Agenda and minutes

You will have an opportunity to talk to:

• Cllr Steve Galloway
• Cllr Sue Galloway
• Cllr Andrew Waller
• Cindy Benton, Neighbourhood Management Unit
• Michelle Watling, Street Environment Officer
• The Safer Neighbourhoods Policing Team
• A representative from Group Response Community Rangers
• Sarah Garbacz, Strategic Manager, Library Services

Find out more about:

• Neighbourhood Watch in your area
• The Sustainable Communities Act – what it is and how you can contribute

1.1        Residents had an opportunity to talk to Cllr Steve Galloway, Cllr Sue Galloway, Cllr Andrew Waller, Cindy Benton (Neighbourhood Management), Michelle Watling (Street Environment), the Safer Neighbourhoods Policing Team, John Cook (Group Response Community Rangers), and Sarah Garbacz (Libraries).

1.2        Residents also had the opportunity to speak to Andy Hudson, Assistant Director of Neighbourhood Services about the Sustainable Communities Act.

2.1 Cllr Steve Galloway welcomed residents to the meeting.

2.2 The minutes of the last meeting were formally agreed and signed by Cllr Steve Galloway.

An update from your Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team on ward issues and feedback on the recent ward week of action.

PC Jon Norris gave an update on Crime and Community Safety issues in the ward. The following points were noted:

3.1       PC Norris has recently returned to the Westfield Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT).

3.2       Overall, crime has reduced in the Westfield ward.  Criminal damage is the main problem in the ward, up by 33% from last year.  There is currently a big problem with anti-social behaviour in the Cornland’s Road area.  Groups of youths aged 10-20 years are hanging around causing damage to private properties and businesses.  High visibility patrols are in the area but it can be very difficult for the team to prove which youths are causing the damage.  Residents are urged to report any damage to the SNT.  The SNT are looking for support from residents, councillors and neighbourhood watch groups for setting up a dispersal zone.  This is a long and expensive process but it would give police the power to arrest youths if they return to the area once they have been asked to leave. If residents are in support of this they should write a letter to the SNT.   Cllr Steve Galloway added that a dispersal order is discretionary, it would only be used on people who are causing problems.  A vote was held at the meeting to obtain the strength of feeling for a dispersal order; all residents were in favour, none were against.  

3.3       The SNT recently held a ‘week of action’ which involved them working with other council officers to target crime across the ward.  

The following questions and comments were noted:

a)  The amount of criminal damage increased in the Chapelfield’s area whilst PCSO Helen Lockwood was on leave.

Response was given that PCSO Lockwood has returned from leave now and there will be high visibility patrols in the area to try and resolve some of the problems.

b)  There is a lot of rubbish surrounding Costcutters in Chapelfield’s, can you put any pressure on the shop management to do something about this?

Response was given that the team would speak to Michelle Watling (Street Environment Officer) about this.

c)  We do have an estate handyman.  Shouldn’t he be helping to clear some of the rubbish up?

Response was given that this will be passed on.

Sarah Garbacz will be presenting the new plans for the development of the central library.

Sarah Garbacz, Strategic Manager for York Libraries gave a presentation on the library services across the city and the plans for turning the central library into an explore centre.  The following points were noted:

4.1     There are 14 libraries across the city, 1 mobile library and a home library service. 

4.2     The services offered by the library are books, access to the internet, an enquiry service, CD’s and DVD’s, information on family and local history and IT training. 

4.3     80,000 people visit a York library every month with over 1 million books being lent out a year. 

4.4     York Central Library is to be turned into an explore centre along the same lines as Acomb library. 

4.5     Phase one of the work is to refurbish the ground floor and will start in September lasting for 2-3 months.  The work will be mainly cosmetic with the aim of bringing back the existing beauty of the building and freeing up the space to make it much more accessible.  A café and learning rooms will be new features of the library.  £100,000 will be invested in new books, increasing the book stock from 70,000 to 100,000.  Self service is to be introduced which will free up staff for giving help and advice.

4.6     The whole library will be closed whilst this work is ongoing – this is necessary on the grounds of health and safety. 

4.7     The library service will be holding a number of consultation days for residents to view the plans and make any comments.  These are likely to be held in May; dates will be publicised nearer the time.

4.8     The opening times will be changing once the library re-opens; the late night openings will be changing and the library will also be starting to open on Sundays. 

4.9     The long term plan is to move York archives into the central library to be housed with the reference library.  These plans will be looked at in more detail next year.

There will be a presentation on the Trust’s first year and information on how you can become a member.

Mike Proctor, Deputy Chief Executive of the NHS Foundation Trust spoke about what the Trust has been doing, where it hopes to go in the future and encouraged residents of the ward to become members.  The following points were noted:

5.1       The hospital became a foundation trust in April 2007 which is good for two reasons; 1) it gives the hospital much more autonomy in how it delivers health services which allows it to develop services in line with local needs, 2) it allows the Trust to recruit a membership to whom they are accountable.

5.2       The Trust has a board of governors elected by its membership who are accountable to the local community.  Any member of the trust can stand to be elected as a governor. 

5.3       The trust has 8 key objectives:  1) focus on patient safety and improving patient experience, 2) improved performance, 3) provide sufficient capacity to meet demand, 4)  be a provider of choice, 5) look after the workforce, 6) develop and agree a strategic vision for clinical services, 7) develop the site to improve the environment in which care is delivered and 8) improve communication, consultation and public engagement. 

5.4       The Trust’s current priorities are increasing bed numbers, improving staffing, improved safety for patients, reducing waiting times and developing new services.

5.5       So far the trust has 18,000 members making it one of the largest foundation trusts in the country.

The following questions and comments were noted:

a)  I had a recent stay in hospital and I can’t fault it, it was excellent.

Response was given that it is the hospitals ambition for everyone to have an experience like that.  They are aware that they do not always get things right.

b)  How does York hospital compare to other hospitals in terms of controlling ‘sickness bugs’?

Response was given that these ‘bugs’ are a community illness rather than a hospital one.  They are spread through the atmosphere and are common in places where there are large numbers of people.  The hospital has implemented a lot of measures to prevent bugs but it will be impossible to completely avoid them.

c)  Some areas of the hospital are filthy, particularly the curtains on some of the wards.

Response was given that the cleaning services were taken back in-house 2 years ago and the cleanliness of the hospital has improved dramatically since then. 

Your opportunity to discuss local issues and concerns with your ward councillors.

a)  The roads in Chapelfield’s are in a terrible state.  Bramham Road is full of potholes.

Response was given that Chapelfield’s Road is due to be resurfaced this year.