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 Hunter – Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from Nicole Powell – City Warden, John & Pauline Sloan – Evington Village Fete.

No interests were declared.

The ward councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the Evington Ward.

Evington Ward Councillors gave an update on activities and issues they had been dealing with in the Evington Ward;

Councillor Govind:

·         Informed attendees that the Evington Library clock had now been replaced.

Councillor Hunter:

·         Explained that for Councillors surgeries, the ward had been divided into three and each of the Evington Ward Councillors had taken one area. However, residents could approach any Councillor regardless of the area in Evington or the issue.

·         It was noted that the Councillors had been informed of several issues regarding traffic, parking, speeding, ASB, housing and individual cases.

Councillor Bajaj:

·         It was reported that a patch walk on Goodwood estate took place on 19 May 2015 and a meeting at City of Leicester took place regarding litter, plants being damaged during school runs. An update on these issues would be given at the following Evington Ward Community Meeting.

·         Thanks and congratulations were given to Community groups: Evington in Bloom & Evington Village Fete/show for their successful events.

·         Attendees requested an update regarding the installation of new public toilet facilities in Evington Park. Councillor Bajaj responded that the work was to commence on 28 September 2015 and due for completion on 15 January 2016. It was said that the cost would be £200,000. Attendees at the meeting requested a breakdown of the costs, details of the tender and who would be contracted to do the work. It was noted that Councillor Bajaj would obtain these details and report the information at the next meeting.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in Evington Ward.

PC Sarah Ellis from the Local Police Team, provided information on the following:

·         The Leicestershire Police traffic department installed traffic monitoring measures to survey speeding vehicles on Wicklow drive from 26 May 2015 – 17 June 2015. The report showed that out of 92,000 vehicles which had their speed measured only 2.4% were found to be speeding.

·         Residents still had concerns with vehicles speeding on Wicklow Drive which was said to make it difficult for people to cross the road and accidents were said to have occurred. Attendees suggested a longer survey. Councillor Dawood (member for Wycliffe ward) was present at the meeting as a resident on Wicklow Drive and said that he would be happy to assist the Evington Ward Councillors in surveying other houses/ doing a consultation.

·         Thanks were given from an attendee to PC Ellis for her work on ASB in the area.

·         Councillor Bajaj requested Police to give an update of statistics in the area at the following meeting.

Shobana Patel, Development Officer in Community Safety, will be present to provide an update on community safety issues in the Evington Ward.

Shobhana Patel, Development Officer in Community Safety gave an insight as to the works her team engage in, such as: working to reduce crime and ASB.

·         There had been an issue around Coleman Neighbourhood Centre whereby the ball court behind the Centre had become unusable due to broken glass and the lights not working. It was said that the Partnership Group (consisting of Ward Councillors, Police, Community Safety Team, City Wardens, Community Engagement Officers, Youth Services, and Housing Services) would be working together to look at improvements to the area some of which would be improving the ball courts and providing more youth activities.

·         It was requested that residents report any issues or incidents to the Community Safety Team or Leicestershire Police. Please see attached document for list of contact details.

Highways Officers from Leicester City Council will provide an update on local highways issues

Simon White, Team Leader for Travel, Planning and Development Co-ordination gave a presentation on the following highways matters:

·         An outline of costs spent and works which took place on roads, maintenance, footways, lights and other highways activities was provided.

·         A concrete road repairs scheme was due to take place on Downing Drive and Hextall Road.

·         City wide, 12-15 new grit bins would be placed in every ward. Members informed the meeting that of the 12 grit bins for Evington, 4 had been allocated to each of the three Councillors, who had decided on the bin locations and would ensure they were placed in the correct areas.

·         It was noted that the main issues in the Evington Ward were speeding, parking and congestion. The Transport Officer reported that there was a city wide programme to address these issues.

·         Evington Ward Councillors reported that they had been campaigning on several highways issues, many of which had been discussed with the City Mayor. Attendees were however informed of necessary processes i.e. consultations, funding and priority procedures.

Residents reported the following issues, of which the Officer explained that he would feedback the information to the Highways/ Transport Team and write a report to the Councillors:

·         Condition of Ethel Road paths & lack of parking.

·         Part of Cordery Road path was still incomplete.

·         Issue regarding double yellow lines was requested to be looked into at the corner of Greenacre drive and Coleman Rd.

·         Pavement/ incorrect parking on Wicklow drive – residents present at the meeting suggested more traffic enforcement.

There will be an update on the environmental and enforcement activities in the ward that the City Warden has been dealing with.

The City Warden had sent apologies and was unable to attend the meeting. A City Warden handout was provided for the meeting to be updated on City Warden activities.

The meeting will receive a general update on housing issues.  

Andy East, Team Leader for Housing gave an update on works completed and proposed in the Evington Ward. An outline on the following was provided:

2015-16 Budgets:

·         Environmental & Communal Sums Budget; Growth Bid; Grounds Maintenance Growth Bid Budget. A total of £266,000 was spent in the Evington Ward this year.  

·         £105,000 on Grounds Maintenance: Mostly the removal of unsightly, hard to maintain shrubbed areas, to be replaced with turf - continuing on from some areas completed last year.

·         £73,000 Environmental & Communal Sums Budget: Included internal painting of communal areas to many blocks of flats on Rowlatts Hill estate; re-furbishing a courtyard at Ethel Road flats (4th and final phase); bulb planting along Ethel Road.

·         £83,000 Growth Bid: Included bricking up internal bin store doors to improve security on some Rowlatts Hill estate blocks of flats; and more internal communal area painting of Rowlatts Hill estate flats.

·         A resident had concerns that the shrubs had been ripped up at the back of Goodwood Road.  Andy East confirmed Housing were able to utilise another team to remove the shrubs and that the area would be turfed as part of the Grounds Maintenance budget later this year.

·         The Housing Officer informed the meeting that much of this year’s schemes were due to commence in November 2015.

·         Those schemes already completed included some fencing in Rowlatts Hill estate (for example around the grassed corner of the Ambassador Road) and Balderstone Close (opposite the Co-op).

·         Works at some locations were still in the process of completion.

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 meeting budget.

The following applications have been received since the previous meeting:

Applicant: Sharon Frederick on behalf of The Klick

Proposal: to enter a troupe into the Caribbean Carnival on 1 August 2015

Amount Requested: £500

Applicant: Rowlatts Hill Over 60s Club – Mr William Foster

Proposal – to cover the cost of coach hire for two outings.

Amount requested: £1000

Applicant: Bharat Sports Cricket Club – Rash Patel

Proposal: Bharat Sports Cricket Club – funding requested to replace old equipment

Amount requested: £2000

Punum Patel, the Community Engagement Officer presented an update on the Ward Community Meeting Budget. The following items were considered at the meeting:

5085: Sharon Frederick on behalf of the Klick – Requested £500.00 to enter a troupe into the Caribbean Carnival on 1^st August – Grant of £250.00 SUPPORTED

1427: Bharat Sports Cricket Club – Requested £2,000.00 to replace old equipment – APPLICATION NOT SUPPORTED

1429: Mr William Foster – Requested £1,000.00 to cover the cost of coach hire for two outings – Grant of £1,000.00 SUPPORTED IN FULL

1497: Evington Friendship Club – Requested £700.00 to enable the group to book speakers in 2016 – Grant of £400.00 SUPPORTED

5111: SideKickDance – Requested £500.00 to run weekly dance session at Ashfield School for young people with learning difficulties or disabilities – Grant of £500.00 SUPPORTED IN FULL

1504: St Chad’s Parish Centre – Requested £500.00 to run a 6 sessions of lunch clubs to provide meals over the summer holidays for families that would usually get free school meals. The centre is partnering with a local primary school and with local businesses – Grant of £500.00 SUPPORTED IN FULL

1505: Chandrakant Patel – Requested £720.00 to support the ongoing running of the group who provide fitness activities for young people and elderly through football, futsal and walking football sessions – APPLICATION DEFERRED

It was noted that Councillor Master was in the process of determining improvements on the Ward Community Budgets and Ward Community Meetings.

Shilen Pattni, Neighbourhood Development Manager informed attendees that there would be a two week deadline for applications above £500.00 to be considered prior to the Evington Ward Community Meeting. Any applications above £500.00 received after the deadline would be considered for the following meeting. Applications below £500.00 could be considered by the Ward Councillors at any point.

Attendees were informed of a ‘Heritage Open Day’ which would take place at Evington Park/ House and St Denys Church on Saturday 12 September 2015.

The next Evington Ward Community meeting will take place on Thursday 5 November 2015 at 6.30pm – City of Leicester College.

The meeting closed at 7.43pm