Agenda and minutes

The Police reported the following:

·         Work is being done with Officers on dealing with anti-social behaviour relating to businesses in the Bell Street and Frederick Street areas.

·         Three out of four young people were taken off anti-social behaviour contracts.

·         The Town`s Anti- Social Behaviour Officer and the Police are working to seal off access to shop roofs as a prevention measure.

·         Leicestershire County Council in relation to knife crime ran an operation titled Sceptre.

·         Sweeps of parks and green areas were swept by the Police to find any weapons.

·         Amnesty Bins have been rolled out.

·         Knife arches have been placed in prominent positions.

·         The Police Neighbourhood priority teams have targeted habitual carriers of knives.

·         Talks about the carrying of knives have been rolled out to pupils in some local schools.

·         Government figures around knife crimes for Leicestershire has remained stable.

·         There has been a Police operation to deal with vehicle and burglaries in the Borough. Foot and vehicle patrols have taken place in high incident areas.

·         CCTV cameras have now been installed.

·         Residents raised no question on crime with the Officer present.

·         Fifty CCTVs and cameras selected and sorted. Some of the cameras will be moved to hotspots.

·         Trading Standards is to run a campaign about the sale of Nitrous Oxide to under Age customers.

·         If residents are aware of rogue traders in white vans who have been identified as stealing from vulnerable residents they must contact the Police. and Trading Standards.

Residents informed the Police Officer of the following issues:

·         Laughing gas canisters have been seen on Cook`s Lane.

·         Newton Lane and the bottom of the Green Belt at the back of the Meadows, overlooking the Glen golf course and Little Hill Park.

·         With assistance of the residents the Police is able to put together intelligence on who is supplying drugs in the area.

·         The Officer stated the areas identified would be circulated to the Beat Team.

·         Councillor Loydall noted the Council`s Delivery Plan over the next 12 months will include how this issue is to be dealt with through partnership working.

Residents can access the Leicestershire Police’s website to access up to date crime statistics on the following link. https://www.bing.com/search?q=Leicestershire+Police+website&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid

The Chair introduced himself to the residents. The minutes were agreed as a true and correct record of previous Forum business.

The County Council Tax banding was on tonight`s agenda.

To mark World War One a request was made for £200 to be used to print leaflets and advertise for a concert to be held in November 2018. Monies for this have been released.

Friends of Peace Park requested funds to raise the Capet Badge Bed in the park. £200 is required but only £100 was requested. The rest of the money is to be made up from raising funds at coffee mornings. The application form is to be received shortly.

The Chair spoke to a copy of last year`s Council Tax banding figures.

The Borough of Oadby and Wigston was noted as being in the middle range compared to other Districts. This year the Council has not yet received its Council Rate. All the monies to run the Borough must come from the Borough. It costs £224 for a band D property.

The Police precept has been fixed at £223 for the year. The County Council takes the bulk of money to run services.

No services have been lost in the Borough. Residents are able to pay bills via Pay Point. There are 57 places in the Borough where residents can pay bills. This includes the Post Office.

Residents asked no questions about the Council Tax bandings.

Action

Circulate a copy of the Council Tax banding sheet for 2018 to Residents for information.

Mrs Sallie Butt, the Environment & Waste Technician from Leicestershire County Council provided a presentation on what are recyclable and non-recyclable items.

·         Currently some seven-district councils use Case Pak in Leicestershire. Leicestershire County Council is due to roll out a recycling campaign.

·         Waste Initiatives carry out talks on recycling in schools and to community groups. Articles are placed in magazines such as Letterbox.

The Chair extended an appreciation of thanks to Sallie Butt at the close of the presentation.

Recycling Dos and Don’ts.

The Dos:

·         Rinse and drain plastic bottles.

·         Keep plastic in its original state. Squash it and place it in the wheelie Bin.

·         Place plastic tubs pots in the recycling.

·         Tetra pack cartons are recyclable. Flatten them if you wish. Those with the lids left on are more collectable.

·         Cardboard can be flattened. Empty everything out of them.

·         Cleaned aluminium foil is acceptable and can be squashed flat.

·         Food tins must be rinsed and drained.

·         Drinks cans are acceptable.

·         Some types of clean tin foil.

·         Completely empty aerosol cans are ok to recycle.

·         Rinsed glass bottles and glass jars with their lids on are acceptable. Rinse the items and place the lids back on.

·         Ensure all packaging is empty.

·         Brown and green loose bags previously used for recycling can be placed in the bin.

·         With regard to rolls of old green and brown surplus recycling bags, residents may contact Customer Services. They will advise residents that they can either bring them into the Customer Services Centre or arrange with the Depot (Tip) for the bags to be collected.

·         Residents were reminded that they could use their small black bins for composting.

·         The Don’ts

·         Do not place any black plastic in the recycling waste. Infrared rays used to identify plastic rubbish cannot pick up its existence.

·         Do not place broken glass in the recycle bin. Place it in a bottle bank for recycling.

·         No flat glass such as mirrors.

·         Do not add textiles, as they tangle up in the equipment. Donate them, even the rags to charity.

·         No used nappies. Place them in the general waste.

·         No makeup in plastic tubes. These are difficult to clean.

·         No hard plastic such as hangers whole or broken, wash baskets, washing up bowls or plastic storage containers.

·         No children`s toys.

·         Do not add crisp packets or multi-use crisp bags. Walkers Crisps have set up a recycling process for their crisp packets. Some stores are taking back plastic carrier bags for recycling.

·         No batteries or small electrical items to be placed in bins.

·         No tissues to be placed in bins.

·         No single use plastic drinking cup to be placed in bins.

·         No polystyrene or Styrofoam.

·         No used plastic bags to be placed in bins.

·         No tin foil as used in boxes of tea such as Tetley, PG Tips and Typhoo etc. Scrunched up tin foil turns into a laminate so must not be placed in recycling. The test to see if it is not recyclable is to scrunch it up into a ball to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Currently Wigston Lions is supporting the work of Wigston Traders. Wigston Traders Group is to be re- started. Work on the old Lord`s shop and the butcher`s shop is taking place. The old Barclays Bank and Nat West bank branches are yet to be let.

The Wigston Light Switch-on is Saturday 30 November, at 12 Noon. Negotiations are taking place with numerous acts and with Harborough Radio to show more local talent during the day.

The Town Centre Manager is looking into the feasibility of having one or two smaller Christmas trees on Bell Street and two by the Edinburgh Mill shop. The Council is looking at hiring in a living tree for the season.

A twelve to fourteen foot tree costs around £5,500 pounds.

Action

A Traders update is to come to the next meeting.

The representative of Pride of the Borough (POB) provided a verbal update. Key points to note are:

·         Loyalty cardholders currently number 1000.

·         Discount can be received from Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Home Interiors.

·         Half of the customers using Grange farm Monday to Thursday lunchtime use a loyalty card.

·         The Loyalty card is helping to bring more trade into the Town.

·         Membership for the Loyalty Card can be obtained from Zeph’s Café.

·         There will be a floral competition in 2019. People will be invited to enter and help with judging. Residents may enter a container.

·         A Litter Campaign has begun. This will include rollout to schools and businesses. Santander is coming on board.

·         The representative appealed for help from the residents to share their email and phone number with Pride of the Borough. This will help POB with sending out a monthly newsletter and to update a resident’s details when a discount card has been lost. POB does not share its database information with other agencies.

·         The third Saturday of each month a litter pick working party goes out to help keep the locality litter free.

·         More volunteers would be appreciated. The Litter Pick will be from 9:30am until 11:30am. All volunteers will be provided with litter picking tools. This will include visibility vests and gloves.

·         A request was made by POB to residents requesting volunteer to weed and water the big planters, which they purchased for £500 each. One is looked after by the Fish Bar and on Leicester Road.

·         POB is addressing how it can be more effective in coordinating updating of memberships on an annual basis. If people wish to volunteer to look after the planters or distribute the POB Newsletter, contact Graham Lamb.

For more information about Pride of the Borough click on the link provided here. https://www.prideoftheborough.org/

Maromme Square residents are yet to fully agree to what play furnishings they wish to spend their grant on. One suggestion has been for a basketball goal.

The Defibrillator is yet to be fitted by Sainsbury Store. The electrician was requesting a large sum to fit it. Sainsbury Store is currently negotiating the fitting cost with the electrical company. Boots were not interested in fitting the Defibrillator.

The current Wigston Residents` Forum budget stands at £49,151.

A seat was requested for Little Hill Bus Shelter by Little Hill Church.

Action:

Clarify suitability of placing the bus seat with the Council`s Furnishing Officer and bring this item back to the next Resident Forum meeting.

Peace Park Flower bed.

A sum of £100.00 was requested to repair the flowerbed badge in Peace Park. This sum was agreed but now awaits an application form from Peace Park.

The request for a litterbin on Oadby Road by the at the Firs flats, next to the bus shelter was agreed. The cost is £450.This is subject to approval by the Council`s Street Furnishing Officer and Leicester County Council.

Action:

Bring this item back to the next Wigston Residents Forum meeting.

A proposal was brought for replacing the Framework Knitters Museum gates. The Replacement is expected to cost £600.It was agreed to award £400.The proposal was seconded. There were no dissenters. It was also likely that the fire alarm would require replacing in a couple of years.

An application form has been received from the Secretary of the Framework Knitters Museum.

A resident made a request for a drop kerb on the right hand side of Redruth Avenue, Wigston.

Action:

The Chair said he would raise this issue with the County Council.

Project to create a Heritage Centre accessible to the public.

Greater Wigston Historical Society brought awareness to the residents Forum that they are to develop an in-depth proposal for the formation of a heritage Centre in Wigston, accessible to all in the Borough. Discussion on the Project has taken place with Wigston Academy. The Heritage Centre will look to make a grant for tables and chairs. A full proposal will be brought in due course. Businesses will be requested to sponsor the Project.

Residents reported parking on double lines in Fredricks Street.

Tickets can be given for obstruction by Enforcement Officers. People were also said to be parking on the pavement by the Star and Garter. The Council is aware of both these issues and is working to resolve them.

A question was raised as to when Newton Lane Bungalow will be completed and can it be compulsorily be purchased. All owners of empty homes in the borough are being contacted to see if these houses can be brought back into use.

On Saturday March 30, St Thomas Church, Oadby, and Wigston Civic Orchestra are to hold Serenades for Strings concert at 7.30p.m.Tickets are available at the door  or telephone:01162889674 or 01295670540.

A question was raised as to why the recycle wheelie bins looks different from those on the leaflet circulated. Most areas are to have the bins. Bags will be acceptable where a bin cannot be accommodated from the back of a house to the front. It was emphasised by the Chair that the bins are better as they support good back health for workers.

Wilson Barrett Housing Developers and the naming of the housing area, “The Meadows”.

The Town Centre Master Plan has identified some parking provision. If less than 450 properties are built developers do not have to provide any facilities.

The housing next to Kilby Bridge will come with about £250,000 for provision of Health services.

The date of the meeting is to be confirmed following the May 2019 election. All resident Forum meetings will be published on the Council website.