Netherthorpe Walkley Hillsborough Area Panel Minutes 25th March 2004

NETHERTHORPE / WALKLEY / HILLSBOROUGH AREA PANEL


Meeting held 25th March, 2004 at the Wisewood Methodist Church, Ben Lane

PRESENT:		Councillors Jonathan Harston (Chair), Steve Ayris, Janet Bragg, Veronica Hardstaff and Robert MacDonald.

		Also in attendance:-
		Councillor Alf Meade
		Ms Rebecca Maddox, Joint Area Co-ordinator
		Ms. Kathy Parsons, Link Officer, Development Services
		Graham Broadhurst, Streetforce
		Chris Wragg, Social Inclusion Team
		Dr Charles Price, Sheffield West Primary Care Trust
		Ms Bethan Plant, Sheffield West Primary Care Trust
		WPC Theresa Murphy, South Yorkshire Police
		PC Simon Mathew, South Yorkshire Police
		Ms Janet Skirrow, Netherthorpe and Upperthorpe Community Alliance
		Vernon Collymore, Sheffield Futures
		Ms Carol Smith, Sheffield Futures
		Padma Gillen, Hillsborough and Owlerton Neighbourhood Forum
		Patrick Burns, Legal and Administrative Services
		and 25 members of the public
............

1.	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
	Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sylvia Anginotti and Diane Leek.

2.	UPDATE ON HEALTHY SCHOOLS ACTIVITY AT WISEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL
	The Student Health Team (Health Team) of Wisewood Secondary School and Ms Kirsty Isle, Wisewood School Healthy Schools Co-ordinator, gave a presentation on the progress which had been made and the plans for the future of the Healthy Schools Initiative at Wisewood Secondary School. They referred to their discussions with Ms. Bethan Plant, West Primary Care Trust regarding the Initiative and their consideration of broader issues, such as the possible mental health problems of pupils. The Health Team had designed a questionnaire for each pupil to identify key issues, including physical activities, drinking water, bicycle sheds, school meals, bullying and emotional health. The most important issues including yoga, self defence and street dance, had been selected for the allocation of resources, whilst a level of resources had been set aside for other things which might arise. Ms Kate Lewis of the Archers Project had given the Health Team advice and assistance with regard to certain activities and the views of pupils had been considered. Four plumbed in water coolers had been installed in the School. The Health Team had learnt how to be aware of health issues and of what the pupils at the School wanted and that it was not possible to please everyone whilst managing the budget. At the conclusion of the Initiative the Health Team would write a report, which would be submitted to the Panel. A key aim of the Health Team was to access more funding to carry out further work, involving Y7 pupils, to ensure that Wisewood School was a healthy school.
	Members of the public asked questions and the Health Team, Ms Bethan Plant and Ms Kirsty Isle responded as follows:-

	Q. Wisewood School still had no gymnasium. Was there any progress on providing one?
	A. Work on the erection of a gymnasium should commence on 5th April, 2004. National Lottery funding had been received for the Project and a bid had been made for the School to be given Sports College status. It was anticipated that the work on building the gymnasium would be completed in January 2005.
	Q. What was the most important achievement of the Initiative?
	A. The most important achievements were the Student Health Team working as a team, budgeting for the work done, raising the awareness of pupils with regard to health issues and enabling pupils to enjoy the health classes which had been set up.

	Q. How well had the Initiative been accepted by the pupils at the School who were not normally involved in school activities?
	A. The intention was to ensure that children participated in after school activities and the new gymnasium would be open for that purpose. A number of pupils who had participated in the street dancing activities were those who were not normally involved in extra curricular activities.
	Q. It would perhaps be better to broaden the term “health” to “well-being” as that was an issue which affected the whole community. What factors caused stress for pupils?
	A. The principal cause of stress was examinations, such as the GCSE examinations.
	Q. Was there not an imbalance in the composition of the Health Team which contained far more female than male pupils and could this not be changed somehow?
	A. The Health Team would try to achieve this.

	The Panel thanked the Wisewood School Student Health Team and Ms. Kirsty Isle for their presentation and noted the information reported.

3.	DEVELOPING REGENERATION STRATEGY FOR THE NORTH WEST
	Padma Gillen, Hillsborough and Owlerton Neighbourhood Forum, reported on a Project, for which he was the Project Officer, funded by Single Regeneration Budget money from the Netherthorpe and Upperthorpe Community Alliance and Neighbourhood Renewal Fund money from the Area Panel, to develop a regeneration strategy for the north west of the city. He stated that there was a substantial amount of community activity, which was isolated and separate. The aim of the Project was to consolidate the activity to attract regeneration funding, as large scale strategies would be more likely to achieve that aim. Since his appointment, Mr. Gillen had been examining the outcome of consultations that had already been carried out and meeting community groups to discover the key issues for the area. Regeneration had to be community led. He had obtained a great deal of information on the area and was looking at the gaps in knowledge and meeting people who could fill those gaps. Mr. Gillen would also meet stakeholders to develop a strategy and would produce a report which would be published at an event to be held in September 2004.
	Members of the public asked questions and Mr Gillen, members of the Panel and officers responded as follows:-

	Q. Would the Project include issues such as employment, transport and housing?
	A. The Project was open ended and there was no limit to the number of issues to be considered.
	Q. Was it already obvious that there were 3 distinct areas involved in the Project?
	A. That was apparent. It was clear that Hillsborough had a significant position because it attracted visitors and that the other areas were residential, with their own issues.
	Q. Was it clear that the Wisewood Estate, which had been known as the “Buttons Estate” because many residents had been workers in public service and in full employment, still had that image?
	A. That had not been apparent.
	Q. Wisewood now had a large older population which was increasing significantly and those residents were not able to look after their housing as they had done when they had been in employment. Was it not the reason for the deterioration of the Wisewood Estate?
	A. That opinion was accepted.
	Q. Had consideration been given to the allocation of funds to projects via a community chest scheme?
	A. The Project was in its early days but there was a proposal to create a Project Board which would have representatives from local community groups.
	Q. What was the geographical area of the Project?
	A. The area was that of the Area Panel, namely Netherthorpe, Walkley, Hillsborough, Crookes and Lower Stannington.
	Q. Wisewood had been starved of resources for a number of years and was excluded when it came to regeneration funding, as it was not regarded as a deprived area. For example, funding from the Parks, Woodlands and Countryside Service was not spent on open spaces within the area and only section 106 funding was allocated to their maintenance. Would contact be made with all groups within the area and would efforts be made to ensure that Wisewood would not lose out again?
	A. The aim of the Project was to bring into the area regeneration money such as the funding which had been allocated to the Southey/Owlerton area.
	Q. Would consideration be given to the use of the Dial House Club for meetings in connection with the Project?
	A. That would be considered.
	Q. Would the Project take into account the fact that the City Development Team had commissioned an Upper Don Valley Investigation and a Hillsborough Shopping Centre Survey was being carried out?
	A. That would be taken into consideration.
	Q. What role would the Panel’s Area Plan and the Development Service’s plans play in the Project?
	A. The work of the Project could fall within the function of the Area Panel but, due to other work pressures, the Joint Area Co-ordinators were unable to do this work and the work of the Area Panel did not cover everything within the Project. The Area Plan was a statement of the position of the Area Panel and the themes on which it was considered that the Panel could have some impact. The work of Mr Gillen would include consultation on the Area Plan. NUCA had provided funding for the Project as it was clear that the south of the city had obtained a considerable level of regeneration funding and the purpose of the Project was to bring money into the north of the city. It was likely that large scale regeneration funding would decrease in the future so NUCA was interested in accessing smaller sources of funding and it would work with the Area Panel in achieving that funding.
	Q. What was the role of the Hillsborough and Owlerton Neighbourhood Forum within the Project?
	A. The Forum was a new group, sponsoring the work of the Project. It was concerned with achieving regeneration money for an area much wider than Hillsborough.
	Q. Was it the case that strategies for coping with an ageing population were needed?
	A. That was the case.
	Q. Would there be consultation with the local community?
	A. There would be wide consultations. It was already clear that there were gaps in the knowledge of local areas, for example Wisewood and Crookes, but Mr Gillen would be willing to speak to any local organisation and would also seek people with a voice in different communities.
	The Panel thanked Mr Gillen for his presentation and noted the information reported.

4.	PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
	Members of the public asked questions and members of the Panel and officers responded as follows:-

	Q. The Dial House Club had significant problems in terms of its management and its financial position and, together with local organisations such as the Wisewood Estate Management Board, was attempting to change its organisational function while retaining its core activities, which had lasted for 65 years, by becoming a Dial House Community and Resource Centre with widespread activities to bring in revenue. There would be consultations with local residents for their views on this development. Would the Panel give its support to the Club?
	A. The Panel would support the Dial House Club and it would be added to the list of venues for the public meetings of the Panel.
	Q. The Lower Stannington Forum was concerned about the development of the former Loxley College site. Would there be consultations particularly regarding whether the use of the College’s open space/playing fields could be retained for the local community?
	A. These issues would be discussed with local residents and the Lower Stannington Forum was holding a meeting that evening, regarding these issues.

5.	DATE OF NEXT MEETING
	The Panel noted that its next meeting would be held on Thursday 20th May, 2004 at 7.00 p.m. at a venue to be determined.

6.	MINUTES
	The Panel approved the minutes of its meeting held on 12th February, 2004 and the minutes of its meeting held on 13th November 2003, subject to the substitution in item 6 of the words “ Action for Deer Park and Liberty, which was chaired by Mrs Billie Whitehouse” for the words “The Deer Park Action Group, which was chaired by Councillor Janet Bragg”

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