Agenda and minutes

The Chair will introduce those present and make any necessary announcements.

Councillor Osman, elected as Chair, welcomed everyone and led introductions.

Apologies were received from Ward funding applicant Silver Star.

The Chair and any other Councillors who are present will make any declarations as required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Khote declared an ‘other disclosable interest’ for her involvement in the Green Lane Road festival/ North Evington Health Fair/ Carnival.

The Action Log of the Meeting held on 7 December 2016 is attached at Appendix A and Members are asked to confirm it as an accurate record. Any update on actions taken since the last meeting will be reported at the meeting.

In regards to item 54 - Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) of the action log from the previous meeting:

·         PC Ash Lorgat noted that timescales and locations for the CCTV installation near Hallaton Road was yet to be confirmed, it was anticipated to be in the next few weeks.

·         The fencing had now been removed from Lee Park play area and the ball court was now secured.

·         It was noted that the ball park was due to be locked up every evening by Council staff and a key to be left at the local Police station.

·         Section 106 funding had been secured for resurfacing the ball court on Hallaton Road.

The North Evington Ward Councillors will provide an update on the issues they have been dealing with in the North Evington Ward.

·         Councillor Khote and Councillor Osman informed the meeting of a proposal/ planning application that North Evington Ward Councillors had received to use the Bridge Road site (former recycling/ waste centre) to relocate a vehicle recycling centre (end of life centre for vehicles).

·         Jos Johnson – Facility Manager for Pubic Health/ Spence Street Sports Centre requested that the site could be used for some type of leisure activity centre and that it was important the residents considered how the site could contribute for quality of life.

·         Councillors encouraged residents to express their views on the planning application no.20170432 for the Bridge Road site.

Information on Adult Skills & Learning within the Ward will be presented.

Lesley McCartney – Neighbourhood Learning Co-ordinator for Learning Services informed attendees of the variety of courses available whether learning for work, life, leisure or family learning.

·         Within the Ward, St Barnabas library were holding successful ESOL classes of which further information had been conveyed that young people had a drive to upkeep their digital skills.

·         Next term, a series of taster sessions would be held at St Barnabas, please see leaflet attached which gives further details. Lesley also hoped to provide more community work clubs in the library.

·         It was noted that some courses such as ESOL were subject to registration by initial assessment, which took place every week at the adult education college but required prior booking.

·         The library board displayed information as to what Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Services would take place there and a new brochure would soon be available with a full course listing.

An update will be provided on a number of transport and highways issues and developments in the North Evington Ward.

Mike Pears – Team Leader (Highway Asset Management) gave the following update at the meeting:

·         Baggrave Road – the consultation had now taken place for the removal of double yellow lines.

·         A consultation/ discussion had been held with North Evington Ward Councillors whereby Highways requested Councillors to decide on the top three priorities for urgent works which were most essential from the list of works required in the Ward.

·         There was an ongoing initiative to address school run parking issues. Mike discussed the school assessment project and how schools had been ranked in order of prioritisation. Highways were currently looking at introducing lines to be enforceable and bollards.

·         In North Evington, some of the first schools to be looked at during 2017/18 included; Green Lane Infant School, Merrydale Junior School, St Barnabas CofE Primary School. Most other schools in the Ward would be visited during 2018/19.

·         Nick Griffiths – District Manager for Housing noted that a plan to recruit more parking enforcement was in place.

Residents’ concerns:

·         A resident expressed concern that there was an overspill of traffic on Humberstone Road and other roads since the new Haymarket bus station.

·         Councillor Osman requested that Highways provide a timescale for the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) on the one way systems in various parts of the Ward. Mike was to feedback and inform Councillors.

·         Jos Johnson (Facility Manager) requested that the double yellow lines outside Spence Street Sports Centre be remarked/ refreshed.

Councillor Osman posed the question to attendees as to what they felt the three main priorities in the ward were which needed to be considered. The following were chosen;

1)    One way systems off Green Lane Road.

2)    Explore A47 corridor project.

3)    Environmental parking around Kingfisher and a redesign.

The local City Warden will be present to provide an update on any environmental works in the Ward.

Jethro Swift – City Warden informed the meeting that the North Evington Ward had been noted as the most affected Ward in the City for fly tipping.

Residents concerns:

·         Two bins near Dunlin Road on Charnwood Estate were reported to be present again, full of rubbish and not being emptied. The City Warden was aware of this situation and had been dealing with this.

·         Sparrow Park – drinkers and people from the betting shop. Jethro informed the meeting that a meeting had been held on Sparrow Park and the various issues had been noted, however a lot of the concerns were noted to be in the remit of the Community Safety and Parks Teams.

·         It was requested whether a workshop could be held providing advice on fly tipping or awareness sessions in a few locations. Jethro noted that the team were unable to carry out education sessions but could carry out enforcement and patrols.

·         Harewood Street – bird seed was being distributed.

·         It was requested for stronger enforcement in the Ward during festive seasons/ activities.

·         Charnwood Estate – reported to be very untidy and had a lot of rubbish/ litter concerns. Some residents had dug up the rose trees and used kitchen appliances to form a border.

·         Dunlin Road – noted as an issue for several concerns including litter.

·         Willowbrook Road – dog fouling. It was requested that stencils be sprayed. The City Warden was aware of this and would get this implemented as soon as possible.

Housing officers will be present to give an update on current and upcoming works within the North Evington Ward.

Nick Griffiths – District Manager for Housing was present at the meeting and gave a brief update on this years housing schemes/ budgets across the city.

·         Councillor Osman noted that funds were to be spent on Kingfisher Road.

·         Nick had also noted that funds had been identified for work on trees.

·         A resident had concerns that several garages were not in use by their owners. Councillor Osman noted that this concern was being looked into.

Highfields Blues will be present at the meeting to provide information about the Highfields Blues project within the North Evington Ward.

Shelly Jackson (Paramedic from East Midlands ambulance service) and Anthony Wildgoose (Leicester Fire Rescue Service) were both present as representatives of Highfields Blues an initiative supported by the local commissioning group and Leicester City Council. The following information was presented:

·         Highfields Blues was made up of dedicated personnel from the Fire, Ambulance and Police emergency services with a primary focus to work together with the residents of Highfields, to promote health, fire safety and police security in the community.

·         One of the main aims was to help reduce demand and repeat calls on all the emergency services by supporting people in Highfields to help themselves by educating them about alternative support services.

·         There were 2 Police, 2 Fire service Officers and 2 Ambulance staff that were allocated to the Highfields Blues who would carry out free home visits, provide correct health, crime and emergency advice/ contact details. They would also look at fire safety in homes and provide households with fire escape plans. Occupational therapists could also assist in home visits.

·         Highfields Blues was noted as a three month feasibility project with an end date of 31 May 2017. Following this, there would be a two month evaluation period and community handover period whereby GP practices, community leaders, Councillors and other member of the community could continue to spread the message in their communities and provide the correct advice.

·         Due to limited funding the project was confined to particular geographical area, some of which included Green Lane Road, East Park Road, Spinney Hills Park and Mere Road in the North Evington Road.

·         Further information and areas included for this project could be found at www.highfieldsblues.org or call 0116 220 3247.

Officers from the Local Policing Unit will be at the meeting to provide an update on police issues in North Evington Ward.

Sergeant Nigel Baraclough and PC Neil Patel gave an update on issues the Police had been dealing with in the North Evington Ward.

The following was noted:

·         There had been 11 burglary offences this year and currently 8 open ASB reports.

·         Nitrous oxide issues had been reported by business residents and found in parks.

·         PC Patel provided information of how a Neighbourhood Watch operated and noted that he was able to support residents set up a Neighbourhood Watch, any residents who were interested should contact him.

·         Due to Police Ward boundaries being different to those of the Council, residents should use Coleman Ward link on the Police website to obtain information/ crime reports for the North Evington Ward.

·         A Police beat surgery would be held on Wednesday 29 April 2017 on Ethel Road.

·         There was a Police Solving Plan (PSP) on Hallaton Road as young people were reported to be drug dealing.

Residents’ concerns:

·         Charnwood Estate – Young people causing issues near the middle of the estate, bench and grass verges.

·         High bushes on Charnwood – some residents felt intimidated. WCEO would take the residents details following the meeting and report to the Parks Team.

·         Councillor Osman queried the ASB issues which were previously taking place on Halstead Street and Granby Avenue. The Police noted that regular visits had been made to the location, a weapon had been found and discarded and the issue which involved mostly local youths seemed to have faded now. Councillor Osman requested Police to inform them of any young people concerned with this issue as the Community Safety Team could make contact.

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

An update on the Community Ward Budget will be provided at the meeting.

Laura Burt – WCEO, gave an update on the North Evington Ward Community Budget. It was noted that £544.41 would be carried over to next year’s budget (2017/18). The budget summary for applications received since the previous meeting has been attached at the end of this action log.

The online application link was noted as follows: www.leicester.gov.uk/communitymeetings and would be open for 2017/18 ward funding from 5 April 2017.

If anyone required assistance with a ward budget application, it was advised to contact Laura Burt (Ward Community Engagement Officer) on 0116 454 1940 or email laura.burt@leicester.gov.uk.

Evington in Bloom:

·         Helen Pettman was present at the meeting on behalf of applicants Evington in Bloom and gave an update on the application in support of creating community allotments at Rowlatts Hill.

·         Councillor Khote requested information on the community allotments to be displayed in St Barnabas library in order to welcome North Evington residents.

North Evington Health Fair/ Carnival:

• Ward Councillors discussed the North Evington Health Fair/ Carnival in regards to road closures in the Ward, activities which would be taking place and the request for additional volunteers.
• It was noted that the date to be soon confirmed would be either 29 April or 6 May.
• Leaflets and email communication would then be distributed to residents in the Ward.

Defibrillator:

·         Councillor Khote noted that a defibrillator was required in the Ward, to be located at the St Barnabas library where the staff would be trained. It was expressed that the idea was to have the defibrillator located outside at the location.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 8:30pm.