Minutes:
Pride of the Borough
Simon Lucas introduced himself and POTB to residents, and stated that Oadby & Wigston are now in the finals of the Britain in Bloom contest. POTB are organising this and to ensure that the town centres all look their best for the competition. Simon also highlighted the POTB membership scheme at a cost of £5, entitling people to discounts at around 50 businesses in the Borough. Proceeds of the POTB membership scheme are rolled back into the POTB activities, investing in the Borough environmentally.
Chicken Alley
Damaged water drain / sewage pipe – Severn Trent are proposing to remove a Lyme tree to enable the repair to be carried out. Offered price to supply and replace the damaged tree.
Half Term Fun Fair / Sandhurst Street
Most of the residences that back onto the site this took place are bungalows, and one individual complained that there was a generator adjacent to their property that ran late into the night, disturbing residents. There were also complaints about the floodlights at the fair shining into properties at night. Advanced notification of the fair does not appear to have been received by residents. Query as to if this will be happening again, and was it an income generator for the Council. The Chair confirmed it was a revenue stream for the Council, and stated that there is learning to be taken away from the event to be brought to the attention of the relevant forums and officers / teams. M Smith will take this back to the Council’s Comms Team, and Members will take this to their relevant forums.
Parking was also highlighted as a significant issue in the area; signage around the car park closure was non-existent and there were no marshals to address this further down Sandhurst Street. Congestion in the area was awful.
Lessons will be taken from this event and applied to any similar events taking place anywhere in the Borough.
Information was passed to the Mosque regarding this, but appears to have not been circulated amongst the Mosque community.
Sandhurst Street Car Park Lighting – Reported 5 months ago but no works have been carried out to date. Confirmed that these lights have to be serviced by Leicestershire County Council Highways. This has been chased up by Cllr. Haq with the County Council who have confirmed the works will take place in the next few weeks.
East Street Car Park
Potholes in the car park were raised as an issue for lowered vehicles; stated that the Council has started charging for parking to cover the maintenance cost of the car park but no work has been done. Only newly tarmacked areas are around the newly installed electric vehicle chargers. The chargers are noted to be underused, but utilised by residents who own an electric vehicle but with no at home charging available. Some of the car park is privately owned and maintained which also impacts upon maintenance.
Windrush Drive / Trent Close alleyway
Who is responsible for cleaning this? Lots of litter, and appears to be a magnet for ASB with individuals able to hide / congregate in the alley. This will be fedback to the Council’s ASB Officer and Clean and Green Team. Recommended that if no improvement is seen in the next couple of months please report to the Ward Councillor for follow up.
Rubbish Bin outside Lidl
The bin outside Lidl at the bus stop has been removed. The Chair noted that the bin has been there for some time, and was beginning to overflow on a regular basis despite being emptied more regularly. As a trial this was removed to see if littering in the area reduced which has actually occurred now it has been removed. One school of thought in the Council is that if bins are removed individuals are encouraged to take their litter home with them; the placement of bins in the Borough is now being looked at by the Council’s Corporate Assets Team.
New Street Roundabout / Severn Trent
The works appear to have now taken longer than the 5 weeks posted, with the works underway to replace the full length of the water main along the Parade and down to London Road. The works have slowed due to additional services that Severn Trent found below the junction, and the Council now has confidence that the works will continue apace now this obstacle has been passed. Concerns were raised by residents about the impact of the works on local traffic / school traffic when the works reach the A6 area.
Customer Experience Strategy / Consultation
Consultation has now ended, and a public report is being made available for residents to read. Elected Members have had a foresight of this, and the Council intends to develop a range of different tools to continue to effectively engage with residents; this will include the ‘Our Borough’ newsletter and an accessible Customer Service desk. Appointments will also be available at each of the town centres for residents to meet with Council Officers.
Council Response Times
Response times from the Council, including following Out of Office replies, are poor and can take several months. Recommended that going via Customer Services is the best route for this, rather than directly contacting Officers, as should the Officer not be available then Customer Services will follow up with other officers in the team where required.