Agenda and minutes

Councillor Eunice Campbell-Clark - personal

Councillor Georgia Power – Other Council Business

Chris Easton

Dale Griffin

None.

Of the meeting held on 8 January 2020 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2020 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Verbal update by Nottinghamshire Police Inspector Christine Busuttil

Nottinghamshire Police Inspector Christine Busuttil provided a verbal update on Policing issues compared to the same period in the previous year and included:

Bestwood

a)  Commercial burglary and attacks on schools have been a problem;

b)  Violence is up by  8%;

c)  Damage is up by 4% and has mainly been focused on cars during the evening;

d)  Mini-police was launched at Southglade Primary School recently as a gentle introduction of the Police to younger pupils to encourage positive engagement with the Police;

Bulwell

e)  There have been an additional 27 crimes, 6 of which were stalking and harassment related;

f)  2 more distraction burglaries have taken place in the evening and several other attempts have failed;

g)  Shoplifting has increased even though a prolific offender (responsible for more than 20 crimes) has been arrested;

h)  Damage to cars has increased by 5 instances;

Bulwell Forest

i)  There have been 34 additional crimes, mainly around shop lifting and theft.

General points were listed as follows:

j)  There has been some coverage on social media about the Police tackling a ‘car meet’ held in Tesco car park. Generally the majority attending have not caused any problems, have even brought their families along, and are not a concern for the Police. However, a few individuals have been causing a disturbance to local residents and so the Police have intervened, identified the culprits from CCTV footage and issued warnings and a Section 59 notice whereby the car be seized if further issues occur within 12 months;

k)  Bulwell St Mary’s Mini-Police held an event to raise funds for the RNLI and visited the National Justice Museum;

l)  Operation Scorpion, to tackle and prevent knife crime, held 2 detection sessions, including one at the train station and one at KFC. In total there were 2 arrests, 4 searches and 2 weapon seizures. Generally this very visible action and was welcomed by citizens and local businesses;

m)  Staffing is currently at the intended capacity but further officer movement is  predicted shortly but more PCOs are to be recruited, although it’s not yet confirmed how many and where they will be based;

n)  2 warrants have successfully been served today.

The following responses were provided to questions from the Committee:

o)  It is the responsibility of individual shops as to how they decide to tackle shop lifting. Staff are discouraged from confronting shop lifters, particularly if they are part of a group, but it is at the discretion of the store as to whether there are additional security measures including security guards;

p)  It is a concern that there have been distraction burglaries in the area, particularly as some may not have been reported to the Police. Everyone is urged to advise older and more vulnerable citizens to be vigilant.

Resolved to thank Inspector Christine Busuttil for her attendance and update.

Verbal update by Darry Paxford, Senior Community Protection Officer

Community Protection Officer (CPO) Laura Arnold, updated the Committee on Community Protection issues and activity within the Area since the last meeting, including the following:

a)  There has been a lot of local activity including engaging with schools and new community groups;

b)  Valuable information has been received from Bestwood residents and has resulted in Fixed Penalty Notices being issued;

c)  Extending the event of ‘Light Night’ into the neighbourhoods hadn’t been the predicted success, so an alternative approach was taken whereby CPOs worked with school children to emphasise the importance of being visible in the dark, especially if riding bicycles;

d)  CPOs and Ward Councillors visited Hempshill Hall School to find out what issues and concerns the children had. This proved valuable and has resulted in the installation of extra litter bins, and quotes requested to repair the lighting in the nearby pedestrian underpass. Both schemes will be funded from Ward Councillor Budgets. Other issues raised have been forwarded to relevant Departments;

e)  Issues of ongoing littering by employees at Southglade Food Park have been addressed by escalating the responsibility to the employers who can now also be fined in addition to the individual employees;

f)  Dog fouling is an ongoing issue.

Councillors welcomed what is hoped to be a conclusion to the long-running littering problems at Southglade Food Park.

Resolved to record the thanks of the Committee to Laura Arnold for her attendance and update.

Report of the Chief Executive of Nottingham City Homes.

Nottingham City Homes Area Housing Managers Nicky Brake and Daniel Pickard presented the report which provides an update on performance, activity and engagement, and in an updated Appendix 3 which has been circulated as a supplement to the agenda, requests scheme approvals.

Members of the Committee welcomed the new fencing being installed at NCH tenanted properties on Keys Close and requested that adjacent home owners and landlords are also offered the opportunity to have the fencing installed as this would improve the appearance of the area. Nicky Brake responded that where there are privately owned properties within an Improvement Area, owners are offered the opportunity to opt into the works. However, as there is of course a charge for such work on non-NCH properties, the option is not necessarily accepted and it is not appropriate to fund NCH works on private property.

Resolved

1)  to note the following financial position:

2)  to approve the following schemes and de-commitment of funding:

Report of the Director of Public Health, Alison Challenger

Alison Challenger, Director of Public Health, presented the detailed Ward Health Profiles and Health Priorities report and requested that members of the Committee comment on whether the data matched their understanding of health within the wards. A copy of the presentation is included with the initial publication of the minutes.

The following points were highlighted:

a)  There are changes taking place within the NHS, including the establishment of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) which are groups of GPs , who are to work more closely together and with communities;

b)  The Clinical Lead GPs within the PCNs which cover this area (designated in 2 areas of Bestwood and Sherwood, and Bulwell and Top Valley) are keen to introduce themselves but were unable to attend today;

c)  It is intended that there will be closer working between Health and Social Care to provide a more integrated service;

d)  Of the 44 different areas across the country, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire’s (with the exception of Bassetlaw) Integrated Healthcare System is considered the most advanced, providing a strategic approach to identifying health care needs and how that care can be delivered;

e)  There is consideration of the causes of ill health, and not just a focus on responding;

f)  Provision for 21 additional staff has been made across the City and will include physiotherapists, pharmacists but not GPs;

g)  The information gathered within the ward profiles can be used by the City Council, voluntary groups and charities to help support funding bids and will be available on the internet at ‘Nottingham Insight’;

h)  There will be a further emphasis on self-help and social prescribing (directing people to activity within the community). There are already 2 Social Prescribers active within the Area;

i)  As can be seen from the profiles, life expectancy in the area is lower by approximately 8 years compared to the more affluent areas of the City and there is also lower ‘good health’ life expectation in that residents within the area are more likely to experience ill health approximately 12 years earlier than areas of the City;

j)  It is important to identify the health issues within the City to be able to plan ahead for preventative and also responsive action, with a target of narrowing the gap in health inequalities by 3 years within the next 5 years.

Questions from the Committee were responded to as follows;

k)  Information is captured from several sources including self-reported/ self-perceived poor health (via citizen surveys) and more specific information. An approximate average of one third of women in the area are predicted to report poor health with an even higher proportion of the population experiencing poor mental health;

l)  At a minimum of 2,000 survey respondents, the sample size is significant enough to provide a satisfactorily significant result but other than mortality, no data can be considered 100% accurate;

m)  It is proposed that there is only one social prescriber per PCN area as further funding is not available, but they will be building  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

An opportunity for Community Representatives and officers to update the Committee on recent activity and achievements.

The following good news stories were reported:

Southglade Park Tree Planting – a total of 4,600 were provided by the ‘Trees for Cities’ project and were planted by volunteers, including school children, Nottingham Open Spaces Forum members, local residents, and business volunteers;

Bulwell Academy held a school careers day and had many aspirational employers attend, including universities;

Nottingham Jobs Fair will be held on 19 March 2020 and include a healthy living element with health checks and testing and information and guidance (including samples) on healthy eating.

On 20 March 202 there will be a networking and good practice youth work event;

On 29 April 2020 there will be an Intergenerational event;

3 ‘spring cleans’ are proposed;

On 7 May 2020 there will be a VE day event at Hempshill School;

Following responses to the issues raised by the Hate Crime item presented to the Bulwell and Bulwell Forest Area Committee in September 2018, and to promote community cohesion, a trip to the Holocaust Centre for local residents had proved very interesting, especially with the opportunity to hear the first hand experiences of a Holocaust survivor.

It is hoped that a Police Cadets group will soon be established in Bestwood, and as referred to previously, Southglade Primary enrolled Mini-Police.

A climate change conference was held at in Bulwell United Reformed Church with active engagement from citizens. As a result, a trip to the recycling centre is proposed and the next event is scheduled for Saturday 4 April at Rise Park Church;

The British Legion has been planting trees on Soldier’s Hill.

HART is in the early stages of an anti-dog fouling campaign, which if successful, may be rolled out across the City;

Councillors had taken part in the ‘Imagination Library’ event by reading to over 2,000 school children in just one week;

Concern was expressed that some of the tree planting involved very young saplings that required after care or would die, and that they would be subject to vandalism. James Tilford, Future Parks Accelerator Manager, assured the committee that although not being able to guarantee that they would not be vandalised, the saplings would receive after care for up to 2 years. It had been disappointing that some previously planted saplings had died, but this was during an extreme drought when resources were not available.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services, presented by James Tilford, Future Parks Accelerator Project Manager.

James Tilford, Future Parks Accelerator Project Manager, presented the report which informs the Committee of the project which funds the compilation of a 25 year strategy for parks and open spaces within 2 years, following citizen consultation.

The following points were highlighted and responses provided to the Committee’s questions:

a)  This work has emerged in response to the ongoing reductions in Local Authority (LA) funding, whereby the budgets for non-statuary services, including parks and open spaces, has been and will continue to be drastically reduced. A plan of action is required to identify how parks and open spaces can be alternatively funded in the future;

b)  Nottingham City is one of only 8 Local Authorities to be granted funds to undertake this work which, following the consultation of citizens, will consider:

  i.  Commercial opportunities;

  ii.  The potential of community engagement and volunteer programmes;

  iii.  Charitable foundation status;

  iv.  Future Governance arrangements;

Citizen consultation will be launched shortly in the March issue of the Council newsletter, the Arrow, and will be accessible on the City Council website on 15 March 2020 at nottinghamcity.gov.uk/fpaparksconsultation. All citizens are encouraged to respond;

c)  The City Council is not working in isolation and has already engaged with the National Wildlife Trust, Public Health and other relevant partners and stakeholders;

d)  With regard to commercial opportunities, following issues in previous years, funfairs are not scheduled to be held on Bulwell Forest for this coming year;

e)  Commercial opportunities does not mean that citizens will be charged entry to use the parks but may be reflected in facilities to improve the visitor experience such as cafés and plant shops to generate funds, particularly where there may be underutilised buildings which could be rented out;

f)  In compiling the 25 Year Strategy, pilots may also be run and include how volunteer experience may be improved.

Councillors commented that the parks are owned by the people for the people and are not to be sold. If charitable status is achieved, parks will still be owned by the Council but it will be easier to attract and achieve funding, for which the Council cannot apply.

Resolved for the results of the survey to be reported back to a future Committee meeting.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

James Tilford, from the Parks and Open Spaces Team, presented the report which includes the Ward Investment Plans for parks and open space projects within the Area, from which projects may be selected for funding if Section 106 funding (from development) or other funding is available. It is noted that the costing of projects is estimated but unlikely to exceed the value stated.

Questions from the Committee were responded to as follows:

a)  The Committee’s support of the potential projects ensures that if funding becomes available, it can be swiftly allocated without delay;

b)  The investment plan is a fluid document to which changes may be made and further scheme proposals added;

c)  The £3m funding for the feasibility study to restore the Bulwell Hall stable block is separate from this funding and only covers the cost of the feasibility study and it is anticipated that any restoration will cost tens of millions of pounds;

d)  It is proposed that in the longer term, that these ward investment plans will be included within the 25 year Parks Strategy;

e)  Where allocated funding is not wholly used or schemes do not progress, the funds will be reallocated within the Area.

Resolved

1)  to endorse the updated investment plan and guide the future development of the City’s parks and open spaces;

2)   to approve the allocation of £21,810 Section 106 funding from the development at Gaul Street Factory (reference 04/00472/POUT) to improvements to the surface of the water park at Bulwell Bogs.

Report of the Director of Community Protection

Neighbourhood Development Officers, Celia Knight and Suki Shergill, presented the report that requests funding for the projects listed in a revised Appendix 1 which was circulated at the meeting and included with the initial publication of the minutes.

Resolved

1)  to approve the following schemes and de-commitments for Bestwood Ward:

2)  to note the financial position of Bestwood Ward:

3)  to approve the following schemes for Bulwell Ward, noting that no de-commitments are proposed:

4)  to note the following financial position of Bulwell Ward:

5)  to approve the following schemes and de-commitments:

6)  to note the financial position of Bulwell Forest Ward:

Report of the Director Community Protection

Neighbourhood Development Officers, Celia Knight and Suki Shergill, presented the report which informs the Committee of funding allocations made by ward councillors and authorised by the Director of Community Protection.

Resolved to note:

1)  that no new schemes have been approved for the Bestwood ward, but the financial position is as follows:

2)  the following project approval and financial position of Bulwell Ward:

3)  the following project approval and financial position of Bulwell Forest Ward:

Report of the Director of Community Protection

Neighbourhood Development Officers, Celia Knight and Suki Shergill, presented the report which outlines current ward priorities and issues within the wards and identifies the Lead Organisation, partner or City Council Department for addressing those issues.

Resolved to note the progress on ward priorities and other supporting information, including the issues being addressed by each Neighbourhood Action Team (NAT), upcoming opportunities for citizens to engage, and the latest Crime Drugs Partnership criminal statistics. 

The opportunity for Community Representatives and City Council Colleagues to inform the Committee of forthcoming events and activities.

Suggestions from Community Representatives for future agenda items included:

a)  Helping Kids Achieve – the work of youth leaders and young people;

b)  The gap in healthcare between discharge from hospital and Adult Social Care support being in place.

It is noted that the previous suggestion for Waste Management and Cleansing officers to attend and respond to citizen’s questions and on-going issues, is scheduled for the next meeting.

To note that the Committee is provisionally scheduled to next meet on Wednesday 3 June 2020 at 5.30pm in Bulwell Riverside.

Agreed to note that the Committee is provisionally scheduled o next meet on Wednesday 3 June 2020 at 5.30pm in Bulwell Riverside.