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 Cank, Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and led introductions.

There were no apologies for absence or declarations of interest.

The Action Log of the Troon ward community meeting held on 29^th March 2016 is attached and Members will be asked to confirm it as an accurate record.

The action log of 29 March 2016 was circulated and confirmed as an accurate record.

Councillors will provide an update on ward matters.

Councillor Singh reported that:

·       Huggetts Close - £10k had been allocated from community budget to address issues with parking and it was hoped the works would be undertaken soon

·       General Revenue Fund – Cllr Singh was due to attend a meeting on Wednesday that would look at the current budget.

Councillor Cank reported that:

·       School Bollards – costings had now been received and work was ongoing to address issues with problem parking around the school.

·       20mph zone would be introduced in the ward to include the Northfields area and Cromwell Road Estate.

·       Longhurst Close – the City Warden had been particularly helpful dealing with issues in this area. Gates had been fitted to address Anti-social behaviour. Flytipping had been removed. The only outstanding issue there now was to install a new light fitting.

·       A number of complaints had been received in relation to traffic issues on Victoria Road East and these had been referred to Highways.

·       Hastings Road manhole cover was sinking near Mereworth Close – this too Was reported to Highways team.

The ward community engagement officer will give a briefing on the Transforming Neighbourhoods Scheme.

The Community Engagement Officer informed the meeting that the council was currently reviewing the way it operated local service including community centres.

The review was now looking at the North East of the city which included Troon Ward and the Council wanted to work with local people to make these services fit for the future.

• Significant cuts in government funding mean we will not be able to continue to run services as we do now.
• We want to work with communities to make changes and to deliver effective - joined up services.
• We are reviewing how Neighbourhood services are run to make sure that they are affordable and can respond to local people's needs.

We will be working with local people and community organisations to look at the best way to deliver services in the future. The options that we are looking at include:

• reducing the number of buildings we own
• merging services into shared buildings: this has worked well elsewhere in Leicester and has led to longer opening hours
• involving local people in running some services
• self-service facilities.

Residents were encouraged to complete response forms which were also available online too.

An officer from the Highways Team will provide an update on issues relevant to the Troon Ward.

Robert Bateman from Highways gave an update which included the following comments:

·       Huggett Close – as referred to earlier a mixture of funding would be used to complete the project to create 5 parking spaces,

·       Bollards near school – photographs were circulated of the proposed bollards which were designed to be highly visible to drivers and were shaped like pencils with a boy/girl shaped bollard at each end. The intention was to install 7 bollards.

·       Vehicle activated signs on Victoria Road – it was confirmed that these did flash if a vehicle exceeded speed of 30mph but they did not collect data.

·       20mph zone were being rolled out across the City as part of a 5 year funded programme, Northfields and Cromwell Road Estates were included in the programme.

Concerns were raised about parking and traffic issues around Portishead Road/Hastings Road and the Lorries using Swainson Road and Braybrooke Road. Robert agreed to follow up the investigations and provide a response.

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

PCSO Ben Hill gave a brief update on policing issues in the Northfields area and reported crime statistics for the last 3 months were noted which included:

·       Burglary – 1 non dwelling, 1 dwelling – 4 people had been arrested and all of the property was recovered.

·       Robbery – 1

·       Theft from Vehicle – 1

A problem solving plan was in place around Braybrooke Road, 3 youths causing problems had been arrested and issued warnings.

Patrols were ongoing for burglary operations in both beat areas.

Residents were reminded that details of Beat surgeries were available on the Leicestershire Police website.

PCSO Sean Green gave a brief update on policing issues in the Rushey Mead area of the Ward and reported crime statistics for the last 3 months were noted which included:

·       Burglary – 4 non dwelling,

·       Burglary – 2 dwelling

·       Robbery – 1

·       Theft from Vehicle – 6

Residents were reminded not to keep valuable items on display in vehicles.

Work was ongoing with Sandfield Primary School to try and address parking issues, unfortunately a number of initiatives had been suggested but parents were not co-operative. Warning notices had been issued in some instances and residents were encouraged to report all parking issues to the police.

Regarding Huggetts Close police were working with residents to resolve issues and a meeting was planned for that.

Residents were informed that the Police office on Victoria Road East was not permanently manned anymore. Residents could contact officers at beat surgeries.

Concerns were raised about double parking in the area of Birch Close and Woodgreen Walk – Cllr Singh referred to the pilot parking scheme that had taken place in parts of the City and indicated this could be considered for this area.

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

Charlotte Glover, City Warden gave a brief outline of issues that had been tackled in the ward since the last meeting and circulated an information leaflet as attached:

·       Longhurst Close – gates had been installed as referred to earlier in the meeting, flytipping had been removed,

·       City Wardens had new powers to issue Community Protection Notice Warnings – this enabled untidy gardens to be tackled, especially useful for front gardens.

·       Thurmaston Footpath fly tip – this was commercial waste and the City Warden Service were asking for help to identify the culprits.

·       New Fixed Penalty Notices were available in sections, Level 1 is £80 issued for littering such as cigarette ends ,crisp packets etc. Level 2 is £250 for anything bigger than one bag of rubbish.

In response to questions:

·       Northfields/Victoria Road East visited; one particular property responsible for dumping furniture items on street had been spoken to.

·       Abandoned van on Huggett Close – City wardens did not have powers to deal with this as it was not on the public highway.

·       Huggett Close – it was reported that bins being left in street were blocking cars from parking properly and a large amount of things were being dumped in the street. City Warden to investigate.

Councillor Cank encouraged residents to use the Love Leicester “app” to report incidents to the 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 together with a summary of grant applications submitted for consideration since the last meeting.

The Community Engagement Officer advised that 4 applications had been received since the last meeting..

Applications considered since the last meeting:

Northfields Emerald Football Club – Supported in full

The Redeemed Christian Church of God application for £500 - Not Supported.

Rushey Mead Funday - Joint Bid £470 – Supported in full

GFG - Supported in part to the sum of £250

The next round of applications could be lodged up to 30 September 2016 for consideration by Councillors. The remaining balance of the Community Budget was £16,275

AOB1 – Rushey Mead Funday will be taking place on Sunday 26^th June 2016 from 11-30am to 3.30pm. Everyone from Troon Ward invited.

To note the dates of future meetings for the forthcoming year as follows:

Tuesday 18^th October 2016

Monday 13^th February 2017

The next meeting to take place on Tuesday 18^th October 2016 at 6.30pm at St Theodores Church Hall, Sandfield Close, Leicester.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 7.30pm