Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Pitt, Sales, Perry and Onasanya.

No interests were declared.

 

The Chair invited those present to share their memories of Lil Speed who had recently passed away. It was suggested that the a Community Centre should be renamed in honour of her work for the community.

 

A letter of thanks from the Friends of Mitcham’s Corner, a recent grant recipient, was noted.

A number of minor corrections to the minutes of the meeting of the 18^th December 2014 were noted. The minutes would be republished and signed when corrected.

 

Action Sheet Updates

 

14/73/NAC - Councillor O’Reilly started that the trees in question were the property of the County Council. The City Council only had a limited maintenance budget. Meeting were on going regarding the cost of replacement trees.

 

13/81/NAC - This matter would be fully discussed later in the meeting.

 

14/13/NAC - This matter had been on the action sheet for some time and Councillor Todd-Jones undertook to investigate the matter further.

 

14/26/NAC – Feasibility study underway.

 

14/56/NAC – A safety audit had been carried out and had raised concerns. The applicant had agreed to the proposed mitigation measures.

 

14/66/NAC – Councillor Bird reported that she had spoken to highway officers and they had said that the Tesco's area would be too expensive, so no further action would be taken at the moment.

 

14/65/NAC – Councillor Scutt reported that a Traffic Regulation order would be needed to address the parking concerns. She had arranged to meet interested parties outside the meeting to agree a way forward. This would consider the parking concerns in a wider area.

 

14/69/NAC – Councillor Manning reported that the work was unlikely to be completed until the end of May.

 

14/69/NAC – Councillor Manning stated that the matter would be considered post he May elections.

 

14/73/NAC – Councillor Price would investigate further as residents in the area were still reporting parking issues around specific events / times of day, at the community centre.

6.45 -7.15

Richard Taylor stated that the order in which Open Forum questions were taken was unfair and left the meeting. His questions were answered below in his absence.

 

Q1    Michael Bond: Concerned that Hilltop Residential Centre was to be turned into student accommodation when there was a clear need for this sort of facility.

 

Requested more information on how the planning department monitored such development to ensure that they are let to genuine students.

 

A.      Councillor Scutt stated that the County Council had sold Hilltops. She confirmed that local residents had concerns about the development of student housing.

 

Councillor Todd-Jones undertook to investigate how the planning department monitored student lets.

Action: Councillor Todd-Jones

 

Q2    Leila Dockerill: The area around Tesco’s continues to be untidy. There is a large, uncovered, wire cage style litter bin, and rubbish gets blown about.

 

A. Councillor Price undertook to investigate the matter with property services.

Action: Councillor Price

 

Q3    AAARichard Taylor: Vie central space consultation via a private forum.

 

A.      Councillor Manning stated that there was a sign on the flats giving contact details of the Residents Association and any concerns could be sent direct to them.

 

Q4    AAARichard Taylor: Make station and cycle bridge meeting public.

 

A.      Councillor Manning confirmed that these meeting were open to the public. The next meeting would be at Barnwell Baptist church on the 25^th February 2015.

 

Q5    AAARichard Taylor: When would work on Milton Road cycle signage be undertaken?

 

A.      This matter would be discussed later as detailed in the agenda.

 

Q6    Mr White: The pavement and grass verges around the corner of Mere Way were being damaged by cars and buses mounting the pavement.

 

A.      Councillor Todd-Jones confirmed that discussions were on-going with the highways department on how best to improve the situation.

Network Rail Officer:  Katherine Scott

7.15 – 8.00

The Committee received a presentation from Network Rail Officers Katherine Scott and Chris Ball.

 

The presentation covered the following:

 

     i.        The Chesterton station scheme had been transferred from    Cambridgeshire County Council to Network Rail.

    ii.        As a result of this change, Network Rail would be submitting a new planning application in the near future. 

   iii.        This would be substantially unchanged from the previously approved proposal.

  iv.        Site surveys and ground investigation works were planned for April 2015.

   v.        The construction start date works for station, would be subject to planning approval.

  vi.        Not in a position to confirm a precise opening date.

 

The Committee broke into small groups to gather feedback and questions from the public.

 

A full list of questions and answers (both verbal and those collected from the breakout groups) is attached as a supplement to the minutes.

 

The Chair thanked Katherine Scott and Chris Ball for their presentation and invited them to attend again with a further update later in the year.

 

Information Item: Clare Rankin, Project Officer - Cycling Projects, Cambridgeshire County Council

8.00 – 8.10

At the request of Members, the Committee received a report form Clare Rankin, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Project Officer – Cycling Projects. She outlined the need to review existing signage with the aim of reducing clutter to the street scene and adding clarity for road and pavement users.

 

The following comments and questions were raised.

 

Q1    Mike Sargeant: Signage in Highworth Avenue is unclear. Where does shared pavement use end?

 

A.      The roundabout is shared use and ends where the on road cycle path begins. As part of the proposals arrows on the road and new signage will indicate where the shared use ends.

 

Q2    Councillor Smart: In common with many cyclist prefers to use the road rather than shared use pavements due to the number of hazards to be negotiated on the pavement.

 

Q3    Member of the Public: Negotiating the entry to Union lane is difficult for cyclists.

 

Q4    Michael Bond: The shared use section of pavement is in poor condition and in need of repair.

 

A.      Please send details to the County Council Highways department (www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/highwayfaults) and they would be investigated.

 

Q5    Kay Harris: Concerns had been raised that the width of the cycle path would leave little room for pedestrians. In addition, cyclists tend to stay on the pavement, even in areas where there is no shared use.

 

A.      Improved signage should help. County Council were aware that the pavement is too narrow for shared use and it was hoped that improvements could be made in future.

 

Q6    Councillor Manning: Is there any funding left in the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and if yes could it be used to repair the shared use pavement?

 

A.      The Project Officer did not have the answer to this question regarding funding remaining within the LSTF but said it was difficult to spend funds such as this on maintenance.  Councillor Manning undertook to investigate the matter.

Action: Councillor Manning

 

Artist Zoë Chamberlain is working with Cambridge City Council and Keepmoat to create a series of artworks for the new housing starting with the Cherry Hinton and Barnwell areas of the city. The project is likely to be extended to other areas of the city.

 

An exhibition will be available for councillors and members of the public to view and discuss with the artist.

8.10 – 8.20

Zoe Chamberlain introduced the exhibition and invited the public to make comments to her and her team over the coffee break.

Presented by Nick Kester, Enforcement Officer

8.20 – 8.50

The Committee received an Environmental Data Report from Nick Kester, Project Officer. He gave an update on progress so far and confirmed that the public had welcomed the Ward Blitzes.

 

Councillor Manning confirmed that the Shirley School were now using a closed off section of Bramblesfield. He hoped that this committee would be willing to contribute toward improvement  work in the area at a later date.

 

Councillor Bird stated that an additional waste bin was needed near the pet shop on Green End Road and Scotland Road. She also requested that the dog waste bin in Sherbourne Close was moved to a position further away from residential properties.

 

Councillor Scutt requested that additional bins (dog waste, rubbish and recycling) be installed around the Gilbert Road / Milton road junction.

 

Councillor Price had also received requests for additional bins and would send full details to the officer by email.

 

The Committee

 

Resolved unanimously to:

 

Continuing with the follow priorities

 

     i.        Enforcement patrols to tackle fly-tipping in the alleyways and footpaths around Kings Hedges (Pulley) Recreation Ground, Kingsway Flats, Arbury Court and St Kilda Avenue.

    ii.        Enforcement joint working and patrols to deal with littering from students of Cambridge Regional College in the areas of Campkin Road and Nuns Way Recreation Ground

   iii.        Investigating the feasibility of litter/recycling bins on Scotland Road at the junction with Green End Road

  iv.        Early morning patrols for dog fouling on Kings Hedges (Pulley) Recreation Ground.

Add the following new priorities

 

   v.        Park deep cleanse, to include removal of graffiti, flyposting, litter, dog fouling, vegetation cut back and sweeping at Alexandra Gardens and Green End Road Recreation Ground

    vi.            Enforcement patrols to address issues of littering in and around the Bermuda Terrace (flats) area.

Presented by Tim Wetherfield, Urban Growth Project Manager

8.50 – 9.30

The Committee received a report from Tim Wetherfield, Urban Growth Projects Manager regarding S106 Devolved Decision Making and Grant Applications.

 

The Urban Growth Projects Manager responded to questions as follows:

 

Q1. Councillor Manning: Could left over play equipment form the Vie development be reused in Discovery Way?

 

A. It was suggested that the Assets Manager (who was due to introduce the next report) might wish to provide an update on the play equipment from the Vie development. More widely, an update on the availability of S106 play area funding devolved to North Area was due to be reported to the Community Services Scrutiny Committee in March 2015 – and members of this Area Committee would be made aware of the details relating to the North Area. Previous reports to the Area Committee had highlighted that the level of devolved play area funding available was small. However, the main message, being emphasised to all area committees was the S106 contributions funding is tapering off and running down.

 

Q2. Councillor Scutt: The funding allocated to Milton Road Library should be retained as the facility was badly needed.

 

Q3. Michael Bond: Supported retaining the funding for Milton Road Library community room because it was needed. Community facilities are good for community cohesion.

 

A. The importance of community facilities was well recognised. The report had highlighted the need for some applications to provide more details about how proposed facility improvements would be used simply to provide the area committee with more information, to help it make priority-setting decisions about the best use of limited resources.

 

Q3. Ian Anderson: A successful development had been achieved at Rock Road using joint funding. The result community space was well used and had improved library use. A similar result would be possible for Milton Road.

 

Q4.   Mike Kemp: Welcomed Scout hut proposal. Suggested the Milton Road proposal was over ambitions and would be problematic for its neighbours. Suggested improvement to the existing building would be a better approach.

 

Q5. Councillor Scutt: It was wrong to view the scout hut proposal as competition for Milton Road Library. Both projects had merit.

 

A. Made a distinction between the development of community space at Milton Road library (which had already been identified as an Area Committee priority last February) and the other applications which were not yet prioritised but under consideration. The original allocation of funding to Milton Road Library highlighted the need for an update on progress and that is why it was featured in this report. The committee had options, but needed to be aware that the limited devolved funding available could not deliver everything.

 

Q6. Mike Sargeant: How was community use of facilities that had received funding monitored?

 

A. Community facilities funded by S106 contributions were monitored to ensure that they were available for use by all sections of the community. The council’s Community Development service plans to provide more information online about which community facilities have been funded and are available for community use.

 

Q7. Had any progress been made regarding Chesterton Recreation Ground Sport Pavillion?

 

A. The Urban Growth Projects Manager undertook to investigate this matter.

 

Action

 

Q7. Councillor Bird requested that the Committee supported the Chesterton Methodist Church project as their work with Camsight was badly needed.

 

A. Clarified that it would be useful to receive more information about this proposal from the applicant, to enable the Area Committee to re-consider this application in the fourth S106 priority-setting round later in 2015.

 

The Committee:

 

Resolved unanimously to

 

     i.        agree a £30,000 devolved community facilities S106 grant for the refurbishment of the community facilities at St Luke’s Church on Victoria Road, subject to project appraisal approval and a community use agreement ;

    ii.        encourage updated applications from 12^th Cambridge Scout Group and Chesterton Methodist Church as part of the next S106 priority setting round later this year, given that their current allocations are not yet ready to be considered;

   iii.        withdraw the £35,000 devolved informal open space S106      contributions currently allocated to the Alexandra Gardens trim trail proposal in the light of the response to the local consultation on the design proposals; and

  iv.        withdraw the £20,000 devolved informal open space S106 contributions currently allocated to the lighting of Nun’s Way multiuse games area, as the immediate issue relates to repairs not eligible for S106 funding.

Presented by Alistair Wilson, Asset Manager (Streets & Open Spaces)

9.30 – 10.00

The Committee received a report for Alistair Wilson, Asset Manager (Streets and Open Spaces) regarding a BMX / Mini Wheels Facility at Brownsfield.

 

Members welcomed the report.

 

Councillor Bird requested that benches in the area should have arms.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Smart, the Asset Manager provided further details on the consultation process.

 

The Committee:

 

Approve Option D (Tarmac finish with different sized roll over hills, quarter pipe and areas ramped up to create mounds) for the delivery of project PR031b – BMX/ mini wheels track next to Brownsfield Community Centre (S106) subject to adaptations set out at 3.18.6 of the Officer’s report.