Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Onsanya and Sales.

Name	Item	Interest
Councillor Manning	13/59/NAC	Personal: Discussed the Discovery Way play area with Metropolitan Housing Association officers.

 

The minutes of the 16 May 2013 meeting were approved and signed as a correct record, subject to 13/46/NAC North Transport Corridor question 6 being amended to list Milton Road instead of Mill Road.

 

The Committee reviewed progress on the following as listed on the committee action sheet:

 

      i.          13/43/NAC Open Forum: Look into the poor state of the zebra crossing in Chesterton High Street – and the need for repair.

 

North Area Committee (NAC) were informed that repairs had been undertaken to the zebra crossing surfaces outside the Haymakers and Elizabeth Way, but the crossings were not painted to indicate they were pedestrian crossings.

 

Councillor Manning undertook to follow up the issues and report back to a future meeting.

 

    ii.          13/43/NAC Open Forum: Anti-social cycling in Metcalf and Gilbert Road – on-going discussions with officers.

 

Councillor Scutt to follow up the issues and report back to a future meeting.

 

 iii.          13/44/NAC Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods: Liaise with the Police on Councillor Manning’s suggestion regarding highlighting additional ‘root causes’ of issues in their reports. This would allow the Area Committee to take away and progress issues that were not directly under the control of the Police.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones undertook to continue working with the Police to follow up the issues.

  iv.          13/45/NAC Devolved Decision-Making and Developer Contributions: Organise a tour of the proposed Play Area Sites prior to the committee making a final decision.

 

Item covered under minute item 13/58/NAC.

 

    v.          13/45/NAC Devolved Decision-Making and Developer Contributions: Organise a site visit to the Sikh Community Centre for members to look at the plans and proposals in more detail.

 

Item covered under minute item 13/58/NAC.

 

  vi.          13/46/NAC North Transport Corridor Area Transport Plans: Proposal for a further meeting of the Fen Road Steering group: The Area Manager (Traffic) agreed to progress this with Network Rail and then liaise with Councillor Todd-Jones.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones said a meeting would be held 22 August 2013. It was hoped this would lead to greater resident involvement in the Fen Road Steering Group; and would also be an opportunity to follow up on any outstanding actions.

7 – 7..30

1.    Mr Robertson raised the following points on behalf of the Friends of Milton Road Library:

·       The County Council were currently consulting the community regarding uses for the building. The County Council were committed to retaining a library service, but not necessarily in the same building.

·       There was a need to make better use of the library building to make it a community hub. Options for building use were under review.

·       Requested the community hub proposal be considered for s106 funding in future.

 

Councillor Manning undertook to liaise with Councillor Scutt regarding s106 funding. NAC requested an update be brought back to a future committee.

 

The Urban Growth Project Manager said the second round for priority setting for shortlisting developer contributions was coming to the 3 October 2013 NAC. Any proposals could be discussed then.

 

2.    Mr Soer raised concerns regarding lack of cleaning in the Arbury/Campkin Road car park and queried who is responsible for taking (maintenance) action in future.

 

Action Point: Councillors Price and Ward to pass on Mr Soer’s concerns regarding lack of cleaning in the car park to council officers and identify who is responsible for taking (maintenance) action in future.

 

3.    Ms Ashton referred to the developer contributions and devolved decision-making first round priority-setting for play area improvement report and requested equipment be allocated to the estate on Discovery Way. She had worked with Councillor Manning to demonstrate the need for the equipment.

 

4.    Mr Soer thanked the City Council for £80,000 to refurbish the small hall at Arbury Community centre.

The Chair ruled that under 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 the late item from the Safer Communities Section Manager be considered despite not being made publicly available for this committee five clear days prior to the meeting.

 

The reason that this document could not be deferred was that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the next committee.

The Committee received a report from the Safer Communities Section Manager.

 

The report outlined that the Youth Support Service has lodged an application for a Safer City grant up to £2,960 to pay for a residential visit to develop the film-making and spoken word poetry work. This would be undertaken by 10 young women living in Arbury and King’s Hedges (aged between 14 and 16) during a 4-month project to address risk-taking and anti-social behaviour.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Safer Communities Section Manager said that projects were evaluated at the end of the funding process to ascertain value for money.

 

Members resolved (unanimously) to approve the £2,960 grant for the North City Girls Group.

The Committee received a report from the Urban Growth Project Manager.

 

The report outlined that Area Committees have devolved decision-making powers over how some types of developer contributions are used.

 

Local residents and community groups were consulted in October 2012 on ideas for new/improved local facilities to help address the impact of development. In the first priority-setting round last November, the North Area Committee set three local priorities.

 

Supplementary (‘provision for children and teenagers’) developer contributions were made available to the North Area from the citywide fund in January 2013. The Area Committee in May then considered its options for improving a local play (from the eight suggested for improvement via last autumn’s area consultation), but deferred making a decision. Members asked for more information about the possible sites, as well as more demographic and mapping data. This was provided in appendices to the Officer’s report.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Urban Growth Project Manager plus the Streets and Open Spaces Asset Manager said the following:

 

                 i.          Undertook to update map details.

 

Action Point: Tim Wetherfield, Urban Growth Project Manager to update map details to list Bateson Road play area on the map of proposed projects.

 

               ii.          Circa £15,000 to £20,000 of informal open space funding was available in addition to the £57,500 allocated to NAC.

             iii.          NAC could only prioritise one project, even if funding was available for more. This was to ensure the process was consistent between area committees.

             iv.          Officers had met developers, who were happy in principle to redistribute surplus play equipment from the VIE Estate around the north area.

 

Action Point: Alistair Wilson, Streets and Open Spaces Asset Manager to bring back a report to a future committee meeting on how surplus play equipment from the VIE Estate can be distributed around the north area.

 

From the list of play area in section 3.5 of the Officer’s report, NAC identified the following proposals as ones they were minded to fund:

 

                 i.          Alexandra Gardens

               ii.          Chestnut Grove

             iii.          Discovery Way

 

Following discussion, Members resolved (by 10 votes to 1 with 1 abstention) that Chestnut Grove was the North Area Committee fourth priority from the first round of devolved decision-making to improve using developer contributions.

The Committee received a report from the Head of Community Development.

 

The report provided an update on the provisional grant award of £50k made by this committee in November 2012 to provide a community room within the Gurdwara in Kings Hedges. The Sikh community have now changed their plans. The internal space (which was to be the community room) has been improved and decorated and they have installed a new kitchen. The space is now used by their community for communal meetings and eating. Their new plans need to be worked up in more detail but include the construction of a stand-alone community facility at the rear of their car parking area. They are asking for approval of a revised grant of £100,000.

 

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

 

1.       Mr Bond sought reassurance that the Gurdwara in Kings Hedges would be open to general community use if funding was allocated. The number of community facilities was reducing in the north area, so those that remained should be open to all.

 

2.       Mr Soer supported Mr Bond’s question/comment.

 

The Head of Community Development said that currently people were invited into the Gurdwara to learn about Sikhism, but the meeting room was not hired out as a community facility. The proposed new building would be open to Sikh and community use. If funding was allocated, the grant agreement required facilities to be available for community use or the money could be reclaimed.

 

The Head of Community Development was liaising with the County Council regarding an extension to the Buchan Street Community Centre. This was a separate application to the Gurdwara.

 

NAC commented in response to the report that funding had previously been allocated to the Gurdwara for a community scheme. This did not appear to have occurred as the community room was not open to all. If funding were allocated in future, NAC expected general community facilities to be made available.

 

Following discussion, Members resolved (unanimously):

 

       i.          To withdraw its offer of a £50k capital grant to the Gurdwara for an internal community room and to invite Dr Jagjit Singh to submit detailed proposals for his community’s revised scheme in the autumn for consideration as part of the next round of project prioritisation under the Council’s devolved decision making process for developer contributions. As set out under Option B in paragraph 3.7 of the Officer’s report.

     ii.          To support the initial proposals to create additional community space at Buchan Street Neighbourhood Centre and to ask officers to consult the Executive Councillor for Community Wellbeing. If she is supportive, to report back to the area committee with detailed proposals and a project appraisal.

The Committee received a report from the Project Delivery & Environment Manager. The report outlined new suggested schemes for 2013/14 and requested that the Committee determine whether the proposed minor traffic regulation order (TRO) schemes, listed in Appendix E of the Officer’s report should be allocated funding from NAC’s remaining joint minor highway works budget.

 

The Project Delivery & Environment Manager brought the report up to date by stating Riverside Bridge Community Noticeboard could be discounted from the list of Environmental Improvement Programme (EIP) projects; and that Brimley Road School Warning Signs should be added to the list of Appendix E TRO schemes at a cost of £750.

 

New Schemes That Require Decisions

Members considered a number of 2013/14 schemes put forward for approval.

 

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

 

1.       Mr Bond made the following points:

 

·       Supported funding being allocated to the hanging baskets in Chesterton High Street.

·       Suggested that Elizabeth Way Bridge was subject to repetitive vandalism, so may not be a priority for funding.

 

2.       Mrs Johnson queried progress of tree replacement verge improvement work in Castle Way. Work to date had been unsatisfactory.

 

Action Point: Andrew Preston, Project Delivery & Environment Manager to liaise with county council officers to follow up improvement work to Castle Way verges.

 

Andrew Preston, Project Delivery & Environment Manager to liaise with Alistair Wilson, Streets and Open Spaces Asset Manager regarding replacement tree planting on Carlton Way.

 

Members indicated as follows which of the feasible EIP schemes for 2013/14 they were minded to prioritise for Environmental Improvement funding:

 

1.    Cockerell Road Parking provision (minded not to prioritise nem con).

2.    Perse Way Verge Protection (minded to prioritise by 6 votes to 0).

3.    Brimley Road Grass Verges (minded to prioritise by 6 votes to 3).

4.    Alex Wood Road Grass Verges (minded not to prioritise nem con).

5.    Carlton Way Verges (minded not to prioritise nem con).

6.    Arbury Road/HansonCourt Tree Removal (minded to prioritise by 7 votes to 2).

7.    Ramsden Square / Kings Hedges Road Verge Parking (minded to prioritise by 6 votes to 1).

8.    Fen Road Traffic Calming Improvements (minded to prioritise by 9 votes to 0).

9.    Fallowfield Environmental Improvements (minded not to prioritise nem con).

10.                    Fallowfields Loop (minded not to prioritise nem con).

11.                    Fen Road / East Chesterton Halingway Access (minded not to prioritise nem con).

12.                    Mariner's Way/Cutter Ferry Close Underpass (minded not to prioritise by 7 votes to 5).

13.                    Ashfield Road Verges (minded not to prioritise nem con).

14.                    Milton Road/Green End Road (minded not to prioritise by 6 votes to 3).

15.                    Riverside Bridge Community Noticeboard (minded not to prioritise nem con).

16.                    Kinross Area New Benches (minded to prioritise by 11 votes to 0).

17.                    Hanging Baskets, High Street Chesterton (minded to prioritise by 10 votes to 0).

18.                    Green End Road Pedestrian Crossing (minded to prioritise by 7 votes to 4).

19.                    Green End Road Tree Planting (minded to prioritise by 11 votes to 0).

20.                    Brown's Field - Additional Bench (minded not to prioritise nem con).

21.                    Bramblefields Local Nature Reserve - Additional bench (minded to prioritise by 6 votes to 1).

 

Following discussion, Members resolved:

       i.          To allocate funding of £15,300 to the following schemes in Appendix A of the Officer’s report as matched funding for County Council Local Highway Improvement funding:

·       Fen Road / East Chesterton Halingway Access - £300.

·       Fallowfields Loop - £15,000.

     ii.          To allocate annual funding of £5,954 to the installation of hanging baskets on High Street, Chesterton as shown in Appendix A of the Officer’s report.

   iii.          To allocate funding of up to £50,084 to the remaining proposed projects in Appendix A of this report, namely:

·       Arbury Road / Hanson Court Tree Removal - £13,000.

·       Ramsden Square / Kings Hedges Road Verge Parking - £3000.

·       Fen Road Traffic Calming Improvements - £20,000.

·       Kinross Area – New Benches – £2,500.

·       Green End Rd Crossing visibility improvements – £2,500.

·       Green End Rd Tree Planting - £8,500.

   iv.          To approve projects for implementation, subject to positive consultation and final approval by local Ward Councillors.

    v.          To note the progress of existing schemes listed in Appendix C of the Officer’s report.

   vi.          To approve the delivery of the new minor traffic regulation orders listed in Appendix E plus Brimley Road School Warning Signs, at a total estimated cost of £5,550, funded by the remainder of the North Area Committee 2011/12 joint minor highway works budget.

The Committee received a presentation from the 20 MPH Project Officer regarding the Cambridge 20mph Project.

 

The presentation outlined:

       i.          Residents had been consulted on proposals.

     ii.          66% of respondents were in favour of the introduction of 20 MPH on the unclassified roads.

   iii.          63% of respondents were in favour of the introduction of 20 MPH on ‘C’ class roads.

   iv.          Responses varied in favour of the introduction of 20 MPH on the following roads:

·       Arbury Road.

·       Chesterton High Street.

·       Gilbert Road.

·       Green End Road.

·       King’s Hedges Road.

 

NAC were asked to provide comments and recommendations to the Executive Councillor for Planning and Climate Change (Councillor Tim Ward) and the Environment Scrutiny Committee at which a final decision on potential implementation of the project will be made. Specifically:

 

       i.          Whether to introduce a 20mph limit on the unclassified roads in the North Phase area.

     ii.          Whether to introduce a 20mph limit on all/none/some of the C Class roads within the North Phase area.

 

The Committee and members of the public made the following comments in response to the presentation:

 

       i.          Residents asked if they could show support for schemes through measures such as stickers on bins.

     ii.          Victoria Road could be considered as a 20 MPH project in future. Residents strongly supported this.

   iii.          The speed limit in Gilbert and Kings Hedges Roads should remain at 30 MPH.

   iv.          Concern over anticipated lack of 20 MPH enforcement by the police.

 

Councillor Tunnicliffe formally requested that Victoria Road be considered as a 20 MPH project in future. Councillor Ward undertook to follow this up for phase 2.

 

Following discussion, Members:

 

       i.          Resolved (by 11 votes to 0) to note the consultation outcomes.

     ii.          Resolved to recommend to the Executive Councillor for Planning and Climate change and the Environment Scrutiny:

·       To introduce a 20mph limit on the unclassified roads in the North Phase area (agreed by 11 votes to 0).

·       To introduce a 20mph limit on the more main (‘C’ class) roads within the North Phase area as indicated below:

o   Arbury Road (agreed by 10 votes to 0).

o   Chesterton High Street (agreed by 11 votes to 0)

o   Gilbert Road (lost by 8 votes to 0).

o   Green End Road (agreed by 9 votes to 0)

o   King’s Hedges Road (lost by 5 votes to 0).

·       Add Victoria Road as a 20 MPH project in phase 2 (agreed by 10 votes to 0).

 

Although County Councillors were unable to vote on this item, they asked the minutes to show they supported the Committee’s resolutions.

 

Councillor Ward did not take part in the voting as he would later take a decision at the Environment Committee in his capacity as Executive Councillor for Planning and Climate Change.