Agenda and minutes

Councillors will elect a Chair for the meeting.

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

Councillor Govind as Chair led on introductions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hunter.

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.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

There were no declarations of interest made.

The Action Log of the previous Evington Ward Community Meeting, held on Thursday 25 July 2019, is attached for information and discussion.

The action log from the last meeting held on 25 July 2019 was confirmed as an accurate record.

Councillors will provide an update on ward related matters.

Councillors gave an update on case work they were involved in and updated residents on the actions that were raised at the last patch walk carried out.

An Officer from the Traffic and Highways Team will provide feedback on matters in the ward.

Robert Bateman, the Special Projects Manager gave an update on the overall highways matters.

It was noted that parking meters had now been installed on Coleman Road near the hospital entrance and the Traffic Regulation Order was in place and the works would commence mid-March. 280 parking tickets had been issued between February and December 2019 and that 18 had been issued in January this year.

The Traffic Regulation Order for the junction at Wicklow Drive and Ambassador Road was being considered and the works planned on Church Road in Evington Village were to be carried out this financial year.

It was noted that, Falmouth Road was highlighted and added to the to-do list for the area after concerns were raised at the last patch walk.

The issues of speeding on Spencefield lane were noted and marked as an area of concern.

The Chair added the Housing item to the list of agenda items at the meeting.

Andy East the Neighbourhood Housing Team Leader provided the meeting with an update on housing related matters.

2019-20 Environmental Budget

Demolition of 7 garages (48-54 Rowlatts Hill Road) –

Currently being undertaken.

2020-21Environmental Budget

1)    Funding schemes that weren’t started/completed in 2018-19:

-       Slabbing central area of Radstone Walk (where it currently gets overgrown);

-       Additional fencing at rear of shops to prevent ASB

-       Bricking up internal bin room doors to all blocks on Illingworth Road and Champion Close

It was noted that the team were also focussed on the removal of shrubs from certain locations on the estate. It was suggested Many shrub beds were over planted and were becoming more difficult to maintain with reduced resources. This solution would make it easier to maintain if the shrubs were turfed. This would also make the estate safer with no overgrown shrubs blocking paths, etc. Working with Cllr Hunter the team had identified a number of locations:

-       Along footpath adjacent to 2 Higgs Close;

-       Corner of McVicker Close/Cross Walk;

-       Corner of Tolchard Close/Cross Walk;

-       Balderstone Close x4

-       Adjacent to 5 Higgs Close, along the parking area

The team were already identifying many other locations and waiting for costs to tackle them and plan to implement this as funds allow - in phases over the next few years.

Further to this it was planned to have twice yearly weed spraying to the many housing owned footpaths and parking bays and additionally, the Trees & Woodlands Team currently carrying out the 5 yearly survey of trees on the estate. Any tree that was diseased or causing problem to building structures would be removed.

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

Sergeant Karl Walsh and PC Steven Parmer from the local policing unit were in attendance and provided an update to the meeting.

The police had put together a scatter graph, which indicated the level of crime in the area compared to the previous six months. Results indicated that overall level of crime were on a decrease and compared to other parts of the city, Evington Ward was a safe area.

Work continued with local schools in the area and the Officers had an office based at Rowletts Mead Academy.

The Police were working closely with the NHS in relation to the concerns that were raised with Hospital Close and that the Joint Action Group meetings helped the different agencies work together and resolve matters collectively.

The City Warden will give an update on issues in the Evington Ward.

The City Warden was not in attendance. Members suggested that the attendance for City Wardens at the community meetings was important and that the Community Engagement Officer was to make contact with the local warden.

ACTION: Ward Community Engagement Officer to contact the City Wardens team.

Councillors are reminded that under the Council’s Code of Conduct they should declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

The Ward Community Engagement Officer updated the meeting with details of the ward Community Budget.

It was noted that 42 applications had been submitted for consideration by the Ward Councillor’s, of which 24 applications had been approved for funding support. 13 applications had not been supported and 5 applications were yet to be considered.

Sanjay Bulsara the District Manager for the Leicester East Fire Station was in attendance at the meeting and delivered a presentation that outlined the role of the service as part of the emergency services that operated in the city.

Information was shared with the residents through a presentation on how the Fire Service operated and the role they played in keeping the city safe.

The main objectives for the Fire Service were to enable safer communities, achieve a 10 minute response time, governance and keeping staff safe. The service values professionalism and honesty.

It was noted that following a recent inspection, it was suggested that the values were to be incorporated in the service’s operations.

The service regularly attended meetings with other service’s in the city and worked alongside other services to achieve collective goals and address issues.

Councillors thanked the service for their commitment to the city and for their attendance at the meeting and keeping the local residents informed.

It was noted there were 175 properties that were owned by the NHS and were not yet sold, the Police suggested that the area be secured as there were concerns with anti-social behaviour in the area.

There being no other items of urgent business the meeting closed at