Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Onasanya

 

 

Apologies were received from Councillors Austin, Pitt, Smart and County Councillor Onasanya

 

 

Name	Item	Interest
Cllr Bird	16/20/NAC	Personal: member of the Community Grants Board.
Cllr Manning	16/20/NAC	Personal: Lives on VIE estate, and Chair of VIE Resident’s Association. Item of play equipment subject of grant application.

 

To agree the minutes of the meetings of the 21^st January 2016 and 4^th February 2016.

The minutes of the meeting on the 20^th January 2016 and 4^th February 2016 were approved and signed as a correct record.

 

14/26/NAC Tree roots in Green End Road – Trip Hazard

Cllr Manning stated that this was progressing along with the rest of the City Deal consultations.

 

14/65/NAC Parking restriction in De Freville area and impact around Milton Rd library.

Cllr Scutt stated that this issue was still on going, the Cambridge Joint Area Committee was working on the issue of parking generally and she wanted a solution for the whole of Cambridge. Double yellow lines were in the queue, two new officers had been appointed and it was expected that work would be done in due course.

 

14/74/NAC Progress with Chesterton Sports Pavilion.

No further information since the last update.

 

15/4/NAC Q2 Area around Tesco’s

Update 31 March Councillor Price

The area had been re-surfaced recently and was waiting to hear when the road lines would be re-instated.  There had been no complaints about rubbish and it was requested that this action was retained until the lines had been re-instated.

 

15/17/NAC Open data

Councillor Manning discussed the police priorities which would be ready for when the Police came to the next North Area committee meeting.

 

15/25/NAC Campkin Road speed cushions

Councillor Price commented that Councillor Onasanya had been in touch with officers and was waiting to hear when works could take place.

 

15/46/NAC Q5 Parking issues Mitcham’s corner.

Councillor Scutt had spoken with Officers and would go back to residents as it was a resident’s concern.

 

15/46/NAC Q7 Footpath running from Harvey’s Goodwin Avenue to French’s Road.

Looking to see whether footpath could be re-surfaced hopefully there would be more to report at the next NAC meeting.

 

16/4/NAC Q1 Wall light in Buchan Street not working

Confirmed that this matter had been resolved and could be removed from the action list.

 

16/4/NAC Q2 Hole in Road near Arbury Road Baptist Church

Confirmed that this matter had been resolved and could be removed from the action list.

 

16/4/NAC Q5 Chesterton Recreation Ground toilets

No update could be provided in absence of Cllr Pitt.

 

 

 

To note decisions taken by the Asset Manager (Streets & Open Spaces) since the last meeting of the North Area Committee.

The decision was noted.

The decision was noted.

Q1. Richard Taylor

Raised the issue regarding Officer’s being able to make decisions to fell trees on Milton Road, thought that this decision should be made by Councillors as elected members.

 

Councillor Manning commented that the Liberal Democrats were against the decision to move delegations from the Cambridge Joint Area Committee to the City Deal.

 

Councillor Scutt stated that she raised the issue of delegations at the County’s Constitutional and Ethics Committee. The City Board could not delegate. She assured Mr Taylor that the issue would be raised with colleagues at the County Council and that she would come back to Mr Taylor at the next North Area meeting.

 

Action 

 

Q2. Mr Taylor

Asked the Chair what he knew about the membership and policy making process of Milton Road Residents Association as at the special North Area Committee meeting in February he felt that special access was given to some Resident’s Associations, so some residents did not have the ability to ask questions.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones stated that at the special North Area Committee meeting in February, the Committee had tried to ensure that all residents had access to ask questions no special access was given.

 

Q3. Mr Bond

Referred to the approach into the City centre and commented that part of the Milton Road area fell within the conservation area and part was not and asked whether the Council could put Tree Preservation Order’s (TPOs) on the trees which were not protected.

 

Councillor O’Reilly stated that it was not appropriate for the Council to arbitrarily put TPOs on the County Council’s trees. There were specific criteria that needed to be satisfied for a TPO to be appropriate.

 

Councillor Scutt commented that the City Deal would consult on the Milton Road tree proposals and that the public could attend either the City Deal Assembly or City Deal Board meetings to comment on the proposals before any further steps were taken.

 

 

The Committee received a report from Jackie Hanson, the Community Funding & Development Manager regarding the work being undertaken as part of the strategic review of community provision.

 

The Committee were also provided with a list of community facilities identified to date across the city that were invited to complete a survey and a map of those that had responded to the facility audit.

 

The Committee and members of the public asked the following questions regarding the report:

 

Q1. Councillor Bird

Out of the age groups which age group was the highest user of community facilities?

 

A.  This information was being collated as part of the review process.  The assessment across the City will be provided as part of the results.

 

Q2. Councillor Manning

Asked whether there was a document which detailed which community facilities received Council funding?

 

A.  There is no specific document and facilities receive different types of Council funding including direct management, grant funding and S106 developer contributions. Some Council facilities would be managed by community groups on behalf of the Council. Referred to the map which had been provided to Councillors at the start of the meeting which detailed where community facilities were. This would be updated as part of the on-going project.

 

Q3. Ms King

Referred to the Meadows Community Centre which most people would think was situated in Cambridge City but was in fact within Histon and Impington parish, where a precept would be raised. Questioned whether the funding for the community centre should be looked at and whether resources should be sought from Impington Parish Council.

 

A.  The City had funded the centre for at least 20 years, would need to have a dialogue with the Parish Council as the centre did fall within South Cambs district.

Action

 

Q4. Mr Bond

Spoke as the Treasurer of St Andrew’s Hall. Referred to Councillor Bird’s question regarding the most popular user age groups of community facilities. There were lots of different age groups that used the hall but they were trying to encourage facilities for younger people. There were plenty of community facilities that were under used because people did not know how or who to contact to book them. This information needed to be kept up to date so the public could use and find it.

 

A.  The Council collected data for Council owned centres, for example on numbers of visits and use by priority groups of the centres. The Meadows Community Centre had a mixed use during the day which included families and older people and had more youth based activity during the evening.  Further information would be collected as part of the review.

 

Community Centres also provided opportunities for the Council to deliver other projects for example the digital inclusion project, which sought to provide skills and access to computers for people who did not readily have access to a computer or feel competent in their use.

 

The Committee

 

Resolved unanimously to:

 

i.             Note the work of the review and initial findings of the city-wide community facilities audit.

ii.            Promote the ‘call for evidence’ stage of the review and encourage stakeholders to feed in their experience and evidence as detailed in sections 5 and 6 of the Officer’s report.

 

The Committee received a report from Jackie Hanson, the Community Funding & Development Manager which detailed applications received for 2016-17 funding for projects in the North Area.

 

The Committee and members of the public asked the following questions regarding the report:

 

Q1. Councillor Scutt

Understood that whilst the young girl’s group detailed in application N31 did not receive any funding that officers were going to work with the group to provide additional support.

 

Q. The project in the application was not ready to progress and the Community Development Officer was going to work with the group.

 

Q2. Councillor Scutt

Was disappointed that the Friends of Mitcham’s Corner application (reference N16), Hurst Park Street Party application (reference N19) and the Oblique Arts application (reference N25) were not going to receive any funding.

 

A.  The applications unfortunately did not demonstrate all the criteria required as part of the application process and were therefore unsuccessful. 

 

Q3. Councillor Manning

Questioned how many applicants were told not to apply and referred to the Chesterton Primary School Group application.

 

A.  The Grants Officer takes enquiries and would discuss potential projects, highlighting areas that would not meet our funding criteria for them to consider further. If a group wishes to apply they are sent the form and guidelines and we provide help and support with this. The officer was not aware of any complaint raised concerning this and will discuss with colleagues.

 

Q4. Councillor Perry

Asked whether there was a publicly available list for alternative funders so that organisations know where to go.

 

A.   If applicants are unsuccessful officers will signpost other places where they may be able to obtain funding or additional support wherever possible. There was not a generic list which could be provided to members of the public. 

 

Q5. Mr Bond

The Cambridgeshire Community Foundation was worth pointing out to smaller funds.

 

A.  Confirmed that Officers did signpost people to the above organisation.

 

Q6. Councillor Bird

Queries why Red2Green (reference N26) did not receive any funding.

 

A.  Confirmed that the organisation has received a main community grant for the same project and this application did not specifically target people in the North Area of the city or provide sufficient additionality.

 

The Committee

 

Resolved unanimously to:

 

i.             Approve the awards detailed in appendix 1 of the Officer’s report and summarised in paragraph 2.2 of the Officer’s report.

 

The Committee received a report from the Project Manager – Development Unit regarding the Environmental Improvement Programme (EIP). The report requested that the Committee determined which EIP schemes were allocated funding as part of the 2016-17 programme as set out in appendix A of the Officer’s report.

 

The Committee and members of the public asked the following questions regarding the report:

 

Q1. Councillor Sarris

Queried the provision of a bus shelter by Adshel at Green End Road adjacent to Nuffield Road following an accident which resulted in the bus shelter being removed.

 

A.  The contract with Adshel did not require Adshel to provide a bus shelter in a usable condition for the duration of the contract. Officers were currently trying to liaise with Adshel to encourage the company to provide a further bus shelter.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones to work with John Richards to request that Adshel provide a replacement bus shelter.

Action

 

Q2. Councillor Price

Referred to Appendix C, item 6 Ramsden Square and queried why it was taking so long to arrange for a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to prohibit parking on part of King’s Hedges Road and Ramsden Square. The TRO had originally been approved in 2013 and nothing had been done and it was now 2016. Was disappointed that a TRO at Campkin Road, which was submitted after this application was dealt with before this application.

 

A.   The City Council Officers had done as much as they were able to do and had undertaken a consultation 18 months ago with residents.  The matter was with the County Council to take forward and the City Officers were in regular dialogue with County Council Officers.  The County Council were under significant resource pressures. Two new County Council Officers had been recruited and it was hoped that this project could be completed within the next 6 months.

 

Q3. Councillor Bird

Asked where the brackets were for the hanging baskets as following the street lighting upgrade the lampposts no longer had brackets on them.

 

A.  Officers would speak with Balfour Beatty and the County Council to see where the hanging basket brackets were.

Action

 

Q4. Councillor Scutt

Commented on application N4 installation of dropped kerb on either side of Trafalgar Street.

A.  The cost estimate for application N4 was a worst case scenario estimate and it was anticipated that the County Council would assist in the funding of this project so that the full cost (£5000) would not be required.

 

The Committee

Resolved unanimously to:

 

i.             Note the utilisation of £5954 of remaining North Area EIP funding for the provision and maintenance of 36 hanging baskets along Chesterton High Street during 2015-16.

ii.            Allocate funding in 2016-17 of £5954 for the annual provision and maintenance of 36 hanging baskets along Chesterton High Street and, £662 for 4 hanging baskets in Campkin Road (due for installation from spring 2016).

iii.           Consider the allocation of the remaining £43704 to the list of projects contained in Appendix A.

iv.          Approve the projects in Appendix A of the Officer’s report for implementation subject to the schemes being deliverable, obtaining consents where necessary, positive consultation where required and the final approval being given by Ward Councillors.

v.           Note the progress of the schemes listed in Appendix C.

vi.          Agree to consider a second EIP application invitation round during 2016-17 to utilise any funding uncommitted from the present round plus any savings arising from the delivery of previous committed schemes. 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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 North Area Committee.  The report identified the reactive and proactive service actions undertaken in the previous quarter, including the requested priority targets, and reported back on the recommended issues and associated actions. 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 North Area for the quarter of March to May 2016:

 

Continuing Priorities

 

i.             Enforcement joint working patrols to deal with littering from students of Cambridge Regional College in the areas of Campkin Road and Nuns Way Recreational Ground and to work with the local businesses to address litter from their premises.

ii.            Enforcement patrols to tackle fly tipping on communal archways and green areas at Minerva Way.

iii.           Patrols to address dog fouling on King’s Hedges “Pulley” Recreation Ground, Nuns Way Recreation Ground and Arbury Town Park including early mornings, evenings and weekends.

iv.          Enforcement Patrols to tackle littering issues from shops at Carlton Terrace and Co-op on Chesterton Road and deal with waste management issues. 

 

The Committee and members of the public asked the following questions regarding the report:

 

Q1. Councillor Perry

Commented that there had been a lot of graffiti and tags and asked whether there had been support from the Police and what was happening.

 

A.  Aware that there were some areas with a slightly high problem with graffiti. Officers were working with the Police and welcomed reports of graffiti problems from members of the public.

 

Q2. Councillor Manning

Thanked Wendy for the work that had been undertaken by the Community Payback Team clearing bushes on Sherbourne Court, and commented that residents, including some from Browns Field House were impressed by the fact that community payback had done the work.

 

Asked whether there could be an additional priority for fly tipping at Pakenham Close and Kinross Road. Questioned the placement of a bin at Millennium Bridge.

 

A.  Was happy for the additional priority to be included.  Commented that if the bin on the Millennium Bridge became too full then the Council could not drive onto the bridge to remove it and the vehicle would not be able to collect it.

 

Q3. Councillor Bird

Commented that it looked as though fly tipping occurrences had gone up in the last few months and asked whether there was a reason for this. Expressed surprise at the numbers of abandoned vehicles.

 

A.  When the figures for fly tipping occurrences were analysed no patterns or trends were found.  There were 2 dedicated Officers on foot who were now picking occurrences up proactively rather than following a public report.  The public were more vigilant in querying whether vehicles were abandoned now that tax discs no longer had to be displayed in vehicles.

 

Q4. Mr Sargeant

Expressed thanks for the bins at Downham’s Lane / Milton Road junction.

 

Queried why the bin at Gilbert Road had been moved up the road.

 

A.  Officers would ensure that the bin was moved back to its original position.

 

Q5. Councillor Scutt

Echoed thanks for dog bins at De Freville Avenue and Chesterton Road and requested that a dog bin was installed outside Stir Café at Chesterton / Hawthorn Way as there had been an issue raised by Mr Bond regarding dog faeces.

 

Following discussion, Members unanimously resolved to approve priorities for action as above subject to the inclusion of an additional priority regarding fly tipping at Pakenham Close and Kinross Road.

The Committee is asked to agree the following meeting dates for the municipal year 2016-17:

 

16 June 2016

15 September 2016

15 December 2016

2 March 2017

The following dates were agreed:

 

·        9 June 2016 (originally 23rd June 2016)

·        15 September 2016

·        15 December 2016

·        2 March 2017

For information only.

 

To add your items to this page, please contact the Committee Manager.

 

Community Events and Consultation Opportunities

Date: Monday 18^th April from 6:30-8:30.

Event: Annual Meeting of the Cambridge Federation of Residents' Associations

Venue: Perse Senior School, Hills Road.

The draft Agenda is:

·     Registration and drinks (from 6:30)

·     AGM (7:00-7:30)

·     Talk by Dame Fiona Reynolds ‘The Fight for Beauty’ (7:30-8:00)

·     Panel discussion chaired by Dame Fiona: Theme ‘Community Involvement in Urban Design – Can Residents' Associations make a difference?’ … and Q&A (8:00-8:30). Panel TBA

 

______________________________________________________________________

Chesterton Festival will run from Saturday 18th June to Sunday 26^th June 2016

 

Saturday 18th June Community Fun Day on Chesterton Recreation Ground, Church Street, Chesterton from 1p.m. to 5p.m.   

 

Around 50 stalls, performance arena for local groups, attractions for children of all ages. Flower Festival in St Andrew's Church, refreshments on the field and at St Andrew's Hall

 

To book a stall for this event contact Rachel Clarke on 01223 306150 

 

Friday 24th June 6-10 p.m. barbecue and concert at Brown's Field Youth and Community Centre

 

Other Festival Events will be announced as and when they are arranged­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________________________________________________

  

Lil Speed Award for Voluntary Action - Nominations now open

Nomination Criteria:

·       Only nominations from those people considered as volunteers will be considered.

 

·       Only nominations living and volunteering in Chesterton will be considered

 

The award will be presented at the Chesterton Festival Fun day. The outcome will be publicised in the Chesterton News and posted on the Chesterton Community Association website

The trophy should be presented by the Mayor and the previous year’s winner if available.

 

 Nominations should be sent to Andrea Butler at Brown's Field Youth and Community Centre to arrive on or before  Monday May 9th 2016. Please mark envelopes Lil Speed Award Nomination.

The community events and consultation opportunities were noted.