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 as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Thomas, Chair for the meeting welcomed those present and led introductions.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Action Log of the Belgrave Ward community meeting held on 25^th July 2016 is attached and Members will be asked to confirm it as an accurate record.

The action log of the Belgrave Community Meeting held on 25^th July 2016 was agreed as an accurate record.

Officers from Neighbourhood Services will address the meeting on the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme and outcomes from recent consultations.

The Chair invited Lee Warner, Head of Neighbourhood Services to address the meeting on the Transforming Neighbourhood Services programme which was looking at different ways of organising how services were delivered within neighbourhoods across the city.

Lee outlined the background; there had been initial engagement with ward councillors, residents, service users between June and July 2016 to help develop draft proposals for the transformation of the area. Data from the initial engagement was analysed to construct a draft model of proposals which was presented to City Mayor and Executive in August 2016.

Consultation on the draft model took place during September and October 2016, involving a series of meetings with resident groups, stakeholder groups and community groups. The consultation period ran from Monday 12 September 2016 until Sunday 23October 2016 and was carried out in two main parts:

·       A series of meetings, with resident groups, community groups and voluntary organisations who use the facilities

·       A form available in various locations across the area and online for people to provide individual responses and comments

There were a high level of responses and many were concerned about the proposal to relocate Belgrave Library to Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre. Key concerns were around the availability of sufficient space and the impact on existing services and activities as well as to ensure that existing activities and services could continue under the building changes proposed.

Taking account of the consultation and responses the decision was taken on 23 January 2017 that Belgrave Library shall not move into Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre at this time.

It was also decided to:

Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre

·       Redecorate some areas of the building including the main hall.

·       Work with centre users to consider the lunch club provision.

·       Move adult learning classrooms into Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre to deliver more English language and other classes.

·       Review room hire arrangements to free up more space for additional activities and to increase income.

·       Explore car parking controls to improve availability for centre users

Belgrave Library

·       Retain the library service at the current location at this time.

·       Review service operations in line with consultation feedback to improve

·       Efficiency.

·       Install library and customer self-service terminals to provide additional access to council services.

Attendees at the meeting strongly expressed their concerns about the decision process, the role of local councillors and sought assurances that the library would remain.

It was reiterated that the decision had been taken as outlined and there would be investment into the library and Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre.

Lee Warner went on to explain the timescales for the implementation of the decision and the commitment to work with groups in the building such as the lunch club. It was noted that specialist services had been engaged from property services since the Belgrave Neighbourhood centre was Grade II listed. It was also noted there were some large festivals that took place at Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre and the council would look to ensure building works did not coincide with those.

The Chair thanked Lee Warner for speaking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

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

The Chair extended thanks to Laura for her sterling service to the community and expressed sorrow that she was leaving the Police.

Sgt Rich Lane proceeded to give an outline of incidents that had occurred within the ward leading to several arrests.

Residents raised issues about car parking and asked that the police target certain streets in the area of Brandon St and Martyn St, as part of Belgrave Day of Action operations. Sgt Rich Lane noted the issues.

The meeting were reminded that there were several police community consultations taking place, more details could be obtained from the police website.

Residents raised concerns about street drinking in Cossington Park. Sgt Rich Lane said that the police were aware of this situation and carrying out investigations.

Residents referred to an incident where fires were being set near the gates of St Albans church. Sgt Rich Lane agreed to take detail and arrange a visit to the area.

Residents expressed their thanks to the police for the work they were doing within the Belgrave ward.

The City Warden service will provide an update on issues in the Ward.

There was no-one present from the City Warden service. Councillors requested an update to be provided to the next meeting.

Concerns were raised about littering in the St Marks Vicarage area and around St Albans church

ACTION: Angela to relay complaints to City Warden service.

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 Budget.

The Community Engagement Officer announced that the deadline for budget applications from the 2016/17 budget had passed. Any applications lodged after 10^th March 2017 would need to be resubmitted in the next financial year.

As a number of decisions received prior to the cut-off date were still pending a decision the final closing balance of the 2016/17 budget could not yet be confirmed.

The Community Engagement Officer said that information relating to the budget would be made available on the council’s website in the Ward Community Engagement pages.

Councillor Thomas apologised to everyone for the late cancellation of the last meeting explaining that it had been cancelled at the request of several residents.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.02pm.