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 Barton as Chair led the introductions and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Action Log from the previous meeting held on 10 April 2018 is attached for information and discussion.

The Action Log of the previous meeting held 10 April 2018 was noted. The Chair said that any updates of the actions would be covered in the main part of the meeting.

The Community Meeting will receive an update on the issues that the Western Ward Councillors have been dealing with.

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

·      Councillors had been very busy with case work in all areas of the ward.

·      Work had been ongoing with the Western Ward Community Enterprise who were hoping to take on some of the buildings in the park. Fund raising had taken place and it was also hoping to have a crowd funding project there.

·      George Ballentyne, the Council Voluntary and Community Sector Engagement Manager explained that the team had been giving advice on crowd funding for a project on Western Park. George explained that if people were involved in a community group and could find ways of raising money for a particular project, the Council might be able to help. Further information on crowd funding could be found on the Leicester City Council website by clicking onto the following link:

https://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council/city-mayor-peter-soulsby/running-the-city/crowdfund-leicester/

·      A patch walk had taken place which had involved the ward councillors and about ten different officers. Issues they had looked at included anti-social behaviour and fly tipping.

·      Councillor Cole stated that amongst other issues he had been involved with the centenary celebrations of the birth of Nelson Mandela and helping a member of the Windrush generation to apply for British Citizenship.   As Vice Chair of the Children, Young People’s and Schools Scrutiny Commission, he and other Members had been looking at the reasons why working class children of African heritage were not achieving as well as other children.

·      The Chair reported that the Western Park festival had been very successful though did not get the 10k attendees as hoped because it clashed with an England World Cup match. The councillors had also been very busy trying to help people access universal benefit.

·      Councillor Unsworth stated that they were grateful to the New Parks Community Panel and Jo, from Team Troupers for the benefit their work was bringing to the community. Praise was given for the lunches that were being provided at a very low cost, at the New Parks Community Hub.

·      A booklet had just been printed providing information on what was happening in New Parks.

There will be an update on local policing issues which will include information relating to the People Zone Project.

Attendees were asked to note an update from the Police:

·      Knife crime in New Parks was quite high and an event was being held on 29 September on Aikman Avenue in relation to this. The Police would be targeting people who carried knives.

·      There had been an increase in the incidents of burglary and people were asked to get in touch with the Police if they had information which might be of help. 

In relation to the reporting of crimes, people were asked to call 999 if a burglary was in progress, otherwise to call 222 2222. An attendee reported that he had dialled that number and had to wait 10 minutes before the call was answered; he was then diverted to another area. The Police confirmed that this could happen at times, such as Diwali, when the police were very busy. Their numbers had been reduced, but the teams were working very hard.  A request was made for a shorter recorded message when people called the 222 2222 number.

Concerns were raised relating to speeding vehicles and motor cycles on roads including Glenfield Road, Liberty Road and New Parks Boulevard. The Police officer said he would report the concerns to his Sergeant.

Chief Inspector Dan Eveleigh addressed the meeting and provided an update on the People Zones Project. He explained that he had been working with Lord Bach, the Police and Crime Commissioner and had chosen New Parks for the project. As part of this project, they would look at what caused crime and disorder and would work holistically with other stakeholders, possibly linking in with education and local businesses.

In relation to knife crime, a workshop was being held on Friday 5 October at the Salvation Army for people to get together to try to look at ways for the underlying problems to be tackled.

The Chair thanked the Police officers and stated that New Parks was fortunate in that it was the only area in the city to have the People Zone project. While there seemed to be a need in the area, it was also considered that the people there were receptive to making changes.

Robert Bateman, Special Projects Manager, Leicester City Council will be present to provide an update on local highways issues.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Robert Bateman, Senior Projects Manager. Points made during the ensuring discussion included the following:

·      At the previous meeting, the consultants Arcadis had been present to talk about proposals for a 20 mph zone. The council had been measuring speed, the volume of traffic and building up a considerable amount of information and accident data to help Arcadis draw up their proposals.

·      The proposals would be brought back for residents to give their views once a report had been submitted to the City Mayor.

·      In response to a question about the Liberty Road crossing, Councillors said that the crossing had been re-painted but the paint had not set properly. Robert said that he would forward that information to the relevant officer. Action: Robert Bateman.

·      Concerns were raised relating to a series of incidences on Brex Rise, with cars being damaged by vehicles trying to make deliveries at the Co-operative Store. Robert responded that he had written to Head Office asking them to inform drivers to use a different route rather than Brex Rise. He was waiting to hear from them.

Marie Murray, District Manager will be present to provide an update on housing issues in the Western Ward.

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

·      Funding was allocated every year for communal projects such as landscaping and painting in communal areas; and it had been agreed that most of the money for this financial year would be spent in the Braunstone Frith area. Some projects had been completed and some of the work was still to be done.

·      In response to a question as to whether the work to the balconies at flats on Aikman Avenue and Tournament Road had been completed; Marie said she would check with Technical Services as this fell within their remit. Action: Marie Murray

·      Marie had attended the patch walk mentioned during the ward councillors feedback and some of the work identified during the patch walk would be carried out by people in the ‘Leicester into Work’ and the Community Pay Back scheme.

·      A request was made for tenants to ask their neighbours not to put anything other than toilet paper down the toilets, as pipes were being blocked by other items such as wet wipes.

·      The meeting heard that waste disposal chutes were being blocked. Marie asked tenants not to put items into the chutes if it was a struggle to get them in, as it could result in a blockage. This could then create a fire hazard.

·      There was an ongoing problem with fly tipping and the meeting was reminded that up to five bulky items of waste (with some restrictions) could be collected for free every two months.

The Community Meeting will receive an update on the issues the City Warden has been dealing with.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Matthew Davinson. Points made during the update included the following:

·      Fly tipping by council tenants was a problem but it was rare that there was any evidence to ascertain who the culprit was. Statements were needed to help secure a conviction but it appeared that people were frightened to get involved.

·      A resident suggested that it would be helpful to place stickers on bins to let people know about the free bulk waste collection scheme.

·      Matt commented that education and going into schools to talk to students used to part of their role. Now there was more emphasis on enforcement and he felt that there were many advantages in the pro-active approach by teaching the basics.

·      Matthew added that there were difficulties arising from language barriers which made effective communication about issues such as fly tipping, more challenging.

Gillian Jillett will be present to provide information on Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Gillian Jillett, Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire. Points made during Gillian’s update included the following:

·      Healthwatch arose out of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and whilst there had been some changes to the format, the Healthwatch team aimed to attend meetings such as this to capture people’s views and experiences of the health care system.

·      Attendees were asked not to be offended if they were unable to see their doctor, as General Practitioners needed to prioritise their workload. Patients might be offered an appointment with a different health professional rather than a doctor.

·      Attendees were informed that from 1 October 2018, people may not be able to get a prescription for a treatment for a minor medical ailment, where that treatment might be available from a supermarket.  Some concerns were raised as this could impact on people with a low income as for example head lice treatment was expensive.

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.

Punum Patel gave an update on the Community Meeting budget and said that since the previous meeting, eight funding applications had been supported as follows:

·      Brightsparks: Arts in Mental Health Group for the Fosse Music Collective. £470.

·      New Parks Community Patel for the New Parks Summer Extravaganza.

 £ 500

·      Uzo Iwobi / The Nelson Mandela Community Programme Cic for the Leicester City Celebration of 100^th Birthday of Nelson Mandela. £500

·      Ndi Igbo Leicestershire for the 2018 Sea Side Blackpool trip. £500

·      Brian Hookway Football Course for the Brian Hookway Soccer Course. £1500

·      Westgate School for the School Gardening Project. £300

·      Creative Futures Midlands for Wood Carving at the Summer Extravaganza. ££100

·      Team Troupers Dance Academy Cic for a trip to Alton Towers. £430

A balance of £13,700 remained in the budget and there were four applications in the assessment process.

Jo from Team Troupers said that people who used the community hub could not afford holidays or day trips so they had applied for funding to 130 adults and children to Skegness and everyone had really enjoyed themselves. There were also plans for a further day out to Wonderland at Christmas time. Jo was thanked by councillors for the work that was taking place at the Community Hub.

Punum asked attendees to note that due to the new Data Protection regulations, people would need to opt in if they wish to receive information about the community meeting in future.  

Traffic Lights at the Western Park Gates

An attendee stated that the traffic lights at the Western Park gates on Hinckley Road did not give people sufficient time to cross the road. The Chair said that this query would be forwarded onto relevant officers as Robert Bateman had left the meeting. Action: Community Engagement Officer to forward to Highways.

Evaluation of Community Meeting funding bids

An attendee raised a concern about people who came to a community meeting to submit a funding bid then did not return to provide feedback on the project.

Punum suggested that a community budget evaluation item of business could be added to the agenda and the Chair advised that the budget used to be discussed differently at the Western community meetings, but the rules had changed. The Chair added that many of the people who applied for funding for community projects came to other meetings in the ward, so they were known to the ward councillors.

Attendees were asked to note that the next Western Community Meeting would be held on Wednesday 16 January 2019 at 7.15 pm at St Anne’s Church Hall, Letchworth Road.

The meeting closed at 9.17 pm.