Agenda item

Councillors are reminded that they will need to declare any interest they may have in budget applications, and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Francis Connolly, Member Support Officer will give a brief overview on the current position with regard to the Community Meeting budgets for the current financial year.

The following applications have been received for consideration at this meeting:-

B1) Centre for Indian Classical Dance – request for £4,533 (the project also covers the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards – both contributing the same amount.) support an administrator for a programme of workshops which aim to give education on how to lead a healthy way of life and develop cultural exchange.

B2) Wimbledon Fever – a request for £307 to support a tennis coaching programme.

B3) Highfields Area Forum – a request for £2666.67 (the project also covers the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards – both contributing the same amount.) for funding of a consultant to undertake the development of an area plan for Highfields.

B4) A Taste of Africa – a request for £475 for a programme of cultural events, through food, readings and music to promote the cultural heritage of Africa.

Francis Connolly, Member Support Officer outlined the position with the Community Meeting budget, noting that there was a total of £17,000 available at the beginning of the financial year, but a previous commitment to fund a project at a meeting last year meant that there was now £14,814 left in the budget for the current year.

The following applications were considered and decided upon at the meeting.

B1)   Centre for Indian Classical Dance – a request for £4,533 (the project also covered the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards) to support an administrator to support a programme of workshops which aimed to give education on how to lead a healthy way of life and develop cultural exchange.

RESOLVED:

That the application be rejected as it wasn’t felt that the project was feasible and didn’t provide suitable obvious benefits for the Ward’s residents.

B2) Wimbledon Fever – a request of £307 to support a tennis coaching programme.

Members proposed to reject this application because it didn’t demonstrate obvious benefits for Castle Ward residents, however a refined future application which did meet this concern would be considered.

RESOLVED:

That the application be rejected on the basis that there were not clear benefits to the residents of the Castle Ward.

B3)   Highfields Area Forum – a request of £2,666.67 (the project also covered the Spinney Hill and Stoneygate Wards) for the funding of a consultant to undertake the development of an area plan for Highfields.

Councillor Kitterick commented that whilst it was only a small part of the ward, there were a number of issues in South Highfields which did need addressing.

RESOLVED:

That the application be supported and a sum of £1000 be allocated, from the Community Cohesion budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.

B4)   A Taste of Africa – a request for £475 for a programme of cultural events, through food, readings and music to promote the cultural heritage of Africa.

B5)   Leicester Interfaith Gardening Work Project – a request of £1,320 to, carry out a programme cultural events and to host visitors from overseas.

For both the B4 and B5 applications Councillors felt that the applications didn’t specifically outline how the residents of Castle Ward would benefit from these proposals and that they didn’t address a specified need within the ward. It was also commented that the Community Meeting budget would not always be the most appropriate means of funding all projects. John Coster commented that he was happy to work with projects to enable identify funding opportunities.

RESOLVED:

that that applications be rejected at this point, but further details were welcomed about how the projects would benefit residents of the ward.

Late application) Queens Road Autumn Fair – a request of £3000 to fund road closures, security, first aid, decoration etc for an autumn fair to be held on Queens Road, for an event which aimed to integrate the new student arrivals to the area.

Councillors indicated that they supported this application as it responded to a need in the ward, which was about the sometimes difficult relations between residents and students. It would also strongly involve both local residents and traders on Queens Road. The organisation of the event would need to be community led to make it happen successfully.

John Coster suggested that ways of linking up this event with the Leicester Marathon which is on the same day should be considered.

RESOLVED:

that the application be supported and a sum of £3000 be allocated from the Ward Action Plan budget subject to final approval from the Cabinet Lead for Front Line Service Improvement and Neighbourhoods and the Leader of the Council.