Agenda and minutes

The Committee Manager took the chair whilst the East Area Committee elected a chair.

 

Councillor Sinnott proposed, and Councillor Baigent seconded, the nomination of Councillor Blencowe as Chair.

 

Resolved 7 votes to 0 that Councillor Blencowe be Chair for the ensuing year.

 

Councillor Roberts proposed and Councillor Sinnott seconded the nomination of Councillor Owers as Vice-Chair.

 

Resolved 7 votes to 0 that Councillor Owers be Vice-Chair for the ensuing year.  

 

Councillor Blencowe assumed the Chair from the Committee Manager at this point.

Apologies were received from City Councillor Hart and County Councillor Kavanagh.

No interests were declared.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 April 2015.

 

Minutes to follow.

To be provided at the next meeting.

Open forum 08/01/15 monitoring of planning condition relating to student accommodation

 

Councillor Blencowe confirmed that reactive rather than proactive monitoring was taking place. The issue was discussed at the 1 July 2015 Planning Committee. A briefing on student accommodation would be held for councillors in August or September.

 

Tenison Road Bollards outside numbers 37/39 and the junction with Mill Road

 

It was confirmed that one bollard had been replaced on - 22 June 2015.

 

Notification of the Devonshire Road new cycle link

 

Councillor Blencowe confirmed that the cycle link came to Planning Committee July 2015 and he would continue to liaise with Mr Leigh on this issue.

 

Making the maximum financial return from assets

 

Councillor Whitehead confirmed that the County Council was being pushed to maximise financial return of assets. However finance was not the only criterion and a list other criteria would be considered on a disposal.

 

Councillor Walsh confirmed that assets could be sold at less than best value, but any such decision had to be approved by Full Council.

 

Environmental Data Reports – EAC

Cllr Roberts to liaise with Cllr Sinnott regarding scheduling another community clear out opportunity.

1.           Mr John Franks requested that the sand in Sleaford Street Play Park was replaced, as cats had excreted in the sand.

 

ACTION: Councillor Blencowe confirmed that he would follow this matter up with Declan O’Halloran Technical Officer.

 

2.           Mr Richard Taylor raised concerns about the summer activity programme for boys.  The summer activity programme for girls had a large range of activities which included dancing and hula hooping whereas the only activity offered for boys was a small discount on swimming which seemed unfair.  It was acknowledged that there was a difference in activity levels between boys and girls but this should not affect the number of activities offered to boys and girls.

 

Councillor Blencowe stated that there was a large programme of children’s activities across the City and that this should be considered in context.  

 

Councillor Johnson stated that the project was meant to address the gap in participation in activities.  Only half as many women participate in sport compared to men.  Councillor Johnson had had a discussion with the Head of Communities, Arts and Recreation and dance classes had specifically been requested.

 

3.           Dr Tony Eva raised concern about climate change and stated that England had experienced one of the warmest ever July days.  Did the Council feel that climate change was a great threat and what was the Council doing about it?

 

Councillor Owers confirmed that climate change fell within his remit as the Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources.  The City Council’s Climate Change Strategy was being reviewed and was going to Strategy and Resources Committee in October 2015 for consideration.  The Council needed to look at how it could work with other organisations to reduce their carbon footprint and how Cambridge could be adapted to deal with climate change.  One climate change issue that Cambridge was at serious risk of was water shortage.  Mr Eva was encouraged to attend the Strategy and Resources Committee in October when the matter would be considered.

 

ACTION: Councillor Owers to liaise with Dr Eva regarding the Climate Change Strategy.

 

Councillor Sinnott said important research had been carried out over the past year into climate change and inequalities. New initiatives had been made as a result.  One example was that Councillor Roberts had looked at a number of different materials which could be recycled.

 

Councillor Smart commented that climate change was an issue which created a great deal of debate but was an issue that the Council was taking very seriously.  The Climate Change Strategy looked at attempts to get people from driving their cars onto other modes of transport.  Councillor Smart was also pleased to see a whole series of houses had applied to have external insulation so that less money would need to be spent on heating and cooling the properties.  New developments on the edge of the city had also taken steps to provide greener development.   

 

Mr Frank Gawthrop commented in relation to solid wall insulation that there had been 2 applications in Tenison Road which had been withdrawn following objections from the Conservation Officer.  It would have been helpful for the public, if there had been guidance provided about the installation of solid wall insulation within a conservation area.

 

Councillor Whitehead signposted Climate Change Strategy information on the County Council website.

 

4.           Ms Melanie D’Souza raised a concern regarding education particularly relating to pressures of overly subscribed schools places at St Phillips School. 

 

St Philip's Primary School in Romsey Town is regularly and increasingly oversubscribed. It appeared to me that the current council response is to do nothing until Abbey Meadows School reached capacity from the overflow of Romsey children. Is this the case?

-What work is the County and City Council doing on this issue? What are the projected numbers of school age children in Romsey in future years? What extra places would be needed at St Phillip's to satisfy local demand?

-What response is being considered? What consideration has been given to:

a) alter catchment areas

b) increase the capacity of St Philip's site

c) build another school, when, where and how?

d) extending Abbey Meadows

 

What are the issues that affect the Council's decision making? What factors are beyond their control? What are the pros and cons of the options above?

 

Councillor Whitehead stated that a written response had been provided to Ms D’Souza by an Education Officer.  The County Council had a statutory responsibility to provide school places and the County Council completed the admissions process for all schools.  As far as possible the County Council did try to accommodate the parent’s choice and 96% of parents got their first choice of school.  There were no plans to build a school.  Provided children were able to get a school place then there would be no plans to build a school, however this would be kept under review.  The County Council had to ensure that a child was provided with a place at a school however it could not guarantee that the child would be offered a place at the parent’s school of choice.  There was an appeals procedure for parents if their children were placed in different schools.

 

Councillor Smith stated that this was a big issue in Romsey.  Abbey Meadows School was probably in statutory terms within the area but the route to school, in terms of the nature of the journey and distance to the school should be taken into account and this should be kept under review.

 

Councillor Baigent stated that it did not seem right in Romsey that a family had to pass a school in order to get to another school.

 

Councillor Smart commented that this was an issue which had arisen over the last 3-4 years and could understand the difficulties if a family had one child at St Phillips School and another at Abbey Meadows.  There was a problem if no further expansion was planned for St Phillips, this seemed to be an issue which showed no sign of going away. 

 

Councillor Moghadas had spoken with a resident who was very upset and stated that they may have to move because of the different schools that their children attended.  It sounded collectively like there was an issue regarding school places in Romsey.

 

ACTION: Cllr Whitehead to liaise with Ms D’Souza regarding school places query post meeting.

The Committee received a report from Sergeant Colin Norden regarding the policing and safer neighbourhoods’ trends.

 

The report outlined actions taken since the Committee on 8 January 2015. The current emerging issues/neighbourhood trends for each ward were also highlighted (see report for full details).

 

Previous priorities and engagement activity noted in the report were:

i.             Tackling the supply of drugs in the East area

ii.            Anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the Petersfield and Mill Road areas.

iii.           Speeding and anti-social cycling

 

The Committee discussed the following policing issues:

     i.        Work to address antisocial behaviour in Petersfield open spaces.

    ii.        Public Space Protections Orders. These addressed a lot of anti-social behaviour issues associated with street drinking in the Mill Road area. They were being monitored to ensure that anti-social behaviour was not being moved from one area to another (i.e. somewhere without a Public Space Protections Order.)

   iii.        Measures to address street drinking:

·        Reduce the strength campaign.

·        Review of premises licences where alcohol was knowingly sold to intoxicated people.

·        Intelligence/evidence from residents very much welcomed.

·        The street life community needed space too.

  iv.        How to report issues by email instead of using the 101 telephone number.

 

ACTION: Lynda Kilkelly to circulate email contact details.

 

   v.        Tenison Road residents to meet the Speedwatch Co-ordinator to address speeding in Tenison Road.

  vi.        Bike thefts in Petersfield ward.

 vii.        Residents could register details about their property (e.g. serial numbers, descriptions, photos etc) on https://www.immobilise.com/ to give the Police sufficient details to identify and return stolen property.

viii.        Drug dealing in Romsey Recreation Ground toilets.

 

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

 

1.      Mr Richard Taylor asked whether statistics were kept on the use of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) and if fixed penalty notices were issued how many people went to court.

 

Sergeant Norden responded that a common sense approach was being taken to the issuing of fixed penalty tickets.  Police Officers carried a pocket notebook should an incident need to be recorded. 

 

Lynda Kilkelly stated that a procedure was in place to collect statistics however because the Order was new there were currently no statistics.  The statistics would be reported back to the Committee.

 

2. Ms Cranmer asked what action was being taken against people who drove across the pavement at Tenison Road. 

 

Sergeant Norden said that the Police would issues tickets or warnings if they witnessed an incident. Residents had passed a film of pavement parking to the Police which was being processed. A notice of intended prosecution is likely to follow.

 

3. Councillor Owers requested confirmation what the fixed tickets were usually issued for in relation to anti-social cycling.

 

Sergeant Norden confirmed that tickets for anti-social cycling were usually issued for cycling on the pavement or cycling through a red light.

 

4. Councillor Sinnott asked whether a breakdown of domestic violence statistics and data could be provided.

 

Lynda Kilkelly confirmed that this information would need to be found manually and would therefore be an issue surrounding resources.  However this may be able to be provided as a separate item in the future. 

 

5. Councillor Benstead stated that it appeared that there had been an increase in violent crimes and asked whether there was a reason for this.

 

Sergeant Norden confirmed that the Police had changed the way in which violent crimes were recorded and this might account for the increased figures.

 

Resolved (unanimously) to agree the following priorities:

 

i.        Continue with the work against the supply of Class A drugs and the presence of persons linked to organised crime groups from the London area.

ii.       Continue to target street drinking and alcohol-related ASB in the Petersfield and Mill Road areas.

iii       Continue to address road safety matters such as vehicle speeding and anti-social cycling.

The Committee received a report from the Operations Manager – Community Engagement and Enforcement. She brought the report up to date by stating:

 

- Riverside would now be included in priority 2 patrols for dog fouling

- Cleansing work had been undertaken on priority 8 cleansing around bench and surrounding area at Cavendish Road / Mill Road junction. 

 

The report outlined an overview of City Council Refuse and Environment and Streets and Open Spaces service activity relating to the geographical area served by the East Area Committee.  The report identified the reactive and proactive service actions undertaken in the previous quarter, including the requested priority targets and reports back on the recommended issues and associated actions to be targeted in the following.  It also included key officer contacts for the reporting of waste and refuse and public realm issues.

 

The following were suggestions for members on what action could be considered for priority within the East Area for the quarter of July to September 2015.  Amendments detailed by the Operations Manager – Community Engagement and Enforcement are shown underlined:

 

Continuing priorities:

i.             Enforcement patrols to tackle fly tipping at The Broadway and at Ekin Road

ii.            Early morning patrols for dog fouling at the following locations:

·        Romsey Recreation Ground

·        Petersfield Recreation Ground

·        Cannon Green

·        St Thomas’s Square and Road

·        Ravensworth Gardens play areas

·        Coldhams Common

·        Thorpe Way area

·        Riverside from Midsummer Common to Stourbridge Common

iii.           Enforcement patrols to deal with the litter issues at Cambridge Leisure Park at Clifton Road including liaison and educational work with nearby schools and colleges.

iv.          Enforcement work to tackle bins on streets in the Romsey and Petersfield areas.

v.           Enforcement work to tackle the environmental crime issue on Rope Walk including fly tipping and abandoned vehicles.

 

New suggested priorities:

 

vi.          Park deep cleanse, to include removal of graffiti, flyposting, litter, dog fouling, vegetation cut back and sweeping at Ditton Fields Recreation Ground, Brooks Road Play Area, Coleridge Recreation Ground and Flower Street play area.

vii.         Patrols to deal with illegal encamping at Barnwell East and West nature reserves.

viii.       On-going Cleansing around bench and surrounding area at Cavendish Road / Mill road junction. 

 

The Committee discussed the following issues:

i.     Dog fouling in Riverside and Cavendish Road areas.

ii.    Clarifying details on the City Council webpages regarding the difference between ward blitzes and ward clear outs. Residents would then know what to expect when a blitz or clear out was timetabled.

iii.   Enforcement action against vehicles without valid road tax.

iv.  Fly tipping in Ekin Road.

 

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

          i.   If a property did not have off street storage for waste receptacles, then alternative waste collection could possibly be offered by the City Council.

         ii.   Some notices had been issued to those properties who did not store their waste receptacles correctly.

       iii.   The City Council had devolved powers from the DVLA to obtain registered keeper details for vehicles.  One requirement of this devolved power was that the City Council was heavily audited to ensure that information was being obtained, used and stored correctly. 

 

A Member of the public asked whether allotment holders were permitted to have bonfires on their allotments or whether holders broke the rules if they did have a bonfire.

 

It was confirmed that allotments fell within the remit of Councillor O’Reilly and the officer would liaise with the relevant teams to provide an answer.

 

ACTION: Operations Manager to investigate the issue of the bonfire on Burnside Allotment, and if this contravened Allotment regulations (land was not managed byb the Council but by an allotment society.)

 

Following discussion, Members unanimously resolved to approve the continuing and new suggested priorities for action as amended above.

• Cambridge Airport Consultative Committee

 

• East Barnwell Community Centre

Resolved that Councillor Hart be the representative for the East Barnwell Community Centre for the ensuing year.

 

Resolved that the appointment of the representative for Cambridge Airport Consultative Committee be deferred to the next meeting.

 

ACTION: Committee Manager to check if this can be deferred, or should be an out of cycle decision.

Information report from County Council for Committee to note. There will be no discussion of this item.

 

Report to follow.

 

The Committee received the information report.

 

ACTION: Councillor Blencowe as Chair to invite Mike Davies Team Leader - Cycling Projects, Cambridgeshire County Council to the next Committee meeting to provide a report on, and answer questions about access from the rail station to Cambridge Leisure.