Darnall Area Panel Minutes 20th July 2006

DARNALL AREA PANEL


Joint Meeting with Handsworth Community Forum held on 20th July, 2006, at Handsworth Grange School

PRESENT:		Councillors Mazher Iqbal (Chair), Harry Harpham, Mary Lea and Mick Rooney.

		Representatives of Panel Partners:-
		Mark Lewis	-	South Yorkshire Police
		Steve Makepeace	-	South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
		Yvette Senior	-	Orgreave Parish Council

		Officers in attendance:-
		David Curtis	-	Lead Manager
		Stella Mekonnen	-	Area Co-ordinator
		Debbie Merrill	)	Development
		Philip Horton	)	Services
		Alan Williams Chris Roberts	) )	Parks and Countryside Services
		Paul Robinson	-	Committee Secretariat

		14 members of the public and representatives from local community groups attended the meeting.

…………………..

1.	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE FROM PANEL MEMBERS
	There were no apologies for absence from Panel Members.

2.	MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
	The minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 25th May, 2006, were approved as a correct record.

3.	RETFORD ROAD ACCIDENT REDUCTION SCHEME
	Philip Horton (Development Services) reported on the progress in implementing an accident reduction scheme along Retford Road, and in particular, outlined the measures which had already been introduced as the first phase of the scheme and the further proposals being considered for implementation in order to complete the scheme.
	He provided statistics on injury accidents reported on Retford Road during the period April, 2001, to March, 2006, indicating that many of the accidents involved children and young people and it was the intention to concentrate road safety measures in the locations where clusters of accidents had occurred.
	He reported that the first phase of the scheme, to lower the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph from Handsworth Road towards the junction with Beaver Hill Road, had now been implemented, and it was the intention to make Retford Road and Handsworth Road a regular location for speed limit enforcement by means of mobile speed cameras.
	Mr. Horton outlined the initial proposals, displayed at the meeting, for providing traffic calming measures along Retford Road, such as central refuge islands, alterations to road markings, "build-outs" etc. and indicated that consultation within the local area would be undertaken in due course, with a view to implementing measures in 2007.
	Following discussion of issues raised by local community group representatives and local residents, it was:-
	RESOLVED: That the Head of Development Services be requested to (a) investigate the issues now raised at this meeting in relation to (i) the parking restrictions near the local General Practitioners’ Surgery being disregarded, (ii) the safety of pupils from Handsworth Grange School crossing Retford Road to visit the sandwich shop now identified, (iii) the operational activities of that sandwich shop and (iv) the provision and location of 30 mph signs in connection with the recent speed limit reduction on Retford Road;
	(b) hold discussions with South Yorkshire Police in relation to the carrying out of highway enforcement activities on Handsworth Road, Orgreave Lane and Retford Road; and
	(c) undertake a traffic study of the local area in view of the comments now made in relation to significant increases in traffic volumes, especially of heavy goods vehicles, and give consideration to implementing measures to minimise the impact of the volume of traffic pending the construction of the new link road recently commissioned by the Government.

4.	"YOUR COUNCIL, YOUR SAY" CONSULTATION EXERCISE
	Councillor Mick Rooney commented on the major consultation exercise being undertaken by the City Council, entitled "Your Council, Your Say", which aimed to seek the views of Sheffield residents on the Council's future priorities in the areas of street cleansing, recycling and anti-social behaviour. He indicated that the consultation exercise would be concluded at the end of August and the measures which were being used in order to obtain the public's views included the provision of a marquee in the City Centre on Friday, 14th and Saturday, 15th July, questionnaires sent to all households in the City, an online questionnaire on the Council's website, and direct consultation at meetings of Area Panels during July. He added that the outcome of the consultation and the actions consequently proposed to be undertaken by the Council in relation to those three areas of activity, would be publicised in due course.
	Comments made by local community group representatives and local residents upon the issues under consideration, included:-

	Street Cleansing

	· Other initiatives should be introduced in preference to increased penalisation for litter dropping.

	· Efforts should be made to educate children and young people not to drop litter.

	· Targeted education campaigns directed at school children, community etc. should be held to encourage people not to drop litter.

	· Shop owners should be encouraged to take greater responsibility for the disposal of litter originating from their premises, for example by providing and encouraging use of litter bins outside their premises.

	· Additional litter bins should be provided within localities.

	· Initiatives promoting responsible disposal of chewing gum should be implemented.

	· Fast food outlets should be required to provide litter bins not necessarily near their premises but in locations where litter from their premises tended to be dropped.

	· Fines for litter dropping should be supplemented or substituted with community service involving picking up litter.

	Recycling

	· Need for additional recycling collection schemes to be implemented, i.e. plastic/glass, before reducing the frequency of black bin collections.

	· Provision of smaller black bins and/or dual recycling bins.

	· Need to be mindful of the practicalities of providing numerous bins to households.

	· Increase opportunities for recycling of additional materials.

	· Consider introducing collection frequencies on a seasonal basis.

	· establish further "Bring-it" sites in localities.

	Anti-Social Behaviour

	· Community safety in the area at night time was an issue due to the numbers of groups of young people out on the streets, although a large degree of apathy exists in relation to the existence of anti-social behaviour.

	· Statistics in relation to the numbers of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders issued to people in localities should be publicised.

	· The role of the Youth Service in reducing anti-social behaviour should be enhanced.

	· Regulation in relation to the sale of motor cycles should be enhanced.

	In response to the comments made in relation to anti-social behaviour, Sergeant Mark Lewis (South Yorkshire Police) outlined the procedures for issuing Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and obtaining Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, and commented on activities recently undertaken within the local community by South Yorkshire Police in relation to specific issues such as youth nuisance and illegal motor cycle use. He added that an additional Detached Youth Worker had recently been allocated to the local area and, in response to comments made by members of the Handsworth Community Forum, undertook to contribute articles on recent local policing activities for the newsletters of the Forum.
	The Area Co-ordinator was requested to ensure that the comments made at the meeting were considered as part of the "Your Council, Your Say" consultation exercise.

5.	COMMUNITY FORESTRY INITIATIVE
	Chris Roberts (Parks and Countryside Service) reported on the operation of the Community Forestry Initiative within the City.
	He commented that the aim of the Initiative was to replace old and damaged trees with new ones and to undertake new tree plantings in order to sustain the existing green leafy suburbs within Sheffield and to assist in the overall regeneration of local areas. He added that the individual projects operated under the Initiative were managed by the Parks and Countryside Service but were funded through external resources such as grants and donations. Each Project aimed to engage local young people in its activities, thereby enhancing local community involvement and support, and the Initiative therefore linked with other strands of activity, such as anti-social behaviour referred to earlier at the meeting.
	As regards the local context, Mr. Roberts stated that a Community Forestry Project had commenced in the Darnall and Tinsley areas in September, 2005, and he outlined the achievements and activities to date, commenting in particular on the sites which had been identified for the planting of new trees and the extent of young people's engagement in planting activities in the area.
	The Panel noted the information reported in relation to the Community Forestry Project, and that the local community forums were fully involved in that Initiative which was also supported by the Panel through its Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Local Action Plan.

6.	PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
	A local resident raised several matters associated with Handsworth Cemetery, specifically the need for the pruning of some mature trees on the site which were adjacent to houses, the need to tackle incidents of youth nuisance within the grounds of the Cemetery, and querying the responsibilities of the Cemetery caretaker with regard to the maintenance of the Cemetery. In response, Chris Roberts (Parks and Countryside Service) gave an undertaking to visit the site to assess the need for tree pruning, and Councillor Mary Lea indicated that in her capacity as Cabinet Member for Sustainable Environment she would undertake investigations in relation to the issues of maintenance of and security at the Cemetery.
	Maurice Littlewood (Chair, Handsworth Community Forum) commented on the progress of efforts being made to secure enhancements to the Handsworth Recreation Ground, indicating that funding had been secured in order to commission the production of a masterplan for providing facilities and improvements at the site, that consultation with the local community would be undertaken on the design and content of the scheme and that further resources had been identified for the provision of the scheme itself, which was anticipated to commence in Spring 2007. The Panel welcomed the information reported.

7.	DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
	It was (a) noted that the next meeting of the Panel was scheduled to be held on Thursday, 28th September, 2006, at 6.00 p.m. at a venue to be confirmed and (b) requested that Members of the Panel give consideration to the commencement times of future meetings of the Panel, with a view to maximising attendance by members of the public.

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