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 Cole as Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were given.

Apologies for absence were received from Wayne Gale, Leicester Fire and Rescue and Adrian Alexander.

Councillor Barton led a tribute to Doreen Beazley, a stalwart of the New Parks Community who had passed away recently. She said that Doreen’s passing was a great loss to the community and she would be very sadly missed.

The Action Log from the meeting held on 30 August 2016 is attached for information and discussion.

Councillors and attendees considered the Action Log from the previous meeting held 30 August 2016.

Phil Flack asked for it to be noted that he had submitted his apologies for the meeting along with his appreciation for funding previously received for the street party project, but these had not been recorded.

An amendment to the Action Log in respect of agenda item 6 was also requested as follows:

The New Parks Community Centre would be offered for Community Asset Transfer. The building would be advertised and a company could called Locality would provide assistance to help any interested parties

The Action Log, subject to the above amendments was agreed as a correct record.

The Ward Councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with recently.

Attendees were asked note an update on local issues the Ward Councillors had been involved with. The update included the following news:

·      A community group had expressed an interest in taking on the New Parks Community Centre as a community asset transfer.

·      The New Parks Library would include a customer service function with self-service machines. Councillor Barton expressed concerns at whether people would find them easy to use and said she would be interested to learn of people’s experiences in using self-service machines.  Comments were made that some elderly people were worried about the change.

·      There were on-going traffic and highway issues, especially relating to Christ the King Catholic Primary School, but the problems around the school had been prioritised by the Council.

·      New outdoor gym equipment had been installed on Western Park.

·      It was believed that the proposed cuts to funding for adventure playgrounds would not now be as severe as once thought and the Executive would also be trying to support adventure playgrounds in applying for alternative funding.

·      Because of the cuts to the local authority grant from central government, the Council needed to reduce its budget by a further £55m. This was in addition to the £100m savings the Council had already made. 

A police and crime update will be provided on issues relating to the Western Ward.

Attendees were asked to note a policing update from PCSO Peter Smith. Issues included the following:

·      In the last 30 days there had been 16 burglaries from dwellings; these had been linked to other burglaries outside the Western Ward. Extra officers had been brought in to patrol the area and residents were asked to report any suspicious behaviour.

·      There had been 19 thefts from, and damage to motor vehicles. Attendees were warned against leaving goods or money on view as thieves were breaking windows to steal from inside vehicles.

Suggestions were received from attendees that people should use mortice locks or deadlocks to secure their homes and fit a chain on the front door. A small mirror on the wall opposite the front door could give the resident a view of anyone at door which would be useful when the chain was on and the door was only slightly open.

The City Warden will provide an update on local environmental issues within the ward.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Matthew Davinson, City Warden.

It was noted that complaints had been received in relation to untidy private land and Matthew explained that the Council could take action if rubbish or items left on the land were visible from the road and were impacting detrimentally on the area. Attendees reported a problem of this nature in the gardens of a property on Nevanthon Road.   Action: Matthew Davinson, City Warden to investigate.

An attendee reported that two road signs on Ryder Road and Cropston Close had been obliterated by red paint.   Action: Martin Fletcher, Head of Highways to forward the query to the relevant council department

Attendees were reminded that they could use the Love Leicester App to report enforcement type issues; queries submitted this way would be forwarded to the relevant department for investigation.

There will be an update on highways issues that affect the Western Ward.

Attendees were asked to note an update on traffic and highway issues from Martin Fletcher, the Head of Highways. Martin detailed the projects and work that had been carried out in the Western Ward over the last 12 months, which had cost over £1m. A significant proportion of this spend had been on projects in the New Parks area of the Ward but work was also being focussed on traffic around schools and road safety in the Western Park side of the Ward.

·      Attendees expressed serious concerns over parking and traffic at Christ the King Catholic Primary School.  Martin explained that some improvement works had been carried out there which included the installation of new bollards and a new signalised crossing. Other works were being planned.

·      Serious concerns were also expressed relating to traffic and speeding vehicles around Letchworth Road, Eastfield Road and Westfield Road. Residents added that many of the problems related to traffic from Christ the King. Attendees heard that the Council were trying to tackle speeding in the area and looking to establish the extent of the problem.  A Scrutiny Commission would be meeting on Thursday 19 January when Councillors would consider a report relating to school run problems around ten city schools including Christ the King Catholic Primary. The resulting impact of roads including Letchworth Road and Westfield Road would also be considered. 

Concerns were expressed that the situation would deteriorate further as residents had very recently been notified by a utility company, of their planned works around Christ the King, which were due to commence on 20 January.  Action: Martin Fletcher to check whether the utility company had notified the council of the planned work around Christ the King Catholic Primary School.

Previous recipients of funding from the community meeting budget have been invited to the meeting to provide an update on their project.

Attendees were asked to note the feedback from previous recipients of Community Meeting funding. The following recipients reported on the success of their projects and thanked the meeting for funding which enabled the activities to take place.

Yonnel Fashion UK –fashion show.

Anna McAuley -  Westfield Road Street Party

Brian Hookaway – Soccer School

Purple Patch Crafts – teaching and arts and crafts to adults in the community

Letchworth Road – Bands on Western Park

Ndi–Igbo – New Yam Festival

Councillors are reminded that under the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, they should declare any interest they may have in the budget applications.

Information on the Ward Community Budget will be provided.

Attendees were asked to note that since the previous meeting, three funding applications had been approved as follows:

Western Park Freeriders: £420 approved for cycle trails development at Western Park.

G/L Tag: £25 approved for a traffic calming meeting. 

New Parks Network c/o Soft Touch Arts: £500 approved for the New Parks Winter Extravaganza.

Presentations were given by applicants requesting funding for the following budget applications and decisions were made as follows:

Phoenix Community Cinema: £900 requested to deliver film based events in community venues. Application supported.

Pauline Clarke - Wednesday Club: £480 requested for an outreach programme to bring people into St Anne’s Church Hall for tea, cake and to listen to a speaker. Application supported.

The meeting heard that funding would pay for taxis to bring people to the event, and an attendee volunteered to help with transport. The Chair asked for this to be discussed further at the end of the meeting.

Hetha Copland: for railings for St Oswalds Road. £5200 requested to prevent traveller vehicles setting up on the space outside the community centre and the leisure centre. Application supported.

A further funding bid had been submitted by a Neighbourhood Watch group for £500 to help maintain and prune trees in the community garden on Nevanthon Road: Application supported.

Anita Clarke, Community Engagement Officer reported that taking into account the applications just approved, and a further application being processed, a balance of £4500 remained. Attendees were asked to note that Adrian Alexander would be submitting a funding application in respect of the Western Park Festival.

Attendees received news of the Leicester Western Ward Linking Lives project, which was a befriending service mainly aimed at those over 60 years of age.  Sarah Tavener, the coordinator gave some details of the project and explained that she was seeking volunteers. Training would be given and all volunteers would be subject to the necessary criminal records checks (DBS).

Sarah could be contacted as follows:

Tel: 0746 543 1585  / email: leicesterwesternward@linkinglives.uk

The next Western Community Meeting will be held on Tuesday 11 April at 7.15pm at St Anne’s Church Hall, Letchworth Road, Western Park.

Attendees were asked to note that the next meeting would be held at 7.15 pm on Tuesday 11 April in St Anne’s Church Hall, Letchworth Road.

The meeting closed at 9.25 pm