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.

The Action Log from the meeting held on 16 January 2018 is attached for information and discussion.

An amendment to item 14 of the Action Log was requested and agreed to record that an apology of absence was received from Joe and not Joan.

Councillors reported that there had been numerous problems relating to parking in the ward. These included issues at New College, particularly when sporting events were being held. The Police had been to the area but also had many other issues to deal with which were of a higher priority. Councillor Barton reported that parking restrictions had been put in place on Glenfield Road when there had been an event at the Allexton Football Club at New College. The restrictions had made a big difference and Councillor Barton suggested that this could be the way forward in the future.

Ward Councillors will feedback on the issues they have been dealing with since the previous Ward Community Meeting.

Attendees were asked to note an update on the issues that the ward councillors had been dealing with. Points made included the following:

·      Councillors had been very busy with individual case work.

·      Councillors had been visiting constituents following the terrible explosion on Hinckley Road and the tragic loss of life. The community had been deeply affected and the area was changed for ever. Councillors commended the uniformed services for their excellent work during this time. Appreciation was also given to St Anne’s Church who had provided a great deal of help and support. Residents were advised that if they wanted to join the Recovery Committee, they should contact the Fosse Ward Councillors, namely Councillor Alfonso and Councillor Cassidy.

·      Councillor Unsworth had attended the lunch club which was held every Wednesday at New Park’s Library between 12.00 and 1.00pm. The cost was £1.50 for a two course lunch and people were advised to arrive early.

·      The Braunstone Frith Recreation Centre would be offered up for a community asset transfer and voluntary groups would be invited to submit a business plan. Help would be provided through Voluntary Action Leicester, to assist those groups in submitting their business plan.

An officer from the Local Policing Unit will provide an update on policing issues in the Western Ward. The Police will also update attendees on issues relating to the explosion on Hinckley Road.

The meeting was asked to note an update on policing issues from Police Sergeant Simon Walters. He thanked the Councillors for the kind comments regarding the police support at the site of the Hinckley Road explosion. It had been an extremely challenging time and the police and fire service had been very grateful to the community for the food parcels and hot drinks that were offered immediately afterwards and while officers were on scene preservation duty.

·      Three men had been charged and officers had now returned to their normal beat duties.  

·      The Moss Gate Problem Solving Plan had now closed. A meeting had been arranged for 24 April where the new focus would be on the Sharman Crescent area. The Police were bringing in a street based youth worker and street lighting had been turned up to combat anti- social behaviour.

An attendee referred to the explosion and expressed concerns that some of the shops on Hinckley Road had their windows blacked out, so people couldn’t see what was happening inside. Concerns were expressed on the grounds of general safety. While not considered to be a matter for the Police, Councillors commented that it might be possible to issue some guidelines in the Local Plan.

Mr Nev Turner expressed concerns that a Police Officer had not attended a panel meeting for some time. PS Walters responded that the officer had genuinely forgotten to attend the previous meeting for which he apologised, but there would be a Police Officer at the next panel meeting.

The police were currently working very hard on knife crime,. There appeared to be a trend that carrying a knife was ‘cool’ and the police and youth workers were working in schools to change that mentality. It took time however to change that mentality and knife related crime was currently a very serious issue. Attendees were asked to note that the Police held amnesties for people who wanted to safely dispose of a knife.

There will be an update on local highways issues. Representatives from Arcadis will also be present to answer questions relating to the 20mph zone.

The meeting was asked to note an update on highways issues, which was led by Robert Bateman, Senior Projects Manager.

Attendees were introduced to Warren Joao and Peter Siemensma from Arcadis who were leading the consultation into proposals for a 20mph zone in the Western Ward.  The ensuing discussion included the following points. The meeting was asked to note:

·      The consultation was at a very early stage; Arcadis were awaiting views and comments from residents. Their input was invaluable because they knew the area best.

·      The 20mph zone would include parts of the Western and Fosse wards.

·      A consultation meeting would be held at New College on 25 April.2018 between 6.30 – 9 pm.

·      The 20mph zone would need to be self-enforcing so there would be measures to slow traffic down. These could be in the form of speed cushions but Arcadis would look at traffic calming measure and where these should go. 

·      Robert Bateman explained that residents had been asking for traffic calming measures for some considerable time and the pressure for this had intensified following the building of the Christ the King school annex.  Accident statistics had been taken into account.

·      It was anticipated that there would be some opposition to the scheme and where objections were submitted, officers tried to talk to objectors to gain their support.

·      It was anticipated that a report would be submitted to the City Mayor in October 2018.

The following general highway issues were also raised:

·      There were concerns over the state of the roads and the numbers of potholes.

·      More 20mph signs were needed at schools.

·      The pedestrian crossing on Liberty Road needed re-painting; some of the stripes appeared to have worn off (possibly as a result of the bad weather).

·      It was reported that Pindar Road to Coates Avenue had only been partly surfaced.

·      Concerns were expressed about flooding from Pindar Road to Caledine Road.

Residents could give their views on the traffic consultation by emailing Arcadis on: Letchworthdovelands20mph@arcadis.com

The meeting will receive an update on local housing issues.

Attendees were asked to note an update on housing issues in the Western ward from Marie Murray, the District Manager. Points made included the following:

·      There was no longer a housing reception at New Parks; appointments could be made through the call centre. Requests for housing repairs should also be made through the call centre.

·      Housing surgeries were held at various venues including the Braunstone Frith Recreation Centre.

·      There was £117k in the budget for 2018/19 for communal projects such as landscaping and painting in communal areas.  Most of the money would be spent on projects in Braunstone Frith as the area had not benefited from spending from this budget for some time.  It was hoped that by the end of March 2019, a big improvements in those areas would be seen.

·      In response to a question, the meeting heard that the only lifts in council properties were in Aikman Avenue.  Any issues with the lifts were dealt with by Property Management who brought in an outside contractor. Councillor Barton reported that there was a delay in carrying out repairs to a lift which was due to a necessary part not being available.

The City Warden will provide an update on local environment and enforcement issues

Attendees were asked to note an update from Matthew Davinson, City Warden for the Western Ward. Points made during the update included the following:

·         Since the previous meeting, 35 reports had been submitted which included 21 reports of untidy private land and 8 fly tips.

·         Investigations were carried out on fly tips to try to establish who was responsible. Fly tips were a considerable blight on the area.

·         The council still offered a bulk collection service whereby they collected five items for free every two months.

·         Fixed penalty notices fines increased from £80 to £150 on 1 April 2018.

·         There had also been reports of dog fouling. In order to tackle this issue, the City Wardens at times carried out plain clothes targeting enforcement exercises.

An attendee reported a problem with litter on Pindar Road and Aikman Avenue.

Matthew was thanked for his update.

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 the ward community budget for 2017/18 had been spent. The Chair said he was pleased that the community had recognised the value of applying for funding for their projects from the ward budget.

A new allocation of £18k was now available in the 2018/19 ward community budget. Any community groups who were interested in applying for funding needed to submit their application on line through the council’s website.

New Parks Community Hub, New Parks Community Centre, St Oswald’s Road

Jo from the New Parks Community Hub said that they were hoping to hold a celebratory ‘Volunteer of the Year’ event and were looking for nominations for people or community groups who had done something exceptional. Jo, Lindsay and Hetha Copland were still working on the details of the event but it would include people and groups in Western and the New Parks area.

Toilet on Aikman Avenue

An attendee said that at the previous meeting she had raised an issue concerning the toilet on Aikman Avenue which was regularly vandalised; however no action had been taken.  Action: the Community Engagement Officer to investigate.

The meeting closed at 9.00 pm.