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Contact: Toni Birkin Committee Manager
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Smart and Perry. The Committee sent congratulations to Councillor Perry who gave birth to a son 23 February. |
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Welcome and Introduction (including Declarations of Interest) Minutes:
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You Want to Know (Open Forum) Minutes: Members of the public asked a number of questions, as set out below. 1. Jamie
Dalzell raised the following issues:
i.
The Jenny Wren Pub
was recently closed.
ii.
CAMRA were trying
to save the venue as a pub.
iii.
Asked North Area Committee
(NAC) to support CAMRA protecting the facilities by applying for the property
to be designated as an Asset of Community Value. Councillor Gawthrope said he had been in
contact with the developer’s agent and a presentation was expected at the Jenny
Wren Pub 8 March 2017. NAC agreed to support CAMRA’s application to
request the Jenny Wren Pub be designated as an Asset of Community Value. Claire King suggested the pub was already
listed an Asset of Community Value by the City Council. 2. Heather Glen
raised the following issues about the Gonville and
Caius College Boathouse:
i.
The bright light
at either end of the boathouse used during construction appeared to be
retained. This was intrusive for neighbours.
ii.
The towpath that
had runs between Elizabeth Way and Victoria Road had been open to rowers and
the general public for years. This had been locked/gated as of January. This
raised safety/access concerns for residents who wished to know who to contact
to re-open access to the towpath. Councillor Tunnacliffe said he was in
contact with Planners and Heather Glen to address the issues raised. 3. Richard
Taylor said that Gonville and Caius College had put a
lock on the gate between the college and riverside. Richard took issue with
this and asked NAC to look into riverside access in general. Councillor Tunnacliffe said he was resolving
the issue. 4. Elisa Meschini raised the following issues:
i.
The Post Office in
East Chesterton was due to close.
ii.
The alternative
Post Office had different opening hours.
iii.
Expressed concern
about the effects of the closure on residents. Councillor Bird said she had received a
letter from the Post Office that their premises in West Chesterton was unsafe
due to a ram raid and had to be rebuilt. Councillor Bird was aware of residents’
concerns about the alternative Post Office eg travel
distance and accessibility. Councillor Bird had passed on residents’ concerns
to the Post Office and asked for the new building to be accessible. She would
pass on further information to residents when received. 5. A member
of the public raised the following housing issues:
i.
The property on
the corner of Green End Road was unsightly. Queried what the Council would do
about this.
ii.
A property on the
(new) Water Street development appeared unoccupied although there was high
demand for housing in the city. Councillor Price said that properties on the
Water Street development had not been finished to the standards of the City
Council. Keepmoat (developers) were tasked with undertaking work then the City
Council would take control of the property letting. Councillor Price was concerned about the
delay and would follow this up with Keepmoat. Councillor Manning said it was the
responsibility of owners to maintain their properties (eg
Green End Road). The Green End Road property owners were not breaking any
building regulations so there was no legal redress to ensure the property is
tidied up. Councillor Bird suggested reporting the
issue to Environmental Health Officers. 6. Doug
Whyte raised the following issues:
i.
North area
residents were aware that people were trying their car doors when parked late
at night.
ii.
Queried why a
small camera was mounted on the traffic lights on Kings Hedges/Arbury Road.
iii.
Queried why
markings were being painted on various pathways eg
Mere Way. Councillor Price noted various members of
the public in the audience were aware of the car door issue. He suggested
reporting details to the police. Councillor Todd-Jones thought the small
camera mounted on the traffic lights on Kings Hedges/Arbury Road and markings
painted on various pathways eg Mere Way were related
to cycleway work. 7. Michael
Bond raised the following issues:
i.
Queried why
markings were being painted on Arbury Road pathways.
ii.
Noted a floating
bus stop had appeared unexpectedly in Green End Road.
iii.
Said that Kendal
Way had been closed. Councillor Todd-Jones said that Kendal Way
would re-open in March. Work was being undertaken there, Green End road and
Arbury on cycleways. Councillor Bird said various safety concerns
had arisen from the floating bus stop in Green End Road. She and other
councillors were unaware that one (with an associated drop kerb) was due to be
implemented. She would follow up with the Highways Engineer to check that no
more were expected. Action Point: Councillor Bird to check
progress regarding the pavement / cycleway in Green
End Road, specifically regarding drop kerb and
floating bus stop. 8. A member
of the public raised concern regarding the perceived lack of communication
between the City and County Councils regarding the floating bus stop in East
Chesterton. Councillor Sales said that the County
Council published information in public notices, but these were not high profile. Councillor Manning said that work in Green
End Road was a City Deal scheme. 9. Leila Dockerill asked for a barrier to stop cars parking on the kerbs in Campkin Road since the
fire in the shops. Councillor Price said that cars should not
park on the pavements but it was hard to prevent short stop offs. He had raised
this issue on several occasions. |
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Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Jason Ablewhite North Area Committee is pleased to welcome Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Jason Ablewhite who will give a brief presentation and will then take questions. Minutes: The Committee received a verbal presentation from the Police and Crime Commissioner. The verbal presentation outlined:
i.
The 4 statutory functions of a Police and Crime
Commissioner: ·
Hiring (and supporting) the Chief Constable. ·
Tax precepts. ·
Setting the Police and Crime Plan. ·
Firing the Chief Constable (if required).
ii.
The challenges and constraints for the Police: ·
Domestic violence. ·
Child abuse. ·
Drug related crime. ·
75% of calls to the Police were non-crime related eg people in mental crisis. ·
Cyber crime. ·
One off incidents eg
responding to emergencies such as Storm Doris.
iii.
Four key themes of the Police and Crime Plan: ·
Victims ·
Offenders ·
Communities ·
Transformation and working with strategic partners. The Police and Crime Commissioner said the following in response to
Members’ and public questions:
i.
Acknowledged that there would be posts on social
media when the police visited an area. Social media was a tool. Posts could be
full of assumptions rather than facts. Changes could be expected in future leading
to faster responses to misinformation. The public were asked to trust the
Police and let them get on with their job. Information would be circulated
afterwards.
ii.
The Police and Crime
Commissioner would listen to local concerns then raise these with the Chief
Constable of possible local priorities to be taken on-board by section
commanders. Area Committees were an important way of identifying local
priorities.
iii.
Speeding through towns/villages is one of the
challenges for the Police and Crime
Commissioner to address. Demand exceeded supply for road capacity/space, which
let to frustration and anti-social behavior. Action needed to be taken by
various organisations working in partnership, it was not just a police
enforcement issue. Speedwatch was operating in the
city. iv.
Acknowledged residents had concerns about levels of
crime in Orchard Park. Action Point: PCC to liaise with
Section Commander to request PCSOs be re-instated in Orchard Park; and to
liaise with residents about local issues.
v.
The Police worked with strategic partners to tackle
issues such as mental health and low level anti-social behaviour such as
littering. For example, various organisations are co-located in Peterborough
City Council offices to aid join up on priorities for action. It was within the
gift of the Chief Constable to deputise council officers to take
enforcement action on behalf of the
police eg issuing fixed penalty notices. vi.
There were various methods where the police could
address instances where people broke the law unintentionally eg driver awareness courses for speeding. The Police also
worked with strategic partners to proactively educate people to prevent
incidents eg the Chelsea’s Choice play raised issues
people should be mindful of. Overt and covert survellience
and enforcement action was taken against people who deliberately broke the law. vii.
Police Community Support Officers spent a lot of
time in schools to dissuade pupils from getting into crime through education
programmes. Action to tackle vandalism in Fenland was held up as a good
practice example for Cambridge City. Police Community Support Officers run
speed watch schemes in schools to try to educate and raise awareness of the
dangers of speeding. New technology enabled the Police to create educational
apps which were based on local streets so that students were able to relate to
the situation they were watching. viii.
The Police monitored motorists’ speed when
possible. Due to pressures of policing, greater priority is given to threat,
risk and harm so it was not possible to have as many mobile speed guns/cameras
as they would like. Funding has been made available for the Speedwatch
Co-ordinator post. Members of the public could volunteer to participate in speedwatch. ix.
The Police would stop cyclists riding on the
pavement and offer advice if they observed any incidents.
x.
The Police and Crime Commissioner was working with
the Chief Constable to review how best to utilise resources in the county. The
Police were working with key partners eg the YMCA to
assist the rehabilitation of offenders by ensuring they had accommodation upon
release from prison. xi.
Cameras were an important tool for reporting crime eg CCTV and head mounted cameras that people could wear. xii.
A tool for reporting crime would appear on the police
website in future. xiii.
Ensuring that Police Officers in general were aware
of International Women’s Day and how to deal with sexual assaults should be
part of their training. Action Point: PCC to liaise with Police to ensure training is given so
that the importance of International Women’s day is recognised
by the force. |
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Matters and Actions arising from the Minutes PDF 368 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on the 15th December 2016 were approved as correct record and signed by the Chair.
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Updates on New Station Project updates from: Christine Light, Programme Development Manager and Joe Smith, the Project Manager of Network Rail. Richard Turner, Alan Neville and Paul Stannard from Greater Anglia. Minutes: The Committee received two presentations from Joe Smith (Construction
Manager, Network Rail) and Alan Neville (Customer Engagement Manager, Greater Abellio) regarding Cambridge North Station: ·
Layout. ·
Transport links. ·
Progress of construction. ·
Rail services to be available. ·
Internal and external facilities. ·
The station is planned to open 21 May 2017. The Construction Manager and Customer Engagement Manager said the
following in response to questions from Councillors and members of the public:
i.
There would be staff at the station to provide
assistance from first to last train service eg ticket
purchase and helping wheelchair users on/off trains. Staff would also assist
wheelchairs users to leave the station if the lifts failed.
ii.
Advance tickets could be collected from machines at
the station if people booked details at home.
iii.
There would be no ticket office but 3 ticket
machines would be available. iv.
Station ticket machines are latest technology
enabled. Action Point: To check if ticket
machines would be multi-lingual and advise Cllr Tunnacliffe.
v.
There is a planning condition to control walking
and cycling access to the station. vi.
Surface water drained from the car park into a
lined impermeable tank with controlled outflow into a redundant public drain
into the River Cam. It could also drain into the grass areas. vii.
There were examples of anti-social driving on the
Fen Road crossing. Network Rail were looking at how to
address this. viii.
There were times to restrict when bikes could be
taken on trains due to capacity issues. Parking facilities were provided at the
station, including space for unusual sized bikes. Lessons had been learnt from
when the bike store was opened at Cambridge Central Station. ix.
Vehicle parking charge details were to be
confirmed. Network Rail would continually review the impact of the station on
the local area.
x.
National Rail were
responsible for on-site infrastructure. The County Council would pay for
infrastructure on/off the sites along designated routes eg
the Chisholm Trail. |
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2016/17 S106 Priority-Setting Round NAC PDF 58 KB Tim Wetherfield Urban Growth Manager Minutes: Under paragraph 4.2.1 of the Council Procedure Rules, the Chair used his
discretion to alter the order of the agenda items. However, for ease of the
reader, these minutes will follow the order of the agenda. The Committee received a report from the Urban Growth Project Manager. The report outlined six proposals for local play area
or open space improvements and assessed them against the specific
selection criteria. Members unanimously
resolved to prioritise the
following local project proposals for the use of devolved S106 contributions
from North Area, subject to business case approvals:
i.
More play equipment and landscaping improvements at
Alexandra Gardens (£35,000 cost estimate from ‘play provision for children and
teenagers’ funds [£15k] and ‘informal open space [£20k]).
ii.
Improving biodiversity and access at Bramblefields local nature reserve (£12,000 cost estimate
from ‘informal open space’ funds).
iii.
New skate and children’s scooter park at Chesterton
Recreation Ground (£50,000 cost estimate from ‘informal open space’ funds);
iv.
Mini climbing dome at Nun’s Way Rec Ground (£20,000
cost estimate from ‘play provision for children and teenagers’ funds). |
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Building Stronger Communities – Community Centres Strategy PDF 728 KB Jackie Hanson: Community
Funding & Development Manager Community Services Minutes: The Committee received a report from the Community Funding & Development Manager. The report formed part of a strategic review of community provision; it
provided an overview of the recommendations in the draft strategy and the
consultation plan. The Committee noted
the report. |
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NAC Area Committee Grants 2017-18 PDF 444 KB Jackie Hanson: Community
Funding & Development Manager Community Services Minutes: The Committee
received a report from the Community Funding & Development Manager. The report
detailed the applications received for 2017-18 funding for projects in the
North Area. The report made recommendations for awards and provided information
on the eligibility and funding criteria. Members unanimously resolved to
agree the proposed awards detailed in Appendix 1 of the Officer’s report and
summarised in the table below:
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Environmental Reports - NAC PDF 20 KB Briefing Note Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee
received a report from the Operations Manager – Community Engagement and
Enforcement. The report
outlined overview of City Council Refuse and
Environment and Streets and Open Spaces service activity relating to the geographical
area served by the North Area Committee.
The report identifies the reactive and proactive service actions
undertaken in the previous year, including the requested priority targets and
reports back on the recommended issues and associated actions to be targeted in
the following period. It also includes
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 North Area for the upcoming period
commencing March 2017: Continuing priorities[1]
New priorities
Following discussion, Members unanimously resolved to approve priorities for action
as listed above. |
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Community Events and Consultation Opportunities PDF 11 KB For information only. Minutes: The community page was noted. |