Agenda and minutes

Police Officers were not in attendance at this evening’s meeting. The Chair was requested to pass on the following issue raised by a resident to the Police.

Speeding continues to occur on the A6 although there are CCTV cameras monitoring the area.

Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as a true record subject to the following amendment. On page 2 at point 60a amend Churchill Road to Churchill Close. An apology was received from Councillor Dr I. K Ridley for non-attendance at this meeting.

Page 2: Representatives of Oadby, South Wigston and Wigston Multicultural Group and the Senior Citizens’ Group were invited to attend to speak at tonight’s meeting.

Page 2: The repair to Fludes Lane is to be listed on the Borough Council’s Improvement Budget Plan.

Page 2: It was reported that the signage on the Uplands Park adult play equipment was deemed legally adequate.

Action:

Carry over the matter of the signage regarding Uplands Park adult play equipment to the next Residents’ Forum meeting.

Page 3: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service were invited to attend tonight’s meeting.

Page 4: The Chair’s Environment Working Group paper notes were circulated.

Page 5: The Street Furniture Officer is addressing how the request for the cleaning of the Oadby War Memorial base should best be approached.

Page 5: With reference to Residents’ request for the repair of the path between Woodfield Road and Uplands Park, the County Council expressed the view that the repair was of a low priority.

Action:

Councillor D Gamble stated that he will endeavour to get the repair completed.

Page 5: Councillor I Ridley apologised for his absence from tonight’s meeting. He was to provide a brief update on the Council’s policy for emptying overflowing bins.

Action:

This matter is to be brought back to the next Oadby Resident’s Forum meeting.

Page 6: Updates were provided by the Chair on: Phase 2 of the Cottage Farm Development and the Oadby Old Swimming Pool site and development of the land.

Page 6: On the matter of fly tipping on Bluebell Close, Councillor Gamble noted that the Borough Council is negotiating with the Land Agent over enforcement action.

Oadby Traders had no representative at tonight’s meeting.

Action:

Extend an invitation to the Oadby Traders representative to attend the next residents’ forum meeting.

The Community Engagement Officer provided residents with an update on the Citizen’s Panel. Residents were encouraged to sign up to the Citizens’ Panel. A screen shot showing how to sign-up was shared. Residents were also provided with a poster containing the information on how to register by accessing: www.oadby-wigston.gov.uk/citizens-panel.

A background to the Holocaust Memorial Day event was shared with Residents. Residents were invited to attend the event. The day, date, time and venue of the event was shared with Residents.

Residents were also informed that the Borough Council will be celebrating VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory over Japan) days in 2020. The events have yet to be planned. Residents will be informed once the events have been finalised.

Councillor Helen Loydall provided a brief update on the Senior Citizens Action Group. The membership of the group is open to anyone over the age of fifty. It challenges social isolation and supports many who have lost their partners.

The group hosts an annual diary of events. It organises trips, exercise sessions, concerts, coffee fundraising events and other activities throughout the year. It has a sing for fun choir. Membership of the group is free and refreshments are served. For more information contact Councillor Mrs Helen Loydall. Helen.loydall@oadby-wigston.gov.uk.

Mr Shailesh Ram provided an electronic presentation titled; Plastic Free Oadby Surfers Against Sewage. The focus of this presentation was on keeping the seas free of plastic, learning how plastics pollute the seas, what harm plastics in the seas hold for animals and society and what people can do to try to decrease or stop plastic contamination of the seas.

Residents were encouraged to join up to one of four work streams organised by Plastic Free Oadby Surfers Against Sewage. These work streams are: Business Awareness, Community Groups, Publicity and Community Events and Plastic Clean Up Events. Residents can access an application form to sign up to the groups by contacting:shaileshram@aol.com. Plastic Free Oadby group meets on January 29^th 2020. The venue and time will be confirmed.

Action:

Circulate a copy of the presentation and sign up form to everyone.

Suzanna Bresnihan, representing the Community Action Partnership (CAP) provided a brief update on the Partnership’s work.

Residents were encouraged to volunteer their time for driving the CAP transport vans. Drivers are trained and covered by insurance procured by CAP. Volunteer drivers are not required to volunteer on Weekends.

Prospective volunteers can reach CAP by contacting, Suzanna Bresnihan, c/o Oadby & Wigston Borough Council, Station Road, Wigston, LE18 2DR, or telephone: 0116 272 7669.

An officer for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service was unavailable to attend tonight’s meeting.

Action:

Invite an officer from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to attend the next Forum meeting.

Planning for VE & VJ day is in progress. Once this has been organised information will be shared with the public.

The spending of the forum budget was discussed. All previous successful requests have been signed off by the PFD (Policy Finance and Development) Committee. The A6 bus shelter awaits a licence from the County Council.

Sandhurst Street Commemorative Stones and Interpretation Board Project is in the process of being designed and fitted at Burton’s Corner, Oadby.

The Resident Forum fund currently stands at: £41,849.

Friends of Brocks Hill Interpretation Panels

The request for 7 Interpretation Panels for installing into Brocks Hill Park was approved. One resident proposed the item and one resident seconded the proposal totalling the sum of £3,800.

20 people voted in favour of the proposal. There were no abstentions and no objections. The proposal will go to the PFD (Policy Finance and Development) Committee for endorsement in March 2020.

Community Memorial Reflective Gathering Space Monument.

A proposal for a memorial monument to be placed in a gathering space was agreed. The project costs a total of £5,000. £3,000 was requested. The land identified is owned by the local Council. The memorial would be a Council asset. The Council would be in charge of cleaning it.

The memorial space artwork is to be publicised on Facebook and in the Council’s Letterbox magazine. It was proposed that the Forum award the proposal £2,500. The proposal was seconded by another resident.15 people voted in favour of the proposal. There were no votes against the proposal and no abstentions.

The Chair clarified that Councillors were not allowed to vote with reference to this or any other proposals brought to Forum meetings.

Action:

The memorial artwork photos will be shared at the next Resident Forum meeting.

Cottage Farm Briefing Note

The Planning Application was received by the local Council on, 20^th August 2019 and is still under consideration with ongoing dialogue between the Planning Department, the Applicant and Statutory consultees. Dialogue in particular currently focusses on Highway considerations.

The application will ultimately be determined by the Planning Committee, although the local Council is unable to provide a date at present.

Section 106 monies will be negotiated as per the provisions of the Council’s policy and any other requests made by service providers which will be assessed and considered by the Council and the applicant.

Oadby Swimming Pool Site

The local Council is preparing to undertake a study on the future options for the site, which will be reported back to Members in due course for a decision on how to proceed.

Oadby Christmas Event 2019

Residents requested an update to be brought to the next Forum meeting on how the Oadby Christmas event was managed.

Action:

Invite the Chair of the Oadby Traders to provide feedback at the next Forum meeting.

Faulty Wind Turbine.

A resident raised the topic of the non-working Wind Turbine which had been set up in 2011 at Brocks Hill Centre. It was described as being unable to make any impact on climate change.

The resident who raised the issue asked how the Turbine might be repaired. A condition report on the Wind Turbine’s viability for repair and functioning was requested. Trees have grown up around it.

Action:

Request a Council Officer report back at the next Forum meeting and say what can be done to make the Wind Turbine work sustainably.

Change the road sign from Wigston to Oadby at Brabazon Road junction.

The road sign pointing from Wigston to Oadby at Brabazon Road junction still says Oadby Pool and is pointing towards the old swimming pool site. A request was made for this signage to be changed or taken down.

Missing Cone Christmas Trees

The Chair informed residents that information circulated about stolen Christmas Cone Trees in Oadby was incorrect. A real Christmas Cone Tree was purchased last year.

Pollution levels in the Borough of Oadby & Wigston

Residents are interested in finding out about air pollution levels across the Borough.

Action:

Invite the local council Environmental Health Officer to the next forum meeting to present on pollution levels and the monitoring of air quality across the borough.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

An officer for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service was unavailable to attend tonight’s meeting.

Action:

Invite an officer from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to attend the next Forum meeting.

Severn Trent Water Authority

Residents raised the issue of the flooding of local roads in the Borough.

Action:

Invite an officer from Severn Trent Water Authority to discuss why so much flooding is taking place, particularly in the St Peter’s ward and what can be done to stop this reoccurring.

Thursday, 16 April 2020, 6.30PM

The date of the next meeting is: Thursday 16^th April 2020. The venue is: St Paul’s House, Barnabas Centre, Oadby, LE2 4NX, at; 6.30p.m.