London Road LAT – minutes 2016-12-06

London Road L.A.T.

Tuesday 6TH December, 2016

Minutes

Welcome, apologies, Introductions

In Attendance:

Philip Wells (Chair), Lindsay Debach-Bickley (minutes), Mike Hedgethorne, Tony Firmin, Penny Morley , Richard Barraball, Cllr Louisa Greenbaum

(7)

Apologies

Andy Winter – Brighton Housing Trust, Lucy Walker –Sussex University, Anne Townsend- London Road Town Team, Lucy Dunleavy (Vice Chair), Andy Keeffe – Brighton University, Jesse Wilde – Equinox, Cath Prenton

1. Minutes of last meeting, 4th October 2016

    • These were approved

2. Reports from 2015-2016

I. Chair: Phil Wells (full report distributed separately by P. Wells)

Neighbourhood Policing

  • Lack of PCSOS has been noticeable: we have not seen PCSOs at the LAT since July
  • INSPR Brian McCarthy: PCSOs completed training in November, says “We have the first of our new batch of PCSO’s on the Division and they have been patrolling the Level as part of their day to day duties. By about February 2017 I should finally be up to my total of 15”
  • At the next chairs forum on 12.01.16 , have asked Katy Bourne to come speak to the LAT chairs about what is going on
  • Lower numbers, but could be because many vexatious issues have now been addressed

Viaduct Road

  • Viaduct road clean ups by Sussex University and planting (headed by Elspeth Broady) have improved the area.
  • Clean up has not had a lasting effect, but is a start at improving Viaduct Road

Licensing

  • Licensing has continue to be an issue with applications from Presuming Ed causing interest
  • B&W stores expressed interested in having their conditions relaxed- a move not deemed wise by the LAT

HMO Consultations

  • HMOs are an on-going issue, as “family homes” are getting used for multiple residents including, but not limited to, students
  • Mike H, Tony F and Cath P have attended a series of meetings about this issue, chaired by Cllr Tracey Hill

Begging and Rough Sleepers

  • Rough sleepers near co-op and Aldi were perceived as making the south end of London road appear unsafe. A summit meeting convened by Sarah Mitchell, Police, Equinox, Co-op, and others resulted in a combined action plan. Were able to offer accommodation to the people involved and reinforce this with strong disincentive for remaining

The Level

  • Continued monitoring of the Level
  • Community Safety meetings have taken place to co-ordinate efforts
  • PW attended the AGM of Level Communities Forum and has endeavoured to keep in touch with Chair Maureen Winder

Social Media:

  • Twitter has continued with 1,791 followers at the time of writing
  • The website continues to maintain a ‘London Road’ presence online

LAT Chairs Forum Meetings

  • Changes have taken place in the Council’s support and relationship to LATS which means funding is no longer available
  • However, support from the council has been more consistent in terms of:
    • The input of Community Safety Head Peter Castleton
    • The regular attendance of Cllr Emma Daniel at LAT Chairs meetings which get held 4 times per year
  • A review project conducted by Garry Collins who was seconded to the Community Safety Team for one year. This can be found on : Developing and improving the functioning and outcomes of Local Action Teams_March_2016

Thanks to: Lucy Dunleavy (Vice-Char), Lindsay Debach (minutes), Mikey Hedgethorne (Treasurer), Cllr Louisa Greenbaum for her support, Calvary Church Trustees for waiving fees of the room. Thanks to all who have attended or even supported from a distance.

The report was accepted unanimously

II. Treasurer: Mike Hedgethorne

Expenses

  • £229.45 in the bank, with no liabilities
  • The council has since paid the £225 owed to us
  • The church has offered to waive the room hire fee, so have been meeting rent free for a year
  • Last major expenses included £90.00 for printing the 2015 newsletter
  • This is down from £167.00 in 2011 (£92 for distribution and £75 for printing)

Newsletter

  • Now have money to get another newsletter out, however timing of this is key: would be helpful to be after success with a particular issue, or feature a particular topic of interest
  • It was suggested to distribute a membership form with the newsletter, or a permanent postcard for member use (with the LATs key information)

III. Vice Chair: Lucy Dunleavy

Lucy Absent

  • Phil W. reported that Lucy would be willing to stand as vice-chair again

3. Appointment of Office Holders for 2016-2017

– at this point Cllr Lousia took charge of the meeting

1. Chair

  • There was an unanimous vote to re-elect Phil Wells as Chair

2. Vice-Chair

  • There was a unanimous vote to nominate Lucy Dunleavy as Vice-Chair

3. Treasurer

  • There was a unanimous vote to re-elect Mike Hedgethorne as treasurer

4. Dates for Next Year

  • Suggested to get back to 1st week of the month
  • Cllr Louisa suggested that 2nd Tuesday of the month would be better as not as many groups meet during this time
  • Date for 2017 were decided to be on the 2nd Tuesday of the Month: 10/1, 14/02, 14/03, 11/04, 09/5, 06/6, 03/07 – assuming that this did not conflict with NLCA
  • Phil will try to get in touch with NLCA to ensure no date conflicts

5. Updates and Business

I. Policing

  • PW asked to speak to Brian McCarthy as to whether police officers can enter tents without warrants
  • Inspector Brian McCarthy said tents are considered “a premises” and would need grounds to enter or a warrant.
  • Recently had plainclothes officers to monitor drug use in the area
  • Level has also been targeted as a weekly patrolling area and where officers patrol when off-duty

Cllr Louisa:

  • Katy Bourne running consultation on would you pay and extra 2% on council tax to increase policing
  • Phil W and Penny M felt consultation’s questions were not genuinely asking opinions, but somewhat manipulative
  • PW to put link in email about where to find the consultation if it was still running

II. Licensing

  • No business

III. HMO

  • Mike H said he did not think any went to the last meeting on this
  • Cllr Louisa was in attendance, reported conversation was mostly about ‘studentification’, in which areas become student ‘ghettos’
  • It was explained that there many un-listed HMOs still
  • Can take several months before you see any enforcement; Paul Vidler is the new HMO license contact

IV. Greening

  • Consultation has said yes to the communal bins on Viaduct road but with no time table
  • PW asked Cllr Louisa to find out more about the aesthetics of the Viaduct road bins

Other Matters

  • the potential of an organisation sponsor was suggested.
  • PW to look into this – including sources of funding already advised by Donna Edmead (resident and Council Officer)

6. AOB

  • Richard Brought up greenway extension
  • Cllr Louisa to ask about repairs to lights and lift near greenway

7. Close

  • Meeting closed at approximately 19:40