Minutes of 4 September 2013 LEYTON WARD RESIDENTS FORUM MEETING

Score Centre, Leyton E10 at 7pm

Officers/Councillors in Attendance: Cllr Bob Sullivan, Cllr Naheed Qureshi, Cllr Winnie Smith, Leyton SNT and Library staff

AGENDA ITEM 1: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

The Chair, Cllr Bob Sullivan welcomed everybody to the meeting. Cllr Sullivan introduced the Councillors and Officers in attendance. Fire and Safety measures were explained.

AGENDA ITEM 2: MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

• The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

AGENDA ITEM 3: LEYTON WARD SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

The SNT is now part of the newly constituted South Cluster, operating longer hours with more officers covering both Leyton and Grove Green wards.

Points raised:

• Leyton Mills disabled bays being abused. This will be passed to the dedicated Leyton Mills SNT, who work with the parking enforcement contractor.
• Church Road mosque – noise nuisance.
• Adelaide Road, by steps to the old Town Hall – rough sleepers present both night and day. The SNT advised that a Section 27 Warning was issued and they are moved on.
• St. Mary’s Church – 2 headstones were smashed – SNT are aware and have carried out searches and moved rough sleepers on.

Following restructuring of the local force, longer cover is available, and calls will be directed to SNT on their mobile numbers enabling them to deal with problems more quickly.

Cllr Sullivan thanked the representatives from the SNT for their attendance.

AGENDA ITEM 4: LEYTON LIBRARY

Staff from Residents First, which now includes the Library Service, gave a slide presentation and explained the works due to start on 9 September.

• Improvements to the ICT provision, with Wi-Fi extended throughout the Library.
• Children’s library on the ground floor, including study space.
• Residents questioned the adult library moving to the first floor; of special concern was the tortuous access for disabled users, who use the ramp at the rear of the building before navigating through the ground floor to get to the lift.
• Finalising software to be installed on PCs.

Temporary facilities at:

• The County Ground – Monday-Friday:  9am – 7pm, Saturday: 9am – 6pm and Sunday: 12 noon – 4pm.
• Sidmouth House – Monday-Friday: 4.30pm – 7pm, Saturday: 9am – 6pm, Sunday: 12 noon – 4pm.
• Courses will be staged at the County Ground.
• Both outlets will continue to have full supplies of books.
• Lea Bridge Library has on-line resources.

Leyton Ward Councillor Surgeries

The Chair advised that the surgery will be held every Saturday at the County Ground until Leyton Library reopens, hopefully in mid-February.

AGENDA ITEM 5: LEYTON CRICKET GROUND

Pete Towler, Chair of the Management Committee, was unable to be present, and his written report was circulated

The main points of his report:

• The southern part of the ground, including the Pavilion, has been surveyed. All the buildings, except for the modern arts block, were in either a poor or very poor condition.
• The Council has finally made a successful application, under the Fields in Trust scheme, which offers an additional layer of safeguarding and protection for the site.
• Essex CCC continues to work with the Committee. Their plan is to make the Ground the hub for cricket development in East London.
• The National Cricket League has rented the pitch for most Saturdays and Sundays during the summer.
• The former bowling club buildings were finally regained from the squatters, and the Committee believes the Council is arranging their demolition (The survey indicated that refurbishment was not viable). Currently the area is being patrolled by security staff.
• The Council are contributing £30k towards capital works at the Ground, in return for hosting the temporary library.

The Chair reminded the meeting that the Charity Commission had blocked the Council’s move to build a new school on part of the ground. As a registered charity it is only available for sports and leisure use. It has suffered from a lack of funds for many years. A public consultation is planned for October.

AGENDA ITEM 6: STREET PARTY INITIATIVE 2013

Cllr Sullivan gave out the grant application forms and confirmed that he is going to be talking to the two primary schools that held a party last year.

AGENDA ITEM 8: COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

• Ive Farm Playing Field – proposal was to rebuild and Pavilion and refurbish the running track. The Chair agreed that the Council appears reluctant, and would try to find out what is planned.
• Leyton Cricket Club – have played at the County Ground since 1975, until they were told to leave last year. The Chair said he would need more details from the club so that he could check it out.
• Trees’ facing Brewster Road – The Chair has been advised that they are not due for attention until 2014/15.
• Family Fun Day – was cancelled at the County Ground, when it was not otherwise in use? County Ground Pavilion – question about lights being left on late at night. The Chair believed it could be for security.
• Ruckholt Road – rubbish collection not taking place on the correct day.
• Brown bins – not collected for 5 weeks.
• Maud Road – rubbish dumping regularly at the end of the road. The Chair urged residents to keep reporting all such problems to Waltham Forest Direct on 8496 3000.
• Coopers Lane – Brown bins missed collection. Finally picked up by normal refuse lorry and black sacks dumped in with recycling, plus a bib lid fell into the lorry.
• Betting Shops – The Chair confirmed that he has already lodged his objections.
• Damaged Roads – The Chair requested that residents let him have photos and he will take them up.
• Church Road – manhole cover loose outside 39, next to bus stop.
• Church Road – tree at 19, rubbish needs clearing from front garden.
• Ive Farm Close – complaint about dog mess in the area. The Chair advised that the owner needs to be identified. Contact Cllr Sullivan or the Dog Warden – possibly needs CCTV?
• Coopers Lane flats – rubbish dumping, metal transfer station. Joint action needed. ACTION – Cllr Sullivan to follow up.
• The Marshes – litter picks, need to publicise to get more volunteers.
• Resurfacing Roads – The Chair confirmed that this is an on-going Lib Dem campaign to have roads resurfaced rather than constant patching.
• Overcrowding in Schools
• Oliver Road – call for cameras.

 Cllr Sullivan closed the meeting and thanked everyone for their attendance.