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.
The following budget application will be considered:-
Application 1
Applicant: Highfields Community Association
Amount: £2,000 (from each of the Castle, Spinney Hills and Stoneygate).
Proposal: Highfields Festival
Summary:
Highfields festival 2012
Date: June 30th 2012
Venues – Highfields Centre sports hall/main hall/forecourt car park and Uplands School grounds
Rationale:
Key issues/aspects:
· Format of event - outdoor/indoor activities/stalls/music/poetry/film taster workshops & a Job /Training Fair with HMAC in the main hall on the Saturday. These activities to be during the day and these will be free. We are looking to have a small/medium size stage outside as a focal point.
· Event will incorporate the annual Celebration of Diversity & Unity in the Community (CDUC) young people’s event on Saturday evening
· Catering – will be provided by H-Café at the Centre and by local companies providing specialist foods
· Other partners so far signed up are Leicester Print shop,
Highfields, Mayfield and St Saviours Children’s Centres, Active Youth, Highfields Library, Ansaar, Reminiss youth group and Uplands School
· We will build in forward planning where we are hoping that the festival will continue to grow for 2013.
Target Audience:
Will be local communities in the Highfields area, young and old
and newly arrived communities as well as those who are
unemployed or looking for training. There is an event for young
people and a cross generational event and a range of artists
from diverse backgrounds will be performing.
Evaluation:
We will be filming & photographing event and doing interviews
with people on the day. Also there will flipcharts/pen and sticky
notes available to capture participants feelings and responses.
Ultimately we will know we are successful by the numbers of
people who attend the different aspects of the festival such as
the :
· Job/Training Fair
· Taster arts & sports sessions
· Youth CDUC event
We would also take into account:
· Number of stall holders
· Partner agencies involved
Additionally we will be asking people to sign up to be involved
in next year’s event to encourage local ownership &
involvement. The number of people who do this will also be an
indicator of our success.
Application 2
Applicant: C/O Highway Asset Management, Leicester City Council
Amount: £2,932.66
Proposal: Castle Ward Tree Replacement
Summary: The budget for highway tree maintenance is not sufficient to cover the costs of routine tree maintenance and replacement of trees that have to be removed due to age or disease. In order to try to maintain the existing tree stock, replacements of trees that have had to removed has been suspended.
When trees have been removed the tree pits have been capped off to remove any source of danger for highway users until such times as funds became available to start replanting.
There are 6 locations within the Castle Ward where trees have been removed and replacements have not been planted. These are:
- Craddock Road x 2
- Victoria Park Road x 2
- University Road x 1
- Lorne Road x 1
Craddock Road and Lorne Road will have Crataegus monogyna ‘Stricta’, a column from Hawthorn planted and Victoria park Road and University Road will have Tilia cordata ‘Greenspire’, a variety of native Lime. These choices reflect what is already in the area, but with improvements such as less leaf/fruit litter, less honeydew, less or none eventual infrastructure damage.
The cost of replacing the trees is £422.04 per tree and this reflects the size of stock planted and 5 years after care including replacement due to loss from natural causes but not vandalism.
We are applying for £2,932.36 to cover the cost of planting
the 6 tress as well as installing a bollard adjacent to the tree at
the Craddock Road and Montague Road junction to protect it from
overriding vehicles.
Minutes:
Councillor Clayton introduced this item of business. It was made clear that as this was the final meeting of the 2011/12 municipal year, this was the only remaining opportunity for funding from the ward budget to be allocated.
Members considered the following applications:
1. Highfields Community Association – request for £2,000 from each of Spinney Hills, Stoneygate and Castle to provide costs towards events and catering for the Highfields Festival.
Members explained that whilst they were supportive of the proposal, it was pointed out that the proportion of the Highfields area within the Castle Ward was significantly smaller than that in both Spinney Hills and Stoneygate, and it was therefore proposed to fund a smaller portion of the requested sum.
RESOLVED:
That the application be supported and that a sum of £500 be allocated from the Ward Community budget.
2. Castle Ward Tree Replacement – request for £2,932.66 to plant trees at six identified locations where trees have been removed and replacements not planted.
RESOLVED:
That the application be supported and that a sum of £2,932.66 be allocated from the Ward Community budget.
3. Community Information Boards at Leicester Central Library– request for £686.80 to install a community noticeboard to increase the amount of noticeboard space in Leicester Central Library.
RESOLVED:
That the application be supported and that a sum of £686.80 be allocated from the Ward Community budget.
4. Spring-a-long (Friends of Clarendon Park and Stoneygate) – request for £880 to arrange a series of six music/singing workshops designed for older people to participate in making and listening to music.
RESOLVED:
That the application be supported and that a sum of £880 be allocated from the Ward Community budget.
5. Art House Hopper – request for £346.80 to fund two mini buses to transport the elderly and immobile to the Art House for events in June 2012.
RESOLVED:
That the application be supported and that a sum of £346.80 be allocated from the Ward Community budget.
6. The Centre Project – request for £978 towards the purchase of a new commercial upright freezer.
RESOLVED:
That the application be supported and that a sum of £978 be allocated from the Ward Community budget.
7. Light-seekers (Finding my path) – request for £4,000 towards photography courses and accreditations for young people.
The Ward Councillors stated that they were minded to refuse this application in its current form, as there was not sufficient evidence that the project would directly benefit those living within the Castle Ward. It was reported that applications were received which had a city wide focus, and whilst these were often fundamentally good applications, grants would only be provided to those which directly benefitted Castle Ward constituents.
RESOLVED:
That the application be refused.
As a result of the decisions outlined above, it was reported that a sum of £2,432 remained in the budget. The Members reported that they intended to allocate this remaining sum towards any projects that relate to the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee, and encouraged such applications to be submitted.
RESOLVED:
That the remaining budget balance of £2,432 be pledged towards projects in relation to the Diamond Jubilee.