Minutes of the North East Community Planning Partnership Meeting held in the Whitfield Community Centre on Monday 8th February 2010

Present - Baillie Willie Sawers Dundee City Council Councillor Brian Gordon Dundee City Council Jenni Tocher (Chair) Social Work Dept., DCC Diana Gibson Housing Dept., DCC Siobhan Johnson City Development, DCC Katrina Finnon SPSS Social Work Jill Bennett Community Representative, Whitfield Ron Neave Fintry Community Council Margaret Munro Community Representative, Mill O' Mains Stephen Massey Community Regeneration Forum Katie Chisholm Tayside Police Peter Goldie Waste Management Dept., DCC Mike Welsh Leisure and Communities Dept., DCC Roy Dunsire Tayside Fire and Rescue Alan Park Tayside Fire and Rescue

Apologies - Councillor Andy Dawson, Bob Whyte and Caroline Canter

ACTION 1. Welcome & Apologies

Jenni welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Nicola, her new secretary. Apologies were noted and introductions were carried out round the table.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting - 16th November 2009

The content was agreed as correct. Mike mentioned that the dates on the back page were incorrect so a new schedule was issued to the group.

3. Matters Arising

1.1 Protecting People

Jenni reported that Jill is hoping to attend the focus group meeting at the end of February. The forum will be used to raise public awareness for the services to protect children and adults. There is a new child protection number now in operation - 307999. This can be used for people with any concerns about children.

1.2 Open Space Strategies

Mike put suggested plans on the wall showing where open spaces would be in Whitfield. Plans are still at the consultation stage with some flood prevention and drainage issues still to be resolved before the Mill O' Mains consultation can start. He asked that everyone have a look at the end of the meeting, all feedback was welcome.

The consultation process will conclude in the summer 2010 and it is anticipated that any events/workshops will be done through the relevant community organisation. Mike had also researched the cost of a flood lit football pitch following on from the question being raised at the last meeting regarding a proposed facility in Whitfield. The total yearly cost for running would be around £4,000 which includes electricity and repair of lights, repair of fences and maintenance of the pitch. One disadvantage of this facility is that it cannot be utilised in winter unless it is flood lit. Mike mentioned that it is important that the activities are in the core of the community.

Roy from the Fire Service asked if the cost could be justified if it acted as a diversion activity as it costs £2,000 for every secondary fire that has to be attended. On a positive note, the Fire Service have noticed a drop in fires around their area. There is some analysis which Roy can share with the group. Roy Mike is going to investigate if there has been a reduction in vandalism across the city through examining any research conducted through any Dundee Partnership theme Mike group.

4. Whitfield Regeneration Update

There has been a delay with Home Scotland's site due to poor weather. There is a planning application to go in for a new road very soon and if the new school development gets planning permission work will start in August 2010. Life Services had consultations in September to find out what people wanted for leisure and health services locally. Jenni mentioned that Boots were interested in moving to the new shops when the development was taking place. Mike reported that marketing sketches have been done and discussions with shop owners are still ongoing.

Jenni passed round to the group before and after drawings of Whitfield showing the open spaces, it was interesting to see that Whitfield did not have a huge amount of open space before the changes.

5. Mill O' Mains Regeneration Update

Diane reported that Phase 1 has been approved. Home Scotland and the Housing Department are working with the solicitor and they hope to start building around May. The residents have been advised of this at several open days, but there have been concerns from individuals over car parking and access to houses and this will be resolved through discussion. Mike reported that ROK is the development partner and will have a Community Engagement Officer on site.

6. Local Community Plan

6.1 Working Group Reports

 Mental Wellbeing and Isolation - there is a meeting tomorrow. They will be examining the feasibility of running a mental health First Aid course. There is a lot of work supporting residents who are isolated especially young parents but the mental health element is difficult to progress without a Health Representative present. Training courses are available to help raise awareness but not create effective responses.  Substance Misuse - After discussion the group agreed to identify areas where either substance abuse or anti-social behaviour was prevalent. Whitfield Avenue for workers was identified as a hot spot. A survey was done to assure the local residents that work was being done to improve the area and noted the issues that people faced. The public response was that they were worried - following on from this the Police have set up publicity stalls to assure the public and pass on information. The next is planned for the 10th February, 9 am to 3 pm.  There has been good support from Waste Management and a pilot for Euro bins is currently running. The next meeting is on 4th March at 9.30am at Braeview Academy. Mike is going to add additional Fire Service members to the e-mail Mike distribution list.  Work and Enterprise - there was an opportunities fair on 14th January in Whitfield where volunteering groups and educational institutes were involved and over 60 people attended which was a great success. There is a construction fair planned for nearer the summer which is being organised by Jobcentre Plus. This will fit in with construction work in Mill O' Mains, the new Whitfield primary school and possible new sites.  Young People's Working Group - Open Space - the plan is to ask children what they want to see and where. If the children are involved from the outset the facilities tend to stay longer. Jenni mentioned that when we look at plans for play parks it is very important to think of the older people in the population and bringing the generations together. Jenni has already raised this issue at the decentralisation meeting.

6.2 Community Seminar - 4th March 2010, 6.30pm

After discussion it was agreed to give the community the opportunity to write their own agenda on the night and if numbers are high then or hold general workshops to discuss the relevant issues. Jenni would like to see protection for all ages to be included on the agenda. It was also agreed to give a quick presentation on the Local Community Plan.

6.3 Newsletter

Jill, Peter and reps from Braeview Academy want to keep the Newsletter theme as upbeat and positive as possible. The pupils are putting together a fashion show which will be featured. Whitfield and Fintry will have an additional A4 sheet double sided which will be distributed. Total distribution is around 7,500 houses, hopefully by Braeview Senior pupils. Jenni said that the Newsletter was a really good thing to see happening.

6.3 Monitoring Process

A report is due in April under each of the outcomes. Last April 20% of actions were already achieved in 3-4 months. Mike will circulate the report for comment in April. 7. Information Update

7.1 Tayside Police Tactical Locality Report

 Katie talked through the Tactical Locality Report. The message was positive with crime figures down significantly  There had been a number of car thefts and thefts from cars - the public are still not locking valuables away  Katie recently attended a Youth Intervention Strategy meeting where an interventions model was approved. The participants are looking to target Linlathen and Mid Craigie initially as they were identified as hot spots  Parking at Longhaugh and Fintry Primary schools was a problem due to lack of space. Ron explained that issues with congestion at Fintry primary School had been explained prior to the planning of the schools but had been ignored. They had asked for a wider road. Councillor Gordon has been involved with this and is liaising with the school. Ron lives very close to the school and can see the problems with parking. He suggested that parents either walk or use the main road as a drop off point and walk from there. Another suggestion was a one way system but this would be costly. Baillie Sawers mentioned that there was a city wide initiative following on from a pilot that had been previously completed. Baillie He is going to get a copy of this report to Mike for distribution Sawers  Councillor Gordon feels like Community Officers are making a real difference in the reduction in crime figures. Katie mentioned that the 35 youth annoyance figure does not necessarily mean that each of these instances the youth was at fault it just means that it was reported  Mike is going to circulate the full Police report Mike  Jenni said that we must plan ahead regarding the Whitfield Road to avoid any issues

7.2 Tayside Fire and Rescue - Fire Deaths and Injuries Study

 Alan talked through information from the Scottish Government Report. The findings were that Scotland had 62% fire deaths compared to the rest of the UK and Europe.  The key issues which have been identified are alcohol consumption, smoking, mental health, social deprivation, living alone and people who are receiving social care.  The living room is the most common place for a fire related death in comparison to the bedroom and kitchen  Lots of money is currently spent on attending secondary fires, where malicious damage has been done. One problem here is that the Police sometimes do not record the crimes as malicious. On a positive note there has been a reduction in deaths and secondary fires  Initiatives are currently being carried out which involve home fire safety visits and school visits to spread awareness. It would be useful if a standardised assessment could be done across services such as Police, Fire Service, Social Work, NHS etc

 The way forward is for engagement with the community and initiatives to work with people who have alcohol or mental health problems and who are the most vulnerable people in society  Alan is going to send Mike a link for this document as it is a very interesting Alan report to read in full. He also mentioned that last year the secondary fires cost the Fire Service around £2.5 million  Katie mentioned that as far as she was aware secondary fires were recorded as a crime by the Police. Alan said there is a meeting planned to re-classify this.  Jenni suggested the involvement of community care planning. Jenni is going to Jenni speak to Laura Bannerman who is head of community care to look at ways to work more closely with Fire & Rescue staff around the area of vulnerable older and disabled people.

7.3 Issue Identification Discussion

This has already been covered through previous discussions but will stay on for the next agenda.

8. Regeneration Fund

8.1 Future Operational Position

The Regeneration Forum election for the North East will be held on 25th February at 6.30pm in Whitfield. There will be similar representation to now with 15 members, 5 of which will come from Whitfield, Fintry and Mill O' Mains/Dalclaverhouse. Information has been sent out to people in the area regarding the elections. Steven Massey mentioned that the changes include having 3 representatives attend the LCPP in addition to three community reps. and this may change the dynamics. Mike added that there was an expectation that up to three LCPP representatives would attend the Forum and it was agreed that he would encourage the relevant partnership reps to attend where possible.

8.2 Environmental Fund Update

Mike mentioned that an additional £80,000 was allocated to each regeneration area. The Forum agreed to complete the work partially allocated at Dunbar Park (lighting and carriageways) and on Dalclaverhouse (Orchard Court) footpaths. Steven hopes that work will be carried out on the road surfaces by June. Remaining funds had been allocated to Angus Housing Association to initiate Phase 1 of their play park refurbishment in Ormiston Crescent.

8.3 Youth Diversionary Fund Proposals

Stephen reported that the Forum prioritised the provision of funding to under 12s. The allocation will be around £40,000 which should leave £10,000 remaining. Steven mentioned that activities were done with families as well as under 12s to get all their input.

9. AOCB There was no other business to discuss.

10. Date of Next Meeting - 18th May 2010 at 2pm in Fintry Primary School