RAMSEY NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUM

20 APRIL 2010

PRESENT: Panel Councillor P Bucknell District Council (Chairman)

Councillor S Criswell County Council

Mr T Roberts Luminus

Councillor T Lavender Ramsey Town Council

Inspector S Poppitt Cambridgeshire Constabulary

Councillor P McCloskey Somersham Parish Council

Forum 70 members of other authorities, organisations and the public

APOLOGIES: Councillor Mrs K Prestage Bury Parish Council

Councillor V Lucas Cambridgeshire County Council

Mr K Bowden Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

1. WELCOME BY CHAIRMAN

In his role as Chairman, Councillor Bucknell welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chairman reminded those present of the purpose of the Neighbourhood Forums in Huntingdonshire as:

♦ informing, consulting and involving the public on issues of local importance; ♦ enabling local communities and the public to raise issues of concern and highlight priorities for action to public sector organisations; and ♦ influencing the decision-making processes that direct service delivery.

The Chairman reminded those present that issues raised should relate to a local area or community. Individual issues should be discussed with the relevant agency at the end of the meeting.

2. NOTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The notes of the meeting held on 19 January 2010 were agreed as an accurate record.

3. RAMSEY NEIGHBOURHOOD FORUM PROGRESS REPORT

The items that had been raised as issues at the previous meeting on 19 January 2010 were mostly covered by the policing profile report later in the agenda.

Arising from an issue that had been raised about calls after 6.00 p.m. to Ramsey Health Centre, the Chairman welcomed Dr S Brown, managing partner of the practice.

1 Dr Brown explained that this question had been drawn to his attention by the Primary Care Trust but he explained that calls were not diverted to an out of hours service when the health centre was open. Demand for medical services has risen each year which his practice had struggled to accommodate. He pointed out that the population of the Ramsey area suffered from problems of obesity, diabetes and coronary heart disease with a new case of diabetes diagnosed each week by the health centre and diabetes rates being 150% higher than the PCT average.

As a result, staffing had been increased dramatically some 18 months earlier and the health centre now had one of the highest doctor/patient ratios in the PCT area. The health centre had extended opening hours from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays with an open access arrangement as opposed to appointments. However there had been insufficient take up to justify opening late every evening and this had been reduced to two evenings each week. On those evenings when the health centre closed at 6.00 p.m., any telephone calls were dealt with by recorded information which had prompted the complaint raised at the previous forum meeting.

Dr Brown advised the meeting that the health centre was hoping to establish a patient participation group and that anyone interested in taking part could contact the practice manager Ms C Gibson either by phone or email to [email protected] . He welcomed a suggestion for young people to become involved and was interested in comments about the possibility of Saturday morning opening being discussed by the group. Subject to there being sufficient demand and staff being prepared to work on Saturdays, he indicated that he was prepared to consider the idea favourably.

Although unable to discuss individual patients, Dr Brown answered a number of questions from local residents. He indicated that he had found it particularly useful to be able to hear the views of residents at the forum and he indicated that he was happy to attend again in the future.

The Chairman thanked Dr Brown and Ms Gibson for attending the meeting.

4. NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING PROFILE

Inspector S Poppit explained that he had only transferred to the St Ives sector earlier in the week and Sergeant B Newton therefore gave an update on the Neighbourhood Policing Team and the January – March 2010 profile for Ramsey and the surrounding area.

Sergeant Newton reported on the priorities identified at the previous neighbourhood forum meeting as follows:

• Great Whyte/Little Whyte, Ramsey – Night time economy o High visibility patrols had been carried out, also involving special constables; o Incidents had resulted in the issue of fixed penalty notices for low level offences, cautions and arrests for assaults; o The local pub watch scheme with licensees from public houses in Ramsey and surrounding areas continued to be supported, enabling a number of people to be banned from licensed premises and one who was in breach of his ASBO receiving a custodial sentence; o Officers had targeted youths on bicycles outside Somerfield in Great Whyte and were working with local schools on safe cycling initiatives; and o Vandalism in Little Whyte had been tackled via high visibility patrols.

2 • The Green, Somersham – youths gathering outside shops o High visibility foot and vehicle patrols had been carried out in Somersham; o Officers had engaged with youths in the area, confiscated alcohol and engaged with local off licences about underage drinking; o Three arrests had been made for criminal damage after an increase in reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and criminal damage.

• The Maltings, Cromwell Close, Biggin Lane and Fellows Drive, Ramsey – youth related ASB o High visibility foot and vehicle patrols had been undertaken; and o The situation had improved with few reports recently of problems.

Sergeant Newton reported that information had been obtained about the names of the persons causing damage at Warboys Parish Centre but witness statements were required to take the matter any further.

In reply to questions regarding proactive work with youngsters to prevent anti-social behaviour, Sergeant Newton advised that work with schools and parents was ongoing with a dedicated officer working with Abbey College. Combined with work with specific individuals and their parents through anti-social behaviour contracts and orders and the guardian awareness programme, Sergeant Newton felt that progress was being achieved.

Residents raised concerns regarding groups of youths in vehicles on Mill Lane sports pitches, Ramsey with anti-social behaviour and fears of drug and alcohol abuse which Sergeant Newton indicated would be investigated. Arising from damage to vehicles in Field Road, Ramsey, Sergeant Newton reported that the Police were aware of the culprits and arrests would be made later in the week. Other areas where residents raised problems of anti-social behaviour were Ashbeach Road, Ramsey St Mary’s and the Royal British Legion Club, Ramsey.

Residents raised concerns relating to parking issues in Great Whyte and High Street, Ramsey, including parking on double yellow lined areas, vehicles exceeding waiting limits and inappropriate use of disabled parking bays.

Speeding traffic in Ramsey Heights was raised as a concern which Sergeant Newton reported was being addressed by both the Police and the local Speedwatch team.

In response to a query by a resident about benefits from the Section 106 agreement payments arising from the Tesco development in Ramsey, Mrs Squires, the Neighbourhood Co-ordinator, indicated that she would investigate and provide an update to the next meeting.

Councillor P Reeve expressed his appreciation for the work of the Police in Ramsey but asked that work continue to target low level anti-social behaviour as a preventative measure to deter more significant criminal activity by the people involved.

Concerns were raised by residents about youths drinking alcohol in the streets in Ramsey. Sergeant Newton replied that his team were working with the young people and that bags etc were checked for alcohol on a regular basis.

5. ISSUES FROM JANUARY MEETING

(a) Street Lighting

3 Mr R Reeves of Huntingdonshire District Council reported that it had not been possible to arrange for information to be submitted on street lighting issues and that this would need to be deferred to a future meeting. Mrs Squires indicated that she would speak to Cambridgeshire County Council’s street lighting section to arrange for an update to given at the July meeting.

(b) Flooding

The Chairman introduced Ms S Howell of the Environment Agency who gave a short presentation on what householders could do in the event of flooding to their homes. She outlined the flood warning system that the Agency offered to residents and the flood incident management arrangements that were in place to deal with river and sea floods. The Agency worked closely with the internal drainage boards locally and had a resilience forum of relevant bodies that dealt with emergencies.

Ms Howell outlined three steps that householders could take to protect their property and possessions. These included obtaining the latest information from the Agency’s website or by calling their Floodline. Residents could register with Floodline Warning Direct which issued warnings of imminent flooding by landline, mobile, text, e.mail and fax. Residents were also encouraged to prepare their own flood plan and compile a flood kit for use in an emergency.

Ms Howell indicated that she was happy to take questions from individuals at the end of the meeting and was thanked by the Chairman for her presentation.

(c) Young People

The Chairman welcomed Miss D Fletcher from Ramsey Youth Centre who spoke about the issues facing young people in Ramsey, particularly the lack of suitable activities and their plans to establish a skate park. Miss Fletcher summarised the efforts that had been made in conjunction with young people over the past 5 years to identify a suitable site for a skate park. Despite having attended many meetings of Ramsey Town Council, she explained that the Town Council had not become involved in the project and ultimately had rejected the two potential sites that had been identified. An alternative site at Abbey College had also proved impossible to progress, as a result of which the project appeared to have stalled.

Miss Fletcher indicated that the Youth Centre would like to set up a small group of young people to work with the Town Council to find a viable project for the young people to become involved in. She explained that those involved in anti-social behaviour referred to earlier in the meeting were in the minority and that most young people were positive and participated in many useful activities. However she indicated that there needed to be more to occupy them in Ramsey. Ms P Litchfield, the Ramsey Town Centre Manager advised that she was compiling a study of activities in Ramsey and invited people to join a focus group to help with the work.

A number questions and comments were made by those present at the meeting.

6. NEIGHBOURHOOD ISSUES

Ms A Spence of Druglink spoke about the recent popularity and media attention relating to ‘legal highs’ and particularly the substance Mephedrone that had recently been added to the list of illegal substances.

There were no further issues raised for discussion.

4 7. ST IVES ROAD SAFETY COMMITTEE

Mr G Boyd of Pidley spoke about the problems of excessive traffic speeds through the village and the dangers that this created. A week long survey in October 2009 had shown that the speed of 82% of the vehicles passing through the village exceeded the ACPO guidelines for prosecution. He explained that there was no footway alongside much of the B1090 through the village and that the weight limit in Somersham meant that many HCVs travelled through Pidley, with satellite navigation causing a problem by directing drivers to use that route. He suggested that signs to the Raptor Centre in Somersham also were misleading and directed traffic through Pidley. He explained the work of the Speedwatch team in the Ramsey area, in particular relating to statistics from the speed enforcement unit and HCV surveys.

8. FUTURE ITEMS

It was agreed that future agenda items should include:

• Traffic calming – Cambridgeshire County Council measures to address the problem of excessive speeds; and • Parking in Ramsey – insufficient capacity and enforcement.

9. FUTURE MEETING PROGRAMME

The Chairman informed those present that the next meeting of the Ramsey Neighbourhood Forum would take place on 21 July 2010 at the Ramsey Community Centre.

10. PANEL PRIORITISATION

At the conclusion of the Forum meeting, the Panel agreed the following policing priorities for the three months to June 2010:

1. High Street/Great Whyte/Little Whyte, Ramsey – anti-social behaviour and the night time economy 2. The Green/Parkhall Road, Somersham – youth related anti-social behaviour

Panel members were also asked to address those issues marked for their attention in the notes of the Forum meeting and actions/update sheet.

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