The City Warden for the Rushey Mead Ward will be present to report back on street scene enforcement issues and members of the community will be given an opportunity to raise any concerns or queries they may have.
Minutes:
Bharat Patel and Chirag Ruda, City Wardens for the local area gave a report on street scene enforcement issues. Bharat explained that he had been working at Watermead Park and four people, with excessive amounts of food for the birds had been issued with fines. It was hoped that by educating people the problem at Watermead would be kept under control. The majority of issues the City Wardens dealt with were relating to dog fouling and cars for sale on the streets.
The following issues were raised:
· There was a badly damaged car parked on Rosedale Avenue – Pc Rob Pountney reported that the Police were aware of this.
· People were putting bread out for birds in public places. Concerns were expressed that songbirds were being frightened off because people were encouraging pigeons and magpies.
· There was a problem with large dogs running loose on Appleton Park. It was requested that a sign should be erected advising that dogs should be kept on a lead.
· There were problems on part of Woodbridge Road, and the area looked very untidy. A garage had opened and there were often numerous cars there, some of which were in very poor condition. Chirag explained that if the cars were taxed and insured, they might not be able to take any action but they would take a look to see if there was anything that could be done.
· There was a problem with people parking their cars in an irresponsible manner on Gleneagles Avenue near to Soar Valley College. In some instances, driveways were blocked as people either took students to school or waited to collect them. The Chair explained that local residents had raised a number of concerns and in response he had written to the Principal of the College. The Chair asked the City Wardens to talk to the drivers if possible and ask them to be mindful of the need to be courteous to the local residents close to the college.
Members of the community suggested that there should be a ‘No Parking’ regulation at the school, at the start and the end of the day. The Chair responded that it might be possible to implement some parking restrictions with yellow lines painted on the road, but these were sometimes ignored by drivers and in addition, local residents might not want them. He added that one of the issues was ensuring that people abided by parking regulations at schools. Further suggestions were offered that parents should be encouraged to car share, or that the students should be encouraged walk or catch the bus to college. In addition to the parking problems, a resident expressed concerns that groups of students from Soar Valley congregated in Gleneagles Walk, smoking and leaving litter. This could be disturbing for the local residents.
The Chair acknowledged that a concerted effort was required to resolve the parking problems at Soar Valley College.
· Mellor Primary School – there were also parking problems at Mellor Primary School. It had been hoped that when the main entrance had been relocated, the parking would improve, but this had not happened. The Chair offered to write to the Head Teacher at Mellor Primary to remind parents to park courteously.