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 Aldred as Chair led on introductions and requested all participants to adhere to the conduct of the meeting and repsoect when others are addressing the meeeting.

A petition from the residents of the ward was haded over to the Planning Officer in attendance.

The Action Log of the meeting of the Thurncourt Ward Community Meeting 6 December 2022 is attached for information.

AGREED:

That the Action Log of the Thurncourt Ward Community Meeting held on 6 December 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

Officers from the Planning Department will be in attendance to present the Local Plan for public consultation.

The Planning Team introduced the item on the Local Plan and delivered a presentation outlining the government initiative to address the housing need in the city and expectation to deliver 40,000 extra housing over a 15 year period which the districts around the city will be developing 50% of.

It was further noted that:

·         The consultation on phase 4 and the various stages of the consultation that began in 2014 was explained

·         70% of sites were brownfield sites around the city centre which included land developed for the purpose of employment

·         As part of the consultation 4 sites in the ward had been proposed for partial developments for residential use

·         At this current stage of consultation there were 2 sites being proposed on the ward and both sites were for partial developments including improvements to the green spaces

·         The consultation process includes comments from all including the local residents before it goes to the government inspector and everyone was urged to participate and fill in the response forms to have their voices heard

·         During the engagement process 3500 responses had been received to the consultation to date across the city

·         Currently the government were consulting on additional changes which could see the city in a worse position.

As part of the discussions local residents raised their concerns with the earlier phase of the consultation that had taken place during 2020 and felt this was fundamentally flawed and irresponsible, to hold a consultation at a time when the city was in a lockdown. In response it was noted that, notices of the consultation had been distributed to all areas where there were proposals for development, 44 responses from local residents, including a petition from Sunbury Green had been received and all of this would be included as part of the report on the consultation process, including the equalities impact assessment for the government inspector, who would ultimately make the decision.

Local residents noted that the Thurnby Lodge Estate was built in the 1950’s following the war, some of the green space on Thurnby Lodge was donated to the local people as part of that development, before which there were very limited houses in the area. In more recent times the green spaces around the estate had proven to be a safe space and had beneficial health impacts for a range of local residents including the young. The impact 21 houses being built on the green spaces outweighed what the impact of not building on these greenspaces would be and this should be considered. Officers noted that any large development proposal would carry out a health impact assessment prior to development as was the case with the proposals at Western Park in Leicester.

In further discussions, residents noted that the current proposals suggested development on 50% of the sites being considered and this would open the doors for future developments on the other half. The number of dwellings being proposed in the area were not a significant amount and could be accommodated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The Highways Officer in attendance provided the meeting with an update on highways related matter raised at the previous meeting.

It was noted that:

·         The request to remove the lamp at Willowbrook School had been actioned and resolved

·         The request for knee rail fencing had been noted and would be part of a scheme to deliver these in the future

·         The cycle lane request for the A47 going into the city centre would require an update at a later date

·         Bollards had been installed around various schools in the ward and that an Officer from the School Runs Team was working on proposals to improve traffic and congestion concerns around schools

In further discussions residents noted that:

·         Additional knee-high railings were needed on Bowhill Way to deter people from parking on the grass verges

·         The pothole issue on Wintersdale Road and Dakyn Road be addressed

·         Additional enforcement officers during the school run hours would support the local concerns with inconsiderate parking

·         The Officer be requested to take back the proposal for staggered school  start and finish times for consideration as this was suggested at a possible solution to a city wide issue.

The Chair welcomed the representatives of the Mayflower Pub site and invited them to update the local residents on the proposals for the site.

The representative from Mayflower Pub noted that they had purchased the site and were planning on a Community Centre for all local people of the ward. The structure and layout of the site would remain the same and that currently there was no application that had been submitted for any purpose to the local authority. Recent clearing up of the site was following a request from Leicester City Council as the site was deemed unsafe and needed maintaining.

Local residents felt that the site was perfect for social housing and it was a shame that the council offer was turned down and the landlord sold to the highest bidder.

Some residents shared their concerns with the site being developed would cause additional issues with parking and congestion in area that already suffered.

Local residents felt that speculation around the use of the site had raised concerns as there had been no communications with the new owners. The representatives were welcomed to provide future updates to local residents to address any issues that local residents may have.

Additionally, residents also shared heir views on the community centre proposal, whilst some people shared their concerns on whether the area needed another community centre, others were happy that the derelict site would be transformed and be a benefit to the local community.

ACTION:

That the representatives from the Mayflower Pub be invited to come back to the ward meetings once there were more detailed information on the proposals for the future use of the site.

There being no items of urgent business the meeting closed at 8:10pm.