Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Lee and McPherson.

No interests were declared.

The notes of the meeting held on 6 March 2023 were noted.

Councillor Hauk contacted the Police to advise them a representative was not present at 6 March meeting. The Area Officer had changed and the new contact Sergeant Sutcliffe would attend meetings in future.

 

Councillor Slatter said the Police were concerned about cycle theft and security in the Trumpington area. This could be an issue to raise at 4 September South Area Committee.

 

Action Point: Councillor Hauk to invite Police to attend next South Area Committee to follow up issues raised by public speaker about cycle crime and hate crime (Racial Harassment Team representative to be invited).

Members of the public asked a number of questions, as set out below.

 

1.    The RARA Secretary raised the following issues:

                i.          Suspicious, anti-social and criminal activities were embedded on Greenlands for decades.

               ii.          This was a quiet small backwater that often got overlooked hence its attractions to those involved in criminal activity.

             iii.          Queried where foot fall of pedestrians, bike, mopeds/motorbikes and parked vehicles had gone since temporary CCTV was installed?

             iv.          Illegal use of escooters. Greenlands was a no Voi Ride Zone. 80% of illegal e scooters were often speeding and did not stop at junctions or for pedestrians when on Greenlands pavement/private land coming from the Cambridge University Hospital (CUH) site.

              v.          Could the community keep the  CCTV currently in place?

             vi.          Could a gate be put back Red Cross Lane to Addenbrookes and 2 gates put back on private land of Greenlands to Ninewells, bringing back cul-de-sacs to original design that was in place until 2015 when anti-social, suspicious and illegal activities significantly increased.

 

Councillor Davies said some temporary  CCTV had been installed and had reduced anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the area.

 

A member of the public suggested CCTV was provided by CUH.

 

Councillor Dryden said that residents and local businesses had paid to install CCTV in Cherry Hinton. This had cost £17,000 at the time, so Trumpington Ward residents may wish to do the same.

 

Post Meeting Note: The ASB team became aware of the issues in the Greenlands and Red Cross Lane areas in March following an invitation to attend a meeting organised by the Residents Association.  The meeting was called to address the concerns in relation to anti-social parking or driving by those using the  roads as a rat run to the Addenbrookes site and worries about an increase in criminal and suspicious activity including possible drug related activity.  The Residential Team in Environmental Health were also looking into the management of homes in multiple occupation in the area.

 

Officers agreed to submit and a temporary R-CCTV application following consultation with the Residents Association who were reporting the concerns and agreed, the lamppost on the junction of Greenlands estate and Red Cross Lane was agreed to be the most appropriate location for the CCTV.

 

Since the R-CCTV was installed, the Residents Association reported a significant improvement in the area. Officers were currently unaware of any specific hotspots that could be linked to the displacement of ASB due to the installation of the CCTV.

 

The Council was undertaking a CCTV review this year, the review would analyse crime against CCTV locations in the city to determine whether permanent cameras could be moved into different locations.

 

Action Point: Councillor Davies to follow up issues raised by Coordinator Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (RARA Secretary) regarding CCTV in Red Cross Lane/Greenlands:

·       Who installed it?

·       Who monitored it?

·       Was installation temporary or permanent? How to make permanent if only temporary?

 

2.    A member of the public raised the following issues:

                i.          Had seen the consultation regarding Hobson's Park becoming a dogs on-lead only park during the bird nesting season.

               ii.          There were clear paths through the grass areas.

             iii.          Imposing a ‘dogs on leads’ only policy was not the best option. Queried if other options were considered.

             iv.          People had gone through the temporary fences to fish in the pond in Hobson Park. This was more of an issue for nesting birds than dogs off leads. Most people who walked in the park were responsible dog walkers, only a minority were not.

 

Post Meeting Note: There were two temporary fences in Hobson Park, acting as a deterrent to people, who would ignore the signs to stay out of the bird reserve (pond area). Two permanent wooden gates were installed in their place mid-April.

 

Councillor Hauk said the Review of Public Spaces Protection Order for Dog Control would be considered at 29 June Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee. Queried if this would address dog attack and fouling issues?

 

The Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager said papers for the Review of Public Spaces Protection Order for Dog Control would be published 19 June. All consultation responses had been considered. Would be happy to respond further in 29 June Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee if questions from South Area Committee were not addressed in Review of Public Spaces Protection Order for Dog Control.

 

3.    A member of the public raised the following issues:

                i.          Asked how were south area councillors holding the biomedical campus to account for the lack of enforcement of the ANPR cameras?

               ii.          Stated zero tickets were issued in the period September 2021 to August 2022. In the period September to November 2022 195 enforcement notices were issued to drivers indicating it was a route for Cambridge residents to misuse.

             iii.          Was disappointed to see that only 14 notices were issued the period December 2022 to February 2023.

             iv.          It seemed clear that Prologis and Kings Hill Management were not delivering for the campus and are failing to meet a vital condition of the planning permission under which they are operating.

              v.          Queried what would be done about the lack of ANPR enforcement along with the endemic anti-social driving and illegal driving along this stretch of road with zero enforcement or support from the authorities? Top speed recorded of 72mph in a 30mph zone.

 

Action Point: Councillor Slatter to follow up issues raised by public speaker about anti-social driving (noise, speeding and rat running) on Addenbrooke’s Drive.

 

Action Point: Councillor Hauk to follow up issues raised by public speaker about anti-social driving on Addenbrooke’s Drive. Specifically contacting David Plank (TRA) to get further details about CCTV footage that could be passed to the Police to take enforcement action.

 

4.    A member of the public raised the following issues:

                i.          Could the Committee follow up previous discussions with The Junction (who presented at a previous meeting a few years ago) on neighbourhood outreach?

               ii.          Each autumn The Junction hosted a showcase event for VIPs. Could they also host a similar event inviting local residents in the wards close to its venue? One piece of feedback from a pre-CV19 community forum in Coleridge, was that residents rarely received anything from The Junction - even though local residents are ideally placed to buy up any last-minute tickets and/or book the facilities the venue has for community activities. It would be good to see at least a leaflet drop for local residents this autumn mindful of the fairly high population turnover that Cambridge has.

 

Action Point: Answer pending from Community Development Manager (Place)) / Senior Arts Development Officer) / Culture & Community Manager.

 

5.    A member of the public raised the following issues:

                i.          The ongoing, but incomplete, works to fix the roofing at the apartments on Whittle Avenue (some 18months since they were damaged).

               ii.          The information on the Hobson's Park consultation and data.

 

Councillor Slatter said she had visited Whittle Avenue when the damage had occurred. She would follow up as scaffolding was still in place.

 

Action Point: Councillor Slatter to follow up issues raised by public speaker about apartments on Whittle Avenue.

 

The Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager re-iterated the Review of Public Spaces Protection Order for Dog Control was going to committee on 29 June following the consultation (as required by the legislation) where responses had been fully reviewed and amendments made if appropriate. Was unable to detail what these might be until the papers were released on 19 June.  If members felt that the Order as proposed in the paper was not suitable and they would like further review and amendments made then that decision could be made at committee. It was not ‘a given’ that the PSPO will be signed off and approved as  proposed in the Officer’s report, but it would be scrutinised at the committee. Welcomed any comments/questions on the 29 June around the PSPO and its contents.

The Committee received a report from the Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager.

 

The report outlined an overview of the council’s Streets and Open Spaces, Environmental Health and Shared Waste service activity in the Area Committee area over the past six months.

 

The Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager noted a typographical error on agenda P26 / P14 of the Officer’s report: Gresham Road, Bateman Street, Lammas Land were not in Trumpington (or the South Area) due to the recent boundary changes. Therefore figures in the report should be lower to omit these areas.

 

The Committee discussed the following issues:

      i.          Welcomed community payback schemes. Queried who to liaise with to set these up.

     ii.          An abandoned car in Cherry Hinton and how to report it.

   iii.          Church End garages left vehicles parked in local streets causing anti-social parking and perception of abandoned vehicle issues.

   iv.          Fly tipping across the South Area. There were hot spots in Trumpington. Suggested monitoring via CCTV.

    v.          Needle drops in Glebe Road.

   vi.          Lights were not working in parts of Glebe Road.

 vii.          Queried how to better promote environmental work such as community clean-up days as residents were unaware of them.

viii.          Queried if postcard sized information cards be produced for residents to give to neighbours to prompt maintenance action eg if vegetation overhung pathways.

   ix.          Overhanging branches onto public footpaths.

    x.          Poor maintenance of grass in Cherry Hinton.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager said the following:

      i.          Requested councillors and residents contacted officers listed at the back of the Environmental Report about issues.

     ii.          Had no redeployable CCTV cameras for flytipping at present.

 

Action Point: Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager to review if covert CCTV cameras could be purchased and used to take enforcement action against fly tipping etc, and review relevant legal issues as there were additional legal steps to take to  deploy covert cameras.

 

   iii.          Clean up days were promoted to residents by fliers. These were targeted at certain roads, not whole wards, as there was limited capacity to take away rubbish. Officers could liaise with Ward Councillors in future to ensure they were aware of issues/arrangements.

   iv.          All fly tipping events were logged by officers to build up intelligence about issues such as hot spots.

    v.          The County Council were responsible for maintenance of overhanging vegetation over public footpaths and highways. They had postcard sized information fliers and an online reporting tool.

   vi.          Welcomed intelligence from residents about fly tipping etc. Needed information as evidence as Officers were unable to take enforcement action based on hearsay.

 

Action Point: Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager to ask City Council Communications Team to consider issuing statement or similar around how to report overhanging vegetation / branches to the County Council.

 

 vii.          A Community Protection Notice was good for taking enforcement action against individuals, whereas Public Space Protection Orders  were better to protect (large) areas such as open spaces.