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 Singh – Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from Piyuish Kotecha – Sandfield Parent Teacher Association, Sgt Rob Merrell, Mitun Dabhelia, Community Engagement Officer and Hetha Copland Neighbourhood Development Manager.

There were no declarations of interest in the business to be discussed.

Ward Councillors will report on their recent activities.

The boundary changes that had taken effect creating the Troon Ward in May 2015 were explained and both councillors gave a brief outline of their role as a ward councillor and within the council.

The meeting were informed that the ward councillors would hold regular surgeries as follows:

Danbury Gardens, 1 Danbury Place, off Wycombe Road LE5 0AZ. Fourth Wednesday of each month 3.00pm – 4.30pm

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, 25 Edgehill Road, Le4 9EA. Second Wednesday of each month 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Emerald Centre, 450 Gipsy Lane, LE5 0TB. First and Third Friday of each month 3.00pm – 4.00pm

Sandfield Close Primary School, Sandfield Close. Fourth Friday of each month 4.00pm – 5.00pm.

Councillors would be holding a Patchwalk and would send invites to the Police, City Warden, Housing and Highway teams to hold the first patch walks in two locations: 1. Victoria Road East, 2. Huggett Close and Trevino Drive. It was hoped that members of the community would also take part.

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

Sgt Walters and Sgt Green were present to introduce themselves to residents and ward councillors and to briefly explain how the police teams were currently aligned in the area of Troon ward with an overlap into Rushey Mead and Belgrave teams.

Residents were informed that if they needed to contact a Neighbourhood Team they could access the right information from the Leicestershire Police Website.

The meeting was informed that at future meetings the police would be bringing updates on crime statistics for the area but this was not currently available.

The police responded to residents’ concerns relating to the following:

·       Speeding vehicles on Victoria Road East, also leading to Hastings Road – agreed to investigate further and report back.

·       Traffic activated signs not working on Victoria Road East – noted.

·       Burglaries – it was confirmed someone had been arrested and was on remand but the police were not able to give any other details at present due to ongoing investigations.

·       CCTV – this was not in the remit of the police

·       Parked cars, especially in area around the bridge on Gypsy Lane – it was acknowledged there was a culture of this sort of paring across the city. The council were looking at introducing a parking scheme pilot which would be tried in the Rushey Mead Ward first. ACTION – issues to be reported to Enforcement Officer to investigate.

An officer from the City Wardens Service will give an update on issues in the Ward.

Charlotte Walsh, City Warden gave an update on matters affecting the Troon Ward and circulated information leaflets.

It was explained that the City Warden service covered a range of environmental issues i.e. dog fouling, low level graffiti, fly posting, and fly tipping.

·       Woodgreen Road – new fencing installed and no reports of fly tipping since,

·       Humberstone Drive – overgrown and untidy front gardens had been tackled,

·       Barkby Road and Barkby Thorpe Road area – 3 prosecutions were ongoing for commercial fly tipping,

·       Edgehill Road – unlicensed scaffolding had been taken down and enforcement action started.

·       Victoria Road East – 13 abandoned bins had been removed and landlords contacted. Local residents were reminded to recycle where possible in orange bags.

The Love Leicester App had been launched and everyone was encouraged to download and use the app to report any issues.

A local Housing Officer will provide an update on housing issues in the Ward.

Ela Krychowska – Hall, Area Housing Manager provided an update on housing issues in the area:

·        Residents were informed that a list of priorities for the ward was being compiled and if funding became available these could then be tackled.

·       Anti-social behaviour – there were very few reports however there were 2 serious cases that were ongoing.

An officer will be present from the Highways Team to provide an update.

An officer from the Highways Team gave a brief update on matters in the ward:

·       192 carriageway repairs had been undertaken and completed in the Troon ward,

·       20mph zones had been identified in the ward and would be introduced gradually,

·       Additional road works around the Sainsburys site on Troon Way might have an indirect impact on the ward,

·       Traffic activated signs on Victoria Road East not working– this would be investigated and corrected,

·       Victoria Road East and Cordelia Close sink holes – highways would investigate and try to rectify problems.

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 at the meeting on the Ward Community budget and applications received. A summary of bids received since the last meeting is attached.

The Chair explained that the community budget for the Troon Ward was £18,000 which was intended to support community activities and projects in the ward. Councillors were conscious this was a new ward with lots of potential applicants and they would support where necessary and would only fund those activities that took place in Troon Ward or outside the ward if they benefitted people from Troon. The decision relating to the bids was that of the Councillors and would not be for discussion by the floor although details of all community funding would be fedback at each meeting. Any bids that had not been received in time for the meeting would be put over to the next meeting.

Applications considered:

·       1445 – Darul Arqum Educational Trust, to run a Children’s Arts & Crafts project. Application for £400. Grant of £250 SUPPORTED.

·       1446 – Darul Arqum Educational Trust, to buy equipment for a children’s baking class. Application for £560. Grant of £400 SUPPORTED.

·       1447 – Hanover Housing Association, Danbury Garden Summer Fete and Open Day. Application for £500. Grant of £500 SUPPORTED.

·       5094 – Sandfield School Parent Teacher Association. Rushey Mead Fun Day. Application for £420. Grant of £420 SUPPORTED.

AOB1 –

The Northfields Neighbourhood Centre was not being used to capacity, not advertised as available and the shutters were always done – Chair explained it was important for groups to say they wanted to use it. Both councillors wanted to reinvigorate the centre and would make enquiries to ensure the centre advertised its opening times.

AOB2 –

Councillor Cank advised the meeting that an Outdoor Gym was to be installed on the corner of the Towers grounds for all to use.

The meeting closed at 7.45pm.