Agenda and minutes

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

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

Councillor Master, Chair for the meeting, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from local residents – Alef Uddin, Helen Everett, Peter Flack, Deirdre O’Sullivan and Mel Read.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 30 March 2017 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.

The action log of the meeting held on 30 November 2016 was agreed as an accurate record with the amendment of the word ‘Country’ instead of ‘City’ in item 56 – ‘Sustainability & Transformation Plan’.

Item 61 – ‘Any Other Business’ – regarding City Centre Director Sarah Harrison, Councillor Master noted that Sarah had prepared a report in relation to businesses in the Ward and submitted it to Councillors yesterday. As Councillors had not yet looked at the report, it was proposed to have this as an agenda item for the next Stoneygate Ward Meeting.

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 since the last meeting. The following was discussed.

Councillor Thalukdar:

·         Combined Fire Authority – several high rise buildings were checked for fire safety, two were noted as combustible and required sprinklers which would be added.

·         Mental Health – Residents were advised that if there was anyone who had mental health issues, Councillors or the Council could be contacted for further advice on the appropriate support services.

·         Heritage, Culture, Leisure & Sport – a new staircase and lift had now been installed in New Walk Museum and works to improve Abbey Pumping Station had also commenced.

Residents’ concerns:

·         Planning application for the current building at 11 Elmfield Avenue was to be demolished and turned into a care home. There were concerns regarding the potential volume of traffic which would be on Elmfield Road. Double yellow lines were requested by residents to prevent parking at the road corners. Councillor Master would inform the Highways team and also noted that the new group that owned the building had been communicating with the Councillors. There was a consultation deadline of 23 August for plans and proposals.

·         Other Planning applications which raised concerns were 22 Staveley Road (the former F. Stimpson) where a block of flats were planned to be built and 1 St Albans Road (former Lloyds bank) where a proposal had been made for a six storey residential unit for students. Councillor Chaplin informed the meeting that the planning application for 1 St Albans Road had recently been refused however, residents should still be observant.

·         A resident reported a proposal regarding the DMU business school on London Road. Councillor Master would check this out and feedback.

Councillor Master:

·         Noted that the Local Plan consultation was currently taking place – residents were encouraged to submit their views.

·         Councillor Master asked residents if it would be useful to have an overview of the Local Plan at a meeting in the Ward. Councillor Chaplin suggested that an additional focus meeting primarily about the Local Plan take place – residents accepted and Councillor Master agreed to take this back as an action.

Councillor Chaplin:

·         Reported the planning proposal to put a hobby room in the garden at 208 London Road, which was approved subject to conditions which emphasised the need to take care not to damage or affect the boundary wall and also to inform of the implications of any alteration/impact on listed structures. Councillor Chaplin noted the significance of conservation areas.       

·         Homelessness – It was announced that a street sleeper near the Co-op supermarket on Evington Road had recently passed away. This triggered a meeting of local Police with managers and staff working with homeless people in the City. Councillor Chaplin attended this meeting at the Dawn Centre whereby several actions were agreed to carefully monitor areas like the Evington Road in addition to City Centre and Police and Councillors should be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

There will be an update on the residents parking scheme - Stoughton Drive and St. Johns Road.

Robert Bateman – Team Leader for Highways and Drainage Design was present at the meeting and provided the below update:

·         St Johns Road - Due to speeding concerns some residents had requested one way on part of the road, others had requested a gated road. Residents were informed on potential safety improvements, one of which was to identify hotspots to protect cyclists. It was noted that the gated road request would not go ahead.

·         Councillor Master noted that a letter was sent out to local residents in June detailing the results from the residents parking scheme consultation. The overall outcome for a residents parking scheme in the Ward was 79% against, which determined that the scheme would not be going ahead.

·         A meeting would be taking place at the Muslim Khatri Association - Dashwood Road on 17 August 2017 to:

o   Give Council representatives an opportunity to feedback reasons as to why the residents parking scheme would not be going ahead.

o   Hear residents’ views on the outcome.

o   Hear any detail missed, suggestions, hotspot areas etc.

·         Residents requested to see the results on a street by street basis at the meeting on 17 August.

·         Stoughton Drive North road safety scheme - Robert Bateman noted that 473 consultation handbills had been sent out to local residents. 63 residents responded – with 44 of them in favour and the other 19 were not in favour of plans. Robert would provide a summary report for Councillors.

·         Councillor Chaplin requested to meet at Stoughton Drive North with Officers and residents to provide more people with details of the plans. Councillor Chaplin requested that local residents, Stoneygate Ward Councillors and Officers meet after the meeting to agree a date to meet on Stoughton Drive North.

·         Councillor Chaplin raised an issue on behalf of a resident regarding parking on pavements and around schools especially at the Leicester Islamic Academy.

·         It was noted that there was a delay on the residents parking scheme on Ripon Street as the machines were awaited to be delivered.

·         It was requested for more Parking enforcement to be implemented at the bottom of Evington Road and also for the timetable of enforcement officers in the Stoneygate Ward to be bought to the next meeting.

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:

·         Biddulph Avenue – fly tipping had increased. All properties on this street would now be getting warnings regarding the fly tipping so that the whole street takes responsibility.

·         Fixed Penalty Notice’s (FPN’s) for fly tipping had now increased from £250 to £400, in addition to recovering costs for the Council recovering the waste.

·         The ‘Works on the streets’ projects had commenced – this was taking place street by street in the Ward.

·         From next week the City Warden would be working with local businesses to ensure they were aware of ways to dispose of waste, bins use and waste storage.

·         The City Warden would add information on letters to residents regarding assisted collections.

Residents:

·         South Highfields Neighbours (SHN) and local residents had done a lot of work on the community garden area (near the MKA Evington Road) including the hanging baskets and geraniums. It was requested that residents shopping at Tesco’s supermarket collect the blue tokens and add in the SHN in bloom collection.

·         A resident requested for the City Warden to liaise with a resident on St James Road regarding bulk collection. Darren would get details from the resident after the meeting.

·         On Churchill Road, a resident’s neighbours were reported to have been blocking her alley way with their dustbins. The City Warden would provide the resident with his contact details, for further communication.

The Local Policing Unit will provide an update on Policing works within the Ward.

New Sergeant (Sgt) for the Ward – Jamie Reeve was present, along with PCSO’s Sam Trantom and Jamie Sharma.

All to note:

·         A meeting would be taking place next week regarding issues on St James Road.

·         Street Sleepers – Sgt Reeve would be attending meetings at Mansfield House every two weeks to discuss street sleeping and what could be done.

·         A London Road/ neighbourhood watch would be formed on London Road due to an increase in burglaries.

·         Residents could obtain information about Police beat surgeries on the Police website.

·         Councillor Master informed Police that they could use the Onslow Park and Evington Road notice boards to advertise their beat surgery details.

·         Crime Statistics from 1st April – 1st August and primary areas concerned:

·         58 burglaries – especially taking place between 2am-4am and 7-10am on St Albans Road, Victoria Avenue and Evington footway.

·         Several robberies – Evington Road

·         38 thefts of motor vehicles – Evington Road and Romway Road.

·         Residents requested more specifics of areas which the crime had been taking place.

·         A resident from St Philips Road reported that a man was knocking doors begging for money on a Saturday night. The Police would log and return to this area.

·         Councillor Chaplin advised residents to call 101 with these types of concerns.

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.

Laura Burt – Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) provided the following information at the meeting.

·         It was noted that £1,800 had been carried forward from the previous budget (2016/17), which meant the opening balance for 2017/18 was £19,800. 8 applications had been supported as below which gave a balance of £16,511.

The below applications were supported:

Applicant – South Highfields Neighbours

Project – Fun in Onslow Park

Amount supported - £450

Applicant – Second Chance

Project – Summer Scheme

Amount Supported – £500

Applicant – Candy Arts Cic

Project – Engage and work with young people to produce music video/ documentary

Amount Supported – £834

Applicant – The Monday Club Leicestershire

Project – Barge trip – Health and Wellbeing project

Amount Supported – £200

Applicant – The African Caribbean Centre Development Group (ACCDG) and Cosmopolitan Arts

Project – African Caribbean cultural experience and educational enrichment

Amount Supported – £750

Applicant – The Friends Hub

Project – Highfields Sports

Amount Supported – £1000

Applicant – Golden Fellowship

Project – Golden Fellowship Social and activity projects

Amount Supported – £305

Applicant – Leicester Welfare Society

Project – Eid-ul-fitr Celebration

Amount Supported – £500

·         A street party funded by the Ward Community fund would be taking place on Upper Tichbourne Road, 11am-2pm on Saturday 12 August 2017.

·         Applicant Kamala from Sensational Vibes was in attendance at the meeting with some of the young people who had benefited from the projects that Sensational Vibes had provided. Kamala thanked the Ward Councillors for funding support towards the play scheme which engaged 50 children from various nationalities and was provided for 4 weeks at an affordable rate. Some of the funding also supported a carnival arts project, which also enabled the group to enter the Queen show and princess show.This year the group supported others at the African Caribbean Centre who had clubs.

·         A resident who introduced herself as an Indian Classical dance artist was present and enquired about the Ward funding as she was looking to do a project which involved the local community. Councillor Chaplin was to talk to the resident after the meeting and Laura Burt – WCEO to provide contact details/ funding information.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.26pm.