffic calming was being proposed on those streets where the speed gets high – this was hoped to be a deterrent to rat running.

·         If the proposals were to go ahead, works would commence in March 2019.

·         Officers noted that the 20mph zones had been well received in several other areas.

Residents’ concerns:

·         It was requested that a 20mph sign be placed at the beginning/ end of Narrow Lane rather than half way down.

·         That people didn’t notice the speed limit sign at the top of Marsden Lane.

·         Councillor Porter requested that in order to reduce the impact on air quality, whether chicanes could be used rather than speed humps. Officers responded that chicanes were considerably more expensive and whilst air pollution could be reduced locally the traffic would inevitably be moved elsewhere.

·         Several residents felt that signs which showed vehicle speed were quite effective.

·         Officers would await consultation responses.

An update will be provided regarding the rat run issues in the Ward.

Martin Fletcher – City Highways Director presented details on the rat run situation in the ward.

·         It was noted that a 20% response was received in regard to the Sanvey Lane/ Marsden Lane consultation.

·         The most preferred option from the consultation results and the option now being proposed was to install bollards. The result included 34 people being in favour, 6 against and 26 were in between (not in favour nor against).

·         Residents had recently received a letter in the past few days about the response and were given the opportunity to respond.

·         If this were to go ahead, Martin noted that it would be a trial and not permanent at this time.

·         It was noted that the location selected for the bollards to be placed, was based on space for turning circles and also the petition from 2015.

·         Officers were trying to find a solution to the problem but there was no easy option that would not affect someone.

Residents’ concerns:

·         Some residents would not be able to access Marsden Lane from the bottom with the proposed bollards and if going via Sanvey Lane there would be a backup when turning right onto Middleton Street.

·         Councillor Porter suggested a change of light sequencing on Middleton Street, however many residents disagreed due to the small amount of people that got through the light.

·         There were concerns that this could lead to possible accidents/ damage to vehicles delivering to the farm on Marsden Lane/ Sanvey Lane and also van/ trailers would find it hard to get by on Sanvey Lane.

·         Sanvey Lane double yellow lines. Martin noted that whatever work was carried out, the double yellow lines would be looked at.

·         Concerns were noted regarding vehicles giving way on Sanvey Lane.

·         It was felt that dealing with the bus Lane at the end of Sanvey Lane could prevent vehicles clogging up the road. The 24hr bus lane was noted as still an issue.

·         A resident re-requested the installation of bollards on a time switch.

·         A resident requested gating the road.

At the meeting residents were given an option to vote. The majority of residents present at the meeting were against the installation of bollards as proposed. Some liked the idea of a private gated area.

Officers noted all the above comments and would be taking them into consideration.

Thanks, were extended to Officers for their hard work on the consultation.

An update will be provided regarding Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the Aylestone Ward.

Martin Fletcher – City Highways Director noted that during the consultation majority of residents rejected the option of having residents parking near the area of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. From a Highways perspective there was not much more that the department could do.

·         Martin provided residents with figures relating to traffic enforcement which had increased significantly in the past year.

·         Some residents felt the offences occurred in the night. Martin agreed to speak to the traffic warden team and request they attend the area during those evening hours.

·         Residents could also call the parking services number if they had concerns.

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

PCSO Diane Stewart provided an update on issues the Police had been involved in since the last meeting.

·         The issue noted at the last meeting with motorbikes going down to the Gilmorton Estates through Aylestone Meadows was reported to have decreased. Four or five motorbikes had been seized in the past two months.

·         Theft from motor vehicles and theft of vehicle number plates was reported to have increased slightly. Residents were encouraged to lock car doors and not leave valuables on show.

·         Further encouragement was given to residents to lock houses, sheds, windows and set light timer switches.

·         PCSO Stewart noted that residents could collect tamper proof number plate screws from Wigston Police station.

·         Some minor issues were noted in relation to Aylestone Hall gardens whereby young people had been sitting around, smoking and littering.

·         If residents had concerns they should ring 101.

·         A resident reported a previous issue and felt that no Officer had come to investigate. PCSO Stewart would email the Neighbourhood Investigation Team and request them to contact the resident.

Gillian Jillett will give a presentation on the Health Watch programme.

Gillian Jillett - the Community Outreach Lead for Leicester City introduced the newly merged Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire.

It was noted that Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire:

·         Was an independent voice for the people of Leicester and Leicestershire.

·         Listened, represented people’s views and provided local information and signposting.

·         Influenced health and social care locally to ensure local peoples voices were heard.

·         Visited General Practices (GP’s) and care homes, suggesting improvements. A revisit was then made to see if the suggested changes were implemented.

·         Residents were encouraged to share their experiences, or if they had any issues or concerns relating to Health and Social Care Services across the City.

·         For further information, a leaflet has been attached at the end of this action log and has contact details if anyone wanted to volunteer.

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the Aylestone Ward.

Noel Cazley – City Warden for the Ward was unable to attend the meeting but provided a written update which has been attached at the end of this action log.

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

An update on the Ward Community Budget will be provided at the meeting.

Anita Clarke – Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) gave an update on the Ward Community Budget.

·         It was noted that 4 applications had been supported since the last meeting totalling £4,050.

·         5 applications were outstanding and still to be decided.

·         The remaining balance in the budget was £14,150 which needed to be spent by the end of the financial year.

Some residents felt that areas of Aylestone had become quite degraded and requested if some of the budget could be spent on shutters and jet washing the Aylestone Road shops.

An update of the old doctors’ surgery was requested for the next meeting.

The meeting closed at 8.35pm.