Action Notes

Woodlands Neighbourhood Forum

7pm, Thursday 20th March 2014

At Tile Hill Community Library, Jardine Crescent, Tile Hill CV4 9PL

Who was at the meeting?

Residents J. Stubbs A. Arlidge P. Swan P. Walker A. Arlidge J. Hodges G. Gerald G. Smith K. Podmore D. Mckenzie T. Cassidy M. Hodges C. Simpson K. Davison J. Payne D. Chattha T. Harvey P. Lindsley M. Keogh No of Residents: 19

Officers and Partner Agencies Name Representing Councillor Patricia Hetherton Coventry City Council – Ward Councillor (Chair) Councillor Steve Thomas Coventry City Council – Ward Councillor Councillor Julia Lepoidevin Coventry City Council – Ward Councillor Adrian West Coventry City Council – Senior Support Officer Parmi Mudhar Coventry City Council – Support Officer (Minutes) Sgt Lee Froggatt West Midlands Police Inspector Suzanne Baker West Midlands Police PCSO Joanne Kiamov West Midlands Police Paul Breed Coventry Sports Foundation Steve Wiles Coventry City Council – Sport and Physical Activity Development Coventry City Council: 6 Partners: 4

1. Welcomes and Introductions Councillor Hetherton welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked everyone for their attendance.

2. Actions from previous meeting Discussion: The notes from the previous meeting were agreed to be accurate. A number of actions from the last meeting were discussed:

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Conclusion:  Roadworks were raised as a concern; Councillors explained that the timing of the road works taking place was due to the timescales related to the funding being used to support the works. Inconvenience at the moment will be worth the changes taking place to make the city one residents can be proud of. Works will take place during the night where feasible.  Jardine Crescent and Ponder Road works which residents and Cllrs have been pushing for will be part of the package of works to take place this year.  A notice for road closures needs to be issued ahead of works taking place, this notice will be published on the 1st April and be valid for a year, but all works will not commence on the 1st April 2014 and will take place during that 12 month period. Residents will receive letters if works will take place in their area and Councillors receive copies of these letters as well.  It was confirmed there would also be some funding available to improvement pavements.

Actions form the last meeting - a) Developments on Brookstray – flooding issues and erosion. b) A new Flood Risk Manager and Drainage Manager have been appointed at the Council and they have recently undertaken site visits across a number of locations. Environment Agency also came along to the Brookstray and confirmed there is no quick fix. Council does acknowledge there is a long standing issue with flooding. Flooding is due to surface water, rather than culverts. Some of problems further downstream are due to erosion of the Brook, and some work is underway to asses who own this adjacent land. c) Banner Lane/ Broad Lane have also suffered from flooding due to surface water. Surface level drainage is being discussed. Funding being considered is from 2015/16. There are planned works for an island to improve pedestrian safety, ideally the road works and drainage should be addressed at the same time, but this is dependent on availability of funding. Cllr Thomas and other Councillors were thanked by residents for their work in relation to this issue. d) HS2 – national debate going on. Councillors will continue to lobby on behalf of Coventry citizens, it would be a shame if the city lost the current frequent service to London Euston, e) Traffic on Broad Lane – right turn at Wing Wah towards the south - Following a petition served by Cllr Thomas the Council are seeking funding from the new funding cycle in 2015. Cabinet Member has agreed this work will be included in the new round of funding bids. f) Juniper Park – there is a petition in circulation in relation to the park and required improvements in relation to dog fouling.

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Action Lead Deadline Residents raised concerned about All ward Councillors Feedback at next meeting the state of Park Hill Drive – which Councillors have agreed to follow up. Councillors to follow up works taking All ward Councillors Feedback at next meeting place at the bottom of Park Hill to understand what is being developed.

3. Credit Unions – Greg Smith – Vicar of St Andrew’s Church Discussion: Greg attended to discuss the role of Credit Unions and how they provide an opportunity to save on a regular basis, and get access to loans on more sustainable better rates than pay day loan companies.

New Central Credit Union is based in the city centre, but is exploring with the Church the possibility of setting up a collection point in St Oswald’s Church (possible Friday morning). This will require volunteers to support the collection of money. Credit Unions will provide training to volunteers. When details have been agreed, these will be included in the The Link. An advice centre also runs from St Oswald’s, so this ties in nicely.

Small amounts of money will be collected and the security requirements are being considered and finalised. There will always be a minimum of two people staffing the collection points.

Conclusion: Anyone who is interested in volunteering should contact any of the Councillors who will forward details to Greg.

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4. Update from Local Policing Team – Sgt Lee Froggatt Discussion:  More visibility in the Community has led to a number of arrests following thefts. One has been sentenced and charged and one is due to be in court soon.  Recovered a car that was stolen in a burglary a few months ago.  Burglaries continue to reduce as has Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). Need to keep on top of this as the weather picks up and nights get lighter. Keep as vigilant as possible.  A lot of burglaries that happen are due to properties being insecure.  Key concerns are shop and personal robberies. There have been some robberies that have taken place on Broad Lane, several incidents, with the victims being elderly females during the afternoon. The Police do not want to cause unnecessary panic, as these are still rare, but would like to ask residents to be extra vigilant by changing

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routes, walking on main roads and where possible go out with others.  A number of shop robberies have happened – Co-op stores – targeted more than once, with several thousands of £s being stolen. This is happening outside Coventry. If you see anything strange please report it.  Use of ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras – Police are considering installing these across the city to pick up cars that have been stolen, no road tax, used in a crime etc. Sites A45 – by Allesley turn off by Park Hill Drive – will pick up all lanes of A45, travelling in and out of the city. This will help with investigations and would help with the burglaries at the Co-op etc. Toll Bar Island already has cameras, but these are monitored by Warwickshire Police and are monitored all the time. Cameras would be installed about 20ft in the air and look like traffic cameras.

Residents raised some concerns about:  Rogue traders in the Mount Nod area from a roofing company who have been harassing residents to have work done. Police are monitoring this along with Trading Standards. Reports of companies like this should be raised with the Police or Councillors.  2-3 weeks ago, there was a man going round in a white van, claiming to be from Sky, which he was not. Any concerns like this should be raised with the Police.  Residents raised concerns about a van parking dangerously, if residents are concerned they can raise this with the Police. If there is a Civil enforcement issue (eg parking on double yellows) is the Council’s Parking Enforcement Team.  Police confirmed there is still a drinking ban on Jardine Crescent, the woods at the back of Roberts always have beer cans littered there. This is from two adults (not young people) who live in the flats. Police will follow this up.

Police have introduced a newsletter that will be mainly e-mailed, but will also be available as a hard copy. This covers Woodlands and Whoberley.

In 12 months’ time, the Sector House will close. In the meantime the Police will trial Police Surgeries, with two members of the team present (1.30- 3pm) every fortnight in Tile Hill Library. There may be other locations/ times across the ward, depending on the success of the one in the Library. Mainly for raising concerns, rather than reporting crime. Posters will be dotted across the city and notices to be in the library.

Non emergencies should be reported through 101, Emergencies should be raised using 999.

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Vandalism in the play area of Allesley Park has now led to cameras being installed. Some arrests have taken place in relation to this crime. Conclusion: Residents are supportive of the installation of ANPR cameras. These are not speed cameras, but will support the reduction of crime. If people are not happy about these cameras then they should raise concerns with West Midlands Police or the Councillors who will feed these views back.

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5. Coventry Sports Strategy – Paul Breed, Steve Wiles Discussion: Cllr Hetherton introduced the Sports Strategy, with which she has been involved. Paul Breed – Chief Executive of Coventry Sports Foundation has been working with the Council, Coventry Sports Trust and other partners over the last 18 months to develop a Sports Strategy for the city. This is now under six week consultation due to end on Monday 24th March.

Over the last 10 years, £28m has been invested in Sports leisure, once AT7 is completed, there will have been £36m invested in the city (completion due 18th August 2014).

Over the last 18 months there have involved a number of stakeholders eg Sport England etc involved in developing the strategy which has 8 vision aims. More details are available at:http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/885/sports- development/1729/sport_vision/2

The investment in sports and leisure is being funded through existing resources being applied in better facilities. The closure of Foleshill pool , which was costing an extraordinary amount of money to operate, has meant a new modern, accessible and sustainable pool facility can be provided at AT7.

Decisions for investment and change are only made following an independent consultation of the current facility. This was the case for Foleshill and the City centre provision. Sports centre in Fairfax street costs £2000 per day to operate, which is not sustainable.

A possible site being explored for a new destination facility is Christchurch House/ Spire House on New Union Street. This new development will grow and retain footfall in the city centre and link the Friargate, City Centre South development that are going to take place. New facility will be to attract people to the area with a 25m pool, indoor climbing facility, slides etc. The Sports Strategy supports moving to a more localised model for Sport and Leisure through Xcel, AT7 etc, rather than people having to

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travel into the centre. The site being considered is near to Salt Lane car park, New Union Street, Friargate development will link the site to the station.

Modelling for business case for new facility will consider the users and set prices accordingly. Testing the local market will be key. Proposed size is bigger than the facility at Xcel.

It is not just the age of the current city centre facility that is causing it to lose money, but the poor design with a high proportion of circulation space (e.g. corridors etc.) that is no longer sustainable. A lot of work has already been undertaken to streamline the costs of operation, reducing running costs from £1.4m to £600k, but even at this level is not possible to continue to operate it, and the Council cannot continue to subside the users of the facility. Usage of Fairfax street is only 190,000, the new facility is anticipating 490,000 uses.

At the Council meeting on Tuesday a decision was taken to review the 50m pool, this is being considered.

Question asked about a skating facility –– a number of sites have been explored, and feasibility work is being undertaken to identify suitable areas.

Discussions have taken places with swimming clubs/ Coaches who have supported that you don’t need a 50m pool to train, but you do need to provide access to water space to get children interested in swimming. Olympic swimmer Rebecca Aldington trained in a 25m pool. This type of facility will generate profits for investment in other facilities.

11 options were explored as part of the work, which included retaining the existing facility, modernising the facility etc - however none of these options were viable over the 40 years explored. A lot of 50m pools that are sustainable, are developed on university sites as they have the other infrastructure to support them eg catering, hotels etc. If the city did build a 50m, it would also need space for a warm up pool, have at least 10 lanes, and the city would still rank 13th on the list for holding events. Conclusion: Councillors stated they took confidence in the Sports Strategy and the wider principles and that from the discussion, the main area of concern was the 50m pool. Cllrs will be meeting with local sports clubs to see how they can be involved.

Any feedback on the sports strategy would be welcomed. Consultation closes on Monday 24th March.

Action Lead Deadline

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6. AOB

Discussion: Key events coming up:  Allesley Green Event on May 5th by the Spar shop  Community Day in Tile Hill in the square 11th July. This year’s theme is aspiration for when children leave school. Whitefriars will attend to demonstrate and get people interested in certain trades eg brick laying. There will also be a real life court supported by the Coventry University Law School.  Tile Hill’s Got Talent Event will also run again this year – date to be confirmed. Open to all areas of the city to attend and take part – no age limit for entrants. Conclusion: n/a

If you would like to find out the most up-to-date progress on the action notes above please call Adrian West (Senior Support Officer) on 024 76 83 2286 or visit www.coventry .gov.uk/wardforums

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