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, welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were given.

An apology for absence was received from Nicole Powell, the City Warden.

The Chair explained that the meeting scheduled for 8 October 2018 had been cancelled but she had carried out a patch walk in the ward with the Police and officers from the Highways department.

The Action Log of the previous meeting held 18 June 2018 is attached for information and discussion.

The Action Log of the previous meeting held 18 June 2018 was noted.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Lee Warner, Head of Neighbourhood Services as follows:

The Action Log of the previous meeting held on 18 June 2018 requested that concerns expressed regarding the ward fund budget process be fed back to Senior Officers. Officers have undertaken a review of ward funding applications and awards for Thurncourt ward and are clear that funding bids are received and processed in line with procedure. Decision-making around applications is robust, and auditing of allocated monies and reporting of the ward budget position is in line with Council expectations.

There will be an update on issues that Councillors have been dealing with in the Ward.

The Chair reported that she had been dealing with numerous issues in the Thurncourt ward and had been extremely busy with constituency work. Attendees heard that the Chair held surgeries every week on Tuesday mornings in the Thurnby Lodge Youth and Community Centre.

Attendees heard that work to install the play equipment on the park had commenced.

Officers from Leicestershire Police will be at the meeting to provide an update on local policing issues.

Attendees were asked to note an update on local policing from Sgt 1974 Kev Mistry.  A printed copy of the update was circulated at the meeting and is attached to the back of this Action Log.

A concern was raised that other Police forces were being pro-active in their work while Leicester had a reactive approach.

An attendee asked if the local Neighbourhood Watch scheme in Thurnby Lodge could be improved. Sgt Mistry said that there was an officer who was the single point of contact for Neighbourhood Watch, and he would contact that officer to progress this request.

The meeting heard that there was an ongoing problem with number plates being stolen from vehicles and then affixed to stolen cars. Sgt Mistry said that the Police would be holding a Number Plate Screws Event in the Tesco Car park to fit special screws to number plates to prevent this happening. The date for this event was still to be confirmed.

In relation to a concern raised regarding anti-social behaviour from youths, Sgt Mistry explained that there were issues relating to Hamilton Academy and the Police were working with them. Many of the youths committing the anti-social behaviour were from Council and Housing Association homes and the Police were working with Housing and the Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour Unit (CrASBU) to tackle the problem.

Housing officers will give an update on housing issues in the Ward.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Marlene Blake, Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader. Points made included the following:

·      Further to the previous discussion regarding anti-social behaviour, Marlene said that families involved with nuisance applied across all wards. In Thurncourt, most of the culprits were social housing tenants and CrASBU had been actively working with the Police and Housing officers and the partnership working had been successful.

·      Amongst other projects, £10k had been allocated to provide dropped kerbs to tenants. The Service did not have the available funds to pay for the hard standing and tenants would need to provide this themselves. Marlene asked people to let her know if they were interested in applying for funding for a dropped kerb. Action: Residents.

·      A concern was raised that tenants may not be able to carry out certain work in preparation for having repairs carried out in their home; for example, an elderly person might not be able to clear a room prior to having floor boards replaced. Marlene responded that the Council had a duty regarding repairs but could not clear a room. A voluntary organisation might be able to assist with this if a family member or friend could not help. 

Highways officers will give an update on highways issues in the Ward.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Rupert Bedder, Highways Network Asset Manager:

·      Following the patch walk that took place in October, improvements had been made to the lighting on the Colthurst Way footpath. The Chair explained that the improved lighting was needed by the Boys’ Club because there was no light column there and it was very dark. Rupert agreed to talk with Street Lighting and ask PC Steve Base to go out with an officer from Street Lighting to make sure of the correct location. Action: Rupert Bedder to contact Street Lighting.

·      A resident requested an additional lighting column on Eddystone Road and Rupert responded that this could be considered at the request of the Ward Councillors.

·      An attendee said that she had heard that a new development was proposed on Rosshill Crescent and expressed concerns about the impact on parking, because it was already a significant problem on Weaver Road. Rupert responded that when a planning application was submitted, Highways considered any parking and traffic issues and he would report that concern to them. Action: Rupert Bedder to report concern to Highways.

·      Concerns were expressed about the state of the road surface on Scraptoft Lane. Rupert responded that it was recognised that the road was in a poor state and it had been put forward for improvement work, however the Council had limited funds. In response to a question, Rupert added that there were no plans yet for Scraptoft Lane, but the intention was to use some development money to pay for the work.

·      Concerns were expressed about the need for traffic calming on Thurncourt Road and an urgent need for a crossing by Bowhill Grove and Scraptoft Lane. A request was also made for the Police to carry out speed checks on Scraptoft Lane. The Chair commented that this had been raised before and she had submitted several requests for this work to be carried out. Rupert said a crossing on Scraptoft Lane by Brook Road was on the priority list. The Chair asked Rupert to tell Highways officers that she wanted an urgent meeting with the Highways and the City Mayor.  Action: Rupert to convey the message to the appropriate Highways officer.

·      A concern was raised about parking problems outside schools and an attendee suggested that there should be ‘No Stopping’ areas outside schools which would be operational at certain times. Rupert explained that legislation was needed for such Red Routes.

An officer will be present to provide information on the Adult Skills and Learning Service.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Anna Parr, Adult Skills and Learning Service. Points made included the following:

·         The service operated from the old library on Belvoir Street.

·         There was a range of courses on offer, including skills for work and English as a Second Language (ESOL).  Some of these courses could be accessed for free.

·         There were also learning for leisure courses, where participants paid £1.80 per hour.

·         The service also held daily drop in surgeries and sessions in the Customer Service Centre.

·         They were keen to get out into the community and wanted people to put forward ideas as to what they would like the service to offer.

Anna explained that unfortunately the service did not have the available funding to offer creche facilities.

The meeting will receive an update on issues that the City Warden has been dealing with in the Thurncourt Ward.

A City Warden service leaflet for the Thurncourt ward was circulated in the absence of the City Warden.  

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

The meeting will receive an update on the Ward Community Meeting Budget.

Attendees were asked to note an update on the Community Meeting budget and heard that since the previous meeting, 14 applications had been supported:

Tuesday Night Bingo - £500 towards the running of the group.

Thurnby Community Association - £3000 for a Christmas Fun Day.

Humberstone and Hamilton Seabrook - £150 for a trip to London to see a show staged on a boat at the Docks.

Parks and Open Spaces - £500 to open up views into Willow Brook Park.

Thurncourt Ward Councillors -  £500 for Christmas lights for Thurncourt.

Thurnby Rangers Football Club - £600 for new football kits for the First Team.

Thurnby Community Association - £990 for a coach trip for local groups to go to Skegness and Ingoldmells.

Thurnby Community Association - £3000 for a Summer Community Funday.

Salt of the Earth - £350 for a community garden party.

Christchurch Parish Hall - £ 2500 to refurbish the hall.

The Pop in Café - £80 for a gazebo.

Thurnby Lodge Anti-Litter Group - £250 to target litter hotspots, focussing initially on Thurncourt Road.

My Word Poetry Writers’ Group - £130 to publish an anthology of work.

The 55^th - £450 for the installation of warm air hand driers.

A balance of £2950 remained in the budget and nine applications were going through the assessment process.

The meeting heard that any unspent money in the community meeting budget for 2018/19, would not be carried forward to the new financial year.

A request was made for benches to be installed on the Ocean Road green space between the bridge and the shops.

A concern was also raised that the earthworks by the footbridge on the Ocean Road green space needed attention.

The Chair closed the meeting at 7.40pm.