Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Cooke was appointed as Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

The first main item on theagenda is Declarations of Interest where Councillors have to say if there is anything on the agenda they have a personal interest in. For example if a meeting was due to discuss a budget application put forward by a community group and one of the Councillors was a member of that group, they would not be able to take part in the decision on that budget application.

Councillors are asked to declare any interest they may have in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or declare if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them. No such declarations were made.

Councillor Cooke drew residents’ attention to leaflets regarding the Lord Mayor’s Forget Me Not Appeal for dementia care. He stated that an excess of £100,000 had already been raised.

He also asked residents to fill in a questionnaire that would give them opportunity to give their feedback on the community meetings.

He reported that two of the items on the agenda would now not be considered, as officers were not in attendance. These were the Local Transport Plan and the recycling pilot. He stated that the pilot scheme was very successful and the new scheme would be rolled out across the city.

The minutes of the previous Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Community Meeting, held on 19 October 2010 have been circulated and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Community Meeting, held on 19 October 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

Sally Slade, Team Leader, Transport Strategy will provide information on the new Local Transport Plan.

This item was deferred.

Lucy Birch from the Health Through Warmth Project explained the project to residents. She stated that the project was set up by N Power and implemented through the City Council. Its aim was to improve warmth and quality of life for vulnerable residents through insulation, grants for boiler repair and replacement, and radiator or storage heater replacement. It was for private households where one or more people were vulnerable to cold or damp. It was not means tested. A contribution was given towards work and for those who could not afford the rest, the team would apply to other sources to try to make up the shortfall.

In response to a query about how people could hear about the scheme, Lucy stated that they made efforts to raise awareness with organisations so that they could refer people to them. There had been a mixed response from such organisations. It was suggested that it could be advertised in local community newsletters. Councillor Cooke stated that it was intended to set up a health working group for the ward which would help with identifying where vulnerable people lived in order to help them.

There will be an opportunity to discuss and assist in developing the future Ward Action Plan for the Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields ward.

Councillor Cooke introduced the ward action plan that was being prepared. He explained that the ward had been split into areas to address specific needs. These areas were referred to as Braunstone North and South, Rowley Fields and Holy Apostles. The plan would be owned by the community and would be a mandate for the next four years. He gave a presentation and invited residents to make suggestions for the Holy Apostles area. The other two areas had been considered at previous meetings. Councillor Naylor recorded the issues as they were raised.

Some of the big issues in the area included:

·        Narborough Road Shops

·        Parking and traffic management

·        Wheelie bins left on streets

·        Prevalence of private rented property (mainly students)

·        Council housing fronting Imperial Avenue, Narborough Road and Fosse Road South.

The Chair reported on the main issues that had been noted on the patch walks that had been conducted by the Members in the ward. These fell into the Environment and Traffic and Streets categories. The Chair also stated the proposed actions to address the issues that had been raised. These included:

Environmental Issues

• Litter from fast food outlets; and to railway bridge banking
• Graffiti and fly-posting – mostly to cable boxes, road signs, lamp posts, post boxes and railway bridges
• Street cleaning – detritus to gutters; and leaves
• Trees and shrubs – localised overgrown and overhanging branches to some streets
• Sub stations – overgrown vegetation on Nutfield Road and Fosse Road South
• Despoiled brook in Westcotes Park
• Overgrown gardens to some council housing

Traffic and Streets

• Vehicles parked on pavements in Gaddesby Avenue and Imperial Avenue
• Some areas of sunken, uneven and broken paving
• State of repair of some roads
• Persistent blockages to street gullies and water holding to some sites
• Vehicles speeding in Winchester Avenue and Imperial Avenue

Other Issues

• Vacated Council depot on Fullhurst Avenue

Residents also raised the following concerns:

• Newsletter for area – not getting information
• Dog fouling (possibly)
• Children playing football outside Holy Apostles Church – nowhere to play
• Footpath by railway bridge suffering leakage from bridge
• Building adjacent to Lyn’s Café full of rubbish
• Drainage issues on corner of Narborough Road/Winchester Avenue
• Parking on corners along Lavender Road/Sweetbriar Road/Imperial Avenue
• Sunken road surface adjacent 273 Fosse Road South

The following actions were proposed by Members to address the above issues:

Big issues

• Forecourts and general appearance to be maintained and, where possible, improved
• Investigate the feasibility of altering traffic flows
• Ensure wheelie bins are not left on streets
• Seek to reduce the number of privately rented properties used by students
• Ensure that all privately rented properties are improved and maintained to a proper standard; and ensure such properties do not detract from the appearance of the area
• Review the reasons for converting family houses to flats; and where this has happened, the Lettings Policy (Council Housing only)

Environment

•         Keep area clear of litter and explore provision of additional litter bins

•         Periodically remove accumulated litter and refuse to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

Jenny Loran, Service Development Manager will provide an update on the Recycling pilot scheme.

This item was deferred.

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.

Mary-Louise Harrison, Members Support Officer will give an update on the

Community Meeting Budget. No new budget applications have been received.

There were no budget items for consideration at the meeting. Councillor Cooke encouraged people to apply for funding before the next meeting.

An update was given on Manor House. Councillors were thanked for their support and the building had now reopened. Old groups were returning and new groups were being set up and the use of the building would be reviewed by the council again in June. It was stated that the facility was for everyone in the ward. It was suggested that Citizens Eye could be used to publicise the facilities.

Future meetings will take place as follows:

·        Tuesday 15 February 2011, 5:00pm at Blessed Sacrament Church Parish Hall, Gooding Avenue.  

·        Tuesday 15 March 2011, 5:00pm at Braunstone Victoria Working Men's Club, Cantrell Road.

The dates of future meetings were noted. It was suggested that a future meeting could include a review of the last two years and feedback on projects and services that had received Community Meeting funding.

It was also suggested that a report could be brought to the next meeting on the outcomes of the Council’s Road Traffic Plan, particularly any aspects of it relating to Evesham Road.

Councillor Cooke announced that Mary-Louise Harrison, Member Support Officer, was leaving her secondment and returning to her substantive post, He thanked her for the work she had done for the Community Meeting.

The meeting closed at 6.54pm.