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 Singh-Johal, elected as Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies were received from Councillor Corrall and from Rupert Bedder, Highway Network Asset Manager.

The Action Log for the last meeting, held on 2 August 2018, is attached for information and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record. Any update actions taken since the last meeting will be reported at the meeting.

A resident raised concerns that the action log didn’t reflect the discussions at the previous meeting regarding future dates of meetings, also that venues weren’t accordingly booked and publicised which led to poor attendance at the meetings. Councillors agreed that for future years, dates of meetings be publicised as soon as possible after they are agreed and details of venues are published with as much notice for the community as possible.

Other than the above, the action log of the meeting held on 2^nd August 2018 was agreed as a correct 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 Singh-Johal informed the meeting that a debate took place at full Council. It was noted that full consultation and debate would take place at Scrutiny meetings before any decision made.

Access to Winstanley house – Councillor Halford noted that there had been complaints about cars accessing the hotel / restaurant, either speeding or not following the correct route. Local Councillors were having discussions with Parks officers and the owner to resolve the issues, by installing more signage and speedbumps.

Football club on Braunstone Park – Councillor Singh-Johal informed the meeting that, after considerable efforts, led by B-inspired, to engage with local people, and the development of pilot schemes, eight young people’s football teams had now been put in place, which would be managed by the local community and play on Braunstone Park.

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

PC Anna Williams was present at the meeting and provided the following update:

·      Motorbikes on Braunstone Park were still an issue, the situation would continue to be monitored.

·      The Police were working with the Council on a number anti-social behaviour  issues in Gaddesby Avenue.

·      It was difficult to ascertain details on comparative crime figures since the Braunstone Blues project finished as that project focussed on repeat offences.

·      Up to date crime figures for the ward could be obtained from the Police website.

·      The Police were continuing to work with the Council on anti-social behaviour issues on Raven Road.

·      In relation to the reports about the Police using drones, it was noted that these hadn’t been used as yet.

Councillor Singh-Johal sought reassurance that patrols would continue in the Rowley-Fields area, and it was confirmed that they would.

An update on Highways & Transport works in the Ward will be provided.

Councillor Singh Johal read out an update on issues raised at the previous meeting:–

·           30mph repeater signs on dual carriage way. National policy informs where these could be installed. To install more on Narborough Road would create confusion with other areas in the city where there are none.

·           Parking of HGV vehicles, delivering in the Wilkinson’s / Dominos area on Narborough Road – the restrictions were currently 4-6pm, but the plan was to extend this until 8pm. The meeting was supportive of this and it was requested that this be fed back to Highways.

·           Parking tickets for matchdays – it was noted that across the ward, the data showed that the issuing of parking tickets was on an upward trajectory. A detailed discussion took place, noting that there were still issues of improper parking in the area beyond the resident’s parking streets, which required a bespoke solution, particularly for matchdays. A resident commented that the resident’s parking streets closer towards the city had just shifted the problem further out, and spaces should be used in the resident’s parking area for match days.

·           A resident requested 20mph signs on Collingham Road. It was agreed to take this issue back to Highways for a response.

An update on Housing works in the Ward will be given.

Sally Morris, Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader gave an update on Council housing issues in the ward.

·         Work was ongoing with regard to anti-social behaviour issues in Gaddesby Road.

·         Conversions to move bathrooms upstairs were ongoing.

·         Fencing was being replaced in the Narborough Road area.

·         There were currently 24 empty properties in the Braunstone area being worked on for new tenants, this represented 1% of the total stock.

·         There had been 41 new lets in the Braunstone area since April.

Councillor Halford welcomed the fencing programme in the Narborough Road area.

Councillor Singh Johal raised a concern that there was currently a lack of clarity regarding the accountability of housing associations, particularly when their tenants approach councillors with issues. He indicated that he would look into this issue further. The City Warden however did report that they did engage with his service.

The local City Warden will present information on environmental works within the Ward.

Matthew Davinson –  City Warden for the ward gave attendees an update on issues that had been looked into in the ward since the last meeting.

·           117 complaints had been received since the last ward meeting. Through a process of liaising with tenants / owners / landlords and sending notices, the issues were usually resolved.

·           The Love Leicester app – residents were encouraged to use this app, where they could take a picture of environmental issues and report them.

·           There had been 51 fly tip issues since the last meeting, mainly around the Narborough Road area.

·           There had been a 50% compliance in relation to Duty of Care waste notes which had been issued.

·           Fly tip problems were noted around the Raymond Road / Lambert Road area mostly relating to single pieces of furniture, where it was difficult to establish evidence.

Councillors and Residents raised queries about the following issues:

·         The location of where fly tipping took place was queried. Matthew explained that it happened across the ward. There was however a particular issue with some land off Danvers Road which the landlord dealt with upon request.

·         The situation with regard to general rubbish being dumped at the Heyford Road shops was queried. Matthew noted that four fly tip tickets had been issued in relation to this area. He noted it was a problem across the city with people dumping general rubbish at recycling sites.

·         Dog fouling on Braunstone Park was discussed. It was felt there were no signs about relevant by-laws and issues weren’t being dealt with. Matthew noted that it was a Parks matter to address and he would contact them about it, as they could deal with it more effectively arising from the dog fouling Public Safety Protection Order powers they had.

·         Graffiti was also discussed, as it was thought that it was no longer Council policy to remove graffiti from a Council building if it was not offensive. Matthew commented on general matters in relation to graffiti saying that due to cutbacks, the City Warden service was no longer able to assist in removing graffiti, but could issue a warning letter to require owners to remove graffiti, but this did seem unfair as they were the victims of the offence. The Council would remove graffiti if it was offensive. Graffiti removal kits could be supplied to owners. A resident noted that community payback schemes had done some graffiti removal, which could be investigated.

The Chair thanked Matthew for his input.

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.

Budget

Randeep Singh-Mattu – Ward Community Engagement Officer gave an update on the current position with regard to the ward budget. He noted that there would be £4914.09 left in the budget for the current year, however there were some outstanding applications which may alter this figure. This would need to be spent by the end of March 2019. Councillor Singh Johal encouraged people to come forward with ideas for using the budget.

The Chair agreed to take the following items of other business:

Leicester Adult and Learning Skills Service (LASALS)

Anna Parr from Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service (LASALS) provided a details about courses provided by the service. This included courses on employability, learning for leisure, English, maths, digital skills and English for Speakers of an Overseas Language. Some of the courses would be run from the Brite Centre. People on most benefits and income lower than £15k could access the level 1 and 2 courses for free. She also noted that there were drop-in sessions helping people on Universal Credit every Tuesday between 10 and 12 at the Brite Centre.

Councillor Halford suggested that Anna contact B-inspired to promote the courses. She also said that she could also promote the courses on Braunstone Network Online and social media if Anna emailed her the details.

The GREAT Project

Aarti Thobhani from the GREAT project was also in attendance. She provided details of the project which aimed to support individuals from the local area into employment or training. It was a bespoke project which took individuals needs into account and any barriers they may have. The project had already had a number of successes in securing placements for people at Primark and Tulip foods.

In response to questions, Aarti explained that the project did have a full web and social media profile and it engaged with Fullhurst school and B-inspired to promote the project.

Councillor Singh Johal welcomed the project, and noted that there was no 16-18 provision in the ward for young people’s further education / training, which he would seek to campaign about.

Ward Funding – Rancliffe Allotment Society

A resident reported back on how the funding provided by the Ward Community meeting budget for a kitchen in the shed at the allotment had been utilised. A combination of the ward funding, donations and work from volunteers had led to a well-used and welcome kitchen facility which has been able to serve refreshments and food. Councillor Singh Johal welcomed the news and congratulated the allotment society as being a vibrant hub of the community.

The meeting closed at 18.35pm.