Agenda and draft minutes

PCSO Harks introduced himself to residents.

Burglary Dwelling - 1 May, 1 April, 4 attempts in June. 2 properties were targeted with vehicles taken. Additional patrols are now taking place in these areas.

Burglary Other than Dwelling – 3 April, 1 May, 1 June – The Parade is the main area for these with additional at Brocks Hill.

Theft from Motor Vehicles – 3 April, 4 May, 5 June – Vehicles either keyless entry or insecure.

ASB – 4 April, 10 May, 6 June – Main locations are supermarket carparks with drug use and dealing. Youths also an issue on The Parade.

A cannabis factory was located on Brocks Hill Drive with an arrest made.

A stop-check on Home Drive found an individual with a knife.

Crime prevention events and beat surgeries are ongoing; there are reports of school parking coming in and the Beat Team is working with parking enforcement officers to address the issue. When officers are present the issues reduce but pick up again when they’re not present.

Residents raised issues with vehicles parked double-width wholly on the path. Police have previously asked vehicles to move and will also, on occasion, have vehicles towed if they are causing an obstruction. Residents proposed bollards are installed in these areas to prevent vehicles parking on the pavement. A second resident raised that this is also an issue on the Parade and that having spoken to the County Council there are mixed messages being sent around who is empowered to address the issue. Residents feel that this is laziness related to drivers not wanting to pay for parking.

Since 21 June there has been a burnt-out vehicle outside of a property on London Road, Oadby. It belongs to a company which apparently dissolved in 2022 and shows as SORN on the DVLA website. When the resident has contacted the Council to raise the vehicle he has been advised that the owner will be moving it but nothing has happened for 3 weeks. PCSO Harks noted that they are aware of the vehicle and are working with OWBC Env Health to remove it.

A resident has requested a mirror to help traffic is added on to Fairfield Road to aid merging onto Uplands Road. This was raised at the previous Forum. Cllr. Gamble will contact LCC Highways regarding this.

Safer Streets – Some residents have applied for target hardening items but have not received any response. M Smith explained that this is being lead by the OPCC and he will raise it with the relevant officer.

Serious Violent Incident in Oadby – 3 arrests were made and 1 individual has been charged in relation to this.

None raised.

• School Parking at The Yews / Harvard Close
  • This is a permanent problem with double parking and obstructive parking. Residents state that they have received verbal abuse from drivers when they have asked them to move their vehicles. Cars are arriving from 1:45 onwards, with some drivers working on laptops in their cars, waiting for their children to leave school. Cllr. Gamble has contacted LCC to request a 1 hour parking restriction at the start and end of the school day; LCC have declined this request as they do not have the resources to staff the restrictions that would need to be put in place, and would likely move the parking issue elsewhere. Cllr. Gamble will email LCC Highways regarding the installation of bollards.

• On-Street Parking at London Road, The Morwoods, Rosemead Drive, Sports Lounge Area
  • No resident present to raise the issue.

• Grass Cutting / Overgrown Foliage
  • The Council have been cutting grass on land which is in fact not owned by them. If there were any accidents as a result of this, the Council would not be covered by insurance. The Council continue to survey land in which grass is cut to establish owners. The Council have contacted land owners and advised that they will now need to arrange plans to cut the grass or to pay the Council to do this on their behalf. Residents expressed confusion over why the Council has previously maintained some land that it doesn’t own but has now stopped. Cllr. Haq noted that a lot of the land is still owned by property developers; most areas the developers have paid the Council now to maintain the land. Some areas where the developer has not agreed will see them issued with an ‘untidy notice’ – this has a period of 4-6 weeks for action after which the Council could take action and place charges on the land for the developers to cover. Land adjacent to the highways is maintained by LCC who have missed large areas of the Borough in their maintenance cycle; Councillors have complained to LCC regarding this and some actions have now been taken to rectify overgrown areas. Residents also noted that some of the tree trimming undertaken at the roadside leaves trees looking lopsided and at risk of toppling.

• Former Oadby Swimming Pool Site
  • Following a period of marketing, the site of the former Oadby Swimming Pool is now under offer. In the coming months, the Council will be consulting local residents and the Oadby Bowling Club on how the proceeds of the sale will be invested in Ellis Park to create a brand new Community Hub in order to maximise the benefits to the local community. Residents enquired as to whether any houses built on the site have a clause added to them that they can only be owned / lived in by people with a connection to Oadby itself.

Cllr. Kaufman noted that the money brought in from the sale of the site is being reinvested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

None raised.

The next meeting of this Forum was originally scheduled for Thursday, 24 October 2024. Residents noted that the Forum always being held on a Thursday is prohibitive to some individuals attending the meetings. Due to this the Chair requested an alternative date be sought; this was later agreed to be Wednesday, 16 October 2024, 18:30 at the Brocks Hill Council Offices.