Minutes:
County Council Civil Enforcement – no response to requests to attend meeting. Likely linked to the current position of the County Council’s new administration. The Chair also noted that the current administration want to remove working from home for their officers. Residents queried if OWBC can “shame” Civil Enforcement via some Comms in relation to parking concerns and the lack of contact. M Smith to provide residents with an email address where reports of parking issues can be submitted to the Police. Concerns were also raised about the tables placed outside of Bru and asked if the Council can review their licence in light of this. Residents would also like a direct contact number for the Civil Enforcement Officers to request their presence in areas with significant issues when they occur. Residents are ultimately concerned about emergency vehicle access for a large number of local roads. M Smith to request County Council attendance at the October meeting. Cllr. Kaufman believes that the private section of East Street Car Park has been, or shortly will be, repaired. Residents also raised concerns with the amount of litter present at the back of Boots on the car park. The Council car park’s repairs are believe to still be out to tender.
M Smith highlighted the Forum grant process and spoke about how the Council uses UKSPF Grants in the Borough. Cllr. Kaufman proposed that the Forum Grant Funding (budget remaining etc.) can be included on the Agenda as a standing item. The Chair proposed approaching the Oadby Traders group re. match funding through the Forum for planters, to prevent parking issues on the Parade, as a proposal at October’s meeting. Resident’s proposed similar installations outside the gym on the corner of New Street where vehicles are parking and obscuring the view of the junction. The lack of specific flood grants is disappointing. It is believed that some residents in Wigston Road are now in the position where their home is uninsurable due to repeated flood damage. The flood action group has offered to provide some information around the affected homes to the Council. Residents noted that a number of issues around Fludes Lane were reported to the Council and were all resolved within days; thanks to be passed through to the Clean and Green Teams in the Borough.
M Smith noted that the Police hold some CCTV footage of an ‘individual of interest’ linked to the “FORM” tag that appears in several locations around Oadby.
Residents noted uneven and damaged surfaces on various pavements around Oadby. This was confirmed as a matter for LCC Highways, with the information to be passed over to them.
Covered in Chair’s Updates.
No update available; requested for next forum. Badgers on site are thought to have affected progress here.
Planning permission has been granted to the buyers of Bushloe House to convert the building and grounds into a care home. Historic England are satisfied with the proposed plans for the listed building.
Concerns were raised about the condition of some of the plots at this site. There are 3 allotments not being used at all, and it is thought that there are 160 people on the waiting list for an allotment at this location. An update was requested on progress by the Council with the letting of the allotments.
In September the Natwest branch in Oadby is to be closed. A resident has written to Neil O’Brien to request a banking hub for Oadby is required – he is noted to have replied stating that he is pressing banks to avoid closures in this area, and that a banking hub should be developed where possible. Updates from Neil O’Brien were promised to the resident whenever available. A banking hub is only possible once there are no banks open in the area it has been requested. It was noted that cash can be withdrawn from the Post Office free of charge. A request was made for an update on what OWBC can do to support a banking hub in Oadby.
Bench near to the windmill at the top of the farm track has been removed – will this be reinstated? Residents believe that the bench was broken and may have been taken away for repair.
Planning permission was refused and the landowner has been instructed to return the land to its previous state, with all building rubble removed. The Council is exploring its legal options around enforcement for this as the clearance is yet to take place. If the Council has to undertake the clearance then the landowner will be recharged for any related costs. Residents also believe that the landowner poisoned a lot of the wildlife that resided on the land prior to clearance.
A resident noted that he believes Chicken Alley is being mowed too often, with a mow to take place in April and again at the end of September – wildflowers have not been able to establish in this area as it has been mowed twice to date, and the top soil has been removed due to this. Nesting birds have been affected by this due to the lack of insects within the cow parsley that usually grows here. An update on this, specifically timing of mowing, was requested for October’s meeting.