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 Shelton as the Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited people to introduce themselves.

Apologies for absence had been received from Noel Cazley, the City Warden and local residents Mr and Mrs Sturgess and Mr and Mrs Eppel.

Attached for information is the Action Log from the last Saffron Ward community meeting on 23 September 2015.

An amendment to the Action Log dated 23 September 2015, was agreed as follows:

Minute Item 3 Councillors’ Report – Residents reported the following (bullet point 6)

Original text:

Following a recently approved planning application, Friends of St Mary’s Allotments and local residents were working closely with the environment team and developers to ensure that the site was not over developed.

To be amended to:

The Chair reported that the planning application for St Mary’s had not yet been determined at the planning committee; the application was still in the pipeline.

The action log, subject to the above amendment, was agreed as a correct record.

Councillor Cutkelvin requested that pages of action logs be numbered in future.  Democratic Support Officer to action.

Councillors will provide an update on ward information.

Attendees were asked to note the Councillors’ update  as follows:

·         A community clean-up day which was due to start from St Andrew’s Church on 28 September had to be postponed because of the weather.

·         A City Mayor question time event was held at the Pork Pie Library. A local resident had attended and had found the event to be informative but thought that it would have been better if the questions could have been asked on the night, rather than being submitted in advance.  Cllr Cutkelvin responded that she had been informed that the City Mayor and the two executive members who attended did not have prior knowledge of the questions.

·         The councillors held regular surgeries as follows:

Pork Pie Library and Community Centre

First Wednesday of each month: 9.30am to 10.30 am

St Andrew’s Hall, Jarrom Street, on the second Wednesday of each month 10.00am – 11.00am

Aylestone Leisure Centre, 2 Knighton Lane East

Third Saturday of each month 10.00am to 11.00 am.

·         Councillors had attended the Young People Awards Night and reported that it had been a very good event.

·         Councillors attended the Aylestone Park Residents’ Group which met on a monthly basis.

·         The Linwood Centre had moved to the Pork Pie Library which was now a library and a community centre.

·         Councillor Cutkelvin had met with Ian Stapleton and Daksha Taylor (Estate Management, Housing) for a patch walk around the Pocket Park. A further patch walk with Highways Officers had to be postponed because of the Taxi Drivers’ protest.

Ian Stapleton then updated the meeting on Housing issues: Ian explained that:

·         The Housing Office at 499 Saffron Lane was closing for general enquiries and this service would be offered from the Pork Pie library instead.

·         Officers at 499 Saffron Lane would only be able to see members of the public by prior appointment. 

·         Queries were raised as to where people would go to renew their blue badges or obtain scratch cards for the residents’ parking scheme. 

·         It was agreed that there should be an item on a future agenda to explain where members of the public needed to go for the different services as clear guidance was needed on this issue.  The Community Engagement Officer to Action. 

Officers from Leicestershire Police will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in Saffron Ward.

Concerns were raised that the Police were absent and had also missed previous meetings. It was agreed that the lack of attendance should be followed up and the Police urged to attend future meetings. The Community Engagement Officer to action.

The meeting was asked to note that there were changes taking place within Leicestershire Constabulary. Following the ward boundary changes, Saffron Ward was now served by two different Police Stations; Mansfield House and Welford Road.  The Welford Road Police Station was due to close shortly and therefore the part of the ward that was covered by Welford Road would be served by a different Police Station.   The Police did however have outreach hubs at various locations around the city, including in Saffron Ward.

The City Warden will give an update on issues in Saffron Ward.

The following issues were reported:

·         There were concerns relating to the volume of litter, rubbish and fly tipping on local streets.

·         Residents had raised this with the City Warden before but the problems remained.

·         There were concerns that there were irresponsible landlords and agents who did not dispose of household goods and rubbish in the correct manner.

·         Empty dustbins had been left out and in the high winds they had been blown about the streets.

Attendees were asked to note that the City Warden had been away on annual leave, however he was back at work and he would be updated on these concerns and asked to carry out an awareness campaign. The Community Engagement Officer to action.

An officer from the Council will be present to discuss options with regards to the replacement of the Walnut Street Mural.

Attendees were asked to note an update from Penny Brown, Volunteer Co-ordinator from Parks and Open Spaces, on the Walnut Street Mural. The meeting heard that:

·         Penny supported people to help them make a difference in their local community and ran a volunteer service to give people experience in working in parks and waterways.

·         Local people were being invited to contribute to the work on the Walnut Street mural.  The existing Tiger mural was much loved but plaster was peeling off and it would not be possible to replace like with like. The mural was now in a dilapidated condition.

·         The first job which had now been completed had been to remove some shrubs and replace with slabs, though retaining the planters.

·         The remainder of the first phase had been organised for 21 and 22 November, to paint the walls, planters and bollards with neutral colours. (The suggested design had been circulated to all at a meeting and no objections had been raised).  Unfortunately, the sessions were cancelled as the temperature fell below 5 degrees which meant that the paint would not cure. Penny suggested that a new date for this work could be arranged between Feb – April 2016. Meanwhile phase two could start.

·         The second stage was about creation and Penny was seeking people’s ideas. There would be a bid to the Arts Council and members of the public were invited to talk to Penny if they wished to be involved.

·         An attendee added that the Rotary Club were also involved in the project and they hoped to involve as many people in the scheme as possible, including children from Hazel Street Primary School.

·         A local resident questioned whether any work was planned on the mural / mosaic on the wall on the Havelock Street / Jarrom Street corner. Penny was unfamiliar with the mural and the local resident offered to take her there

Attendees were encouraged to get involved in the scheme and to give their details to Penny at the end of the meeting.

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

a)    An update will be given on the Ward Community budget; and

b)    A list of grant applications submitted for consideration at this meeting is attached.

The Community Engagement Officer provided an update on the ward community budget. The following funding applications were considered.

Project: Equipment Purchase

Submitted by: Hunters FC

Amount requested: £529.67

Attendees and Councillors indicated that they were in support of this funding application.

Agreed: that the application be supported in full to the value of £529. 67

Project: SAFTAS

Submitted by: Stephen Marriott

Amount requested: £750

Attendees and Councillors indicated that they were in support of this funding application.

Agreed: that the application be supported in full to the value of £750

Project: Special Olympics

Submitted by: Maura Furnish

Amount requested: £750

Attendees and Councillors indicated that they were in support of this funding application.

Agreed: that the application be supported in full to the value of £750

Action: The Community Engagement Officer to process the funding applications for payment.

Parking Issues

·         It was reported that there was a problem on Jarrom Street on the area by the maternity unit, with motorists crossing a pavement to park on the grass verge. The grassy area appeared to belong to the Infirmary, but motorists were crossing highway land to get there, and the problem had proved difficult to resolve so far.

·         Residents stated that more car parks were needed in the area; there were problems relating to the car park in Havelock Street Car Park. Requests were made for there to be more traffic enforcement officers on duty in the area.

·         Queries were also raised as to whether it was the police or traffic enforcement officers who dealt with pavement parking issues.

It was agreed that when the next Saffron Community Meeting was held in this particular area, there should be an agenda item with officers from Highways, the Police, the City Warden and if possible the Leicester Royal Infirmary to discuss these issues further. The Community Engagement Officer to action.

The Fairway

It was reported that on the Fairway, there was an area where grass from three blocks had been removed and replaced with tarmac, but one block of grass remained. A query was raised as to why the block of grass remained and whether it was going to be replaced.

The S Bend on the Fairway still had potholes, although they had been patched several times.

Hughenden Drive / Saffron Lane – there were broken pavements.

St Andrew’s

A resident asked Councillors in future not to refer to the area around Grasmere Street / Hazel Street etc as St Andrews as the locals themselves did not use that name.

The meeting closed at 7.40 pm