Agenda item

The City Warden will be present at the meeting to give an update on issues in the area.

Barbara Whitcombe, (City Warden Team Manager at Leicester City Council), explained that it was intended to give a review to each Meeting of the work that the City Warden had been doing in the Ward over the preceding three months. 

It was noted that the City Wardens were working with the City Mayor on a number of the priorities for action identified under the 100 Days Programme, (for example, clearing up areas and work to stop businesses leaving rubbish in the streets).

The City Warden’s Westcotes 6 Month Action Plan (June – November) was tabled at the meeting and is attached at the end of these minutes for information.  Anyone who had any comments, or items for inclusion, was welcome to send these to the City Warden.

The following points were noted during discussion:-

·            The City Warden was undertaking regular patrols on Saxon Road and surrounding streets to monitor fly tipping;

·            Income from fines (Fixed Penalty Notices) could only be used on environmental education and work relating to the prevention of environmental crimes.  At the City Council, it was used to pay for things such as leaflets and other information circulated by the City Warden service, and the purchase of items such as “stubbies” in which cigarette ends could be placed;

·            No feedback had been received on whether fines had been imposed in relation to fires that had been lit on waste ground in the Ward.  The Ward Councillors undertook to investigate this;

·            The Bins on Street campaign had stopped while legal issues were resolved.  Now this had been done, the campaign was restarting;

·            The Council had let a contract under which weeds were sprayed twice per year.  Each year, the work started from a different point and this year Westcotes Ward was one of the last to be done.  However, spraying was due to start within the next week.  The weeds would die back over the following two weeks and any remaining after that would be hooked out;

·            The new downloadable application for smart phones for reporting complaints and problems was being promoted widely, but they still could be reported in the usual ways, such as text, e-mail or via the City Wardens or Ward Councillors.  All of these methods would be included on the Council’s Facebook page;

·            It could be difficult to difficult to have rubbish cleared from in front of properties, as the name of the property owner was needed in order for a reported problem to be logged and this name was not always known;

·            When a rented property had tenants in, household rubbish was collected under normal household waste collection processes.  However, when such a property was empty, rubbish from that property was classed as business waste;

·            Additional rubbish collections had been made at the end of the university summer terms, which had proved very successful.  Alley ways also had been cleared where possible;

·            It was not permitted for cars to be repaired on the road, except in an emergency, as this took up parking space and could leave oil or other residues on the road that could lead to blockages in drains and gulleys; and

·            Previously, it had not been possible to take action against the owner of some large vehicles that had been parked on roads in the Ward for some time, but a recent change in legislation meant that the Police were reconsidering the position.