Agenda and minutes

Councillor Malcolm Wood – unwell

Gill Bainbridge

Sergeant Gary Bulmer

Inspector Gordon Fenwick

Liam Searle

Joanne Smith

None.

Last meeting held 14 September 2016 (for confirmation)

Subject to editing a sentence in minute 16 from “During discussion, Mr Mervin Goring from the Nottingham Focus on Wellbeing group thanked the Groundwork representatives for helping the group continue to operate” to instead read “During discussion, Mr Mervin Goring from the Nottingham Focus on Wellbeing group thanked the Groundwork representatives for exploring joint working”, the minutes were approved as a correct record and will be signed by the Chair.

Report from Christine Willets

Christine Willetts, Community Representative, provided feedback on a recent Community Representatives event, held as part of Local Democracy Week, highlighting the following points:

(a)  The event was overall very useful and helpful, and the Neighbourhood Development Officers did a very good job of organising it;

(b)  many Community Representatives felt that local meeting places might be more accessible than coming into the City Centre to meet at Loxley House;

(c)  it was very nice to meet other councillors from other areas as well and to see what is done differently across different area committees;

(d)  one negative about the event is that councillors kept leaving the table to have discussions with each other, and Community Representatives have to go after them to ask them questions;

(e)  there was good feedback as to how information gets out to the community. Whilst some of the sessions weren't long enough, it was an excellent opportunity for networking;

(f)  the event helped Community Representatives to feel like they belong, and to learn more about their role;

(g)  it would be excellent to schedule it as an annual event.

Councillors and Neighbourhood Development Officers provided response to some of the feedback:

(h)  in the past an attempt has been made to hold Area Committee meetings out in local areas, with varying levels of success. It is often easier for people to travel from many areas to a central location such as Loxley House, rather than travelling from one side of an area to the other, which if travelling by public transport may involve coming into the City Centre anyway, then travelling out again. There is also often a lack of appropriate venues out in the local areas, but the new Strelley Service Centre may be a good venue when it is up and running;

(i)  the Neighbourhood Development Officers also felt the event was very useful, and are already looking into scheduling it as an annual event as part of Local Democracy Week each year. It was an excellent learning opportunity for everyone involved, no matter their role;

(j)  for information, invitations were extended to Chairs, Vice-Chairs, and Community Representatives of all Area Committees.

RESOLVED to thank Christine Willetts for providing feedback from the event, and to take comments and suggestions on board.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Julianne Christou, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented a report detailing decisions taken under delegated authority to the committee. Delegated authority budget is spent by organisations applying to Councillors or Neighbourhood Development Officers and going through an approval process to check that the group is properly constituted. Help and support is available to new groups. A “Funders Fair” was held recently, where several organisations came along to find out more about the process.

RESOLVED to note the spending approvals from the Ward Councillor budgets, approved by the Director of Neighbourhood Services, as detailed below:

1)  Aspley Ward (Councillors Graham Chapman, Patience Uloma Ifediora, and Carole McCulloch)

2)  Bilborough Ward (Councillors Wendy Smith, Marcia Watson, and Malcolm Wood)

3)  Leen Valley Ward (Councillors Coral Glyn Jenkins and Mohammed Saghir)

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented a report on the Area Capital Fund.

Councillors queried the inclusion of the Tiverton Close road safety project, as they believed this was includes as part of the Bells Lane scheme, so there should be no recharge. It was agreed that this scheme would not be approved, pending a discussion between Rob Gabbitas and Susan Thorpe to ascertain the funding situation.

RESOLVED to:

1)  note the Area Capital funds still available in each ward:

  Aspley - £24,150.00;

  Bilborough – £2,862.00;

  Leen Valley – £0.00;

2)  approve the following Area capital schemes:

3)  defer approval of the Tiverton Close road safety scheme (Aspley LTP Scheme - £2,500.00) pending further investigation by Rob Gabbitas.

Presentation from Sport, Culture and Parks

Colin Eley, National Governing Body and Partnership Development Officer, presented an update on the “Get Out, Get Active” scheme to the committee, as per the handout which will be circulated with the minutes.

(a)  Aspley and Bilborough is one of only 18 areas selected in the UK and it is an exciting opportunity for local sports and community groups. Based on current demand, some sports have been suggested, but the scheme is very flexible and suggestions where funds can be spent are welcome;

(b)  although it has become a focal point for sport and activity, the scheme is not geographically limited to Harvey Hadden.

Colin provided further information following comments and questions from the Committee:

(c)  there is no cost to local citizens, the scheme offers free activities and is fully funded for 3 years;

(d)  Nottingham Insight was used to ascertain disability statistics for the area. Aspley and Bilborough have high levels of disability, which is why they were chosen and Leen Valley was not. However, people from any area, including non-city residents, can access the activities. The activities also have no participant age limits;

(e)  it is stipulated in the funding rules that physical transportation cannot be provided or funded. However, activities can be taken to more easily accessible venues, such as residential homes, if transport is a problem. It is a key challenge, as 40% of households in Nottingham City do not have access to a car.

RESOLVED to thank Colin Eley for his presentation, and note the contents.

Presentation from Nottinghamshire Police

Sergeant Gary Bulmer was unable to attend the meeting, so a written update was sent to the Committee, read out by Julianna Christou, Neighbourhood Development Officer:

(a)  CCTV has been placed on Melford Road as there are some problems in the area, the police are on top of it;

(b)  there has been some anti-social behaviour and intimidating behaviour around the pelican Pub on Bracebridge Drive, the police are on top of it

(c)  some young children and young people have been causing a problem for the ASDA store. Police are being called in, however as no crimes are being committed, the solution is in the management style of managers at the store;

(d)  several calls have been made to the Police regarding the behaviour of 2 families on Beckley Road on the Broxtowe Estate. Police working with Nottingham City Homes and Family Intervention Project to resolve these issues.

RESOLVED to note the information.

Report of Nottinghamshire Police and Nottingham City Council Community Protection

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, and Maria Summers, Community Protection Senior Officer, presented an update on feedback from an area cluster meeting on Community Protection, highlighting the following points:

(a)  the area cluster process has been ongoing for around 10 months, and is an opportunity for Councillors to get involved in strategic processes of the council. Jobs and Health have been tackled previously. Page 31 of the agenda pack onwards is the feedback from each area committee through their area cluster. The area cluster looked at how Community Protection worked within each area, and is a snapshot of Councillor and Neighbourhood Development Officer views on the current state of Community Protection in those wards;

(b)  the feedback for West Area is on page 32 of the agenda pack, and covers all 3 wards;

(c)  an updated structure of who is operating in the Ward will be circulated with the minutes. The document changes frequently, and at the moment there are 3 vacant positions, which it is hoped will be filled in 2017;

(d)  the ward priorities for Community Protection are dog fouling, fly tipping, messy gardens, noise issues, bins on streets in Leen Valley, and cycling on pavements in Leen Valley.

(e)  Councillors receive regular feedback on enforcement and successes: An email is sent to them every month with statistics, and it may soon move more towards a newsletter style so that Councillors can share the information on Facebook etc.

Following questions and comments from the Committee, Maria Summers provided further information:

(f)  it is quite difficult to catch and prosecute fly-tippers, unless letters or identifying information has been left behind, and there have been no recent prosecutions. It is still important to keep on top of to try and reduce;

(g)  graffiti is reported both by citizens and by Community Protection Officers. Community Protection Officers carry graffiti wipes with them, and so graffiti can often be tackled whilst they’re out and about;

(h)  although shifts used to be provided, so that Community protection Officers could be contacted depending on who was on duty, there is too much change in shift patterns to continue with this practice;

The Committee wished to express their gratitude to Community Protection, and to note that the service received has always been of a high quality. Councillor Jenkins also requested that the Committee’s thanks to the outgoing Community Protection Officer for the area, Morris Oliver, be recorded.

RESOLVED to thank Rob Gabbitas and Marie Summers for the update and note its contents.

Update from Sue Foster, Senior Project Manager

Sue Foster, Senior Project Manager, provided an update on the Strelley Joint Service Centre, highlighting the following points:

(a)  the Service Centre scheme now has Executive Board approval;

(b)  the scheme will consist of 31 independent living units on 1st and 2nd floor. A lengthy tender process has taken place to get the best price. A contractor was appointed in April 2016;

(c)  in a drive to reduce running costs, a number of design options were explored, including removing office accommodation on ground floor and adding an additional 5 flats and a communal room. Facilities for public such as the interview room will still be there, but the removal of the offices will reduce the business rates. This means there will be no housing offices there, just meeting rooms for surgeries;

(d)  facilities will include a separate tenant entrance at the front of the building, a library area, 2 meeting rooms. 2 interview rooms, a kitchenette for the meeting rooms, free Wi-Fi, IT and printing, toilets, baby change facilities, 15 parking spaces, a residents’ communal garden, and a courtyard area. There are good transport links in the area;

(e)  the architects are redrawing the plans to include the additional ground floor flats at the moment, then the designs will be reviewed and finance colleagues will assess the new running costs. A further meeting will then take place with Portfolio Holders to compare these with the existing proposals and make a final decision.

Following questions and comments from the Committee, Sue provided some additional information on the scheme:

(f)  housing colleagues have been informed of the proposal not to move to the new service centre, but to instead potentially relocate to Harvey Road, with facilities for structured surgeries at the service centre on a rota basis;

(g)  the opening hours of the library service will affect the running costs, so the requirements will need to be analysed. The number of deprived children in the area is quite high, so opening hours will need to be geared towards children coming home from school, whereas the older citizens using the library can potentially be more flexible. The library service will have responsibility for the meeting and interview rooms;

(h)  furniture in the meeting rooms will be flexible, to allow for a variety of uses;

(i)  solar panels are being used in order to reduce energy costs;

(j)  it is difficult to estimate timescales at this stage, as further design options are now being explored. The designs may have to go back through planning to make sure all risks are mitigated. Once work has started on site, it will take approximately 18 months.

RESOLVED to thank Sue for the presentation and note the contents.

Reports of Nottingham City Homes

Kristian Murden, Tenancy and Estates Manager, presented the Nottingham City Homes schemes for approval, as detailed in the report.

RESOLVED to:

1)  note the allocation of funds below;

2)  approve the Area Capital programme funding requests below;

3)  note the update and performance information as set out in appendices 1 and 2.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Rob Gabbitas, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the Ward Reports to the Committee, for Councillors and Citizens to note the contents. Following questions and comments, Councillors provided some additional information and comments:

(a)  Councillors will be happy to meet with Mervin Goring of Nottingham Focus on Wellbeing to discuss mental health referrals in the area. Some citizens are being offered hospital places as far away as London or Manchester, and the area has very high levels of mental health issues;

(b)  the external cladding of social housing in Bilborough has been very successful. As a result of scheme, some private homeowners and landlords are now also interested and some have had the cladding applied to their homes privately, improving the appearance of the area.

RESOLVED to thank the Neighbourhood Development Officers for providing the information in the Wards Reports, and to note their contents.