Agenda and minutes

Councillor Cooke was elected as Chair for the meeting.

He welcomed all present to the meeting and introduced himself and the other Ward Members.

Councillors were asked to declare any interest they had in the business on the agenda, and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

No such interests were declared.

The minutes of the previous Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Community Meeting, held on 5 July 2011, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2011 were agreed as a correct record.

Discussion will take place on the future of the Riverside site with the contributions from the following:

·         Leicester City Council, Children and Young People Division.

·         Ellesmere School.

·         Football Investment Strategy.

·         Local residents with ideas and proposals.

·         Hearing any other views local residents may have.

a)     Introduction

Councillor Cooke introduced this item, explaining that discussion on it would be focused on the future of the Riverside site and would not include discussion on the proposals for the development of football facilities at other locations.  He also explained that unfortunately neither of the heads of Riverside Business and Enterprise College and Ellesmere College were able to be at this meeting.

Councillor Cooke stressed that the Council was fully committed to consulting on the future use of the Riverside site and wanted the community to interact more effectively with the school using the site, to build up community facilities.  It was recognised that many people used the facilities at The Manor House Neighbourhood Centre, but there still was a need for community facilities at this site.

b)   Future Educational Use of the Riverside Site

Chetna Patel-Liburd, (Head of Service – Transforming the Learning Environment Strategy), advised the meeting that the Council had a strategic responsibility to ensure that capital finance for children’s projects was spent to maximum benefit and that facilities for children and families were optimised.  The Council therefore wanted to continue using the Riverside site for educational purposes and had proposed that Ellesmere College should relocate to that site.

The following points were noted:-

·           Ellesmere College was a Specialist Sports College and its pupils were challenging learners.  Moving to the Riverside site would give them access to on-site sports facilities, rather than the limited sports facilities offered by the College’s current site;

·           Ellesmere College’s current site had no extension and/or development potential;

·           Pupil numbers at Ellesmere College were projected to increase.  Moving to a better site would enable the College to maintain standards and offer opportunities to be flexible in how it met pupils’ needs.

The move to the site would take place in planned phases, during which residents would be kept informed of progress.  Initially, the current school on the Riverside site would be decommissioned.  For example, furniture and equipment would be related to other secondary schools and arrangements would be made for grounds maintenance.

Site security was a key issue in this, as there was a period of 12 – 18 months when the Riverside site could potentially be vacant.  In order not to encourage anti-social behaviour on the site during this period, (for example, vandalism), it was proposed to demolish the existing buildings, probably some time in November 2011.  Competitive quotes had been obtained for this and the contractor would ensure that residents in the area were informed well in advance of works, by letter, so that any disruption was kept to a minimum.  A daily presence would be maintained on site, to maintain security and safety.

There also would be a formal consultation on the proposal to move Ellesmere College from its current site, as the Council wanted to work with the community on the development of facilities for that site.  It was suggested that a community steering group could be established, to help prepare draft proposals by mid- October.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

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.

There will be an update on the Community Meeting budget with information on any applications that have been received.

As no applications for grants were submitted to the meeting, this item was not discussed.

Future meetings will be as follows:

·         Tuesday 18 October 2011, 5:00pm.

·         Wednesday 14 December 2011, 5:00pm.

·         Tuesday 14 February 2012, 5:00pm.

·         Tuesday 17 April 2012. 5:30pm.

NOTED:

                 that further meetings would be held as follows:-

                 5.00 pm on Tuesday, 18 October 2011

                 5.00 pm on Wednesday, 14 December 2011

                 5.00 pm on Tuesday, 14 February 2012

                 5.30 pm on Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Councillor Cooke thanked all present for attending and closed the meeting at 7.31 pm