Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Baljit Singh was elected as Chair and welcomed everyone to the Evington Community Meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from local residents Margaret Sayers, Gwen Clifford, Sue Massey, Penny Webb and Mr Swinford.            

The first main item on the agenda 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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous Evington Community Meeting, held on 11 September 2012 have been circulated and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the previous Evington Community Meeting held on 11 September 2012 be confirmed as a correct record.

Councillors Baljit Singh and Deepak Bajaj will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the Evington Ward.

The Councillors provided an update on the issues they had been involved in as Ward Councillors.

Councillors made the following points:

·         A petition relating to traffic calming near to Whitehall School would be presented to full council in January.

·         The St Paul’s Catholic School, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project was progressing at a cost of several million pounds. This was very significant for the students as the City of Leicester and Crown Hills schools would also due to become BSF schools. This demonstrated that the council’s commitment towards educational facilities was a priority.

·         At the previous full Council meeting, a petition had been presented from shopkeepers in Evington village requesting shorter periods of parking in the parking bays. Currently the parking facilities there were being abused, and tighter limits for parking were requested as people who visited the nearby shops generally only needed a short amount of time to do their shopping. The meeting heard that there would be parking restrictions imposed although it could take approximately 6 months before they were in place.

·         At full Council, Councillor Singh had applauded the achievements of Evington in Bloom, and asked for assurances that the budget for environment, conservation and biodiversity programmes delivered through Parks Services continued to receive appropriate allocation.

·         A considerable amount of effort from Councillors, including the Evington Councillors and other organisations had been put towards  challenging the decision to close the congenital heart unit at the Glenfield Hospital. The Secretary of State had agreed to look into this.

There will be an update on Highways issues including matters raised at the previous Evington Community Meeting on 11 September 2012.

Robert Bateman, Highway, Design and Maintenance provided an update on the highways issues that had been raised at the previous meeting.

2-4 Woodborough Road

There was a narrow footpath which needed some improvement. Officers had spoken to the adjacent landowner who had agreed to sell some of the adjacent land to the Council and it was hoped that the area could be improved  for residents.

404 – 426 Coleman Road

The Council were aware of the parking difficulties that residents experienced outside their houses and funding had been allocated to ease the problems, and suitable options were being sought.  Officers in Highways and Transportation were liaising with Housing officers to see how best the residents could be helped.

There was some Housing land which might be suitable for making into a parking area but planning permission would be required. There were some trees on the site and issues relating to the trees and ecology matters would need to be taken into account.  Suki Supria, Head of Service, Housing added that if parking bays were created on Housing land, that area would remain Housing land and the area could not then be adopted by Highways.  One consequence of this would be that untaxed vehicles would be able to park there.

Members of the community heard that it was also hoped that if additional parking spaces could be created, the chosen option would not prevent any further building at a later date if more money should become available.

Residents commented that a petition had been submitted to request that more parking space should be made available as the inadequate parking provision was creating a plethora of difficulties for them.  The following comments and concerns were raised:

·         Concern was expressed that at a recent house fire, the fire engine had not been able to get to the property in question.

·         Improved parking was needed for health and safety reasons.

·         It was difficult for people with babies and young children to park their cars and carry their children and shopping in to their houses. Where there was a distance to walk with a lot to carry,  babies / young children could not be left either in the car or in the house on their own whilst the shopping was unloaded. 

·         There were problems for the elderly when they needed ambulances or transport. The vehicles had to park some distance from the homes because they were unable to park close to the property.

·         Cars were been driven across the grassy area near to the houses and there was a concern that people were going to get hurt.  Members of the community expressed support for a knee high fence to be erected as a safety measure on the green, to prevent vehicular access. 

·         People from the General Hospital were parking by the residents’ houses to avoid paying parking charges.

·         More parking was needed, but requests were made that the footpath should be retained.

·         It was suggested that some of the trees could be removed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

City Council officers will be at the meeting to explain the forthcoming changes to benefits.

The meeting heard that unfortunately there would not be a presentation on Welfare Reform as officers had been unable to attend the meeting.

John Sloan, the Chair of the Evington Fete and Show Committee will give a presentation on the Evington Fete.

The Chair introduced Mr John Sloan, the Chair of the Evington Fete and Show Committee who was present to talk about the Evington Fete. The meeting heard that concern had been expressed that at the previous meeting, the achievements of the Evington Fete had not been recognised, but the minutes of the meeting did show that this was not the case.

Mr Sloan addressed the meeting and made the following points:

·         The Evington Fete was not new!  Fundraising events had been held in 1910 – 1912 to help finance the fete.

·         In 1912, the fete had been held over 3 days, being open between 3.00pm and 9pm! At that time, £201 had been raised, which was equivalent to approximately £18,000 by today’s standards.

·         The fete had started up again in 2002.

·         There was a committee of 13 people. The full committee met approximately 6 or 7 times and there were also sub-committees to plan more specific aspects, such as entertainments, the raffle and the brochure.

·         The committee aimed to raise sufficient money to pay for the next event.

·         In the past, the fete had received generous grants from the community meeting fund, but in 2012, it was agreed not to apply for funding that year to give other people and organisations the opportunity.

·         There were numerous costs incurred in the staging of the event which included road closure; this was particularly expensive at £700.

·         Thanks and appreciation was given to the local organisations which supported the fete. These included:

Parks Services

The Hamilton Air Cadets

The 19^th Scout Group

Local traders.

·         Thanks were also given to the volunteers from the local community. If anyone was interested in helping out for 1 or 2 hours on the day, they would be very welcome and the help would be very much appreciated.

A suggestion was made from the floor, that now that Evington had an Asian Gardening Group, it would be very interesting to have some exotic vegetables on show at the fete.

Councillor Bajaj asked if the activities at the fete could include a free bouncy castle for the children; he added that he believed that the fete’s insurance would cover such an activity. Mr Sloan responded that this had been suggested before, but there needed to be further discussions regarding this.

The Chair commented that the Evington Fete was singularly the most important event in Evington. The event was hugely successful and all credit should be given to Mr Sloan and all the volunteers.

Helen Pettman, Evington Park and Village Green, will provide an update on the Evington in Bloom Project.

Mrs Helen Pettman, Evington in Bloom co-ordinator, provided an update on the Evington in Bloom campaign. Mrs Pettman explained that at the previous Evington Community Meeting, she had expressed her thanks to everyone who had been involved in the project, but at that time, the results of the judging were not known.  Evington in Bloom had however been granted a ‘Silver’ award and they had come second in their category (the urban category), which she said was a brilliant result for the first year of entry.  Mrs Pettman then made the following points:

·         The judges had praised community involvement and awarded 42 marks out of 50 for this category.

·         The next best category was for environmental responsibility; the judges had seen that the area was free of litter and other nuisances. Volunteers, council staff and Evington in Bloom had been involved in litter picking. 36 marks out of 50 were awarded for this category.

·         The last category was horticultural achievement where 66 marks out of 100 were awarded. A special award was given for the Burnaby Gardens in Evington Park which was gardened by volunteers.

·         The judges had also suggested areas for future development

·         Evington in Bloom had now become a project of the Friends of Evington (an organisation that had developed from Friends of Evington Park and Village Green). The Friends of Evington Committee had worked hard to set up an organisation that would be useful for the people of Evington and Evington ward. Advice from Voluntary Action Leicester had been sought and they were now a registered charity.

·         The Friends of Evington were in the process of developing two strands:

a)    Moot meetings called by the Friends of Evington Committee to discuss Evington projects with local people who wish to attend, and

b)    Policies, in particular for Financial Management, the Environment, Equality and Diversity.

·         The main project at the moment was Evington in Bloom and it had been agreed to move forward with encouraging ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ Groups to be set up.

Mrs Pettman also advised that the revamped Evington Echo website was up and running and it could offer clubs, societies and other institutions a page to promote their organisations. The site was much more user friendly than it had previously been.

The Chair thanked everyone concerned for their hard work and informed the meeting that Penny Brown would be present at the next Evington Meeting to talk about ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’.

On Wednesday 19 December 2012 at 6.45pm there will be Christmas songs and carols around the Community Christmas tree at Evington Library. After the event, there will be mince pies and refreshments at the Youth Club.   Mrs Pauline O’Brien, Chair of Evington Youth Club will be present at the meeting to talk about this event.

The Chair introduced Mrs Pauline O’Brien to the meeting, and Mrs O’Brien was given an opportunity to inform local residents about a special event on 19 December at 6.45 pm, to sing Christmas songs and carols around the community Christmas tree in Evington.  Mrs O’Brien made the following points:

·         The Christmas tree had arrived. This was 5 foot longer than ordered, and had been erected, though not without some difficulty!

·         The tree had originally been erected on pub land but last year, permission was given for the tree to be put on the Evington library site.

·         This had taken a considerable amount of work because insurance and lighting had to be organised.

·         Last year, the decorations had been made by students at St Paul’s School, but this year, the decorations had been made by the Evington Youth Club.

·         The Southfields Brass Band would provide the music and some refreshments had also been donated.

·         An appeal was made for more help to get the event properly established in Evington, in the same way that the Evington Fete had become an established event.  Currently there were just 3 or 4 people involved in organising the Christmas tree and songs event and more people were needed.

The Chair commented that Mrs O’Brien and Mr Swinford from the Youth Club had provided a wonderful service to Evington and he felt that the community meeting budget should support such community events as they were important to the well-being of the Evington community.  Comments were also made that it was good for the community to be able to celebrate all types of events.

Pc 1878 Evans, will be present to give an update on policing issues in the Evington Ward.

Pc Rob Evans presented an update on policing in the Evington Ward and made the following points:

·         There had been an overall reduction of 29% in crime in Evington; Evington and Goodwood were considered to be a safe place to live and to work.

·         There had been some problems with burglaries, but there had been some positive results and some arrests. However the problem had not gone away and people were asked to be vigilant. 

Councillors commented that burglary was a terrible crime and people who had been burgled felt violated. People needed to be assured that the Police were working hard to address this particular crime. Pc Evans explained that burglary was a high priority for the Police and resources were being pulled in to tackle the problem.

·         The Police relied on information received and members of the community were urged to contact the Police if they saw anything untoward.

·         People were asked to ensure that their homes and windows were secure. Where people wanted advice on home security, a crime prevention officer could visit.

A member of the community referred to an incident where his friend and his dog, were attacked by another person’s dog when they were walking in the park.  The man had to go to hospital for treatment; however no action was taken against the person with the vicious dog. He questioned how this could be allowed to happen and no action be taken. Pc Evans explained that he was unaware of this particular incident but there was legislation that could be used, and if a dog was dangerous, it could be taken away.  The Chair suggested that as the concern related to a specific incident, the member of the community might talk further with Pc Evans outside of the meeting.

Concern was raised relating to people parking their vehicles on a newly slabbed area, with the result that the slabs were spoilt. Pc Evans explained that generally parking on pavements was deemed to be ok, but the vehicles should not cause an obstruction and there needed to be space for wheel chair users and people with pushchairs/ prams to get by.

Nicole Powell, the City Warden for Evington will provide an update on street scene enforcement issues in the Ward.

Nicole Powell, City Warden addressed the meeting and provided an update on street scene enforcement issues in Evington.  Nicole made the following points:

·         She had been working alongside the Police, the Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) and the Friends of Evington to tackle local street scene enforcement issues.

·         The last monthly litter pick was in October and they would resume in February 2013.

·         There were concerns that people generally were not recycling enough and Kimberley Stones from BIFFA, would be calling on residents in Evington to ask if they needed any help with their recycling. Kimberley was working with the City Wardens and would also be working in other wards.

·         There was currently a bird feeding project around Cordery Road and Aldgate Avenue, to tackle the problems with bird feeding there. Nicole had leafleted those two roads and had unfortunately been abused by a local resident.  A suggestion came from the floor that it might be useful to place an article in the Evington Echo, informing residents of the problems that caused by feeding birds in public places.

·         There were a number of fly tips which were currently under investigation.

Nicole was asked whether as part of the anti-litter campaign, she went into schools to talk to the children. Nicole explained that the City Wardens did ask schools if they could come into talk to the children, but generally they did not receive a very good response. She said that she could try again around Christmas time. A local resident suggested that more litter bins were needed around the City of Leicester Schools as there were very few there. 

Councillor Bajaj informed the meeting that he had met with the Assistant City Mayor and the Director, Environmental Services about increasing the powers of City Wardens and he understood that this was now going to happen.

Nicole advised that previously there had been a request for the community meeting to fund her City Warden’s bicycle but this had now been funded out of the City Warden fund. A question was raised as to whether people were allowed to cycle on the pavement and Nicole responded that there was a fairly liberal policy relating to this, and although it was not really allowed, in reality this was not usually enforced.

With the agreement of the Chair, Nazira Vania from Community Safety addressed the community meeting. Nazira made the following points:

·         She was the Development Officer on the Leicester City Council, Community Safety Team, and worked on five wards including Evington.

·         The council had a recently commissioned Domestic Violence Service; leaflets with more information were available at the meeting. There was also a Domestic Violence helpline:

Domestic Violence helping: 0300 123 0918

·         Leaflets were also available which gave information on ways of reporting hate incidents in Leicester. If people suffered or witnessed a hate incident they could report the incident to a number of independent reporting centres around the city including:

·         Nazira also advised that there was a car crime campaign and members of the community were reminded to keep valuables out of sight.

There will be an update on the Evington Community Meeting Budget.

Previous Funding Application for Pedestrian Lighting Columns at Evington Park House.

The pedestrian lighting columns at Evington Park House have been installed and feedback relating to this is attached for information.

The following funding applications have been received:

Ref: 2080: Notice Board

Submitted by: Downing Drive Friends and Neighbours

Amount Requested: to be confirmed.

Details of the application:

An application has been requested for a community noticeboard to be erected near to the Downing Drive shopping area. It would be used to publicise local events and give updates and news of the community gardening scheme (The “It’s Your Neighbourhood” Royal Horticultural Society Scheme) for the area.

Amount requested: Details relating to the cost of this item are to be confirmed.

Ref: 2081: Cycling Proficiency

Submitted by: Susan Massey, Organise – “Come Bike With Me”

Amount Requested: £500

Details of the application:

The project is for Cycling Proficiency for the young people of Evington. Sessions will be held at the weekends on Evington Park and most of the young people that attend live in the area. About 20 -30 young people will attend per session.

£500 is requested for equipment to facilitate the course.

The aim of the course is to help the young cyclist to be both confident and able to understand the highway code for cyclists.

Ref:2082  Cooking for Young People

Submitted by: Evington Youth Club

Amount Requested: £350

Details of the application

To give club members the opportunity to try basic skills in cooking. The club would like to see this as a beginning of skills which can be taken further at a later date.  A lot of members do not get the opportunity to cook at home and this activity has been requested by members. A trial run was carried out by simple cooking (i.e. pizza and cakes); this was very successful. The members would like to take the project further and if possible to make a career of cooking. The interest in the club is from both boys and girls.

£350 requested for a food mixer, mixing bowls, scales, electric whisk, aprons, a storage bin and tea towels.

Ref: 2083. Resurfacing of the Kitchen and Store area floor – Evington Village Hall.

Submitted by: Robert Esterbrook, Honarary Treasurer – Evington Village Hall

Amount Requested: £1400

Details of the application (as submitted by the applicant)

The kitchen and storeroom floor at the village hall has been of concern to the Management Committee for some time, given the regular use by many varied community groups. There has been effective short term repair work undertaken by Committee members but the general wearing of the surface will result in a less than safe environment. It is also becoming less easy to keep the surface clean due to the surface breaking down. The Committee has taken guidance from a local (Excelsior Carpets) supplier of vinyl sheet flooring and quote received for preparing a latex screed and laying of  ...  view the full agenda text for item 99.

The Chair presented the community meeting budget. The following funding applications had been received:

Ref: 2080: Notice Board

Submitted by: Downing Drive Friends and Neighbours

Amount Requested: up to £800

It was agreed to support this funding application up to a maximum of £800.

RESOLVED:

that the funding application be supported up to a maximum of £800.

Ref: 2081: Cycling Proficiency

Submitted by Sue Massey, Come Bike With Me

Amount Requested: £500

It was agreed to support the funding application to a value of £500

RESOLVED:

                        that the funding application be supported to the value of £500

Ref 2082: Cooking for Young People

Submitted by: Evington Youth Club

Amount Requested: £350

It was agreed to support the funding application to a value of £350

RESOLVED:

                        that the funding application be supported to the value of £350.

Ref: 2083: Resurfacing of the kitchen and store area floor – Evington Village hall.

Submitted by Robert Esterbrook, Honorary Treasurer, Evington Village Hall

Amount Requested: £1400

The Chair commented that the village hall was a valued building that belonged to the whole community. It was agreed to support the funding application to the value of £1400.

RESOLVED:

                        that the funding application be supported to the value of £1400.

Late funding application

Councillors agreed to accept this funding bid which had been submitted after the agenda had been finalised.

Evington Village Fete and Show

Submitted by: John Sloan, Chair Person, Evington Village Fete and Show

Amount Requested: £2500

Funding was requested to part fund the running costs of the Evington Village Fete and Show 2013. This would be held on the village green on 10 August 2013.

The fete and show was an open multicultural event that the whole community was encouraged to participate in. the cost of the canvas to host the ‘show’ was the main expense and had in recent years become prohibitive. The show tent was an integral part of the day and it encouraged the local community to exhibit locally grown produce, photography, arts and crafts etc.   The funding requested was to help pay for the show tent hire and also for a contribution towards the cost of the road closure that was required by law.

Canvas for Show     £2200 (estimated cost)

Road Closure           £600 (estimated total cost) -  £300 requested from the Ward

Total request to the Ward Meeting of £2500.

Councillors agreed to support the funding application to the value of £2500.

RESOLVED:

                        that the funding application be supported to the value of £2500.

Councillors also advised that some of the unspent community meeting budget may be ringfenced towards the cost of parking improvements as discussed earlier in the meeting.

The next Evington Community Meeting will be held on Thursday 28 February 2013. (This will be the final meeting of the 2012 / 2013 financial year).

The Chair announced that the next Evington Community Meeting would be held on Thursday 28 February at St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, 12 Goodwood Road, Evington, Leicester. The meeting would commence at 6.00pm.

The meeting closed at 8.05 pm.