Officers will be attending the meeting to address issues around car parking and speeding traffic in the Evington Road area.
Minutes:
POLICING UPDATE
Ps Danny Graham addressed the meeting and explained that he was now solely dedicated to the Stoneygate Ward and he worked alongside five Beat Officers and three Community Support Officers. However a neighbourhood policing review and a shift review were currently in process. Members of the community were asked to note that the Olympics would result in a drain on resourcing as officers from the Leicestershire Constabulary were being posted to London to provide support for the event.
Ps Graham made the following points:
· Drugs monitoring had taken place in St Philips Road. Cannabis had been recovered and people were currently on police bail.
· There had been house fire on St Peter’s Road - the property in question had been used as a large scale cannabis factory and people had been charged and placed on remand.
· A new CCTV camera had been placed on Upper Titchborne Street; this was good news as the Police had been trying to some considerable time to install CCTV there. The Chair commented that she was aware that local residents were very grateful that the CCTV had finally been installed.
· Lyme Road – arrests had been made in relation to sexual exploitation, trafficking and prostitution. Intelligence in respect of these arrests had come from local officers.
· The safeguarding of vulnerable adults was now a large part of Police work in the Stoneygate Ward.
· The Police had had some contact with the Probation Service with a view to arranging for some restorative justice work to be carried out in the Ward. A clean up in Cedar Road, in conjunction with the Probation Service had already taken place and it was reported that the Evington Road Neighbourhood Association (ERNA) had also held two very successful clean up days. In the light of this, it was questioned whether the Restorative Justice scheme could team up with ERNA and the Chair asked to kept informed on this.
· Ps Graham had taken a group of young people to the Outdoor Pursuits Centre, off Loughborough Road and the outing had proved to be very successful. Woody Wood commented that the Police involvement with the Evington Youth Project had been very much appreciated.
A question was raised as to the number of burglaries that had taken place in the Stoneygate Ward since January. Ps Graham responded that burglaries were lower in Stoneygate compared to some other Wards. However where there was a ‘spike’ in the number of burglaries, they tended to occur in the South Highfields area of the Ward. He offered to bring some facts and figures to the next meeting. The Chair also asked Ps Graham to bring some window alarms with him and suggested that if members of the community had any concerns they should contact the Police for advice on crime prevention and security.
CAR PARKING PROBLEMS AND ISSUES
Ps Graham then led a discussion on car parking and highway issues in the Ward. He cautioned that he was unable to resolve all the parking problems as there were too many vehicles on the road and at times a lack of personal responsibility. He added that there was a need for both education and parking enforcement.
Ps Graham paid tribute to the worshippers in the local mosque and commented that the committee had been very good in working with the Police to resolve parking problems and they had operated a ‘name and shame’ policy. The meeting heard that information notices were placed on cars if they were parked inappropriately, but tickets and fines would be issued where vehicles were dangerously parked.
The following comments were raised:
· Concern was expressed at the level of parking enforcement that was taking place at mosque and in particular during prayer time. An example was given of 15 tickets being issued between 8.00 pm and 8.12 pm and when this was queried with Vinci, the company which dealt with parking enforcement, an officer there had given the impression that they were targeting parking at the mosque.
· It was also reported that there were similar parking issues at the Afro-Caribbean Centre.
· It was alleged that an officer at Vinci had breached confidentiality by discussing inappropriate employee and human resources issues with a member of the public.
· It was felt that there was inconsistency in parking enforcement as an attendee commented that he had been issued with a ticket but the person behind him was not, although he was similarly parked.
· Parking on double yellow lines was being strictly enforced at the mosque, but it appeared that this did not happen in the city centre where people regularly parked on double yellow lines.
· Vinci had been asked for a report on parking enforcement as an increased level of enforcement was needed on Evington lane. There was an issue of drivers parking on pavements, which created accessibility problems for people riding on mobility scooters.
· It was reported that previously it had been agreed that parking enforcement would be relaxed at the mosque during prayer times, but this was not happening. In addition, users of the mosque had been told that at prayer times they could park on a wider area of pavement /layby close to the mosque on Evington Road, but cars there were also being ticketed.
The Chair summarised the concerns raised and stated that she would ensure that the Deputy City Mayor was made aware of the issues raised by attendees during the meeting. The Chair added that she thought the Council needed to raise the concerns with Vinci and also ask them for a report as to how often parking enforcement was carried out on Evington Lane.