Manor/Castle/Woodthorpe Area Panel Minutes 25th July 2003

MANOR, CASTLE, WOODTHORPE AREA PANEL


Meeting held 25th July, 2003 at Skye Edge Community Room

PRESENT:		Councillors Mike King (Chair), Gill Furniss and Jan Wilson.

		Also in attendance:-
		Councillor John Campbell
		Larry Angel Saba Hussain	) )	Woodthorpe Forum
		Brett Nuttall	-	Green Estate
		Pamela Smith	-	Manor and Castle Development Trust
		Tom Goonan	-	St. Oswald's Church
		Paula Townsend	-	South Yorkshire Police

		Officers in attendance:-
		Richard Foster	-	Area Co-ordinator
		Brian Taylor	-	Wybourn Primary School
		Simon Pedley	-	Health Projects
		Kath Navratil	-	Libraries
		Mary Sywyj	-	Community Safety
		Paul Robinson	-	Committee Secretariat

……………

1.	COUNCILLORS' APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
	Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jan Fiore and Pat Midgley.

2.	MINUTES
	The minutes of the meetings of the Panel held on 9th and 30th May, 2003, were approved as correct records and the Chair (Councillor Mike King) commented that the actions agreed at those meetings would be pursued by himself in conjunction with the Area Co-ordinator.
	As regards the issue raised at the meeting on 30th May in relation to an infestation of rats at the fishpond at Woodthorpe, Larry Angel (Woodthorpe Forum) commented that the problems in that regard seemed to have been remedied and he expressed his thanks for the action taken in that regard.
	Tom Goonan (St. Oswald's) referred to the issue which he had raised at the meeting of the Panel on 9th May regarding the publicity which was being given to the availability of emergency contraception at the Wybourn Well Being Centre and upon which the representatives of the South East Primary Care Trust had undertaken to hold discussions within the Trust, and he enquired as to whether any progress had been made in that regard. In response the Area Co-ordinator indicated that he would be making arrangements for the Trust to report back to this Panel on several health- related issues and he would ensure that the issue raised by Mr. Goonan would form part of that report.

3.	AREA ACTION PLANNING
	The Area Co-ordinator reported that the Panel's latest Area Plan was currently being printed and would be circulated widely in the near future. Consultations on the following year's Area Plan would commence immediately and he would welcome any comments from individuals and groups in that regard. He added that consultation meetings to obtain the views of the key local forums within the Area upon the priorities within the Area Plan were to be arranged.
	In terms of specific issues, the Area Co-ordinator stated that the next Area Plan would incorporate the outcomes from the recent neighbourhood planning activities, including a new priority theme relating to children and young people. It was also envisaged that greater emphasis would be given to the priority theme of environmental regeneration and maintenance, thereby reflecting the Council's priority to make Sheffield a cleaner, greener and safer City, with increased practical activities being undertaken on green spaces in the Area using funding from various sources, particularly Neighbourhood Renewal Funding.
	The Chair (Councillor Mike King) stated that following a discussion at a recent meeting of the Chairs of the City's Area Panels upon the current arrangements for producing the Area Plans, a review of those arrangements was to be undertaken towards improving their user-friendliness and accessibility and reducing costs.
	The Panel noted the information reported.

4.	NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL FUNDING
	The Area Co-ordinator stated that the resources within the Panel's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) Local Action Plan for 2003/04 would be used to support projects related to each of the priority themes within the Panel's Area Plan. He added that the Local Action Plan would be giving greater emphasis to projects designed to make local areas cleaner, greener and safer and that it was envisaged that this emphasis would continue in the event of the Panel receiving further NRF allocations in 2004/05 and 2005/06.
	The Area Co-ordinator also reported that of the projects which the Panel had undertaken to support via its Local Action Plan in 2002/03 for a period of 2 years, the All Saints' Sports Co-ordinator Programme, the School Community Co-ordinator and After School Clubs Network would be funded through mainstream resources by 2004/05 and therefore it was not proposed to continue to support those projects via the Panel's Local Action Plan in 2004/05. Efforts would continue to be made to secure mainstream funding for the two remaining projects (Victoria Live at Home Project and Young People's Health Project), although it was now anticipated that the Social Services Directorate would provide grant aid to the Victoria Live at Home Scheme. However, obtaining mainstream or alternative sources of funding for the Young People's Health Project was proving more difficult and the Area Co-ordinator indicated that he would be holding further discussions in that regard with the Project Leader.
	The Area Co-ordinator also reported that the Panel's support of the Bookstart Project through its Local Action Plan in 2002/03 was not proposed to be repeated in 2003/04. As the Bookstart Project had not been successful in securing alternative funding, the local Bookstart Scheme would not be continued. In view of this, he had held discussions with the Libraries Service and had been assured that the project worker would be found alternative employment. Kath Navratil (Libraries Service) commented that nationwide, over 200 Bookstart Projects were in operation and major publishers were sponsoring projects in terms of supplying materials. She outlined the aims and activities of the local Bookstart Projects, one of which was launched in the Manor, Castle and Woodthorpe area in 1999. In highlighting the Projects' benefits, she indicated that the Libraries Service was planning to commission research to evaluate the benefits/impact of the local Projects and that the University of Sheffield had expressed an interest in conducting that research. She outlined the links which the local Projects had established with local agencies and groups and stated that the SRB 4 and 5 managers were continuing to fund Bookstart Project workers within their areas.
	In response to a question regarding the potential for obtaining funding for the local Bookstart Project from the Woodthorpe and Wybourn Surestart Programme, Kath Navratil commented that links had been established with the local Surestart Scheme which had provided some financial assistance for the activities and materials of the Bookstart Project, but not for the funding of the project worker which would cost approximately £20,000 per year.
	Following discussion, Councillor Jan Wilson commented that maintaining the activities of time-limited regeneration projects once the external funding had ceased and managing the expectations of the public in that regard was an increasingly problematic issue for the Council and in order to assess the scale of the issue, the Executive Director, Neighbourhoods, had recently been commissioned to map all the regeneration funding provided to the City, including their timescales.
	As regards future NRF programmes, the Chair (Councillor Mike King) stated that proposals on the allocations for 2004 to 2006 would be submitted to the Cabinet on 20th August. He reported that it was envisaged that 50% of the NRF monies would be used to support the Council in attaining its floor targets and that the remaining 50% would be focused around targeted areas of the City. He added that Area Panels would be used to ensure that NRF themed activity meets local needs and that Area Panels would not be able to carry forward any unspent monies from their 2003/04 NRF allocations.
	The Chair also referred to the Panel's decision late in 2002 to utilise monies from its highways allocation on measures targeting motorcycle nuisance and crime in the Vikinglea Area, and commented that the Head of Planning, Transport and Highways had been requested to prepare a report on the reasons for the implementation of the measures being delayed. He also stated that the Panel was to be allocated a sum of £10,000 to be utilised on small-scale highway improvements in 2003/04.
	RESOLVED: That (a) the information now reported be noted; and
	(b) this Panel acknowledges the benefits of early years' initiatives and accordingly, requests that the Area Co-ordinator facilitates discussions between the Libraries Service, the managers of the local Surestart Programme and local schools with a view to securing funding for a local Bookstart project worker and, in the event of those discussions being unsuccessful, consideration be given to the possible reinstatement of support to the local Bookstart Project through the Panel's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Local Action Plan for 2003/04.


5.	"GREEN ESTATE"/ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
	The Area Co-ordinator referred to the Panel's priority theme within its Area Plan relating to the care, maintenance and longer-term development of the Manor, Castle and Woodthorpe Area and commented that the Panel's support for the "Green Estate" initiative operated in the Area by the Sheffield Wildlife Trust was the main vehicle for pursuing that priority theme and the Council's corporate priority for achieving a cleaner, greener and safer City.
	He stated that proposals had now been produced in respect of the development of all the significant areas of green space within the Area, with development programmes having been prepared based on expenditure levels of £30,000, £60,000 and £90,000. Significant practical works would be undertaken during the latter half of the year supported through the Panel's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Local Action Plan for 2003/04, with the amount of such funding being determined by Members before the next meeting of the Panel.
	The Area Co-ordinator also referred to the Government's Housing Market Renewal Initiative which may result in master planning exercises being undertaken in relation to various estates/areas within the Manor, Castle and Woodthorpe Area and he commented that significant amounts of work had already been carried out in those regards which could be fed into that process such as around Wybourn, Skye Edge, Manor Park, the City Road Corridor and at Arbourthorne.
	Brett Nuttall (Green Estate) outlined the nature of activities being undertaken in green spaces in the Area, referring in particular to the major projects at Deep Pits and at Sheffield Manor Lodge and other significant activities at the Cholera Monument, Skye Edge, Woodthorpe Primary School, Woodthorpe Fish Ponds and Woodthorpe Ravine. He stated that although it was proposed to undertake works at all the main green spaces in the Area to prevent vehicle access, preventing motorcycle access was proving more problematic. He commented on the links which the Sheffield Wildlife Trust and Green Estate Initiative had established with the local Surestart Programme and Primary Regeneration Project and stated that work was to be undertaken with the Council's Geographic Information Service to produce a map highlighting open space regeneration developments in the Area. He also reported that meetings were being held in connection with identifying funds to undertake urgent repair works to the Mather Road Pavilions, which may otherwise have to be demolished.
	In reply to a question regarding the timescale for undertaking works to prevent vehicular access to the Area's green spaces, Brett Nuttall commented that the proposed measures were currently being costed, with the works being due to commence during September, 2003.
	RESOLVED: That (a) the information now reported in relation to the proposals for the development of green space in the Manor, Castle and Woodthorpe Areas, be noted; and
	(b) the extent of the partnership working between the Sheffield Wildlife Trust/Green Estate Initiative and Council services, particularly Education and Housing, for the benefit of the environment in the Manor, Castle and Woodthorpe Areas, be acknowledged.

6.	DATE OF NEXT MEETING
	RESOLVED: That the next meeting of the Panel be held on Friday, 26th September, 2003, at 1.30 p.m. at a venue in the Manor area to be determined by the Area Co-ordinator.

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