Agenda item

An additional item has been added to the agenda, as follows:-

CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN COUNCIL HOUSING

An officer will be at the meeting to discuss the programme of works proposed under the Capital Receipts Initiative

a)     One Neighbourhood Magazine

It was noted that, due to the Council elections in May, there had been a gap in the production of the One Neighbourhood magazine.  Production and distribution arrangements also had been reviewed and the new arrangements appeared to be working well.

b)    Recycling

In reply to a question, Barbara Whitcombe, City Wardens Team Manager, advised that Tesco was changing its recycling sites, so that people could receive one “green” Tesco Club Card point for every two cans taken to one of these sites.

The Chair also advised that changes to the City Council’s recycling scheme were planned.  Orange bags would be distributed to every household in place of the current system and more items would be recycled than at present.  Leaflets would be circulated explaining what could be included in the bags.  All dry recycling materials could be put in to the same bag and green bins would still be used for compostable materials.  A report could be made to a future meeting on the new system.

c)    Capital Investment in Council Housing

John Thomson, Area Manager for Beaumont Leys, attended the meeting to talk about the proposed Capital Investment in Council Housing for 2011/12.  He made the following points:-

·           Approximately £900,000 was available across the City for capital expenditure on the Council’s housing stock.  £141,000 of this was allocated to the Abbey and Beaumont Leys Wards and was likely to be divided equally between them;

·           Information on projects under consideration for the Beaumont Leys Ward was tabled at the meeting and is attached at the end of these minute for information.  It was noted that the projects were not in presented in priority order;

·           Problems were being experienced by residents at the Blue Gates properties, with non-residents who used the site as a short cut looking in the windows and leaving rubbish.  The proposed fencing would restrict people walking through to using a limited path area;

·           It was proposed that the wooden slats above the windows of properties in Butterwick Drive should be removed, as they were unsightly and hard to maintain.  They would be replaced with UPVC;

·           The proposed works to Oronsay Road would block access, as requested by local people and the Ward Councillors.  The route that would be used after this was not much longer than the current route;

·           The work proposed in Lomond Crescent was to an area adjacent to a bus stop.  The land there was lower than the rest of the street, so became swampy when wet.  Using tarmac on the area therefore would create a better hard standing for those using the bus stop and help stop mud sliding in to neighbouring gardens.

As there was insufficient funding to do all of these projects, it was suggested that the first three projects should be given the highest priority.  The meeting agreed with this and endorsed the proposals presented.

The meeting suggested that a compromise on projects four and five could be to tidy the area under consideration in Oronsay Road so that it was safe and put any funding left towards the works in Lomond Crescent.  John Thomson explained that the pruning work could be carried out under existing budgets and the meeting suggested that residents also could be asked to help tidy the area, to give them more ownership of the project.

It was noted that the Council already used other resources where possible.  For example, a lot of work had been done by young people employed through the Future Jobs Fund, (a programme formerly funded by the government), and through the Community Payback programme managed by the Probation Service.

Attention was drawn to the work done in other parts of the country through the Small Business Consultancy, which used enterprise as a catalyst for change.  Through this, young people could be encouraged to create businesses that could be a useful resource to the Council.