Agenda and draft minutes

Cllr B Boulter & R Levy welcomed attendees to this meeting. Ways of promoting this meeting included visiting local businesses, holding community pop ups to talk with local people, email newsletters and contacting key stakeholders. The number of attendees was up from the last meeting, held virtually.

Apologies were received from Cllr Richard Morris.

From the previous meeting, it was confirmed that the café at Brocks Hill Country Park Visitors Centre would not be closed permanently, yet only during the course of the works that are taking place at the Centre.

With regards to the state of equipment at William Gunning Park, Cllr Adams said that any issues could be brought to her, to raise with relevant Council officers.

Cllr Boulter said that Leicestershire County Council are also reviewing their Waste strategy and have their own online consultation pertaining to collection frequency, yet this consultation does not include the option for a weekly collection of refuse and recycling- which is something that Oadby and Wigston Borough Council wish to retain.

Cllr Boulter said that the UK government are currently reviewing what can and can’t be recycled, and this makes current discussions around recycling difficult. Indeed, in Leicestershire, recycling is currently taken to Casepak, yet this may change.

It was asked where this consultation from LCC was available and to this Cllr Boulter replied that it was online only. It was also asked where big recycling bins for glass were in the locality; it was said that there are presently none of these.

One resident enquired about the large plastic bins which have appeared across the Borough and it was suggested that these were a fire risk. It was noted in response that metal bins can get rusty and so there are pros and cons of different materials for bins.

At this stage in the meeting, William Gunning Park was addressed as a site where lots of drug taking is occurring, and lack of police presence was identified as a concern. Cllr Boulter enquired whether any residents were part of Neighbourhood Watch schemes, and said that in the next meeting, the Police’s Neighbourhood Link scheme would be introduced. Potential solutions to the drug taking and littering of paraphernalia, such as lowering the height of bushes so that activities cannot be attempted to be hidden.

Action: Police and ASB staff at Oadby and Wigston Borough Council to be identified about residents’ concerns at William Gunning Park.

It was noted that Police powers to deal with matters, such as E-Scooters was limited, especially when combined with the capacity of the force at the present moment.

One resident addressed loose branches at Fairfield School over the path to the side of the school.

Action: That this would be passed onto Cllr Morris who is a governor at the school.

At this point in the meeting, Cllr Adams introduced residents to the activities happening as part of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. This includes a community picnic at William Gunning Park on the Saturday of the Jubilee weekend. All are welcome. Also as part of the celebrations for the Jubilee, Cllr Boulter said that options for commemorative trees at Blaby Road Park would be explored and updated in the future meetings.

Action: Cllr Boulter to update on plans for commemorative trees at Blaby Road Park.

A question was raised to the Councillors about new properties in the Borough and the direction of growth to which Cllr Boyce responded that a new local plan was being worked on by Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, and that this would be communicated with residents. Currently, there were no major sites being identified in Oadby and Wigston. It was affirmed that local green spaces would not be built upon. Following a further question about the development of the old Arriva bus station, it was stated by Cllr Boyce that there was no final decision on this.

A question was asked about the introduction of parking charges within the Borough. Councillors responded to this by saying that charges and permits were considerably less than other districts, for example in Charnwood where it is a four figure sum. Cllr Boyce informed the forum that footfall in town centres has changed only slightly post-pandemic, and has only changed by 3% since charges were introduced. The Council wishes to increase the dwell time of those visiting the towns, so that when people do visit, they visit for longer.

Here, Cllr Boyce talked through how Council Tax rebates for residents had commenced- some Councils have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Tuesday, 30 August, 2022 7:00 pm at Fairfield Community Primary School.