Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Blackburn, Gatherer and Hubbard and Town Councillor Esterson

No declarations of any disclosable pecuniary interest were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 7 February 2013

These items are for general discussion.  Anybody attending the meeting is welcome to speak (subject to the Chair’s discretion)

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 February 2013, be confirmed as a correct record.

A period of 20 minutes (or longer at the discretion of the Chair) will be set aside for a Public Forum.

Members of the public can ask questions, raise matters, or present petitions on issues that are relevant to Sefton Council.  The person asking a question will be allowed one supplementary question.

A question form indicating the person’s name and address must be completed and submitted to the Committee Administrator as soon as possible and by no later than 15 minutes before the meeting starts i.e. before 6.15 p.m. or by 3.00 p.m. for faxed (0151 934 2034) or on-line submissions http://forms.sefton.gov.uk/openforumquestion/

Question forms can be obtained from the Committee Administrator prior to the meeting.

(If the questioner does not attend the meeting or nominate a representative to attend (at the discretion of the Chair), the question will not be read out, but a written response will be forwarded to the questioner).

If a response to a question cannot be provided at the meeting, the Neighbourhoods Division will contact the relevant department for a formal response and the resident will be contacted directly in writing

These items are for consultation or information of interest to the local community.  Anybody attending the meeting is welcome to speak (subject to the Chair’s discretion)

The following written questions were submitted:

(a)       Mr. Singleton submitted a question referring to School buses and parents vehicles repeatedly churning up the grass verges in Gainsborough Avenue, Maghull and referring to similar problems in Sandy Lane, Lydiate and Westway.  Mr Singleton suggested that some strategic planting, similer to that implemented in Ormonde Avenue, Maghull might resolve the issue.

            The Democratic Services Officer reported that the question had been referred to the Director of Built Environment and the Director of Corporate Commissioning who had provided the following response:-

The Corporate Commissioning and Neighbourhood Coordination Team had been aware for some time of this issue of grass verge parking in Gainsborough Avenue, Maghull.  The issue had been raised by both Councillors and residents.

Site visits by Sefton MBC officers had confirmed that the poor state of grass verges in the area was a consequence of both residents and/or visitors parking on the grass verge, and/or parents dropping off / picking children up from Maghull High School.  During the visits, both residents and parents picking up children had been approached and asked to refrain from parking on the verge.  Whilst this has had some impact, there remained a minority of residents and/or parents who continued to park on the grass verge.

Three grass verges near to the entrance of Maghull High School (Gainsborough Avenue entrance) had been identified as needing posts and shrubs to be installed, and Park Ward members had agreed to fund these works using Area Committee Funding.  Approval for works had been sent to the appropriate council department, and installation was hoped to commence shortly.

(b)       Mrs. Mathers submitted a question regarding the condition of grass verges in Haigh Crescent Lydiate.

            the Director of Corporate Commissioning reported that the question had been referred to the Director of Built Environment and who had provided the following response:-

The Team Leader Enforcement had requested estimates from the Council’s contactors on two issues;

(i)        Reconstructing the carriageway  -  (narrowing of the turnaround at the bottom end of Haigh Crescent (Near to No 48))   It was hoped that narrowing the turning circle would prevent vehicles from mounting the verge; and

(ii)       The provision of “grass crete” on the edge of the existing grass verge along Haigh Crescent.

Once prices had been obtained these would be forwarded to the Director of Corporate Commissioning to secure funding from the Area Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the qusetions be noted.

Rt Hon Jane Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside will be in attendance.

The Chair welcomed Jane Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside and who had attended the meeting, to give information on her role and discuss issues of local concern with residents.

The Chair also introduced Councilllor Trish Hardy, Cabinet Member, Communities and Environment (Community Safety Lead for Sefton).

Mrs Kennedy reported that following her election in November 2012 she had worked towards the development of a draft Police and Crime Plan, 2013 to 2017. The plan outlined her policing priorities for Merseyside which the Chief Constable would be responsible for delivering.

In determining priorities within the plan she had listened to the views that the public had expressed through engagement events and feedback questionnaires and had also spoken to partner agencies, such as community safety partnerships and the Criminal Justice Board, as well as considering the professional judgement of the Chief Constable.

Also in developing the Plan there was a statutory responsibility to have regard for the national Strategic Policing Requirement, which demanded a readiness to be able to respond to national threats from serious organised crime and terrorism. After giving careful consideration to all of the above, she had identified the following priorities within the plan:

(i)            Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour;

(ii)          Neighbourhood policing;

(iii)         Tackling serious and organised crime;

(iv)         Maintaining public safety;

(v)          Hate crime; and

(vi)         Victims of Crime.

Mrs Kennedy went on to take questions from local residents in attendance and the following issues were raised:-

·         Concerns reagrding serious crime in the area, particularly gun crime;

·         Drugs related crimes;

·         The use of covert operations to detect drugs related crime;

·         Educating school children to the dangers of drug use;

·         Cannabis farms;

·         Cannabis use leading to further and more serious drug use;

·         Gangs of young people causing fear in shopping centres;

·         The levels of policing in the Maghull area;

·         “visible” policing as a deterrent to crime;

·         The hours of operation of Maghull Police Station;

·         Many residents in the area felt that the level of crime had increased significantly, particularly over the last few years;

·         Issues around licenced premises;

·         issues around the sentencing of offenders;

·         Cross border issues with adjioning local authority areas;

·         Residents identified a number of particular locations where they believed criminal activity regularly took place;

·         The provsion of activities for young people;

·         The lack of jobs in the area for young people;

Mrs Kennedy responed to the issues raised, referring in particular to action being taken in respect of recent gun crime in the area and cannabis farms.  She also indicated that in conjunction with Sefton Council arrangements had been made to give the Police instant access to Sefton Council’s CCTV camers which would assist in detecting crime in the area.

Mrs Kennedy referred to an initiative involving a play “The Terriers” which was an invaluable tool in making children and young people aware of issues around gangs, drugs and violence. The play was available to schools and other organisations.

She also gave details of ongoing work with partner organisations in an effort  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

Inspector P. Hatton attended the meeting and provided an update on the statistics for the Molyneux, Park and Sudell Wards for November 2012 to February 2013 together with comparative figures for November 2011 to February 2012 as follows:-

The report also detailed the yearly crime patterns; the current neighbourhood run initiatives (Operation Hammonton, Push II, Vantage, Smartwater and Spotlight Day); and the following neighbourhood meetings:

Have Your Say meetings:

•  Friday 22nd March 2013 at 1830 hrs at Maghull Town Hall.

•  Friday 28^th June 2013 at 1830 hrs, Melling Rate Payers Club, Waddicar Lane, Melling

He also gave details fo the following good news stories:-

• 6 males had been arrested in connection to 4 separate car key burglaries. One recalled to prison. 4 other males connected to Maghull burglaries had been arrested in relation to other serious offences and were in custody.
• 4 males had been arrested in relation to a nuisance scrambler bike in Sefton Lane. The bike was also recovered and seized.
• An offender had been charged with a burglary offence in the L10 area and had also admitted 5 other offences from October.
• A search warrant executed at an industrial unit in Kirkby uncovered a car-breaking operation. 15 stolen vehicles and several stolen number plates had been recovered and 2 males had been arrested to date.

RESOLVED:

That Inspector Hatton be thanked for his attendance and presentation at the meeting.

Mr. G. Sands, Leisure and Tourism Depertment will present a briefing on the performance of Meadows Leisure Centre & Library.

These are formal decisions to be taken by the Members of the Council.  Only in exceptional cases will the Chair allow contributions from the public (Advisory Group Members may speak but not vote)

This item was withdrawn.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning which sought Members’ views on the future number of Area Committees and the frequency of meetings.

As part of the Council’s budget option’s the Cabinet had asked for consultation to take place on the following alternatives:-

(i)            to reduce the number of Area Committees from the 7 currently in place to 3;

(ii)          to reduce the frequency of meetings of Area Committees from the existing cycle of meetings to 4 meetings per year. 

The Council’s Calendar of Meetings for the forthcoming Municipal Year was approved by the Council each year and included the schedule for Area Committee meetings, responses were required to be submitted to the meeting of the Cabinet on 28 March 2013 in order that the new Calender could be finalised.

Members discused the proposals and whilst some Members expreseed support for the proposals, a number of Members expressed concern at the effects of reducing the number of area committees highlighting the following issues:-

(i)            a single area committee for the central area might be unweildey based on the physical sze of the area;

(ii)          the logistics of Maghull residents attending a meeting in Crosby or Formby and vice versa;

(iii)         the diluting of the importance of local issues in a wider forum;

(iv)         the differing charectaristics of distinct localities within the central Sefton area and whether these could be adequately covered by a single area committee;

(v)          how decisions on the Area Committee’s budget would operate based on a wider area;

RESOLVED: That

(1)          the report be noted; and

(2)          Members of the Committee forward their individual views on the number of Area Committees and the frequency of meetings to the Director of Corporate Commissioning to be included in the consultation responses for consideration by the Cabinet and Council.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning - Update on area management issues resolved since the last meeting.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioninggiving an update on area management activities that had taken place in the Sefton East Parishes wards since the last meeting.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the report be noted;

(2)       Members or residents be requested to contact the Director of Corporate Comissioning with any further area issues they wish to raise; and

(3)       the appreciation of the Area Committee at the works carried out by the Corporate Commissioning Directorate be placed on record.

Verbal update from Parish Council representative(s)

Aintree;

Parish Councillor Gill referred to progress on installing outdoor gym equipment and also indicated that the Parish Council had arranged a meeting to discuss the future of Aintree Library.

He also referred to traffic issues in the vicinity of the shops on Altway, particularly with regard to heavy goods vehicles manouvering at the rear of the premises. He enquired as to the possibility of amending the existing waiting restrictions with a view to reliveing the problems.

It was agreed that this would be forwarded to the Director of Built Environment for investigation.

Melling;

Parish Councillor Baker referred to progress with the installation of outdoor gym equipment and on discussions regarding a possible by-law in respect of dog fouling. He also requested an update on “Operation Collar” at a future meeting.

Sefton:

Parish Councillor McKeating reported that landscaping works had commenced on the Sefton Mill estate and the contractor was currently on site. She also reported that improvement works at the St Helen’s well had been completed.

RESOLVED: That

(1)          the updates be noted.

(2)          the traffic issues in the vicinity of the shops on Altway, be referred to the Director of Built Environment for investigation; and

(3)          Merseyside Police be requested to give an update on “Operation Collar” to a future meeting.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning - Update on Area Committee budget resources available.

Further to Minute No. 20 of the meeting held on 15 July 2010, the Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning indicating that the balance available for the allocation of 2012/13 budget was as follows.

***Balance Brought Forward as at 27^th September 2012 and Commitments made after 27^th September 2012

A committed spend of £83.03 has been put back into the Park Ward allocation.  This committed spend was to fund works for a replacement sign on Bells Lane in Lydiate, but these works have been funded through Capita Symonds maintenance budget. 

The 2012/13 budget is based on consolidated budgets agreed by SEPAC on 27^th September 2012.  Balances brought forward are inclusive of 2012/13 commitments agreed by SEPAC prior to 27^th September 2012. 

For information only – Allocations made during 2012/13 (after 27^th September 2012):

Molyneux Ward

Park Ward

Sudell Ward

For information only – Allocations made during 2012/13 (prior to the 27^th September 2012):

Molyneux Ward

Park Ward

To be advised.

It was noted that a programme of dates, times and venues of future meetings would be produced once the consultation on the future number of Area Committees and the frequency of meetings had been completed and a stucture for Area Committees had been agreed.