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 Cooke – Chair, welcomed those present to the meeting.

The Chair explained that this would be the last Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields ward community meeting of the current administration. The Chair gave a brief overview of the boundary changes that would take effect in May which would result in this ward becoming larger.

The Chair gave a summary of achievements in the ward over the last 4 years and thanked everyone for their support. Councillor Naylor also extended his thanks to everyone for their support of councillors and of the ward meetings.

Councillor Naylor declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the meeting as he was a member of Streetvibe.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Glover, Mike Broad (Neighbourhood Development Manager) and Noel Cazley (City Warden).

The Action Log of the previous Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Community Meeting held on Tuesday 13^th January 2015 has been circulated as attached and Members will be asked to confirm it as a correct record.

The action log of the last meeting had been circulated and was confirmed as a correct record.

Matters Arising:

Braunstone Hall Planning Application – this had still not got to the planning committee. Answers from the applicant were still awaited on green issues and the questions put forward by councillors regarding parking issues. The application was contentious and would probably not now go to the Planning Committee until June 2015.

There will be a demonstration of the Residents Network website.

Anne Short gave a brief demonstration of the Residents Network Website which had been set up for all the community to access and had received funding from the community budget.

Anne Short explained the website was still being developed. Local Groups were encouraged to promote their projects through a link or web page on the site.

A site tour was given through the navigation tabs and menu including the upcoming events page and showed that the website was being used by all sorts of groups in the area.

Anyone could access the website on www.braunstoneresidentsnetwork.co.uk

An officer will be present to provide information on traffic and transport in the ward and to respond to resident’s issues and concerns.

The Chair explained that at a recent meeting attended by MP Liz Kendall issues with traffic and transport had been raised. A ward traffic action plan was being put in place and a full response from the MP to issues raised at that meeting would be made available in due course.

Residents at this meeting were invited to raise any concerns they had about such issues.

The subject of bus services were raised, the Chair explained that since deregulation it was not easy to manage or control bus services.

Applicants who have received funding during the financial year to attend and update on the use of the funding received.

2013 Summer Festival at St Peter’s Church, Revd. Chris Burch explained this event was supported by the community budget and included a flower festival by the Kingsway Flower Club which had a number of its members in Braunstone. Slides of the flower arrangements were shown to the meeting.

The Parish Audit, Revd. Chris Burch explained this was a statistical investigation into information held about the inhabitants of the area and a comparison between the 2001 and 2011 census. This also included a parish walk and interviews with parish members. The information was assembled into a document and copies were available to those present to take away.

Skate Park Lighting, Louise Lavelle gave details of the background to this project, there was a long standing issue with lack of lighting. The project to install lighting was supported to the value of £1000 from the community budget. Total project costs were expected to be £7000 and additional funding was being sourced. It was hoped the new lighting would be installed by winter 2015 and there would be a switch off time between 9.30pm and 10pm.

Streetvibe Bus Renovation, Brian Quinn gave a brief explanation of streetvibes role in the community and explained how the bus renovation project had been helped with £4500 support from the community budget. The funds had been used to repaint one bus, renovate and equip it. Also included was a computer section and a group work section. The bus toured the area and gave young people access to a range of services and youth officers who engaged with the young people.

An update to be given about the Streetvibe Bike Project.

A brief explanation of streetvibes role in the community was given to the meeting including a presentation. The Streetvibe Bike Project provided free bike fix sessions on Thursdays and Saturdays which were well attended by young people who were helped by 4 mechanics to fix bikes up; costs were increasing as more young people used the facilities. Streetvibe generated most of its income through sales of recycled bikes and also gave bikes to people to help them get to school, interviews and work as well as operating a bike loan scheme. 24 bikes had been donated by CTC the National Cycling Charity. The project was staffed by volunteers and the council lent the workshop equipment. The project also took young people out on bike rides and gave them instruction in off road cycling. The aim of the project was to create a hub for young people of the city at Braunstone Grove.

The local Police team will be at the meeting to provide an update on the new Policing Structure and Park Watch on Braunstone Park as well as police issues in Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Ward.

PC Mike Payne gave an update on local policing issues and reported crime statistics were noted.

·       Theft from Motor Vehicles had risen in the area,

·       Work vans were still being targeted, residents were asked not to leave valuables on display in their vehicles and ensure vehicles were secure,

·       School parking issues had been tackled and there had been some success around the schools improving some of the issues,

·       There were plans to introduce a new Park Watch scheme around Braunstone Park, this would involve posters/signage with contact details being put up so members of the public could report issues straightaway to a direct contact to tackle.

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Ward.

The City Warden gave a brief update on progress made in the area since the last meeting.

·       Businesses on the Richard III procession route had been informed to keep A boards off the streets during the interment week,

·       The “Love Leicester” app had been launched 4 weeks ago, more details could be found on the Leicester City Council website.

If residents had any issues they could contact the City Warden team whose contact details were also on the council’s website.

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

An update will be given on the Ward Community Budget.

It was noted that the community budget had been spent up to this meeting and there was now a zero balance and no applications pending.

A schedule of all funded applications from the last 4 years would be appended to the action log.

The meeting closed at 6.40pm