Agenda and minutes

Ward Members welcomed everyone to the meeting.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 31 January 2012.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Huntington & New Earswick Ward Committee held on 31 January 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

A representative from the Policing Team will talk about and answer questions on their work in the ward.

Residents were informed that due to a change in shift patterns the local Police Officer was unable to attend and had sent his apologies.  Cllr Orrell read out the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team’s supporting statement that had been attached to item 3 of the agenda.

Members reminded residents to report any incidents to the Policing Team using the 101 telephone number or 999 in emergencies.

RESOLVED:                That Members noted the update from the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team.

REASON:                     To keep Members informed on Policing matters in their Ward.

At this point in the meeting you can raise any issues or concerns you may have in respect of the ward.

Residents were informed that Mora Scaife, the Neighbourhood Management Officer (NMO) would be introducing the Community Contract for the Huntington and New Earswick Ward. 

The NMO explained that Ward Committees across York were developing Community Contracts that were agreements between each Ward Committee, local residents, City of York Council, Parish Councils, the Police and other service providers

The NMO informed those present that the document would contain the following information:

·        Stories about the ward.

·        What makes the area a special place.

·        Description of the area.

·        Highlight specific challenges within the ward.

·        What local facilities were available.

·        Volunteering opportunities within the area.

·        How communities could engage and be involved.

The Contract would allow Members to make recommendations, in consultation with residents, to City of York Council, other partners that work across the City and those that work locally within the ward, so that improvements could be made to service delivery to reflect the needs of Huntington and New Earswick Ward.

Members thanked the NMO for her presentation and for the work she had done so far and encouraged residents to get involved by giving any feedback that would help develop the document to their local Councillors or the Neighbourhood Management Team.

Members gave residents the opportunity to report any issues or concerns they may have in respect of their Ward. The following was raised:

·        Litter problems, especially in the Birch Park area. ²

·        Pot holes around Brockfield Park Drive. ¹

·        Hedges over hanging onto the footpath.

Members confirmed they would inform officers of the above problems and encouraged residents to carry on reporting any issues direct to the Council or to their local Councillor.

RESOLVED: 

(i)           That the update from the NMO be noted.

 (ii)    That residents concerns be noted.

REASON:

(i)  To ensure that priorities under the Community Contract are adopted for the ward for the forthcoming year.

(ii)          To address residents queries.

To formally agree the schemes to be funded through the Ward Committee for 2012/13 (to view the schemes for the ward go to www.york.gov.uk/wards/)

The Neighbourhood Management Officer explained to residents how the ward funding had been spilt into three pots:

·        Ward Fund Grants:  Each ward had an allocation to use as grant funding to commission local voluntary and community organisations to meet identified needs.

·        Other Voluntary Sector Support:  A centralised fund to support those voluntary sector organisations that provide services to more than one ward.  It was not intended that this fund would be open to Council services such as Street Sport; however, it was proposed that in the first year only, whilst the Ward Credits pot was being established, Council services were allowed to bid.

·        Ward Credits:  A “credits pot” to be allocated to identified wards to be used to commission new services, either from within the Council or from other partners / sectors, to deliver on the Ward priorities. 

Members stated that they were unable to formally agree the schemes to be funded through the Ward Committee for 2012/13 due to the amount of funding decreasing significantly from £38,000 to £5,000.  Members stated that  as a Ward Committee they were not announcing the decision that evening  as they wanted to revisit  the funding allocations in light of the revised budget and then delegate the decision to the Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods. ¹

RESOLVED: 

(i)           That the funding allocations be revisited in light of the revised budget and that the decision be delegated to the Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods.

REASON:    To enable ward grant funding to be allocated to local ward schemes for the forthcoming year.

To help identify issues to be the focus for the next informal meeting.

The Ward Members introduced the ‘Your Ward Forum’ and asked residents to suggest items that they would like to see discussed at the informal meetings due to  take place in October 2012 and March 2013.

It was suggested that an officer from the following departments attends a future meeting.

·        Trading Standards

·        Land and Registry Office

·        Noise Control

·        Wilberforce Trust

It was also suggested that an update be received from:

·        the New Earswick Bowls and Sports Club.

·        the Loneliness Isolation Project.

·        the Lord Mayor.

Members confirmed that they would inform officers that telephone numbers also need to be included in the Your Voice publication specifically on the back page. ²

RESOLVED: That the suggested agenda topics be noted and considered for the informal ward committee meetings. ¹

REASON: To provide issues for consideration at future meetings of  the ward committee.