Hitchin Town Talk Notes: January 2008
| Published: 14th March 2008 16:27 |
Notes from Hitchin Town Talk
on Tuesday 15 January 2008
from 6.15pm to 7.15pm
Notes provided by Margaret Bracy, the Hitchin Community Development Officer at the Council.
The Chair, Councillor Jud Billing, welcomed everybody to the Town Talk and announced that part of the Town Talk this evening would be consultation about the options for Bancroft Hall.
It was also announced that the Notes from the Town Talk are available on the AboutMyArea website www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/SG5 or www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/SG4.
Items to be discussed:
- Bancroft Hall
- Police report and specifically Windmill Hill
Issues raised by members of the public present:
- Representation of Charlton Village
- Public tennis courts in Bancroft
- Freedom of Information Act - Council interpretation
- Lack of response to Councillors' Surgeries
Bancroft Hall
Dr Patrick Candler, Head of Community Development and Cultural Services, introduced the rationale behind the report that went to Cabinet on 18 December 2007. He outlined the five options in the report and advised that Cabinet had resolved that Options 2 and 3 be the preferred options for the future of Bancroft Hall and be subject to further consultation and assessment.
Option 2 - Children and Young People's Centre with community use including a café in the park
Option 3 - Private development opportunity for the site
Consultation had began at a meeting of the Friends of Bancroft Gardens on Wednesday 19 December 2007. Following the consultation tonight a report will be presented to the Portfolio Holders for Community Engagement and Finance for their consideration. The three options that were not supported by Cabinet did not meet the Council's policy of transferring Bancroft Hall to a third party with no residual costs to the Council.
The Children's Centre could have different permutations around the options. For example, the former toilet building could be used for other purposes.
Bobbie Harwood from The Caldicott Centre emphasised that the proposed Children and Young People's Centre would be a mixed use community building and that groups using the hall would continue to have use of it. She saw it is a fantastic opportunity and discussions would continue incorporating a café which would be a cohesive unit in the park that would cater for a wide section of the community and young people.
Toilets would be required in the facility and perhaps outside too for public use.
Ellie Clark of Hitchin Forum stated that she found the project incredibly exciting and an opportunity for a fantastic and interesting design.
A show of hands was asked for in respect of the options and the majority present (22 approximately) were in favour of proceeding with Option 2 to include a café.
Freedom of Information Act - Council interpretation
It was suggested by a member of the public that the Council is not acting in the best interests of the public when dealing with the Freedom of the Information Act.
Councillor Judi Billing said that she also had concerns about information not being available and would be raising this issue with an Officer. She would report back to the next Town Talk.
Public Tennis Courts in Bancroft Gardens
A member of the public said that the nets were not in place at the tennis courts, but was informed that these were in the process of being put back.
Action: The nets were taken down for the Youth Diversionary Activities taking place there. These have been started again and two courts' nets have been taken down but two remain.
Representation of Charlton Village
John Pearce, a resident of Charlton Village, asked if this was the correct place to raise issues about Charlton Village and was informed it was. He said that with the property development in the village at the moment there is a proliferation of signs around the village and wondered if these were all necessary.
He was asked if he would like to do a presentation about Charlton Village and the issues at the next Hitchin Area Committee Meeting on the Tueady 18 March.
Margaret to contact him and arrange this.
Action: The issues that John Pearce raised as an individual are being dealt with and a presentation is not applicable at this time.
Lack of Response to Councillor Surgeries
A member of the public again brought up the lack of response to queries raised at Councillor Surgeries. One resident also present had received two letters in response to a Surgery query but unfortunately they contradicted each other.
The Chair said that this was a continuing problem and when questions are raised about this issue there never seems to be a satisfactory answer.
Dr Patrick Candler, Head of Community Development and Cultural Services, apologised on behalf of the Council that the system did not appear to be working. He said that he would investigate and there would be a report back on this issue at the next Town Talk on Tuesday 18 March.
Action: The issue raised at the Town Talk about the Council's 3C procedures to deal with the Compliments, Comments and Complaints was taken up by the Head of Community Development who asked that the Customer Services Manager carry out an in-depth investigation as to what had happened. She concluded that the series of communications between the complainant and the Council had not been properly followed and that there were grounds for a Stage 2 complaint. This was undertaken by the Head of Housing and Environmental Health and a full explanation and apology was given. The complainant has a right of appeal and it is understood that further discussions are currently being planned.
Police Report
Inspector Julie Wheatley gave a report on crime statistics for the period from 15 November 2007 to 14 January 2008. Overall crime is down compared with the same period last year. There have been significant reductions in the levels of violent crimes reported from within the town centre and adjoining wards. This is attributable to a number of operations the Police have run in the town centre on Friday and Saturday evenings with partner agencies.
There had been a number of dwelling burglaries in the Purwell and Oakfields estates and an operation to target specific areas to provide crime prevention assessment and advice to householders had been carried out in the areas.
A dedicated steering group has been formed with all partner agencies and representatives from the local community to help resolve the issues with the young people on Windmill Hill on a Friday and Saturday night. It is known that this problem is seasonal, but there will be a problem this year and there will be diversionary activities taking place as happened last year. She requested the support of the members for pursuing an Alcohol Free Zone on Windmill Hill.
Inspector Wheatley was asked how many young people were gathering on the hill and whether there was an indication of where they come from. She replied that there could be 350+ young people and they mainly come from Stevenage, Biggleswade and Luton. There was a social networking website that encouraged young people to Windmill Hill.
Councillor Allison Ashley said that her concern was that if there was an Alcohol Free Zone for Windmill Hill this may lead to displacement perhaps to the Market Place and Bancroft Gardens.
A number of members of the public raised issues with the Inspector who dealt with them.
Any Other Business
It was requested that a report about parking come to the next meeting on Tuesday 18 March from 6.15pm to 7.15pm at Christchurch, Bedford Road, Hitchin.
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