Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Choudhry as the Chair for the 2014/15 municipal year.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Peach as the Vice-Chair for the 2014/15 municipal year.

Councillor Ali

Mya Fletcher

David Poole

None.

Last meeting held on 19 February 2014 (for confirmation)

The committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 19 February as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Verbal update by Lorraine Raynor, Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards

Lorraine Raynor, Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards, briefed the Committee on funding to tackle rogue landlords. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  £124,000 of funding has been provided by Central Government to tackle rogue landlords, linked with other work on HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) Licensing. A three pronged approach is being taken.

(b)  An advertising campaign is taking place, using bus poster and bus shelter advertisements, social media, and an article in the Arrow, encouraging people to report rogue landlords. The website is making it easier for people to report. It is also hoped it will drive up standards and expectations and direct tenants towards accredited properties.

(c)  Training is being offered to landlords, so that they can ensure standards and identify any issues. 60 training places went very quickly and there is now a waiting list. Information is available to support landlords, and they are being signposted to the Nottingham Standard accreditation schemes. Training will be offered to City Council and partner organisation staff who visit properties to encourage reporting of problems to the Environmental Health Team.

(d)  Mandatory licensing is in place for HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation). Three HMOs were closed in recent weeks due to being dangerous, and will remain closed until improvements are made. Additional areas for the team to investigate include whether the property is safe and clean, and the landlord’s behaviours. Landlords who receive complaints will have their whole portfolio of properties reviewed.

(e)  Prosecutions will be publicised to raise awareness.

Following feedback and questions from the Committee, the following additional information was provided:

(f)  Some landlords have already started using the Facebook page. There was expected criticism of perceived negative portrayal of landlords, but there has been none.

(g)  Issues about tenants mistreating properties is being covered in the landlord training sessions, and falls under poor management.

(h)  Fire safety is also assessed, under 29 hazards set out in legislation, as part of the HMO licensing assessments. Some HMOs have been closed due to lack of fire safety. Fire safety is included in the landlord training.

(i)  Part of the 29 hazards cover the security of the building, and landlords can be required to improve security and properly secure windows and doors.

(j)  Some tenants do not report issues as they fear repercussions. The core aim of the project as well as identifying issues is to support tenants. Nottingham City Council will be working closely with key partners such as the Police, Nottingham City Homes, Unipol and the Student Unions, to ensure that a framework and support network is in place, and to minimise the risk of homelessness as an end result.

RESOLVED to thank Lorraine Raynor for the presentation, and note the content.

Verbal update by Sue Foster, Project Manager, Major Programmes

Sue Foster, Project Manager in Major Programmes, briefed the Committee on the relocation of the Hyson Green Library. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  Consultation has taken place on proposals to move the library into the main contact centre. The benefits will include longer opening hours, more space, better services (such as wifi) and having a “one stop shop” for services citizens may use.

(b)  Leaflets were distributed to local houses, community centres and schools, consulting on the proposed design. Acorn clients presented a petition, and as a result the original design was changed.

(c)  Positive responses came from users of the GP surgery and the daycare at the contact centre. Negative responses came from Acorn users, and there were some concerns about a possible reduced space for books. 49% of respondents strongly approved or approved of the proposals. 41% of respondents strongly disapproved or disapproved of the proposals. 10% neither approved or disapproved.

(d)  The decision went to Leadership Group, and a business case will be presented to Executive Board in July 2014. The next step will be to produce a detailed design.

(e)  There are no plans for the old library building. No plans can be made until the relocation is approved. 20 year lifecycle costs will be sought for the business case.

RESOLVED to thank Sue Foster for her presentation, and note the content.

Report of Corporate Director for Community Services

James Dymond, parks Development Manager, presented a report on Heritage Lottery funding for improvements at Highfields Park. The improvements are part of a £4 million project. After terms and conditions are finalised, the project will go to Executive Board for approval, then for lottery funding in July. If successful, the work would start in summer 2015, with the intention of keeping most of the park open throughout. The lottery funding would allow the following improvements to be made:

(a)  Restoration of the park entrances and fences

(b)  A new adventure golf area.

(c)  New footpaths.

(d)  Tree felling and thinning.

(e)  Work to improve existing bowling green.

(f)  Improvement and restoration of existing stonework.

(g)  Employment of a Park Ranger, and a new Head Gardener

(h)  Instigation of a 10 year Park Management Plan and a 5 year Event and Activity Plan.

The following points were added, after questions from the Committee:

(i)  The paddling pool has large amounts of silt, and is unusable. Unfortunately it cannot be brought back into use as a paddling pool, the intention is to convert it into a nature area.

(j)  The silt contamination of the lake is mostly composed of zinc and cadmium. The origins of the contamination are unknown.

(k)  The Maid Marian boat is currently stored at Colwick Marina, but is in an extremely poor condition. It would cost approximately £100,000 to restore, and there are no plans to do so. There is very little of the original boat left, and buying a new boat has been discussed.

RESOLVED to approve and endorse the Highfields Landscape Restoration Project and Stage Two bid as detailed in the report, and thank James Dymond for his presentation.

Report of Chief Executive, Nottingham City Homes

RESOLVED to approve the following Nottingham City Homes Environmental submissions in the Radford and Park ward:

(1)  Additional funding of £2,213.60 to remove unsafe cobbles and tarmac on some entrances to Grafton Court, Canning Circus;

(2)  £10,734.71 to remove a low level wall, improve surfaces, install seating and waste bins, remove vegetations and shrubs, lay down tar macadam and re-install fencing at Argyle Court;

(3)  £3,901.53 to replace hedges and bushes with low maintenance plants at Argyle Court.

Report of Strategic Director for Commercial and Neighbourhood Services

Inspector Robert Wilson, Notts Police, and John Marsh, Locality Manager, presented a report to the Committee, highlighting the following points:

(a)  Crime has been particularly challenging in the past year, but total crime is down by 47 crimes over the last 7 weeks. Late night crime prevention patrols are ongoing, and 550 houses that have been identified as vulnerable in the Arboretum area have been given crime prevention advice.

(b)  Areas of recent focus include street drinking and associated anti-social behaviour, and road safety including wearing seatbelts and ensuring mobile phones aren’t used whilst driving.

(c)  A nigh time noise car has been used to patrol near University residences for the last three Fridays and Saturdays at the end of term, in an effort to reduce excessive noise.

(d)  12 fines and 200 letters have been issued in the Arboretum area for fly-tipping. Dunkirk and Lenton is one of the best performing wards for cleanliness, which includes graffiti and fly-tipping. Radford has higher levels of litter, and graffiti levels in line with those in Arboretum, but it has a higher clear-up rate. Fly-tipping remains the biggest cleanliness issue.

(e)  A number of new apprentices have been taken on in the street cleaning team. Five new sweepers, 2 with washers, have been purchased to replace older equipment.

(f)  The Student Waste Plan, which tackles roughly an extra 100 tonnes of litter and fly-tipping left behind when students move out or leave for the holidays, will be implemented soon.

The following comments were made by the Committee:

(g)  It would be useful in the data is broken down by month or quarter, and also represented in graph form. It is sometimes difficult to grasp changes in reported incidents when the information seems to be reported in slightly different formats.

(h)  Youths have been gathering on Standard Hill and drinking on the steps from around 10pm, and some needles have been found in the area. This will be fed back to the Beat Team.

(i)  A member of the Committee queried how HMO dwelling burglaries are counted in figures. It was confirmed that individually lockable rooms are counted as separate dwellings and separate burglaries, so if all rooms are broken into within an HMO a high number of burglaries would be recorded, even if only one property is affected. However, there has been such a large reduction in HMO burglaries in recent months that this is not such an issue anymore.

RESOLVED to note the information from the Ward report.

Report of Strategic Director for Commercial and Neighbourhood Services

RESOLVED to note the monies available, and approve the following Local Transport Plan (LTP) and Public Realm schemes:

(1)  Arboretum – no new LTP or Public Realm schemes requiring approval;

(2)  Dunkirk and Lenton LTP schemes – £3,360 to remove non-matching bollards and replace them with uniform heritage black bollards with the Nottingham City Council logo on Lenton Boulevard, £1,930 for a single post “Welcome to Lenton” sign on Lenton Boulevard, £139 for installation of the sign, £29,842 to replace grey public safety barriers with black heritage barrier railings on Lenton Boulevard, £1,500 to amend existing signage and liming to reduce HGV access to Montpelier Road, £1,910 to refurbish and replace cast street name plates in the Lenton Boulevard area;

(3)  Dunkirk and Lenton Public Realm schemes – £9,709 for a knee rail on Lenton Boulevard, £2,204 for two planters on Lenton Boulevard, £2,240 to replace 8 litter bins on Lenton Boulevard;

(4)  Radford and Park LTP schemes – £20,000 to implement formal parking bays at Wilton Street and double yellow lines on Garfield Road;

(5)  Radford and Park Public Realm schemes – £50,000 towards a registered provider for an affordable housing scheme on Norton Street, £6,200 for planters on Canning Circus and Woodstock Avenue.

To consider meeting at 5.30 pm on the following Wednesdays:

2014

17 September

19 November

2015

18 February

AGREED to meet at 5:30pm on the following Wednesdays:

2014      2015

17 September    18 February

19 November