Agenda and draft minutes

Richard Curtis acted as Chair in the absence of Maryanne Kempf. All attendees introduced themselves.

The NP paid their respects to Christina Crossingham, a former member, who had died since the last meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Margaret Hickman, Lesley Nel and Inspector Deborah Yeates.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record held on Monday 3^rd October 2016.

Resolved: that the Minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the inclusion of Alex Milne as being in attendance and Noelle Rumball as having given her apologies.

The Minutes were also amended to indicate that Councillor Jude English did not attend the Bristol 800 visit to the Mansion House.

Action: Jeremy Livitt

Minute Number 12 - Highways Report

Following a request from Councillor Ruth Pickersgill, the NP agreed that officers should check how the funding for the Lyppiatt Road scheme (recorded in the Minutes as a joint funding scheme with Saffron Gardens) was being arranged.

Action: Gill Calloway/Mark Sperduty

It was noted that the issue of the need for a quicker response to highways issues had been raised at Place Scrutiny Commission. However, it was also agreed that it would be helpful to do this in relation to NP’s.

The NP agreed that the Chair (Richard Curtis) should contact Peter Mann (Service Director – Transport) to urge highways to respond quicker and more proactively to requests for action concerning highways issues.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Please note that the Register of Interests is available at https://www.bristol.gov.uk/councillors/members-interests-gifts-and-hospitality-register

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

No declarations of interest were made for this item (Note: Councillor Ruth Pickersgill subsequently declared an interest in Agenda Item 6 (see below).

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on Friday 25^th November 2016.

The NP received the following Public Forum statements:

(1)John Sisman: Highway works – Junction of Cromwell Road/North Road

In response to questions from NP members, Gill Calloway confirmed that highways officers were working on a scheme to widen the junction by 0.5 metres.

In the meantime, the NP agreed that a Strategic Review for all future highway works plans covering the A38 and the inner city boundary was required, as part of a wider review for the entire city.

It was agreed that the Chair should write to Peter Mann expressing the NP’s view in respect of this issue.

(2)        Kate Oliver – Junction Safety in Belvoir Road and Adjacent Roads In Montpelier/St Andrew’s

The NP agreed that its Traffic and Transport Group would look at the issues raised in the report attached to the statement and assess its feasibility. In addition, the NP asked all Councillors to pursue this issue as part of the ongoing RPZ review.

Action: Gill Calloway/AELH NP Councillors

(3)        Bristol Walking Alliance Manifesto

The NP agreed to the request to join the Bristol Walking Alliance.

Action: Gill Calloway

Please find attached a report concerning the above Grant Applications.

Councillor Ruth Pickersgill declared an interest in the item relating to the Rosemary Nursery School.

Resolved by the Neighbourhood Committee (unanimously) that the following schemes be approved:

Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Management - £2653

Easton Community Garden - £365.10

Easton Community Children’s Centre - £2,000

Friends of Albion road and Belle Vue Park - £1090

Friends of Hannah More School - £1744

Rosemary Nursery School and C.C - £1483.66

St Anne’s Church - £3000

Easton Community Gardens Project - £64.44

A number of NP Members noted that there were one or two members of the Well Being Grants Panel who were members of the NP meeting and that some residents in the NP area had expressed an interest in serving on this type of Panel. However, they expressed concern that there needed to be further information provided to the wider NP membership in the paperwork for these decisions about the reasoning behind each recommendation.

NP members asked that the process be reviewed to see if this could be done for future meetings.

Action: Gill Calloway

Please find attached the above report concerning the Transformer Fund

Gill Calloway introduced this report requesting that the NP approve funding of £5,000 for the Transformers Youth fund administered through the Wellbeing process. She confirmed that the scheme would apply to young people up to the age of 19 or up to the age of 24 if they had additional needs.

The NP was advised that it had been agreed that the decision on funding for this scheme should be made by the whole NP membership.

Resolved – that the Neighbourhood Partnership accepts the arrangements for the £5000 Transformers Youth Fund to be administered through the Well Being process as set out in the report.

Action: Gill Calloway

Please find attached a report from the Environment Sub-Group requiring a decision.

The NP noted that this scheme had been proposed for St Paul’s following the success of the graffiti removal project in Montpelier. If it was agreed, it would require close working with Nordic. It was noted that a number of volunteers had been recruited to deal with the large amount of tagging type graffiti which blighted the area.

In response to NP members’ questions, Neil Burwell and Gill Calloway made the following points:

(1)        The funding for this scheme was separate to the £25,000 CIL funding of which the NP had previously been advised;

(2)        Officers were investigating the possibility of involving the neighbouring Central Clifton and Harbourside Neighbourhood Partnership into the scheme to cover both sides of the Stokes Croft area and to help fund the project;

(3)        There was currently a total of £182,000 CIL funding within the AELH NP area which would be reduced by £27,000 if this scheme was approved.

In response to a member’s question, the Chair pointed out that Neighbourhood Forums should be used as a mechanism to raise issues for the NP to deal with.

The NP requested that officers carry out investigations to establish if it would be possible to extend this scheme to carry out graffiti removal on the other side of Stokes Croft in the Central Clifton and Harbourside Neighbourhood Partnership area and to see if this NP could provide financial support for this scheme.

Resolved –

(1)        that the Neighbourhood Committee approves (unanimously) that £27,000 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding be approved for an intensive graffiti removal project in St Pauls

(2)        that the Neighbourhood Partnership notes progress with environmental projects approved at 3rd October 2016 meeting.

Action: Neil Burwell

A verbal update will be given by Inspector Deborah Yeates.

The NP noted that Inspector Deborah Yeates had given her apologies for this meeting.

It was agreed that her briefing would be circulated separately to NP members.

Action: Gill Calloway

There will be a verbal report on the above item.

Councillor Asher Craig (Cabinet Member – Neighbourhoods) gave a briefing on this issue. She circulated to all NP members a copy of the document entitled “Big Decision, Tough Choices”.

She made the following points:

(1)        the Council faced a £31 Million a year overspend and a £92 Million Budget challenge. Whilst decisions to make savings had been made in early 2016, these had not been implemented;

(2)        the Council would nevertheless benefit from the Government’s recent decision to allow Councils for 100% retention of business rates;

(3)        whilst 700 staff had requested Voluntary Severance, less than half had been agreed to ensure that front line services would be maintained;

(4)        a consultation on the plan was running until 5th January 2017, during which period there would be a chance to ask questions of the Mayor.

Members’ attention was also drawn to a meeting of the Easton Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Forum which was scheduled to meet at the City Academy at 7pm on 12th December 2016.

Councillor Asher Craig (Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods) will give a presentation on this item. There will then be a 30-minute period for NP members to discuss it.

Councillor Asher Craig (Cabinet Member – Neighbourhoods) gave a briefing on this issue and made the following points:

(1)        There would not be sufficient funding to continue operating Neighbourhood Partnerships and Neighbourhood Forums as they had currently been - £1.1 Million was spent on 14 NPs including over 80% on staff and administration;

(2)        Excluding Section 106 funding or CIL £347,000 was split 14 ways between the NPs without any consideration of need (ie Hartcliffe obtained very little CIL as there was very little development);

(3)        The current approach for NPs was a very “top down approach”. The vision of the Cabinet was to switch this to a much greater community-led approach and a much reduced level of governance. The development of Community Hubs was being made a high priority;

(4)        NP members were requested to consider options for a different approach along the lines suggested in (3) above;

(5)        A small Sub-Committee comprising members of the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Commission was considering various options. These would need to be shared with staff affected by the proposed changes first before NPs were advised of them;

(6)        A locality group would be set up in January/early February 2017 to act as a community anchor to bring together all NPs and various other community organisations across the city, such as the Southmead Development Trust and the Barton Hill Settlement, as well as some organisations from other parts of England. This group would then pilot some initiatives. This process had already started in St George with the creation of a Community Hub and there had also been a thriving community hub at Eastville which had been operating over the last 6 to 9 months;

(7)        Whilst some buildings may close (ie in Parks and Libraries), services would continue.

Note: Following the meeting, the Chair asked officers to arrange a meeting of NP members to discuss this issue in more detail.

Action: Gill Calloway

A verbal presentation on this item will be given by Katherine Makin.

Catherine Makin and Luke Loveridge gave a verbal presentation on this project. They made the following points:

(1)        This project was funded through an EU research and development programme piloting smart technologies in the energy and digital fields;

(2)        There were a number of partners in Spain, Italy, Germany including Universities and some small and large Companies;

(3)        The scheme would be strategic and tailored to the area’s needs;

(4)        There were 3 core aims of the project – to provide technology to tackle inequality (ie fuel poverty), to lower carbon emissions and to engage people in new technology;

(5)        The project would be focused on those areas where it could have the biggest impact through sustainability and business models;

(6)        The project would start on 16th February 2017 and be rolled out into its completion in 2019;

(7)        By the beginning of 2019, the project would be working with 150 homes in relation to household appliances such as washing machines, fridge freezers and dish washers and also to provide energy efficient housing (ie solar panels) for 90 homes;

(8)        It would provide 32 electric e-bikes in the area near community centres, and it would provide 6 electric car club vehicles and an electric taxi bus with a text booking service;

(9)        The project would promote more sustainable travel online;

(10)      A recruitment strategy would operate across all geographic areas of the city, involving partnerships with local organisations such as the Knowle west Media Centre and also in Ashley.

NP members made the following comments:

(11)      The project needed to be balanced across the NP area and to avoid the use of tech-oriented language;

(12)      The funding for this project needed to be properly promoted within the community to avoid it becoming mainly used by middle-class groups.

A verbal presentation on this item will be given by Sam Kirby.

Sam Kirby gave a verbal presentation on this issue.

He made the following points:

(1)        Work was being carried out around the St Marks Road area of Easton to address the problems of rat running and the behaviour around junctions;

(2)        A presentation with preliminary designs would be presented to an event on 3rd December 2016 between 11am and 2pm in St Marks Road and also on 4th and 5th December 2016;

(3)        Sustrans would then examine all comments received and provide more detailed designs;

(4)        It was acknowledged that discussions with local people were important to ensure that road closures did not have an adverse impact on St Marks Road. Further discussions would take place with local Councillors;

(5)        Following the end of formal consultation in December 2016, more detailed designs would be produced for March 2017, with changes to be implemented for the 2017/18 financial year;

(6)        Anyone seeking further information was invited to visit the travelwest website and click the cycle tab.

NP members made the following comments:

(7)        Whilst there was some engagement, this tended to be at peak times and often was not of people from the area. Businesses in St Marks Road were very concerned about any changes. Consultation must address the concerns of small local businesses;

(8)        Proper consultation was required;

(9)        One sites were identified for changes, an informal discussion was required;

(10)      Cyclists needed to be included in the process.

This report will follow next week.

The NP noted this report.

Please find attached the Neighbourhood Co-ordinator’s Report

Resolved – that the NP

(1) notes the Clean Streets campaign launch

(2) notes the NP Review Update.

(3) notes the Resident Parking Scheme Review.

(4) notes the Neighbourhood Officer and Neighbourhood Plan Updates

(5) notes the Section 106 and CIL Update

(6) notes the Easton Safer Streets update

(7) notes the Temple Quay Gate update

(8) notes the BWC update from Forums

(9) notes the National Boundary Review consultation

(10) notes the Bristol Walking Alliance update

(11) notes the Crime and ASB overview and Stokes Croft update

No Action Required

Pete Bullard requested that Councillors take up on the NP’s behalf concerns about difficulties with the left hand turn from Cheltenham Road into Bath Buildings which was causing disruption to traffic and in particular to the Montpelier Health Clinic.

Action: NP Councillors to pursue.

The next meeting is scheduled for 6.30pm on Monday 6^th March 2017 at the Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, Bristol BS2 0NW.

The NP noted that the next meeting is scheduled for 6.30pm on Monday 6th March 2017 at the Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, Bristol BS2 0NW.