North Area Panel Minutes 17th March 2004

	NORTH AREA PANEL

	Meeting held 17th March, 2004 at Loxley Primary School, Loxley

			PRESENT:			Councillors David Baker (Chair), Kathleen Chadwick and Arthur Dunworth.

			Representatives of Panel Partners:-
			Jennie Hughes				-	Sheffield Youth Offending Team
			Tim Warburton )				-	Crown Prosecution Service
			Clare Cocken )
			Inspector Jack Clarkson )				-	South Yorkshire Police
			PC Brian Huckstep )
			Councillor Alan Hooper )				-	Ecclesfield Parish Council
			Councillor Norman Garratt )
			Councillor Alison Brelsford				-	Stocksbridge Town Council
			Councillor Ruth Labetz				-	Bradfield Parish Council

			City Council Officers:-
			Anne Blantern				-	North Area Co-ordinator
			Matthew Rush				-	North Area Support Officer
			Vicki Savage				-	Partnership Development Officer
			Vince Varnam				-	Street Force
			Marie Croker				-	Sport & Community Recreation
			Glyn Hitchen )				-	Housing Services
			Gary Nelmbs )
			Tracy Marples )
			Paul Voyse )
			Roger Wantling				-	Highways Service
			Sarah Thomson				-	Committee Secretariat

			20 members of the public attended the meeting.

		……………

1.		APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
		Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Vic Bowden, Martin Davis and Graham Oxley.

2.		CHANGE OF MEETING TIME
		The Chair informed members of the Panel that in consultation with the Area Co-ordinator he had examined attendance records of previous Panel meetings and it was proposed that all future meetings would commence at 4.00 p.m., throughout the Summer following which, the Panel would re-examine the arrangement.
		The Panel agreed that future meetings would commence at 4.00 pm.

3.		MINUTES
		The Panel received and approved the minutes of the meeting held on 18th February, 2004, as a true record with the amendment of Beechwood Road, Chapeltown to Beechwood Road, Stockbridge and arising therefrom:-

		Parking on Pack Horse Lane
		Councillor Kathleen Chadwick reported that she had spoken to Mr Hutchinson, Headmaster of St. Mary’s School and advised him of the officer responsible for highways maintenance and suggested that Mr Hutchinson contact that Highways Officer requesting that measures on Pack Horse Lane parking control be re-examined. Councillor Chadwick suggested that the school may be able to place road markings on Pack Horse Lane as she believed that the Lane was not adopted by the Highways Agency and therefore the City Council were not responsible for its maintenance. Councillor Chadwick also reported that she had contacted Mick Ambler, Street Force, in order to arrange a litter pick with St. Mary’s School pupils to improve the surrounding areas.

		Burncross Road
		The Chair indicated that he had received a letter from Alex Kyle, Head of Highways, stating that the Burncross Road scheme had not been included in the 2003/04 programme, due to the introduction of the new assessment criteria for scheme proposals. He added that the scheme was now postponed although he believed that it would be included in the 2004/05 programme, but stated that he could not guarantee this. The Chair indicated that he would write to Alex Kyle stating the Panels disappointment and report back to a future meeting.
		In response to questions raised by the Panel with regard to which part of the scheme was postponed, the Chair stated that the whole of the scheme had been postponed until it had been re-assessed under the new criteria.

		Beechwood Road, Stocksbridge
		The Area Co-ordinator reported that she had received a response from Andy Bennett, Development Services in relation to progress on Beechwood Road, Stocksbridge indicating that a detailed design for the verge hardening works was underway and would be forwarded to Street Force for construction when complete. She also reported that she would inform the Panel once a start date had been confirmed.

		Social Club at Thorncliffe Recreation Ground
		The Area Co-ordinator reported that the City Council owned the land and building at Thorncliffe recreation ground although the maintenance of the social club sited on the land was undertaken under an agreement between Sheffield City Council and Members of Thorncliffe Social and Recreation Association.

		Oughtibridge Lane
		In relation to road safety improvements on Oughtibridge Lane the Chair stated that he would pursue the matter and would write to Alex Kyle, expressing the Panels concerns and requesting that a new traffic survey be undertaken to identify whether there had been an increase in traffic utilising Oughtibridge Lane.

		A number of questions were asked with regard to this matter and answers given as follows:-

		Q.			Did the Panel consider the bend on the bridge situated on Oughtibridge Lane adjacent to Station Lane to be acceptable for vehicles to proceed at the current speed limit of 30 mph.

		R.			The Chair stated that it was his personal opinion that the problem was not the speed limit, he believed there had been an increase in accidents as a result of the volume of traffic utilising Oughtibridge Lane.

		Q.			A local resident stated that in his opinion Oughtibridge Lane was designed as a rural lane and enquired as to how many vehicles were required to use it before it was classed as a road.

		R.			Roger Wantling, stated that Oughtibridge Lane was rural in nature but it had taken on a vehicle capacity higher than the usage of a lane. Mr Wantling added that in order to upgrade the lane to a full urban road standard it would be necessary to incorporate additional land which would result in major road works and inconvenience to members of the public. He further added that the matter did need addressing although there was no ‘quick fix solution’ to the problem and reported that a full assessment of Oughtibridge Lane was required. Mr Wantling suggested that the Chair write to Alex Kyle requesting that a full review of Oughtibridge Lane be undertaken.

					Councillor Arthur Dunworth expressed his concerns in relation to the new road safety assessment criteria and informed the Panel that a petition had previously been submitted to the City Council, which contained approximately 230 signatures for a request for traffic calming measures to be introduced outside Loxley School. He reported that there had been 22 accidents outside the School of which, 6 were serious and 1 fatal but the City Council had still declined the scheme request due to other priorities within Sheffield.

					The Panel noted comments raised by Councillor Dunworth.

		Land formerly occupied by Steetley Brick Works
		The Chair reported that he was in the process of preparing a letter to the Head of Highways requesting that should any further planning applications be submitted for the land formerly occupied by Steetley Brick Works then the issue of footpaths and footways be taken into consideration.

4.		PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
		The following questions were raised by members of the public and responses were provided as follows: -

		Q.			A local resident expressed concerns regarding a planning application which had been declined for the erection of flats on Sussex Road, Chapeltown and enquired as to whether the decision had changed as he had identified a number of portakabins and materials which had been positioned on the proposed site.

		R.			Councillor Arthur Dunworth stated that he was aware of the decision made by the North and West Planning and Highways Area Board, and added that the Board recommended that the application was rejected. Councillor Dunworth suggested that the questioner contact John Williamson, Development Control, in order to confirm the decision and also to express his concerns in relation to the portakabins which had appeared at the site.

					The Chair reported that the portakabins and materials reported may be in connection with the work which was taking place in relation to strengthening of the railway bridge which was also located close to the proposed development site.

		Q.			A local resident expressed a number of concerns regarding the site including whether or not the Police were aware of the entrance to the site and the congestion caused and (b) the damage caused to the footpaths by vehicles using the site.

		R.			Roger Wantling reported that he would investigate the matters raised.

5.		THORNCLIFFE LANE
		Roger Wantling provided a progress report on the closure of the private access road linking Thorncliffe Lane to Newton Chambers Road and reported that the Highways Service had received a number of telephone calls from members of the public expressing their concerns in relation to the closure of the route.
		Mr Wantling reported that the road through the valley had never been categorised as a public highway and commented that the Highways Service had historical records to support this fact.
		He stated that the owners of the Newton Chambers Estate had erected a gate and fence to prevent public access and added that Sheffield City Council had no enforcement powers to influence the owners to remove the fencing in order to permit public access.
		In the light of the report the following questions were asked and responses given:-

		Q.		A local resident reported that local bye-laws stated that where the owner, occupier or landlord did not close the access road for one day per year then legally the road may be opened to permanently permit vehicular traffic.

		R.		Roger Wantling reported that the road through the Newton Chambers Estate had been closed on Christmas Day, according to evidence he was aware of.

		Q.		The questioner reported that the route was not closed on Christmas Day 2003, and that it had been closed Easter Monday every year until the new owners took over the Newton Chambers estate last year when it was closed on Christmas Day. He further commented that in 1978 the previous owners had erected steel gates at the entrance located at Cart Road and Sheffield City Council had requested that the owners remove them.

		R.		Roger Wantling reported that he was not aware of the erection of the steel gates at Cart Road in 1978.

		Q.		A local resident reported that he did not have a problem with the closure of the private road, but expressed his concerns with regard to the increase in the volume of traffic which now required access to the motorway through Chapeltown and also the difficulties experienced in accessing shopping precincts due to the change in traffic flow. He also enquired as to whether the City Council were aware of a second fence which had been erected on the 16^th March, 2004, the reduction in the width of the road and positioning of large stones which had been placed in order to restrict vehicle access. He stated that in his opinion an additional road was required into Chapeltown and that it was Sheffield City Council’s responsibility to address the issue.

		R.		The Chair stated that the City Council had no legal right to re-open the route for public use and in relation to the access of shopping precincts in Chapeltown he stated that it was the decision of individual shop owners to determine how they managed their access facilities on their private land.

		Q.		A Local resident expressed his concerns with regard to damage to the environment and the ever-increasing consequences of pollution in the Chapeltown area as a result of the growth in traffic congestion through the Town Centre. The questioner stated that in his opinion the action taken by Sheffield City Council was unacceptable and stated that the City Council should re-assess the issue in order to identify how the problems reported could be alleviated.

		R.		In response the Chair stated that he would contact the Highways Service to undertake a reassessment of the area in order to identify a way forward and report back to a future meeting of the Panel.

				Roger Wantling commented that it was necessary for a review of the highway system in the Chapeltown area to be undertaken in order to re-assess what improvements could be undertaken to benefit the area.

		Q.		Who was responsible for enforcement of the one-way system at the west end of Warren Lane.

		R.		Roger Wantling reported that enforcement of the one-way system was the responsibility of South Yorkshire Police.

		Q.		Why did Sheffield City Council have problems with their road traffic schemes when Manchester and Leeds appeared to experience fewer problems.

		R.		Roger Wantling stated that he did not accept that Leeds and Manchester had fewer problems than Sheffield, but Sheffield City Council were looking to introduce an Inner Relief Road from the Wicker to Shalesmoor which could alleviate some of the traffic congestion within the City.

		Q.		A local resident reported that Leeds City Council had introduced additional traffic lanes into the City Centre in order for traffic to gain access to the Centre more quickly and efficiently.

		R.		Councillor Arthur Dunworth reported that he frequently listened to Radio Leeds and stated that the traffic report often stated that the City Centre was grid-locked.

				Councillor Dunworth reported that the City Council had to bid through Central Government for funding to improve roads justifying reasons as to why funding was required and what benefits would be gained in the area. He felt in his opinion that Sheffield was no worse than Manchester or Leeds.

				The Panel thanked Roger Wantling for his contribution to the meeting.

		The Area Co-ordinator referred to a fax she had received from Ms Avril Sturdy, who was unable to attend the meeting, but had a number of questions which she wished to submit to the Panel including (i) would the private road between Thorncliffe Lane and Cart Road be opened to the general public, thus easing traffic through Chapeltown (ii) if not, would there be another alternative route (iii) as Cart Road was the main access road to Junction 35a of the M1, would the speed bumps be removed (iv) what new plans were there to ease traffic flow in Chapeltown and (v) what other changes were planned to the existing road layout which may impact on the congestion in Chapeltown at peak times.

		The Area Co-ordinator reported that the minutes of the meeting would be forwarded to Ms. Sturdy in order to answer the questions now raised.

6.		COMMUNITY SAFETY AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
		The Chair reported that the Panel would receive presentations on Anti-Social Behaviour from representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service, South Yorkshire Police, Youth Offending Team and Sheffield City Council Housing Services.

		Sheffield City Council – Housing Services
		Paul Voyse, gave a brief presentation of the work carried out by the Housing Services Section, which included how tenants could report anti-social behaviour issues, what happened when a complaint was reported, how complaints were dealt with and what action the City Council could take.
		He reported that the Housing Team dealt with complaints from Council tenants in relation to anti-social behaviour and that the Team supported the complainant by issuing an ‘Incident Diary’ to the complainant to complete, and providing advice and guidance, work with other agencies including the Police, Environmental Services and Social Services in order to try and resolve the problems reported.
		In relation to what action the City Council could take following complaints received from Council tenants, Mr Voyse stated that Housing Services could evict tenants as a last resort, but it was necessary in these circumstances to prove that the tenant had broken their tenancy conditions and that it was reasonable to evict them. He reported on other action which the Housing Team could instigate including Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs), Mr Voyse reported that the City Council could seek an ABC in order to stop anti-social behaviour by young people aged between 10 and 18. Mr Voyse reported that an ASBO could be placed on a tenant as a result of anti-social behaviour and informed members of the Panel that an ASBO was a court order which aimed to stop specific behaviour and could be obtained against anyone aged 10 or over. He added that breaching an ASBO was a criminal offence which could result in a fine or a prison sentence of up to 5 years or a combination of both.
		Mr Voyse stated that 46% of complaints received were in relation to youth nuisance and anti-social behaviour.
		He stated that officers from the Housing Team gave presentations to children at local Secondary Schools outlining details of enforcement action which may be taken in relation to youth nuisance and added that they were looking to undertake further presentations at local Junior Schools in order to help prevent anti-social behaviour and youth nuisance.

		Following the presentation the following questions were asked and responses given:-

		Q.			Were there any problems in the North area in relation to breaching of ASBOs.

		R.			Mr Voyse stated that a tenant could be arrested where they were in breach of their ASBO regulations.

		Q.			A local resident referred to a complaint she had previously registered with the Housing Services in relation to a particular tenant and commented that the tenant continued to be a nuisance within the neighbourhood.

		R.			Mr Voyse stated that he could not comment on specific cases and suggested that the questioner liaise with Gary Nelmbs at the end of the meeting regarding the matter raised. Councillor Arthur Dunworth also expressed a wish to be included in the discussion as he was concerned with the comments raised.

		Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
		Tim Warburton provided a brief report on the role of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in relation to anti-social behaviour. He stated that the CPS became involved where an offender was alleged to have breached an order. He added that the CPS received the case papers from the Police which detailed the reasons as to why the individual had breached their contract.
		The Breach of an order was a criminal offence and criminal procedures and penalties applied and in conclusion, Mr Warburton reported that the CPS were responsible for ensuring that there was sufficient evidence to support the breach of the ASBO before proceeding with criminal procedures.

		South Yorkshire Police
		PC Brian Huckstep and Inspector Jack Clarkson gave a joint presentation on the role of South Yorkshire Police and their work in relation to ASBOs.
		PC Huckstep reported that he worked with Sheffield First for Safety in Partnership with the South Yorkshire Fire Service, South Yorkshire Police Authority, Sheffield City Council and the Sheffield Primary Care Trusts in developing and implementing a city-wide crime and disorder strategy and overseeing joint work on Youth Justice.
		Home Secretary David Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside, helped launch the plan to tackle anti-social behaviour and commented that Sheffield had received 'Trailblazer' status, which was an initiative to develop excellence in tackling nuisance households. PC Huckstep reported that the Government had set a target to ensure that, by March 2005, action was taken on a minimum of 100 nuisance households and, where necessary, they were given a sanction.
		He informed members of the Panel that the City Council had established an Anti-Social Behaviour Unit which utilised Police resources to tackle anti-social behaviour issues.
		PC Huckstep believed that through educational work in local schools and work with young people the Unit’s aim was to prevent anti-social behaviour through means of after school activities and school holiday day care by such agencies as Sheffield Futures in order to discourage youth nuisance.
		In relation to Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs), PC Huckstep reported that the Unit may issue an ABC to an individual where a contract was agreed and signed at a meeting with the individual and the lead agencies. The contract specified a list of anti-social behaviour acts in which the person had been involved and which they agreed to refrain from participation. He also stated that where there was a breach of the ABC an ASBO was the final stage of the process which could last up to two years.
		Inspector Jack Clarkson informed members of the Panel that he was responsible for the North Area and commented that youth nuisance occupied approximately 35% of Police time. Inspector Clarkson reported on a number of Youth Clubs which no longer operated in High Green, Stocksbridge and Chapeltown due to problems recruiting Youth Workers and stressed that he felt it was important to occupy young people in order to keep them out of trouble.
		He stated that the Police worked with local schools by giving presentations on how young people should behave and the consequences if they did not. He also added that they had held Parent Forums where they had given similar talks to parents detailing action which could be taken if their children were involved in anti-social behaviour incidents.
		Inspector Clarkson concluded his presentation and reported that overall crime had generally reduced in the area although vehicle crime still remained a problem.

		Youth Offending Team
		Jennie Hughes gave a brief report on the role of the Youth Offending Team (YOT) outlining their involvement in the ASBO process and reported on Parenting Orders.
		She stated that the YOT worked with children and young people aged 10 – 17 in order to prevent youth crime.
		Ms Hughes stated that most youth offences were committed as a result of poor parenting and added that YOT were in the process of making parents aware of cases where their children did not attend school by issuing Parent Orders for a maximum of 12 months. The parenting order could consist of two elements, firstly the parent meet with the YOT and attend parenting class where they would receive help in dealing with their children, how to set and enforce consistent standards of behaviour and how to respond more effectively to challenging adolescent demands. This element lasted for a period not exceeding three months and should require attendance at no more than one session per week, secondly, a court may impose requirements to exercise control over their children’s behaviour and this part of the order may last for up to twelve months. Ms Hughes reported that failure to comply with the terms of the order would result in a criminal offence and if convicted the parent could be liable to a fine of up to £1,000.

		The representatives were thanked for their contributions to the meeting.