Agenda and minutes

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

Councillor Thalukdar, elected as Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from Woody Wood – local resident/ South Highfields Neighbours.

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

Councillor Chaplin declared an ‘other disclosable interest’ for her involvement in the Art House application. It was noted that Councillor Chaplin had not taken part in the decision for this application.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 15 December 2016 is attached at Appendix A and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record. Any update on actions taken since the last meeting will be reported at the meeting.

Residents parking:

·         Since the previous meeting every resident in the ward had received a leaflet regarding the residents parking pre-consultation.

·         This included dates/ venues where presentations would be held for residents to find out more information.

·         It was an opportunity to get an idea for the number of residents who would request residents parking and also the actual streets/ areas.

·         It was noted that Officers expressed agreement to install part bays on some streets if necessary.

·         The current general view was 50% requested the residents parking and 50% did not want it.

·         Concerns were noted with parking, enforcement and litter in takeaway food areas.

·         Councillor Master gave an idea of the current prices of a resident parking permit and that there were no plans for an increase.

The Stoneygate Ward Councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the Stoneygate Ward.

Stoneygate Ward Councillors provided an update on the issues they had been dealing with in the ward and activities they had been involved in. The following was discussed.

Councillor Master:

·         The residents parking consultation was taking place in the ward and would close on 17 April. Residents were therefore encouraged to express their views on the consultation via the various methods.

·         A resident had concerns that residents with parking permits on St James Road were having difficulties finding parking on that Street and had to go elsewhere whereby some were reported to have received parking tickets as a result of this. Councillor Chaplin requested Councillor Master to look into why Streets like St James were encountering these issues, which was agreed.

·         Councillor Master noted that measures to recruit more enforcement was in place, however, this could be a lengthy process.

·         A resident reported that Police Officers provided information that there were no webcams on Evington Road and expressed a level of discomfort due to this. Councillor Master noted that body camera regulations could be queried.

·         The second consultation for the Highways improvement scheme on various roads in the Ward had closed on Tuesday, the data was now been analysed.

·         It was noted that the Mayfield Children’s Centre would be closing along with several other centres across the City. There was currently no time frame for the closure or knowledge as to what would happen to the building.

Councillor Chaplin:

·         The meeting were informed of Councillor Chaplin’s upcoming surgery details, it was noted that any changes were available on the Council’s website or could be emailed to residents. Councillor Chaplin’s Councillor Surgeries in the months of May and July would most likely be held at the Mayfield Children’s Centre, Mayfield Road. It was requested that residents contact Councillor Chaplin if they knew of any other venues in the Ward to hold the Surgeries.

·         It was noted that the Shama Women’s Centre had been given six extra months funding by the Council, however, ongoing funding sources were still required.

·         The Dawn Centre – was reported to be often full. It was requested to the Assistant City Mayor for Housing - Andy Connelly that if there were empty buildings or business centres could these be used for homeless shelters.

·         Ripon Street – It was noted that following a four year campaign the Planning Committee had now agreed to a residents parking scheme due to an overflow of reported parking from public events.

·         The campaign against the closure of the Children’s Heart Surgery department at Leicester’s Glenfield hospital still continued.

·         It was requested that community groups should inform Councillor Chaplin of any meetings they were holding that would require her attendance and she would try to attend.

Councillor Thalukdar:

·         Expressed his support in the Shama Women’s Centre and campaign for Glenfield Children’s Hear Surgery departments.

Information on the Sustainability & Transformation Plan (STP) will be presented at the meeting.

·         Councillor Chaplin gave an update on the current STP, it was noted that there were 44 STP plans across the Country regarding the way in which the NHS planned to make implementations.

·         It was noted that residents could contact Councillor Chaplin who would give directions to further information.

·         The webcast from the recent Full Council Meeting (16 March) which included the STP Council resolution could be found on the Leicester City Council website.

The local City Warden will be present to provide an update on any environmental works in the Ward.

Darren Evans – City Warden for the Ward presented the following and provided a written report with the City Warden service update for the Ward.

·         Devana Road, Biddulph Avenue and Mere Road were noted as areas where fly tipping had increased in the ward. However, Stoneygate Ward was showing a decline in fly-tipping in general.

·         St James Road - A resident had concerns that the bins were often left on the Highway and dog fouling was reported to be an issue. Darren expressed that there were now a few other Officers working to assist the City Warden Team. It was planned that a bins on streets project would be started to include St James Road as soon as possible.

·         In addition, the aim was also to do a dog fouling project which would be to spray stencils but would also include targeted enforcement. It was anticipated that the projects would be started before the next ward meeting. For targeted enforcement the City Warden required times and areas as to where the dog fouling occurred, residents were therefore encouraged to report this information.

·         It was noted that bins offences was now a civil offence as it had been decriminalised.

Highfields Blues will be present at the meeting to provide information about the Highfields Blues project within the Stoneygate Ward.

Shelly Jackson (Paramedic from East Midlands ambulance service) and Anthony Wildgoose (Leicester Fire Rescue Service) were both present as representatives of Highfields Blues an initiative supported by the local commissioning group and Leicester City Council. The following information was presented:

·         Highfields Blues was made up of dedicated personnel from the Fire, Ambulance and Police emergency services with a primary focus to work together with the residents of Highfields, to promote health, fire safety and police security in the community.

·         One of the main aims was to help reduce demand and repeat calls on all the emergency services by supporting people in Highfields to help themselves by educating them about alternative support services.

·         There were 2 Police, 2 Fire service Officers and 2 Ambulance staff that were allocated to the Highfields Blues who would carry out free home visits, provide correct health, crime and emergency advice/ contact details. They would also look at fire safety in homes and provide households with fire escape plans. Occupational therapists could also assist in home visits.

·         Highfields Blues was noted as a three month feasibility project with an end date of 31 May 2017. Following this, there would be a two month evaluation period and community handover period whereby GP practices, community leaders, Councillors and other member of the community could continue to share the information in their communities and provide the correct advice.

·         It was noted that the nearest walk in centre for the Stoneygate Ward was Merlyn Vaz Health Centre.

·         It was requested that 999 only be rang if it was a life threatening situation. 999 calls would now be categorised with the level of emergency.

·         Further information and areas included for this project could be found at www.highfieldsblues.org or call 0116 220 3247.

Residents/ Councillors concerns:

·         A resident commented that there were a lot of people in the Evington Road area who did not speak English. Shelly noted that documents in alternative languages were in the process of being created.

·         Councillor Chaplin queried whether the Merlyn Vaz Centre would remain as a walk in centre. Shelly replied that the service would be present until October 2017, following that it would be the decision of the Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). In this regard, it was advised that residents should call the 111 number to receive up to date information, to book appointment slots and also to be advised on the nearest walk in centre.

·         Councillor Chaplin and Master commented on the issue that calling the 101 number had a long answering response, which encouraged people to call 999. It was questioned whether there were any extra resources. Shelly informed the meeting that the 111 answer response was quite quick and they could also feed 101 queries back to the Police.

·         Anthony responded to a residents query that he was unsure of the likelihood of an extension of the project past May. Councillor Master added that there may not be a budget for continuation; however, following the project an analysis would take  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in Ward.

Police Sergeant (Sgt) Yusuf Nagdi gave the following update:

·         There were now two full-time and one part-time PC’s for the ward, as well as five PCSO’s.

·         Some unfortunate news was expressed that a Police colleague had recently passed away.

Crime in the Ward:

There were currently several key priorities in the Ward, where issues were occurring, this included:

·         Problem Solving Plan (PSP) in Prebend Gardens due to alcohol/ drug misuse. Reports had now decreased following works which had taken place with the Parks Team, partner agencies and patch walks.

·         Conduit Street – Dawn Centre.

·         Evington Road between the Co-op shop and One Stop shop,

·         St James Road.

·         The Police had been involved in regular patrolling, working with places of worship, ‘Day of Action Today’ – working with homeless people and a new business project on Evington Road – liaising with businesses.

·         The Police had been and would be holding more beat surgeries at the Co-op shop (Evington Road) and Somali development services (Abingdon Road) – it was noted that residents could visit these beat surgeries and talk to Police Officers for updates and with concerns.

Residents’ concerns:

·         It was reported that the locks and automatic closing system of the gate on Bartholomew Street was not working, this gate was funded by the Council as part of the Community Safety scheme. Sgt Nagdi would check if it had been looked into, if not he would deal with this.

·         There was a request for Highfields Blues leaflets be distributed to places of worship. Sgt Nagdi said that was possible but also wanted to build a relationship and become acquainted with people and businesses.

·         A resident and former community worker expressed concerns regarding recent knife crime incidents and associated tensions in the local community which he felt had been further aggravated due to the lack of funding for young peoples services available in this area.

·         He noted that ongoing youth projects were required and he was willing to be part of the implementation. It was queried to Councillors and the Police as to what measures they could implement to help improve the situation and commitments for young people.

·         Councillor Master commented on the situation. He said that there was no disagreement with the seriousness of the instances which had been occurring across the City. It was noted that the Police and Crime Commissioner were working on a knife crime initiative which would materialise in a few weeks but would also require more partner involvement. Councillor Master noted that he could commit to working on this in another forum with other interested people.

·         Councillor Chaplin commented that previous examples of similar campaigns could be used, some of which involved petitions and organised action. It was noted, regarding the impact that budget constraints had had on certain services. It was suggested that a community petition, which could be started at a Ward Community Meeting, ERNA meeting or a street  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

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.

Councillor Master presented the Ward Community Budget update.

·         Some residents requested that additional budget sheets be available at the Ward meetings.

·         It was noted that 11 applications had been supported since the last meeting and £1800 would be carried over to the 2017/18 budget.

·         It was noted that Laura Burt – Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) could assist/ provide advice to applicants.

·         Glenda Terry representative of Community Advice and Law Service gave an insight into the services available and what the funding applied for would cover. Glenda also distributed information leaflets.

Sarah Harrison - City Centre Director and Michael Rose - Senior Economic Regeneration Officer were both present at the meeting and gave an insight into their work backgrounds which involved the 1200 businesses in Leicester City.

·         Councillor Master noted that the Officers were invited to the meeting due to many constituents concerns, the idea was for the Officers to look at things from a professional view, provide suggestions for improvements/ changes and feedback.

·         It was noted that Sarah and Michael had recently visited businesses from Evington Road to Stanley Road and were currently composing a report for Ward Councillors as well as presenting ideas to them.

·         It was reported that change of use for businesses had been expressed, however, as this was a complicated issue, it was suggested that Officers from the Planning team could be invited to a future Ward meeting.

·         As Sarah and Michael had spoken to traders but not residents, they agreed to leave their contact details for residents to contact them due to several issues which had been raised such as; rodent infestations, fly tipping, traffic & car parking, litter and change of retail.

·         Councillor Chaplin requested that a special meeting be organised on the Evington Road issues alone, which could be convened in conjunction with ERNA.

·         Fast food outlets were also noted as a huge concern, however, it was suggested that plans should not be made in isolation to the other things happening in the area such as the consultation on the local plan, residents parking scheme and retail experience. Councillor Chaplin requested that regular reports be provided to Ward Councillors.

·         Councillor Thalukdar requested that the St Stephens Road be also included as there were also many shops and businesses on this street. The involvement of community groups was also expressed as an importance.

·         ERNA would invite Sarah and Michael to their forthcoming meeting.

·         A resident requested that a timeline of recommendation should be put in place.

The meeting was closed at 8:26pm.