Agenda and minutes

1. Drop-in surgery 6.45 pm

The drop-in surgery gives you opportunity to talk to your councillors, Street Environment Officer, Safer Neighbourhood Team, Neighbourhood Management Officer, Group Response representative.

Minutes:

1.1 Residents had the opportunity to talk with Cllr Tom Holvey and Cllr Ann Reid, Cindy Benton – Neighbourhood Manager, Matthew Ward – Neighbourhood Management Officer, Michal Czekajlo – Neighbourhood Management Support Officer, Liz Levett – Street Environment Officer, Insp Phil Cain, Sgt Lindsey Stamp, PC Paul Maloney, PCSO Louise Harness, George Lofton – Group Response, Simon Haddock – Street Sport York, Vicky Harland – Yorkshire Wild Life Trust, Jennifer Cairns – City Of York Ranger

1.2 Free environmental friendly carry bags were available for residents.

2. Main Meeting 7.00pm

Minutes:

2.1 Councillor Tom Holvey welcomed everyone to the meeting and described the purpose of the committee  meeting.

2.2 Apologies were given for Cllr Sue Sunderland who could not attend the meeting and Ed Gray – Community Payback Manager who could not attend due to illness.

Question raised by the resident:

Q-        When the minutes from the April meeting will be available? During that meeting four questions were raised and I am still awaiting for a response to three of them.

A-            Minutes are available on the council internet site. Due to the outdoor ward committee events the minutes need revisiting. They can be brought to the next meeting.

Phil Cain, the new ward inspector will update you on what the safer neighbourhood team have done in the area and answer any questions you have.

3. Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team

New inspector Phil Cain was introduced to everyone and PCSO Louise Harness gave an update on the last quarter of the year.

3.1 Update on the changes to the team. New inspector for York South Safer Neighbourhood Team Phil Cain.

3.2 Statistics for the ward shows increase in the garages breaks-in in July and August.Team is trying to gather information’s from local residents to prevent the crime.

3.3 Operation plan against anti-social behaviour is giving results,  there was a massive drop of the anti social behaviour  over the summer.

3.4 Issue with unclear road signs along Tadcaster Road foot/cycle path to be addressed with the Council.

3.5 Work continues across the ward, for example: funding for security alarms and shed alarms, recognising new hot spots in the ward and patrolling those areas more often.

3.6 Positive results: burglar in Dringhouses was caught in the property while committing crime and as a outcome was sent out to jail for 6 years.

3.7 Speeding problems: residents were informed that if there are any issues they should contact Police, so the problems can be dealt with.

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q-        Do burglars use keys to break into garages? Some seem to gain entry without causing damage.

A-        It depends, old type locks can be opened with screwdriver. We do recommend extra padlock on the garage doors .

Q-        There is a problem with 8-11 years old playing football on the road and throwing stones at passing cars, it is getting worse over the last three months. Those children’s are not respecting traffic and people who are using the road. It happens after school between 4 and 7 pm.

A-        We can address the issue with the local school and increase the patrols in the area. We need talk to parents regarding that issue, it may be affecting those children’s safety as well.

Q-        What about drivers who use mobile phones while driving a car and not concentrating on driving? Have the driving standards improved or went worse?

A-            PCSO’s have no power to stop the vehicle. We can call for back up or approach drivers in stationary traffic. The road policing team specialise in dealing with those type of issues.If you have complaint about  speeding, please contact traffic management unit so they can take actions. There is specific form which can be found on the Council website, 95 Alive, if you fill it in and send back to us we can then take action.

Q-        There is a problem with people parking their cars half on the road and half on the foot path on Bramble Dene. Busses cannot go through and people cannot walk along the path.

A-        We can come down and have a look and assess the situation. We can send reminder letter to offenders warning that if there will be no improvement they will be liable for a fine for obstruction.

Q-        Speed signs on Tadcaster Road, how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Ed Grey, Manager, will tell you about Community Payback, how you can get involved and how it can benefit the ward.

Apologies were sent from Ed Gray.

Find out where Group Response patrol, what incidents they deal with and how you can contact them.

4. Group Response

George Lofton gave an update on the Group Response activity.

4.1 Group Response is dealing with anti-social behaviour and we are ready to come out if you call us. We work with local Police and Safer Neighbourhood Team.

4.2 We operate in the area and have recognised 11 hot spots, Chapman’s Pond is on our hot spots list.

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q-                           Do you operate during the weekend?

A-                           Yes, seven nights a week. We are dealing with groups of youths, we do get a lot of abuse, but we are there to deal with it. Please ring us, so we can attend.

Q-                           Are you allowed to go out from the van?

A-                           Yes, we can, but we are working single, not in pairs. So we have to assess the safety of each incident we attend.

Q-                           Tadcaster Road, in front of Holiday Inn, gangs of youths are gathering there, what about that area?

A-             We can include that onto our hot spot list. Ring 01904656819 when incidents are occurring and we will respond.

We will talk about the proposed schemes for next year. This is your chance to tell people about any schemes you have suggested and to get more information about schemes you may support.

5. 2011-12 Local Improvement Scheme Suggestions

At this point all 26 projects under 4 Ward ambitions were discussed. Residents were able to ask questions regarding particular schemes. Neighbourhood Management Officer Matther Ward, Councillor Tom Holvey and Councillor Ann Reid were answering questions raised by residents.

5.1 Simon Haddock  gave a description of the activities provided by Street Sport York and thanked residents for voting for Street Sport York schemes over the past years.

5.2 Joe Armer of the Youth Council gave an update on their plans for the near future. Youth Council is raising funds for a facility in the city centre which could be used by young people. They are looking to rent a building on Fossgate for that purpose. So far they have raised £74,000, another £71,000 is required.

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q-        Why there is no opportunity to object on the form?

A-        We have done that as in the past we were having issues with people from other areas voting against particular schemes to get the money for the schemes in their area. You can always mark your objection next to the scheme.

Q-            Scheme number 6, who benefits from that?

A-        Not only residents of those flats will benefit, but also everyone else, it will be easier to drive in that area and there’ll be a reduction in parking on the verges.

Q-            Scheme 11, are there any plans about relocating the salt bins around the ward?

A-        We know that some of them are not being used as often as the other. We have to revisit the sites and review their locations. It is hard to judge as the salt usage depends greatly on the weather.

Q-        How often Street Sport York events take place?

A-        There are 10 sessions per year. We do work with the Councillors to assess the best date and locations to organise them.

Q-            Scheme number 17, what does Urbie means?

A-        Urban, Rural, Bus Information and  Education .There are two purple buses which work around the ward. The purpose is to provide activities, information and advice on mental and sexual health to 14-18 years old.

Q-        Could we get a report of the number of users of Urbie service?

A-        Yes, we are supplied yearly report which show the figures.

Q-            Scheme number 22 ,could the benches be accompanied by a bin? Can we use more resilient benches?

A-        Yes, but the bin will incur extra cost. Benches are sourced by the Park team based on their previous knowledge.

Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns not covered on the agenda.

6. Have Your Say

Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns.

Q-              Who is responsible for repairs of the drains? Can we get a statement saying who is responsible?

A-              It depends where the issue is, if it is on your property then you will probably be liable. We will see if we can get more general statement about who is responsible for fixing drains

Q-        What about increased recycling the plastic?

A-              There are 8 different types of plastics and that cause a problem with sorting it. There are very few sites who can recycle plastic in the country. We are looking for more outlets to recycle more items, but at the moment we have no contract with anyone for more plastic types to be collected from your doorstep.

Q-              What about the feedback the council is asking from residents? At the moment it looks like one way street, there is no feedback coming back to residents.

A-              Your feedback is helpful for us to see how the council is performing, we can give them to public information. Updates on the resident feedback will be given in future Your Ward publications.

Q-              There was an article in The Press about review of the litter bins. What does that mean?

A-              There is a number of reasons for that review. We need to know where they are located, how often they are they emptied, if they are emptied as necessary in a logical way.  The audit will make the collection more efficient, and presently no extra bins are being installed.