Appendix 5(a)
BLACKPOOL COUNCIL
REPORT
of the
HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
to
THE GATEWAY AREA PANEL
THE GATEWAY AREA FORUM MEETING
HELD ON WEDNESDAY 10th JULY 2013
1. Introduction
Mr David Blacker MBE, Chairman of The Gateway Area Forum welcomed members of the community to the meeting. After providing housekeeping information regarding fire alarms, toilet facilities and mobile telephones, he introduced members of the Panel, Councillor Coleman (Brunswick ward), Councillors I Taylor and Mrs Taylor (Claremont ward), Councillors Riding and Smith (Talbot ward), Mr Dagnall, Mrs King, Mr Williams and Curtis Holmes, the newly appointed Young People’s Representative. He offered apologies on behalf of Councillor Blackburn and Mrs Thomas.
He introduced Councillor John Jones, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport who would be providing the Forum with a presentation later in the meeting.
Mr Blacker advised the Forum that following a decision taken at the Annual Council meeting on 14th May it had been decided to include the Tyldesley ward with the other wards in Revoe Area Forum as it had better geographical synergy. Due to this, the number of Community Representatives had been reduced and with much regret Mr Holland’s MBE resignation had been accepted. On behalf of the Forum, he expressed his appreciation for the dedication and support Mr Holland had given to the Forum over a number of years.
2. Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Councillor John Jones
Councillor Jones advised the Forum that he had been a Blackpool resident for 26 years and had worked with Mr Gordon Marsden MP for the last 13 years, prior to which he had been an hotelier. Prior to being elected in May 2011, he advised the Forum that he had been actively involved with community work and was aware of their concerns and issues being raised.
He reported that in May 2013, he had been appointed as Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport and whilst he was enthusiastic about the positive results of the work in the Central Business District (Talbot Gateway), he was conscious of the difficulties experienced whilst travelling around the Town. He thanked residents for their patience and added that his decision to reopen temporarily St John’s Square to buses and taxis was to ease traffic flow around that area.
A Member of the Forum asked when St John’s Square would become traffic free again. Councillor Jones explained that the alterations to the road system were due to be completed by 19th July and all roads would be fully open. There was some opposition to the closure of St John’s Square as some residents/ business owners considered it had a negative affect on businesses and made the area less accessible for those people with mobility problems. Councillor Jones reported that he was happy to meet with groups to discuss the issues and the option to open/ close St John’s Square was open to consultation.
A Talbot Police and Crime Together (PACT) attendee reported that no cycling signs had been erected along Whitegate Drive and 30 fixed penalty notices had been issued to offenders. However, the Council had established a cycle Explorer Route, but it was not marked and the route was unclear. She added that the Department of Transport stipulated that cycle routes on pavements must be designated and marked.
Councillor Jones agreed that if not a designated cycle paths, cycles should not be ridden on the pavements and the enforcement of this was a Police matter, but he added that it was important to educate young people and children how to ride safely on the roads. He was unaware of the designation of the Explorer Routes and agreed to investigate the matter.
A number of concerns were raised regarding the contra flow proposals around Central Drive and the removal of bus stops on Coronation Street, which were believed, would be detrimental to the businesses in the area, as experience in St John’s Square had proven.
Councillor Jones explained that this situation was dissimilar to St John’s Square and a meeting had been arranged between Council Officers and local businesses to discuss the proposals. He added that whilst the formal consultation process had been completed, he was still willing to talk to business owners to address their concerns. In response to a question, Councillor Jones confirmed that none of the Emergency Services had objected to the proposals.
A Talbot resident reminded the Forum that through the Forum budget a speed indicator display board had been purchased. He requested if the Police could provide an update at the next Forum as to where the Board had been used and the results. Councillor Jones supported the suggestion and asked if he could be included in the feedback.
A resident reported that due to the increased traffic problems around Devonshire Square, Bryan Road and Forest Gate, cyclists were often forced to ride on the pavements. She requested that the signage needed to be larger. Councillor Jones agreed to investigate the options regarding signage.
Councillor Jones was asked why the Council kept revising past decisions e.g. the road surface of the Promenade, the closure of St John’s Square to traffic. He reported that the temporary decision to reopen St John’s Square to traffic was to alleviate traffic flow around the Town and a decision regarding the Promenade, following full consultation would be taken next week.
A Brunswick resident asked when notification had been issued to remove the one-way traffic flow restriction on Deansgate. Councillor Jones was unaware of the details, but agreed to investigate.
It was suggested that the decision to reopen St John’s Square was flawed, as it caused traffic chaos during Armed Forces weekend, the Winter Gardens were not open and the resident suggested the reopening should have been delayed until after the event.
Councillor Jones disagreed that the traffic had been chaotic and believed it had worked well. He added that discussions had taken place with the event organisers before the decision was taken and a safety procedure put in place. He was unable to comment on the why the Winter Gardens had been closed as this was not the Council’s responsibility.
A Forum member asked why the Council had employed a Manchester Consultant to review the Promenade when there were capable Blackpool companies. Another resident asked how a decision could be based on a snap shot of the traffic at 3pm on a Wednesday and to say that the traffic problems were “anecdotal” was ridiculous. Councillor Jones explained that an outside Consultant had been used to obtain an independent view of the options available and not to be limited to the Blackpool perspective. He assured members that a wide range of information had been considered by the consultants prior to them making their recommendations.
In response to a question from a Buchanan Street resident, Councillor Jones confirmed that the road had been reclassified as a main road and the appropriate street lighting columns had been installed.
A Peter Street resident asked why streetlights were being installed in alleyways. Councillor Jones explained that they had been installed as part of the PFI Street lighting project and aimed to make a safer environment.
Councillor Jones thanked the Forum for their invitation and asked residents to contact him by email or telephone if they had any issues rather than wait for the Forum meetings.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Jones for attending the Forum meeting.
3. Community Champions’ reports.
Mr Wignall explained that as the Head of Neighbourhood Services Central he was responsible for covering wards within both The Gateway Area Forum and Parklands Area Forum and due to the similarity of issues raised by residents he had been working closely with residents from all five wards. He added that the community champions had decided to combine their efforts.
The Chairman invited each of the Community Champions to provide the Forum with an update.
Mrs King, Community Champion for anti social behaviour (including Houses of Multiple Occupation) reported that since the last Forum the Group had met on several occasions and had identified a number of possible ideas to alleviate anti social behaviour.
Firstly, a “buddy” system, providing residents access to trained mediators (resident volunteers) between 8.00am and 8.00pm to provide a friendly point of contact, similar to the Samaritans to provide support and guidance and to sign post residents to service providers that might be able to address their particular concerns. Mrs King reported that the Group would be seeking funding from the Police and Crime Commissioners Community Action Fund and/ or the Area Forum to support the project.
The second idea was to organise an anti social behaviour drop in day, providing all Blackpool residents with an opportunity to talk to agencies and seek guidance and reassurance. The details were still to be confirmed, but the event was likely to be held in the Town Hall.
Mrs King reminded the Forum that the success of those projects was reliant on support from the community and she welcomed any volunteers to speak to Mr Williams, Mrs Thomas or herself if they were able to become involved. She concluded that it was anticipated that the buddy system would be operational by October and would circulate flyers at the next Forum meeting.
A resident commented that it was suggested that there was a link between anti social behaviour and Houses of Multiple Occupation and yet the Council continued to allow developments of this type. Councillor Jones responded by confirming that the Council did not allow such developments and the Selective Licensing Scheme, to be introduced in the Claremont ward shortly, sought to address the issues those premises presented. Mr Wignall added that well managed Houses of Multiple Occupation, with responsible landlords were not a problem.
Mr Dagnall, the Community Champion for dog fouling, reported that a number of residents had volunteered from the Parklands Area Forum and were able to give out “caught doing right” cards to dog owners seen to pick up after their pet. Those cards, once completed, provided the incentive for the owner to participate in a monthly raffle for a free dog food voucher. He reported that the Group hoped to tackle the issue of gated alleyways becoming dog runs and to include fly tipping into their remit as the two issues were examples of extreme littering as well as being heath hazards.
He advised the Forum of the Group’s involvement in the nation Big Scoop event on Friday 14th June, which had highlighted the severity of the problem in Claremont Park and despite the torrential rain, the event was considered a success.
Mr Dagnall concluded that leaflets, posters and the possible use of Fylde Community Radio to promote the Group’s causes were all being considered and the Group hoped to be in a position to submit a funding application to support the initiatives to the Forum at its next meeting. He invited any interested volunteers to attend the next Group meeting on 24th July at 10.00am at the Talbot and Brunswick office.
A number of residents identified a number of hot spot areas and the increase of dog bags being used, but then not being binned. It was suggested that the mobile CCTV camera purchased by the Forum be used to catch offenders, as explained by Mr Wignall warnings or a fixed penalty notice could not be given unless a Council officer witnessed the event happening.
Mr Richardson, the Parklands Area Forum Community Champion for fly tipping had been working with a Talbot ward resident to identify solutions to the fly tipping/ dog fouling problem and had been working with other groups to educate residents and proactively report incidents to the Council. A resident advised the Forum that he had taken the direct approach with a young person who had let his dog foul outside his property and confirmed that adopting a polite manner had achieved positive results.
The Forum was advised that detailed written reports from each of the Community Champions were available at the meeting and further details were available on the Parklands Forum website www.parklandsareaforum.co.uk, Mr Wignall added that that a similar website for The Gateway Area Forum would be available soon.
The Chairman thanked the Community Champions for their updates.
4. Community Priorities
Mr Wignall reminded the Forum of the priorities set at the last meeting, dog fouling (30%), Houses of Multiple Occupation (27%), noise nuisance and anti social behaviour (23%), fly tipping and refuse in back alleys (13%) and 6% Littering/ Other. He reported that a number of multi agency activities had taken over the last three months including litter picks, the Big Scoop Event, walkabouts and questionnaires. Those had resulted in a community member volunteering to litter pick in his community a few hours a week, engaging with 127 dog owners and issuing six warning for not carrying bags and identifying areas of concern regarding fly tipping in Newcastle Avenue, Lyceum Avenue and Tyne Avenue.
He provided the Forum with pictures from the Big Scoop event, which highlighted by yellow markers showed the number of dog fouling incidents on a short stretch of grass in Claremont Park and a number in close proximity to a bag dispenser and waste bin. This suggested that bins were not the answer, but education was required. Mr Wignall invited residents to report bins that were either always empty or always full and he would look into the possible relocation.
Mr Wignall advised the Forum that on Monday evening there had been 70 reports of fly tipping within the Central area, in a 24-hour period this had increased to 85 incidents.
Councillor Riding expressed her gratitude in the superb response she had received from the Neighbourhood Services Team when she recently reported a fly tipping incident in Claremont that had included a large quantity of used needles.