Agenda and minutes

Councillor Allen was elected as Chair for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from the Police Neighbourhood Team.

No declarations were made

a)         Raven Youth Centre (Minute 41, “Raven Youth Centre”, referred)

Callie Buchanan, Senior Youth Support Worker with Leicester City Council, advised the meeting that continuity of service at the Raven Youth Centre had improved since the last meeting, so no sessions had been lost due to staff unavailability.  In addition, the behaviour of the young people was improving, although some problems still were encountered on occasions.

Callie Buchanan also advised the meeting that:-

·            Approximately 50 young people were registered with the Raven Youth Centre;

·            At present, approximately 15 young people attended the Centre on a Monday, approximately 10 or 12 attended on a Tuesday for drama sessions and a few more attended cooking sessions on a Thursday;

·            As a result of some nuisance behaviour at Willowbrook Primary School, a proposed football tournament there had been postponed; and

·            A programme of summer activities had been prepared, a copy of which is attached at the end of these minutes for information.

On behalf of the meeting, the Chair thanked Callie Buchanan for the good work he was doing.

b)         Highways Issues (Minute 42, “Highways”, referred)

The meeting noted that the intention to put double yellow lines in Bowhill Grove would be advertised in the Leicester Mercury in July and, subject to no objections being received, work would start later that month. 

It was requested that consideration be given to relocating the bus shelter at the top of Bowhill Grove to the opposite side of the road, as this was the terminus of the route and a bench already was there.  Adele Harrison, Transport Development Officer with Leicester City Council, undertook to consider this.

Adele Harrison then reported that:-

·            The new bus shelter on Colchester Road had been installed on 2 July 2010;

·            All residents on Colchester Road had been consulted about moving the bus shelter.  Some objections had been made to replacing the shelter in the same place, so it had been moved approximately one foot.  A raised kerb also would be built there; and

·            If residents wanted the bus shelter that formerly was in Bowhill Green to be replaced, they could contact the bus companies.

David Poxon, Team Leader Road Safety with Leicester City Council, advised the meeting that the report on Vehicle Activated Signs was being reviewed, following the withdrawal of funding by central government and a reorganisation of the Highways service.  Locations identified as suitable for these signs would be prioritised and the success of those already installed would be reviewed.

It was noted that each sign cost approximately £4,000, including installation.  In addition, if there was no suitable lamp column available from which to feed electricity, a post and a power supply had to be provided, which increased the cost.

Some residents felt that these signs were ineffective, as drivers did not take any notice of them.  They felt that it would be more effective for the Police to use a camera van that could be moved around the area.

In reply, David Poxon explained that:-  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Updates on local Highways issues will be considered as follows:

1)     An update on the installation of the replacement bus shelter on Thurncourt Road/Bowhill Grove

2)     An update on other Highways issues, including Nursery Road traffic calming.

David Poxon, Team Leader Road Safety with Leicester City Council, reported that the proposal to build speed humps in Nursery Road had been advertised.  Construction work on these would begin in August 2010.  The speed humps would be softer than some installed in other locations and would be screwed in to the road.

Residents questioned whether these would wear loose, as this had happened with some other speed humps that had been secured in this way.  David Poxon undertook to investigate this and let the questioner know.

Concern was expressed that, on some roads, there was not enough room for mobility scooters to pass between speed humps and the kerb.  David Poxon advised that gaps usually were left for vehicles such as bicycles and scooters, but it could be difficult to leave a large enough gap if there was a pair of speed humps in the road, as enough room had to be left in the middle of the road to enable vehicles to pass without hitting each other.

An update will be given on local policing issues with reference to crime statistics for the Thurncourt Ward.

As the Police were unable to attend the meeting, Francis Connolly, Members Support Officer with Leicester City Council, read out an update on Police issues in the area, a copy of which is attached at the end of these minutes for information. 

The meeting thanked Sergeant Graham for the update.  However, it was felt that, although this was helpful as an overview, it would have been useful to receive more detailed information on what was happening in the area, such as the type of crimes that were being committed.  The meeting asked the Member Support Officer to write to the Police, asking that this type of information be included in future updates.

A resident reported that recently there had been problems with noise from the flats on St Austell Road.  The Council’s noise team had been telephoned at 1.30 am, but they had said that they did not have enough time to visit the premises.  When they were telephoned again at 2.30 am, they stated that it was too late for them to visit the premises.  The Police did not attend such incidents either, but residents there was a lot of noise and disturbance from these properties.  The meeting agreed that this problem should be included in the letter to be sent to the Police.

The City Wardens team will give a presentation on the role of the City Warden locally and will inform residents of their action plan for the Thurncourt Ward.

Barbara Whitcombe, Team Manager (City Wardens) with Leicester City Council, introduced herself to the meeting and drew attention to the information that had been tabled at the meeting.   Copies of these leaflets are attached at the end of these minutes for information.

Barbara Whitcombe reminded the meeting that the City Warden service had received funding from the Community Cohesion fund to buy litter pick kits.  As a result, the service now had 90 adult kits and 90 for children, all of which could be borrowed for community use.  It also was noted that the service could help co-ordinate community litter picks, including helping with publicity and removing litter picked up.

The meeting noted that the Council offered free removal of bulky items.  A resident advised that Council operatives had refused to take an electrical item that had been double-bagged, even though Customer Services officers had said that the item would be taken if it was double-bagged.  Another resident advised that an electrical item that was collected from their property had been dragged from the property by its electric lead, which had marked the driveway.

Barbara Whitcombe advised that the bagged electrical item should have been taken and that the collection vehicles all carried pack barrows, which should have been used in the case reported.  A representative from Biffa advised the meeting that all staff should use the correct manual handling techniques and should not be dragging items.  This would be raised with staff.

The following points were raised during discussion:-

·            The Council was now providing graffiti removal kits for community use.  These could be used to remove graffiti from smooth, non-porous surfaces.  To arrange for the removal of graffiti from other surfaces, the Council needed to be contacted;

·            A resident had asked for graffiti to be removed from a brick wall at the junction of The Parkway and Peters Drive, but had been advised that the Council could not do this, as it was a private wall.  Hughie Blair, Graffiti Services Manager with Leicester City Council, confirmed that the Council had a budget for the removal of graffiti from premises such as shops, but did not have funding to remove it from houses;

·            There appeared to be confusion over how many black bags could be removed by the Bulky Waste Collection Service, Customer Services having advised that only 5 bags could be collected.  Barbara Whitcombe undertook to ensure that staff were aware of the correct number of bags that could be taken;

·            Complaints continued to be made that rubbish being dropped by refuse collectors was not cleared up.  Officers confirmed that no residue should be left and asked anyone seeing rubbish left in this way to ring the Council straight away.  This made it easier to monitor where problems were occurring; and

·            It was noted that there was only one road sweeper machine available for use in four Wards.

Darren Evans, City Warden for Thurncourt, drew the meeting’s attention to the Ward Action Plan that had been tabled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Neil Rouse, Neighbourhood Housing Manager, will be in attendance to provide an update to the Community Meeting on housing improvement work within the ward.

The Chair advised the meeting that Neil Rouse, Neighbourhood Housing Manager with Leicester City Council, was now working in a different area of the City.  The new Area Manager would be Chrissie Field, although it was not known yet where she would be based.  There were various schemes outstanding, so the Ward Members would work with Chrissie Field to ensure they were not forgotten.

The Chair further advised that he had thanked Neil Rouse on behalf of tenants and residents for his work on their behalf during his time based in Thurncourt.

Officers from Sports Development, Leicester City Council will be in attendance to provide information on ‘Sport Unlimited’, a scheme to increase and retain participation for young people in a variety of sports.

Mebs Bachoo, Sports Regeneration Officer with Leicester City Council, explained that Sport Unlimited was a government scheme through which local authorities could apply for funding from Sport England to increase the participation of young people in sport. 

Mebs Bachoo advised that:-

·            The “Open Pot” had closed at the end of June, but it was hoped that another would be available after March 2011;

·            A programme of activities had been compiled, which would run until Spring 2011;

·            Sport Unlimited ran on a different basis each year, so the criteria for receiving funding changed each year;

·            This year, the focus was on young people aged 11 to 18, but applications still could be made for sport activities for children and young people of other ages;

·            In order to obtain funding, a programme had to aim for 60% of participants continuing to follow the programme;

·            The City Council’s Sports Regeneration Officers could help people to submit applications to Sport England for funding; and

·            Bidders were encouraged to mainly provide activities during school terms.

In reply to questions and comments from residents, Mebs Bachoo explained that:-

·            Although this initiative did not provide programmes for older people, they could participate in more sporting activities through the 3X30 pledge, through which people pledged to do at least to do 30 minutes of exercise three times a week;

·            It was recognised that the front of the booklet containing the forthcoming programme of activities was not inclusive, as it only showed young, fit people.  However, this scheme was driven by Sport England, so the Council was unable to change the image used;

·            Each activity needed about 20 young people to attend over an eight-week period;

·            Anyone working with young people was encouraged to consider participating in this programme; and

·            The Thurncourt area lacked a facility where this sort of programme could run, but Sports Regeneration Officers tried to attend events such as the forthcoming carnival to promote the programme.

Francis Connolly, Members’ Support Officer, will present further work that has been carried out in updating the Ward Action Plan for Thurncourt, following discussions at the last meeting.

Francis Connolly, Member Support Officer with Leicester City Council, tabled the Ward Action Plan, explaining that it monitored work being done and progress in meeting the priorities identified for the Ward.  A copy of the Plan is attached at the end of these minutes for information.

A resident expressed concern that a lot of accidents were happening at the junction of The Parkway and Havencrest Drive.  The road markings there were poor and parking at the junction made it difficult to see other traffic.  It therefore was suggested that this could be included in the Ward Action Plan.

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 meeting will consider the following application for funding that has been received:

Thurnby Lodge Tenants and Residents Association – Community Newsletter- request for £500.

a)         Thurnby Lodge Tenants and Residents Association (TARA)

The meeting was reminded that an application from the TARA for funding for printing and delivering newsletters to homes in the area had been circulated with the agenda. 

The TARA Treasurer advised the meeting that other sources of funding were being investigated.  Fundraising activities also were being organised, including a Fun Day on 10 July 2010.  Money raised through these would help with these costs and, hopefully, help fund future projects.  However, one problem facing the Association was that the grant received from the Council had reduced from £1,500 per year to £500 per year.

The bid under consideration was to help the TARA produce eight-page newsletters.  Although the newsletters were successful, attracting paid advertising and providing a useful way for people keep in touch with local news, the Association had had problems in getting them delivered.  It therefore was planned to pay someone to analyse the best areas in which to focus deliveries.

The Chair advised the TARA that, although the Ward Members supported this application and recognised the importance of the newsletter, the Community Meeting would not be able to provide funding for every edition of the newsletter.

RECOMMENDED:

that funding of £500 from the Ward Community Fund be supported for the printing and delivering of 3,000 newsletters.

b)         Thurnby Lodge Brownies – Summer Camp

The meeting noted that a Brownie pack at Thurnby Lodge had asked for financial assistance towards transportation costs for a one-week summer camp.  Assistance was requested as, for some of the children involved, this would be the only summer holiday they had.

AGREED:

that, as full details of costs were not available at the meeting, the group liaise with the Member Support Officer to complete a formal application for funding.

c)         Rowletts Hill Allotments

A verbal request was made for a grant of up to £500 towards the cost of spraying unused allotments before they were rotovated, when being brought back in to use.  Rotovating alone did not work, as the allotments usually had things such as brambles, docks and couch grass growing in them.

It was noted that these allotments were based in Thurncourt, (off Colchester Road).

d)         Parents Get Active in Thurnby!

It was noted that, since the agenda had been circulated, an application for funding had been received from Shelley Osborne for £2,900 towards the cost of providing three fitness sessions a week in Thurnby over a period of 40 weeks.  The funding would be used towards the cost of equipment, coaching and promotional material for walking and aerobics / circuits based sessions.  The application was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

There will be Thurncourt Community Meetings on the following dates:

Monday 4 October 2010

Monday 10 January 2011

Monday 4 April 2011

NOTED:

that Thurncourt Community Meetings will be held on Monday 4 October 2010, Monday 10 January 2011 and Monday 4 April 2010, the Information Fair at each meeting to start at 6.00 pm and the main meeting to start at 6.30 pm.

Post-meeting note: the meeting in January 2011 will now be held on Monday, 17 January 2011.

Stop Smoking Service

Representatives of the Stop Smoking Service from Leicester City Primary Care Trust were present at the meeting.

It was noted that it could be difficult to find support when trying to stop smoking, so anyone who needed help with any aspect of this was welcome to contact the service.  For example, the service had various leaflets on different issues and could direct people to their nearest Stop Smoking service.

The meeting also was advised that the service was promoting a Smoke Free Homes initiative.  Under this initiative, people who did not feel that the time was right for them to try to stop smoking were asked to sign a pledge that they would go outside to smoke.  This had the advantages that it created a smoke free environment for families and pets and it encouraged people to think about how often they smoked.

The Chair thanked all present for their input and closed the meeting at 8.47 pm