Agenda and draft minutes

In the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair, Councillor Mike Davies was elected as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

All parties introduced themselves.

Apologies for Absence were received from:

Maryanne Kempf (Chair)       

Richard Curtis (Vice-Chair)

Jo Curtis

Noelle Rumball

Elaine Flint

Councillor Hibaq Jama

The Neighbourhood Officer read out a statement from Maryanne Kempf thanking everyone for their support during the period that she had chaired Neighbourhood Partnerships and proposing that in June 2017 all NP members meet after the current arrangements are discontinued.

All NP members expressed their thanks to Maryanne Kempf for her role in chairing this body.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 28^th November 2016 as a correct record.

Resolved – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 28^th November 2016 are confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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.

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 12pm on Friday 3^rd March 2017.

A Public Forum statement was received from David Redgewell (South West Transport Network, TSSA and Director of Bus Users (UK)) concerning Transport Issues.

This report will be presented by Tracy Croft.

 Neighbourhood Partnership members received a report from the Bristol Waste Company which would also be submitted to the Greater Fishponds Neighbourhood Partnership on 23^rd March 2017.

Officers noted that this was an update report on the Stapleton Road recycling and refuse collection pilot project which had been considered by the AELH NP and Greater Fishponds NP in October 2016.

Tracy Croft gave a presentation on this issue and made the following points:

(1)   Details of the timescale for this work were set out;

(2)   Both anecdotal evidence and assessments indicated that the situation with waste had massively improved;

(3)   Feedback for the work of the project had been extremely good;

(4)   Responses that they had received indicated that they would like the project to continue.

NP members made the following points:

(1)   The area was greatly improved;

(2)   It was important to ensure that street cleansing was co-ordinated with collections;

(3)   Councillor Margaret Hickman had driven down the area at 8.30pm and seen cleaning in operation on Stapleton Road itself. When she returned later, cleaning had also taken place in the surrounding streets;

(4)   Due to many years of neglect, the area continued to look generally grubby. If Bristol Waste could work with Up Your Street and Bristol City Council to obtain some initial funding to tackle this issue and provide a deep clean for the area, this would be great;

(5)   Councillor Ruth Pickersgill, Steve Woods and Kurt James were working together to attempt to get a traders pledge for them to be responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the area outside their property;

(6)   The Joint approach had worked well (ie waste and enforcement).

(7)   It was important to ensure that there was appropriate legal cover for traders to avoid legal claims being made against them (for example if members of the public sought legal compensation for slipping on soapy pavements etc.);

(8)   This scheme was very successful – an extension to other areas such as Lawrence Hill, Church Road and Barton Hill would be beneficial;

(9)   If planters were used for shop fronts, traders should consider using the small planters at the top of Gloucester Road which were not too large;

(10)                       Thanks was given to all those who involved in the scheme. Mosques had been very proactive in their work in this area. Discussions had taken place with Estella Tincknell who was keen to develop a cultural trail for this area and therefore the area around Stapleton Road Train Station was important. If possible, funding should be sought from the LEP. It was suggested that Bristol East Side Traders could become involved in this work.

Resolved – that the AELH NP supports the continuation of the current pilot collection scheme for the longer term in the Stapleton Road area.

Action: Tracy Croft

The NP discussed Young People’s Grants in respect of the Transformer Fund.

Questions were raised by member of the public regarding the details of the Grant Panel application process and decision making and that this is being responded to by Gill Calloway.

Resolved (14 for, 0 against, 1 abstention) –

(1)   that the Neighbourhood Partnership approves the following grants:

Baggator/Scent - £707.50

Felix Road Adventure Playground - £3000

Full Circle@Docklands - £707.50

Learning Partnership West - £585

(2)   that no funding be approved for Bristol Noise

Action: Gill Calloway

Gill Calloway will introduce this report.

The NP noted a report from the Neighbourhood Co-ordinator.

In response to an NP member’s question, the Neighbourhood Officer confirmed that Section 106 and CIL funds are still available but the process for making a decision was not yet agreed. She noted concerns about a lack of clarity in the recently approved Council budget which showed an amount of £13 Million for Parks Investment and indicated that she would investigate this as there may have been an error or older version.

Action: Gill Calloway

Resolved – that the following be noted

(1)   Parks Investment Update

(2)   Section 106 Update

(3)   Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Update

(4)   Update on Support for Neighbourhood Partnerships and Communities

Action: None

Gill Calloway will introduce this report.

NP members noted a report of the AELH Environment Sub-Group concerning the following issues:

(1)   Replacement of Play Areas in Ashley Street Park and Albion Road Park

(2)   Tree Planting

(3)   St Paul’s Grafitti Removal Project

Resolved (6 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions) – that the Neighbourhood Committee approves the investment of £62,817.47 of Section 106 funding to replace play areas at Ashley Street (St Werburgh’s) and Albion Road (Easton) Parks.

Action: Neil Burwell

The NP considered an urgent report for new locations for six trees.

Resolved by the Neighbourhood Partnership (unanimously) – that revised locations for six of the Section 106 trees are approved at St Werburghs Park, Ashley Street Park, Napier Road (Easton), Napier Road Mosque and Felix Road (Easton).

Action: Gill Calloway

There will be a verbal presentation from Lindsay Hay and Gill Calloway

NP members received a presentation from Lindsay Hay and Gill Calloway about the future support and direction for the AELH NP after March 2017.

Lindsay Hay referred to 2 documents which had been recently e-mailed to Councillors which set out local decision making models for discussion concerning the future of Neighbourhood Partnerships, as well as a draft transition timeline. NP members were requested to pass any observations to the Neighbourhood Officer to feed back.

The NP noted that the proposals had been worked up by Councillor Asher Craig (Executive Member for Neighbourhoods) along with a group of Councillors who had worked with her and set out options for community “spaces”, as well asoptions for a mechanism for neighbourhood funding to be distributed across the 42 LSOA in 10% most deprived (2015 data) for all Wards with less than £30,000 in CIL. Option C3.2 was noted, whereby CIL funding would be spent across three geographic areas (North, East/Central and South) with periodic meetings to ensure this took place.

In response to a member’s question, the Neighbourhood Officer confirmed that the calculation of CIL per ward was not available but would be shortly as part of the Options work. NB. Since the NP meeting, this data has been produced and shared with Councillors.

NP members made the following comments:

(1)   The three examples of NPS quoted in Option C concerning neighbourhood funding were cohesive smaller areas and were not similar to the current AELH NP area;

(2)   Assuming that the current NP operated across 3 wards as at present, it remained unclear whether funding would be available for 2 meetings a year or 6. This required clarification Action: Lindsay Hay/Gill Calloway to confirm

(3)   It was noted that the options which were set out were attempting to address the current inequality of Section 106 funding across the city, including annual reviews to ensure continued fairness;

(4)   Further discussions concerning future arrangements were required, together with a  clearer idea as to the role of Councillors in any new arrangements;

(5)   The first priority was to decide whether or not the current AELH NP area should continue before any transition arrangements were agreed;

(6)   The NP needed to decide as to whether any boundary changes would be beneficial ie linking with the current Central Area, St Andrews which had connections with the area in terms of traffic, planning, parking and St Andrews Park, also the fact that Easton and Lawrence Hill had some community groups such as Up Our Street whereas Ashley did not, the need to link communities artificially divided by the A38;

(7)   Any new arrangements needed to take into account the need to hold Government agencies to account. There was a need to address issues of the inner city and regeneration. It might be easier to keep existing structures together but with significantly reduced budgets and consider future changes over a longer period than proposed;

(8)   It was noted that Up Our Street had obtained £45,000 funding which was less than  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

There will be a verbal presentation by Inspector Deborah Yeates

The NP received a verbal presentation from Inspector Deborah Yeates which set out the following key issues:

Graffiti (Operation Block)

Operation Block continues to run, though PC Stuart King remains on partial hours owing to a medical condition since summer 2016.    The council is working on a policy which will bring clarity over permission walls, which is awaited.  The local Neighbourhood Teams are undergoing a restructure where it will be possible to review the resources and skills required to dedicate to tackling graffiti in the city. 

Prostitution (Operation Boss)

In the last quarter, Operation Boss has engaged with 60 women (some repeat – 60 women seen) and 37 men were dealt with for kerb crawling offences.

Massage Parlours (Operation Breakthrough)

Officers across Bristol are now receiving upskilling training about identifying brothels on their areas and procedure to follow when carrying out a visit to the premise.  There are regular operations taking place in East Bristol, although these are not by means of uniformed officers and therefore not immediately visible to the public. 

Days of Action  - Enforcement, Engagement and Reassurance (Operation Blueline)

The Operation has undergone an inter-agency and independent review one year on.  All agencies involved have seen or are seeing major organisational change since the start of the operation and as such future plans will be tailored to make the most of collaboration between teams.  More focus will be placed on community engagement via dedicated PCSOs at the time the operation is running.  Since inception the operation has seen almost 100 arrests for drugs offences.

Street Drinking

Wade Street remains a focus for street drinking and has seen several incidents of hate crime linked to the mosque.  A small working party has been created to bring residents, businesses and the mosque together to bring a street management plan into being.

Burglary

In the last quarter Dwelling Burglary crimes are as follows for the ward:

St Pauls – 2

Montpelier & St Werburghs – 8

Barton Hill – 3

Easton – 9

Trinity (Lower Easton) – 6

There were a total of 117 offences across East Central Bristol within the same time period.   The focus remains on crime prevention and detection of high value gold offences.  

In response to a member’s question, Inspector Yeates confirmed that a report concerning hate crime had previously been sent out to NP members towards the end for 2016 but no feedback had been received. However, she confirmed that a Working Group had been set up to deal with this issue involving Bristol City Council, Business Representatives and local mosques. She also confirmed that, if the Police heard any information about future EDL marches, they would ensure that this information was passed on as appropriate.

Action: Deborah Yeates to bring a report back as appropriate to the NP – Gill Calloway to co-ordinate

NP members made the following points and Inspector Yeates replied as indicated:

(1)   The Police were not aware of any recent murder in the Old Probation Services building. A murder had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

This item will be presented by Guy Dobson and Rachel Davies.

The NP received a presentation from Guy Dobson and Rachel Davies concerning a proposed Community Asset Transfer (CAT) for the transfer of the new lease of St Paul’s Adventure Playground, Thomas Street, Bristol BS2 9LL to the APE (Art Play Environment) Project CIC.

They made the following points:

(1)   APE had been founded 10 years ago and had been looking for a project in the centre to carry out their work;

(2)   Following discussions with the St Paul’s Adventure Playground Management Committee, a steering group had been created to investigate options for the project (including APE. The St Paul’s Playground Management Committee, SUSTRANS, Bristol Play Bus, Tom Beale and Sandra Matthews, other adventure playgrounds, Scrap Store and Full Circle;

(3)   Along with one other organisation, APE had been part of a selection process and subsequently successful in being awarded this project. They were in the process of putting together a Business Plan for it. They noted that funding would be a key element of this – annual revenue costs were estimated at £100,000 which would be difficult to achieve as APE’s current turnover was £110,000;

(4)   Options for obtaining income included trading, crowd funding and a membership scheme. There were an estimated £180,000 worth of bids to be placed in the next three weeks which would be the key to maintaining what was proposed for the project – maintaining three open access sessions, sessions of 5 days a week in school holidays and the possible hiring out of the facility when it is shut.

NP members made the following comments:

(1)   APE should consider keeping open until dusk as this is the period when a playground would be most heavily used during the school holidays;

(2)   The Business Plan would include details of the involvement of users, including children;

(3)   APE had a very strong reputation for delivering such projects. Funding and capacity were required to help provide a service in the evening;

(4)   APE should consider working with Felix Road to bring together two parts of the community;

on this issue.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

Action: None

There will be a  verbal presentation  by Sam Kirby, Bristol City Council

The NP received a verbal presentation from Sam Kirby providing an update on the Easton Safer Streets project. He made the following points:

(1)   He was working with SUSTRANS to develop proposals concerning walking and cycling and to tackle issues such as through traffic, dangerous driving and parking;

(2)   A series of designs were being developed to improve new junctions in the community;

(3)   Following the end of the consultation period in December 2016, there had been some proposed changes – for example, the dropping of works on the St Marks Road high street, dropping of closures in Chelsea Road and York Road, as well as dropping of proposals for St Anne’s High Street. Advertising was intended to take place in April/May 2017 with works commencing in December 2018 and January 2019;

(4)   Letters would be sent to properties in Easton concerning these schemes and requesting any suggestions.

NP members were requested to send any comments directly to Sam Kirby at caf@bristol.gov.uk and also to visit the Travel West website.

Action: Sam Kirby/Gill Calloway

This will be a verbal presentation by Abdul Mailk.

In the absence of Abdul Malik, this item did not take place.

This report will be presented by Gill Calloway.

The NP received the highways report for the meeting from Gill Calloway.

In response to an NP member’s question, Councillor Mike Davies confirmed that no response had yet been received from officers concerning the proposals for Cromwell Road. He indicated that he would pursue this issue.

Gill Calloway confirmed that Andrew Spicer (Senior Traffic Engineer) was currently working on a scheme for Lower Ashley Road to address the problem of traffic outside the school and create a clear area for traffic. Action: Gill Calloway to chase up

Resolved – that the following items be noted

(1)   The Highways Update as at 6^th March 2017 (correct as at 23^rd February 2017);

(2)   Temple Gate

(3)   Easton Safer Streets

(4)   Imagine St Paul’s

(5)   Bristol Walking Alliance Membership

Action: None

This report will be presented by Gill Calloway

The NP received a report from Neil Burwell concerning the following issues:

(1)   Play Equipment Installation – Ashley Street and Albion Road Parks (Easton and Ashley)

(2)   Hepburn Road (Ashley)

(3)   St Paul’s Firework Group (Ashley)

(4)   Ashley Forum Meeting (Ashley)

(5)   Tree Planting (Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill)]

(6)   Graffiti Removal (Ashley)

(7)   Fishponds Triangle (Easton)

(8)   Gaunts Ham Park (Lawrence Hill)

(9)   Villiers Road

(10)                       Devon Road Bridge

NN members thanked Neil Burwell for all the hard work he had carried out for the NP.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

Action: None

NP members noted the following other business:

(1)   Stapleton Road Station – works would start on this station in the near future and would result in the demolition of the viaduct. It was important that the station was kept fit for purpose over the next 18 months. Whilst there was no electrification for the station following the withdrawal of funding, groups such as Up Our Street would be meeting to ensure the works went ahead properly;

(2)   Shop Mobility – It was noted that, whilst the Council had approved the funding envelope for grants, Cabinet on Tuesday 7^th march would decide whether or not to cancel this grant. It was noted that it was recommended for Cabinet to cancel it;

(3)   Neighbourhood Partnerships – Lindsay Hay confirmed that there was likely to be a city-wide meeting to discuss Neighbourhood Partnerships.