Agenda and minutes

Councillor Nick McDonald (work);

David Norman, My Sight Nottinghamshire;

Fr Andy Nicolls, Bulwell Churches Together;

Reginald Knowles, Bradford Street Allotments;

Sheila Loades, Bulwell Hall Tenants’ and Residents’ Association;

Paul Bakajsa,  Rise Park Action Group;

Heidi May, North Locality Manager.

None.

Of the meeting held on 3 September 2015 (for confirmation).

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 September 2014 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Ella Ferris to verbally update the Committee.

Ella Ferris, General Manager, and Moby Farrands, of the Nottingham Credit Union (NCU) addressed the meeting on the role of the NCU, highlighting the following points;

(a)  NCU has been providing financial products to the citizens of Nottingham since 1992.  Since then, it has merged with other smaller credit unions, including Mansfield and Ashfield. Only people living or working in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire can join;

(b)  the aim of NCU is to provide products that help improve everyday living for all its members by offering a range of financial services, from savings and bank accounts to loans. Unlike most financial services companies, NCU is a not-for-profit organisation and products are priced to covers costs, not to make money as its shareholders are its customers;

(c)  the NCU pre-paid card is a pay-as-you-go debit card. Money can be ‘loaded’ onto the card and it can be used to buy goods and services, get cash back and shop on the internet;

(d)  deposits with NCU are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK’s deposit protection scheme;

(e)    NCU was operating in Bulwell for several years, but it was decided to close the Bulwell office as the number of citizens using the Bulwell office was reducing month on month. An armed robbery at the Nottingham office, forced NCU to look at the security of all its branches and the cost of updating the Bulwell branch would have been too high. There hasn’t been a problem with missed loan repayments since the Bulwell office closed;

(f)  NCU members from Bulwell are still able to use the Nottingham office. There were plans to work with Nottingham City Homes (NCH) to enable members to use their cash offices in Bulwell Riverside but NCH withdrew their cash desks across the City;

(g)  in the Bulwell area doorstep lenders are embedded into local culture and are known for charging excessive interest rates. Credit Unions offer a far cheaper alternative, even to legal lenders;

(h)   

  * Wonga loan max term 40 days – illustration for 40 days only

Although there is currently no obviously viable solution, Councillors felt that with the embedded local culture of using doorstep lenders, it is vital for NCU to have a physical presence in Bulwell, especially as many people cannot access services on-line credit union services.

RESOLVED to record the thanks of the Committee to the Nottingham Credit Union for their attendance .

Presentation by Rob Caswell and Sarah White

Rob Caswell, Manager of Major Programmes, and Sarah White, Project Manager, presented an update on the planned expansion of Heathfield Primary School;

a)  the location of the new school will be on the former Henry Mellish Secondary School playing field site. The school itself was demolished as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme;

b)  the new building will be between Kersall Drive and the Mellish Sports Centre and will have vehicular access from Kemmel Drive off Piccadilly. There will be two pedestrian entrances off Kersall Drive, one with controlled access for visitors and the other managed by the school to ease pupil access at peak times;

c)  an additional 420 places will be created plus 52 full time equivalent nursery places;

d)  the school will have a flexible design system that allows for adaptations in the future.  Classes will be clustered around breakout areas based on age. There will be provision for children with special needs and the new school will also have a purpose built hall and full catering kitchen, a reception area and staff provision. Playground areas will be split according to age and space will be set aside for future development to allow the school to grow into the site;

e)  a Community Use Agreement with Mellish Sports Centre will encourage shared use of both sites to maximize opportunities for the local community;

During discussion of the project, concerns were raised that parent and teacher parking outside and around the new school will impact significantly on local citizen’s parking availability, access and the flow of through traffic. Historically since the implication of the Work Place Parking Levy, teachers and school staff at several schools avoid paying the 50p per day charge by parking off site. The Chair acknowledged the importance of ensuring that school employees parked within the school site.

RESOLVEDfor the Major Programmes Manager to ensure that Ward Councillors receive regular updates on the progress of works.

Richard Antcliff, Head of Neighbourhood Enforcement to present.

Richard Antcliff, Head of Neighbourhoods & Enforcement and Community Protection, updated the Committee on the new anti-social behaviour powers contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The Act sets out the following 6 tools:

(a)  Injunctions - a purely civil injunction available in the county court for adults and the youth court for 10 to 17 year olds. Designed to tackle nuisance and anti-social behaviour, they will replace ASBIs and stand-alone ASBOs;

(b)  Criminal Behaviour Orders - only available where a person had been convicted of an offence. This could be any offence, not just one involving anti-social behaviour. Issued by the courts after conviction, the order will ban an individual from certain activities or places and require them to address their behaviour;

(c)  Dispersal Powers - this new power will enable police officers and PCSOs (where the Chief Constable has delegated these powers) to direct a person aged 10 and above who has committed, or is likely to commit, anti social behaviour to leave a specified area and not return for a specified period of up to 48 hours.

(d)  Community Protection Notices and Orders (CPN), - may be used by a relevant officer to order a person to do something (or stop doing something). In order to cease ‘environmental’ ASB, or behaviour having a detrimental effect on quality of life. It replaces litter clearing notices, defacement removal notices and street litter control notices. one order for local authorities to stop persistent environmental ASB like graffiti, neighbour noise or dog fouling; and for police, social landlords and local authorities to deal with more serious disorder and criminality in a specific place such as closing a property used for drug dealing;

(e)  Public Spaces Protection Orders - will replace the Designated Public Place Order, the Gating Order and the Dog Control Order. The new order is intended to deal with a particular nuisance in a particular area which negatively affects the community’s quality of life;

(f)  Closure Powers – this power is a fast, flexible power that can be used to protect victims and communities by quickly closing premises that are causing nuisance or disorder. Both the ocal authority and the Police can use this power to close residential or business premises. The notice is for a 48hr period, and the closure is for a period up to 6 months.

Richard Antcliff responded to the Committee’s questions as follows:

(g)  Community Protection covers many sections within the Council and is partnered with the Police;

(h)  the experiences of Nottingham City in tackling ASB has been shared with other Local Authorities and used to shape the new legislation;

(i)  injunctions can be used for anyone now, not just Council tenants;

(j)  use of the balance of probability instead of proof can be a valuable tool in preventing further issues arising;

(k)  if after the first warning there are further problems, these should be dealt with fairly quickly;

(l)  new software is in place  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Report of Chief Executive of Nottingham City Homes, presented by Nicky Jenkins, Tenancy and Estate Manager.

Nicky Jarvis, Tenancy & Estate Manager NCH presented the report of the Chief Executive of Nottingham City Homes (NCH) outlining key performance updates on programme and environmental issues.

It is noted that some tree removal and pruning has been requested by the Head of Parks and Open Spaces as part of a City-wide tree management scheme. The trees referred to in the recommendations are either self set or growing too big for the site.

RESOLVED

(1)  to approve the following schemes;

  (i)  Bulwell Ward

(ii)  Bulwell Forest Ward

(2)  for Ward Councillors to further consider the proposal to remove the vacant tree grids and protective barriers, against the possibility of replacing the 3 trees at the  Bromley Close Car park;

(3)  for the general NCH performance information to be noted.

Verbal update by Police Inspector Christine Busuttil.

In the absence of Acting Inspector Christine Busuttil, Sergeant Nev McGeehan delivered a brief update on crime statistics in the area compared to the same 3 month period last year, including the following:

a)  vehicle crime and robbery are down, assault and domestic burglaries are up;

b)  anti-social behaviour (ASB) has risen but this will be a reflection of noise issues now being reported to the Police rather than the Council;

c)  there have been issues of criminal damage and ASB with stones thrown at vehicles, buses and premises in the Bestwood Park Drive, Ridgeway and Top Valley Areas. The offenders have been identified, spoken to and the problem has stopped;

d)  there has been ASB and criminal damage to vacant properties in Phoenix Park so patrols have ensured a highly visible presence;

e)  burglary awareness will be promoted as Christmas nears, encouraging citizens to take preventative measures such as ensuring a light is left on in a property;

f)  there had been a 483% increase in deliberate fires during the summer months. Partnership working between the Police Council and Fire Service, with schools and leisure centres has aimed to address this, resulting in several referrals to the ‘Fire Setters’ course provided by the Fire and Rescue Service.

It is noted that that nationally all Police Crime Recording Policies have been examined and that Nottinghamshire’s practices have been commended.

Resolved to note the police update and thank Sergeant Nev Mc Geehan for his attendance.

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services

SukiShergil, Neighbourhood Development Officer, introduced the Director for Neighbourhood Services’ report providing summary updates on key themes within the Nottingham Plan.

RESOLVED to note the ward performance.

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services.

Celia Knight presented the report which identified prioritised Area Capital and Public Realm schemes.

RESOLVED

(1)  to approve the following schemes:

  (i)  Bulwell

  (ii)  Bulwell Public Realm schemes

(iii)  Bulwell Forest Public Realm schemes

(2)  to note the following:

  (i)  Bulwell

  (ii)  Bulwell Forest

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services.

Celia Knight, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the report which updated the Committee on the actions agreed by the Director of Neighbourhood Services in respect of projects and schemes with in Bulwell and Bulwell Forest, and the remaining funding available.

It is noted that several schemes which received Councillor support in principal are yet to complete the formal process required.

RESOLVED to note

(i)  the following actions agreed by the Director of Neighbourhood Services:

 (ii)  the updated financial position:

Bulwell Ward

  Bulwell Forest Ward