Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations of interest as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Halford, elected as Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies were received from Sally Morris (Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader), Cheryl Ridgewell (Secretary at Rancliffe allotments) and Nick Henwood (resident).

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 15 March 2018 is attached at Appendix A and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record. Any update on actions taken since the last meeting will be reported at the meeting.

The action log of the meeting held on 15 March 2018 was agreed as an accurate record.

The Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields Ward Councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the Ward.

Evesham Road Link - Councillor Corrall noted that a petition with over 1500 signatures had been submitted to the Council and would be debated at the Full Council Meeting in October.

Rowley Fields – Councillor Singh Johal noted that the second round of road resurfacing had begun.

Leicestershire Police will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in the Ward.

PC Alan Furniss was present at the meeting and provided the following update:

• Regular operations were taking place, one of which was the issue of motorbikes on the Braunstone park which had now seen more motorbikes being seized. There was now a decreased number of reports being received. One of the issues noted was the Police were not permitted to chase motorbikes in the park. Works with partner agencies and officers was taking place and positive feedback was being received.
• Councillor Singh-Johal reminded PC Furniss of the forced break in/ burglaries which took place earlier in the year on Rowley Fields Avenue and requested the Police had something in place to prevent this especially coming into the darker nights. PC Furniss agreed to remind his Inspector regarding this issue and would look into having further patrols present.
• It was noted that this Local Policing Unit had now decreased to one PC and four PCSO’s, they would therefore be looking for support from Police in other wards.
• The Officer would look into whether the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) patrol car could also do extra patrols in the Rowley Fields Avenue area.

An update on Highways & Transport works in the Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields Ward will be provided.

Rupert Bedder – Commercial Manager, Planning, Development and Transportation gave an update on any Highways requests from the last meeting:

Works still to be completed included:

·         Evesham Road surfacing – was noted to be on the programme for 3 years time.

·         20mph Collingham Road – was on the list to be looked inti.

Residents’ concerns:

·         The type of road humps near St Maryfields School were queried. Probable reasons for the humps were provided, however the officer agreed to pass on the residents comments.

·         More 30mph repeater signs were required on Narborough Road on the stretch in and out of town, preferably those which encouraged drivers to ‘slow down’ or ‘drive carefully’.

·         Councillor Singh-Johal requested for the traffic regulations outside Domino’s pizza shop and Wilkinson stores on Narborough Road to be looked at, as large delivery vehicles were reported to be parking and staying for long periods of time especially between 6pm and 8pm.

·         Rupert agreed to take the above queries to the relevant teams and request them to be looked into.

Information on housing issues and schemes taking place in the Ward will be provided at the meeting.

Punum Patel – Ward Community Engagement Officer (WCEO) read the written update provided by Sally Morris from the Housing team. The update has been attached at the end of this action log.

The City Warden will give an update on activities and enforcement taking place in the Ward.

Matthew Davinson – City Warden for the ward gave attendees an insight as to what had taken place since the last meeting including the number of complaints received and fly tipping issues in the ward.

All to note:

·         A spate of fly tips had been reported on Hand Avenue of which evidence was found and two people were given Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s). More fly tips had been found around Haddenham Road.

·         Within the past two weeks, the City Warden had been checking all business duty of care on Narborough Road to ensure they were disposing of their waste correctly.

·         Councillor Halford enquired regarding the camera on Avery Hill and whether anyone had been caught, as it was felt that clothing for the bins was still being dumped on the floor/ road. Matt noted there had been improvements but there were now issues again which he would check out.

·         A resident requested that a scheme/ stencils/ signs to keep the area tidy take place on Narborough Road. Matt would take this suggestion back to the City Warden Manager.

·         It was also requested for litter bins to be separated from recycling. However, the costs implied were explained and also this would need to be passed onto the Cleansing Team.

A presentation on the Health Watch programme will be provided at the meeting.

Gillian Jillett - the Community Outreach Lead for Leicester City introduced the newly merged Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire.

It was noted that Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire:

·         Was an independent voice for the people of Leicester and Leicestershire.

·         Listened, represented people’s views and provided local information and signposting.

·         Influenced health and social care locally to ensure local peoples voices were heard.

·         Visited General Practices (GP’s) and care homes, suggesting improvements. A revisit was then made to see if the suggested changes were implemented.

·         Residents were encouraged to share their experiences, or if they had any issues or concerns relating to Health and Social Care Services across the City.

·         For further information, a leaflet has been attached at the end of this action log and has contact details if anyone wanted to volunteer.

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

An update on the Ward Community Budget will be provided at the meeting.

Punum Patel – WCEO gave the below update on the Ward Community Budget.

It was noted that the below 8 applications had been supported since the last meeting:

·         £10,330 remained in the Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Ward Community Budget.

·         Applications for ward funding could be made online at www.leicester.gov.uk/communitymeetings

·         Punum requested residents to opt-in if they wanted to continue receiving emails with the Ward Meeting leaflets.

·         The Democratic Support Officer informed residents that they could provide contact details to be added onto the distribution lists in order to receive Ward Meeting agendas, minutes and meeting notifications.

Planning Application:

·         A resident requested to the Chair that he’d like to speak about a Planning Application. Councillor Halford declared an interest that she was a Member of the Planning and Development Control Committee and withdrew from all discussion.

·         The resident had concerns regarding an application for a multi-storey property/ Home of Multiple Occupation (HMO) on Dumbleton Avenue. It was felt that residents were not notified in the required length of time.

·         Councillor Singh-Johal requested the WCEO to obtain feedback on the process which was followed in this case.

·         Councillor Corrall noted that it would be helpful if Ward Members were notified when these applications were proposed/ taking place in their wards.

·         The resident requested Councillors support if it went to a Committee. Councillor Corrall noted that a site visit would have to be requested beforehand.

Great Central Way cycle path:

·         A resident had concerns that the people cycled very fast along the Great Central Way cycle path. It was noted that the path at the bottom of the slope near to the railway bridge also became very muddy when it rained. It was noted that this information would be passed onto the Parks and Open Spaces team.

Ward Community Meeting information:

·         Residents were informed about ways that they could receive information about the Ward Community Meetings and it was noted that Councillors surgeries also took place.

The next Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields Ward Community Meeting was due to take place on Thursday 1^st November 2018 at 5.30pm and would be held at The Brite Centre, Braunstone Avenue, Leicester, LE3 1LE.