Councillor Saghir  )  personal

Councillor Ifediora  )

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2019, for confirmation

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2019 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director of Community Protection

Ward Councillors presented the Ward Report, talking about issues, priorities and upcoming events within their ward along with the activities and issues in the area being addressed through the Neighbourhood Action Team.

During discussion, the following information was highlighted:

Aspley

(a)  the main concerns with Aspley were around general cleanliness, dog fouling, the un-kept look of the grass verges and youth related anti-social behaviour (especially on the Broxtowe estate);

(b)  Councillors noted that it was pleasing that crime continued to reduce and appeared to be at its lowest level for a long time;

(c)  Health priorities in the ward were to address loneliness, especially for older residents. Councillors highlighted that they were committed to continuing to support families, and youth provision – linked to the continued reduction in crime.

Bilborough

(d)  the main concerns raised by resident to Councillors were weeds and fly tipping;

(e)  there is a good level of local engagement with a number of members of the local community attending ward walks and taking the time to engage;

(f)  the issue of anti-social behaviour is being addressed, especially at the new playground where there have been a number of incidents where new equipment has been damaged and needed repair;

(g)  some improvements are being made to the Bracebridge Drive area, such as re-laying paving, improvements to the seating area near the Post office and re-vamping the market;

(h)  New signage and a notice board is planned for the library to advertise local events and activities, such as the Christmas Festival (27 November).

Leen Valley

(i)  the top priority in this ward is street cleaning which, when reported, is addressed quickly by the street cleansing teams;

(j)  the issue of weeds was again raised as a concern. However with continued funding cuts there are financial pressures across all wards; 

(k)  Broxtowe Park has an issue with motorbikes, which the Council is addressing through partnership working with other agencies, including Nottinghamshire Police and the Bike Task Force.

RESOLVED to note the progress on Ward Priorities and other supporting information, including the issues being addressed by each Neighbourhood Action Team, and upcoming opportunities for citizens to engage.

Verbal update from Community Representatives

Community Representatives were invited to update the committee on activities their groups were offering and feedback from a community level.

Tracey High from And Sew it Begins informed the committee that the Man and Shed project was progressing well, they have the tools, wood and people needed for the project to launch, but that they were still looking for accommodation. A number of different options were briefly discusses including old garage sites in Bilborough, and various sites for portacabins. 

John Walker, representative for Woodhouse Park Residents Association gave a brief summary of the work currently taking place on the Estate. He informed the Committee that although new, the estate is developing a good sense of community, with people coming together to replant trees etc. There is a slight dog fouling issue, as there are currently no bins, which are yet to be installed, but as the road is yet to be ‘adopted’, the Council cannot do it at presnt.

Nigel Brice from Whitemoor Residents Association gave a brief update. There is a lot of litter, especially fast food litter in the ward, residents groups try to keep the area looking nice and when issues are reported they are addressed quickly. Community groups across the ward are struggling to get the wider public engaged.

Councillors thanked the Community representatives for their attendance and for their work in the community and noted the content of their updates.

Verbal update from Nottinghamshire Police and Community Protection

Inspector Gordon Fenwick, Nottinghamshire Police, and Maria Summers, Senior Community Protection Officer, gave verbal updates on crime and Policing issues within the area. The main points were as follows:

(a)  robbery in Aspley and Bilborough has increased against the same period last year from 8 to 13 and from 11 to 15 respectively;

(b)  Anti-Social Behaviour incidents in Bilborough are down from 455 last year to 349 within the same period this year;

(c)  hate incidents are also on the decrease. There is no indication that the incidents reported are related to Brexit / asylum seekers and appear to be more gender orientated;

(d)  drugs / knife crime figures are up but this is due to proactive targeting by the Police. In the whole of the City West division there has been a push on proactive drugs work, meaning more warrants and searches are taking place resulting in more drugs being detected. It is a similar situation for knife crime with regular sweeps of parks taking place looking for discarded or concealed weapons;

(e)  a recent operation targeting speeding in the area was successful and well received by the local community;

(f)  fly tipping around the Bilborough area has been discussed at the NAT meetings and a clean-up day has been planned, alongside a promotion in respect of bulky waste collection;

(g)  high-visibility patrols will target parks in the Bilborough area in an effort to reduce ASB and vandalism, especially the new equipment in play parks;

(h)  in Aspley, the Council is working with City Homes and Community Protection to address dogs barking and noise pollution in general and fly tipping, incidents of which have reduced;

(i)  in Leen Valley, cleansing is an issue, especially dog fouling. An awareness campaign is due to start very soon with repeat offenders being “named and shamed”;

(j)  Aspley has an issue with hedges not being cut and causing issues for pedestrians using the pathways. Community Protection are able to issue notices around this, and if the resident does not complete the work required the Council does the work and recharges the resident. There is a tool hire scheme being run that allows residents to hire tools for a weekend free of charge.

(k)  The mini Police continue to play an active part in the community, helping out at the recent Robin Hood half marathon, visits to the Police kennels, and the chance to attend and participate in the Remembrance Day parade in November. If community groups know of any events that would benefit from their attendance please liaise with Inspector Gordon Fenwick;

(l)  Police and CPO’s continue engagement work within the community to breakdown barriers with young people within the community.

The Committee thanked Inspector Fenwick and Marie Summers for their attendance and noted the content of their reports.

Update from the area Primary Care Network

Dr Jonathan Harte, a GP and Senior Partner at Aspley Medical Centre since 1992, and Clinical Director of the local Primary Care Network (PCN), introduced his report to the committee focusing on health priorities. DR Harte gave a brief background explaining the recent formation and launch of the PCNs. During the discussion the following were made:

(a)  there are a lot of resources focussed on improving citizens health, although with the changing landscape of Health Services it is increasingly difficult to know what is available;

(b)  one of the benefits of the PCNs will be greater resilience for practices allowing them greater flexibility to respond to demand from a developing population;

(c)  the key issues within the area are currently dental health, drugs use (especially cannabis), smoking, drinking / alcohol misuse, leading to cancers and respiratory and heart problems;

(d)  there are numerous screening programmes available for a wide range of diseases but there is a reluctance within the population to take these up;

(e)  the PCN is looking at creating an action plan to assess resources available, how they can be best used to have an impact on health issues and to encourage health and care organisations to work effectively together;

(f)  the main focus of the PCN is on healthy lifestyles and life choices, such as getting people moving, help to stop smoking and early identification of health issues and encouragement to seek treatment;

(g)  the PCN wants to form links with the Area Committee and align with its priorities where possible, although a large part of the issues that need addressing will be more social than medical.

(h)  a Social Link worker will soon be in place within the PCN covering this area, their job will include working towards establishing what groups and programmes are being run in the community to facilitate more effective social prescribing;

The Committee made the following comments:

(i)  Councillors agreed there needs to be more ‘joined-up’ working between organisations and that links between the PCN, the Area Committee and the Community should be a focus; 

(j)  Of particular concern for the community is the decreased GP provision within the area. In recent months there has been the abrupt closure of a surgery with 8,000 patients needing to be reregistered with neighbouring practices. This has stretched provision further, making it harder for them to register and get appointments elsewhere;

(k)  there is currently a Local Delivery Partnership Board, focussed on physical activity in 4 pilot areas, one of these areas is the Beechdale Road Bungalows;

(l)  a neighbourhood newsletter will be circulated in December. The committee suggested that it contain a simple health message from Dr Harte;

(m)concerns have been raised over local provision being eroded, such as New Leaf services only being available in the City Centre – need to look at whether bringing services back to the community is viable;

(n)  Strelley Social Club have a lot of health related events, such as women’s boxing, Zumba and circuit training, all of which are free to access;

(o)  local provision is signposted via Facebook, Twitter, Ask Lion and notice boards in libraries and community centres;

The Committee thanked Dr Harte for his informative report and his attendance at the meeting. They asked that they be kept up to date with the recruitment of the Link Worker and that once recruitment has been completed that the link worker make contact with the committee.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the information and thank Dr Harte for his attendance;

(2)  that ‘Public Health’ be included as a standing item on future agendas; and

(3)  that an NDO work with Dr Harte and Public Health to identify how the City Council and PCN could work together.

Report of the Chief Executive of Nottingham City Homes

Kristian Murden, Area Housing Manager for Nottingham City Homes presented the update report, which detailed key issues and themes linked to local priorities and issues, and included updates on the capital programme and major works, area regeneration, environmental issues, key messages from the Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, area progress and good news stories and publicity.

During discussion, the following comments were made:

(a)  the turnaround of void properties is currently below expected time scales. There has been recent staffing changes which were aimed at improving performance in this area and should be reflected in the next set of data for the December meeting of this Committee;

(b)  the Committee commented favourably about the piolet that provided hardstanding in front gardens, with costs being recouped through rent. The option must be available to all residents to ensure fairness. It is still in the piolet scheme stage and has not yet been rolled out across the area. There are currently 45 applications waiting to be processed.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the update and latest performance information;

(2)  to approve funding of £2,092.00 from the Aspley budget towards replacement of tarmac with topsoil and turf at Harwill Crescent;

(3)  in light of the approval at (2) above, to note the remaining balances of £122,570.86 (Aspley), £105,176.90 (Bilborough) and £10,785.58 (Leen Valley).

Report of the Director of Community Protection

The Neighbourhood Development Officers presented the report, which detailed the latest Area Capital Plan spend proposals on footpaths and highways.

RESOLVED

(1)  to approve the following schemes:

(2)  in light of the approvals / de-commitments in (1) above, to note the remaining available balances as follows:

Report of the Director of Community Protection

The Committee noted the actions taken under delegated authority by the Director of Community Protection in respect of ward Councillor budgets, as detailed in the report and appendices.

Update from the Lead Organisation

Amy Palmer and Jo Phelan, Groundwork Greater Nottingham, presented the report, detailing delivery in respect of Area Based Grants’ expected targets.

RESOLVED to note the performance and request that future reports include a full timetable of proposed activities.

Summary of the latest Employment and Skills Area Partnership Meeting

Councillor Graham Chapman introduced the report giving a summary of the Community Employment and Skills Area Partnership (ESAP) meeting that took place in July 2019.

Three actions and priorities  came from the meeting

·  To improve communication between Futures and Nottingham College in relation to people whop leave courses and become Not in Education Employment or training to ensure they do not slip through gaps in provision

·  To explore setting up a local hub, triage system within the DWP to better direct jobseekers to local support;

·  To improve communication between partners attending the ESAP to better share details of local projects events and opportunities

The committee noted the information within the report.

·  Wednesday 8 January 2020 at 5:30pm

·  Wednesday 1 April 2020 at 5:30pm

The Committee noted the previously agreed meeting dates of 8 January and 1 April 2020, at 5.30pm, and confirmed that they be held at Bilborough Library, Bracebridge Drive, Bilborough, NG8 4PN.