Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies from members unable to attend the meeting

Apologies received from Cllrs Dalton, Nawaz and Martin.

Members to declare any personal/personal prejudicial interests in any items on this agenda

None

Approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2012

The minutes from the meeting held on 27 March 2012, were agreed as a true and accurate record.

The Assistant Neighbourhood Manager advised that updates and details of completed actions were provided on tables.  

Councillor Murphy commented regarding the funding allocated for improvements to the Whitecross underpass and whether steps should be made to recover the public money from the appropriate authorities.

Councillor Murphy commended the efficiency of the police following the arrest of a young person in connection with a burglary offence.  Councillor Murphy also commented that the process from arrest to court appearance and conviction was conducted within a few weeks of the offence.

Councillor Maqbool had received updates from West Town residents regarding the twenty two burglaries that had taken place in the area and that the issues were not being dealt with in a timely matter by the authorities.

Agreed Action

It was agreed that the Assistant Neighbourhood Manager would provide details of where the funding allocation for the Whitecross underpass was received. 

Nominations for the role of Vice Chairman were received for Councillors Maqbool and Sylvester.  The nomination for Councillor Maqbool was seconded by Councillor Fitzgerald. 

The nomination for Councillor Sylvester was withdrawn due to the absence of a seconder.

Councillor Maqbool was duly elected as Vice Chairman of the Peterborough West Neighbourhood Committee.

An opportunity for any member of the public, elected and co-opted members of the Neighbourhood Committee to raise anything that affects your area and to suggest items for future meetings and the annual work programme. 

Attendees of the meeting were given the opportunity to ask questions and raise issues affecting the areas in which they lived. These included:

• In response to a question raised by Helen Prange regarding the removal of trees located at Sainsbury’s in Bretton, Councillor Fletcher advised that the issues had been discussed at a recent Bretton Parish Council and a consultation with Enterprise Peterborough was underway to investigate installing suitable replacements such as shrubs.

• Thanks were offered to the Community Council by John Green for the donation of funding which had provided sheds and water butts on allotments in Bretton.

• In response to questions raised by David Hudson and Richard Hulcoon, the Assistant Neighbourhood Manger advised the Committee that a site visit had been conducted in the Peterborough West area to ascertain the issues surrounding grass cutting and other environmental issues.  The Committee were also advised that a plan of action in order to deal with the landscape issues would be included in future initiatives for the area.

• Following concerns raised regarding the installation of yellow lines at Atherston Avenue, Buckland Road and Walcott Walk areas, the Network Team Manager advised that the appeals procedure against the decision would need to be submitted via email or in writing.

• Residents raised a number of issues concerning:

o       Improvements on paving slabs, which had not been included for all areas of Thorpe Meadows;

o       Overgrown weeds and grass in all ward areas of Peterborough West area; and

o       Public bins not being emptied.

• In response to a question from Mr Steve Lee, Members advised that contractors providing services on behalf of Peterborough City Council were being monitored on performance of service delivery by the Council’s Audit and Procurement teams.

• In response to a question raised by Councillor Sylvester, Councillor Fitzgerald advised that the Enterprise Peterborough (EP) contract had a number of years before the contract renewal was due; however if the Council found that EP were not delivering services within the contract specifications, then consideration should be given to pursue the withdrawal of the contract.  

• Councillor Fitzgerald advised the Neighbourhood Committee that Peterborough City Council had lost Government funding of £8 million pounds, which was the reason for this year’s Council Tax rise. 

• Councillor Murphy highlighted that the issues being experienced by EP was largely due to funding cuts and lack of staff training.

• In a response to a questions raised by Councillor Murphy over the Greenwood House and Welland House consultation, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care advised that the consultation paper was due to launch over the closure of the two care homes.  The Neighbourhood Committee was also advised that the consultation would explore whether private organisations would provide a cheaper service and would end in November.

• In response to a question raised by Judi Broadhead regarding vehicles using the Winslow Road as a turning place, the Network Team Manager advised that the situation was being monitored and that a response would be provided in due course.

• Judi Broadhead  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Find out about the Statement of Community involvement.

The Neighbourhood Committee received a presentation of the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) from the Principal Strategic Planning Officer, which was adopted in 2008 and would feed into various planning documents and set out how the public would become involved in the planning stages.  The Committee was also advised that the SCI document had been updated to incorporate the changes made over the previous twelve months due to the introduction of the Localism Act.

Comments and responses to questions were as follows:

• In response to a question raised by Steve Lee, the Principal Strategic Planning Officer advised that ten days support would be provided by the Council for each community wishing to comprise their own supplementary planning document.  The Committee was also advised that the SCI document provided details on where further advice and support would be available.

• In response to a question raised by Steve Lee, the Principal Strategic Planning Officer advised that the Community Action Planning process would be an appropriate route in which to include the community’s proposals for access improvements for the railway station.

• Councillor Fitzgerald advised that the Leader of the Council was investigating the issue in terms of access to the land on the station quarter and how the land would be made available to receive improvements.

Find out about the progress of projects funded by your committee and discussion about future projects that you may wish to be funded.

The Neighbourhood Committee received an update from the Assistant Neighbourhood Manager on the funding allocation for the 2012/13 £25,000 budget for the Peterborough West  Neighbourhood Committee.  The Committee was also advised that funding had also been carried forward to install measures for verge parking. 

The Assistant Neighbourhood Manager advised the Committee that any member of the community that had ideas on how the funding should be allocated, they would be required to direct them towards their local Councillors.  A discussion on how the funding would be allocated would be discussed at the next Neighbourhood Committee meeting. 

Key points within the presentation were as follows:

• Currently working on out door green gyms from a previous budget.  Now consulting with residents and full updates would be provided at the next meeting.

Comments and responses to questions were as follows:

• In response to a question regarding how the funding would be utilised for larger neighbourhood projects, the Assistant Neighbourhood Manager advised that some ward areas in other Neighbourhood Committees had pooled their £25,000 allocation for larger projects.

The Neighbourhood Committee received an update from the Network Team Manger on the proposed options to make improvements to the area in order to stop verge parking.

The options to stop verge parking for Hartwell Way, Holdfield, Raleigh Way and Swanspool, were as follows:

1. Install a high earth bund between the junctions of Hartwell Way and Holdfield, which would cost c£1,000;
2. Create an unrestricted length of parking on the road.  This would require the revocation of the clearway and the introduction of double yellow lines to control where the parking was permitted.  Additional clearway signs would be required on Hartwell Way near the junctions with Raleigh Way and the signs at the entrance to Swanspool would be removed.  This option would cost c£12,500; or 
3. Create a small area of grasscrete, including the installation of parking signs between Raleigh Way and Swanspool, which would cost c£2,500 for a 10m length (sufficient to park 2 vehicles).

Comments and responses to questions were as follows:

• In response to a question raised about the maintenance of the high earth bunding, the Network Team Manager advised that these would be grassed and could therefore be mown in the same manner as other verges through the Council’s existing grounds maintenance contract.

• Councillor Murphy commented that enforcement should be considered in addressing the damage caused by residents at  Holdfield.

• Councillor Murphy asked that residents consider the option of forming a focus group in order to tackle the parking issues being experienced and to discuss the deterrent options that had been put forward.

• Councillor Murphy highlighted that Grange Road was becoming dilapidated and should be investigated in order to ascertain what had caused the issue.

• In response to a question raised about whether consideration should be given to install wooden posts, the Network Team Manager advised that the post option would cost considerably more than the installation of grass bunds.

• A number of residents commented that the introduction of grass bunds in the North Bretton area had proved to be successful in discouraging verge parking.

• The Network Team Manager advised that although the funding had been allocated towards the parking improvement project, the Neighbourhood Committee was required to inform the Network Team on which option they wanted to adopt.

Agreed Actions

It was agreed that the residents and ward Councillors would highlight the preferred option for the verge parking improvements with the Assistant Neighbourhood Manager.

The next meeting will be held on 15 October 2012, venue to be confirmed.

The next meeting of the Neighbourhood Committee was due to be held on 15 October 2012, Copland Centre, Bretton.