Hitchin Town Talk Notes: March 2008
| Published: 30th April 2008 20:02 |
Notes from the Town Talk held on
Tuesday 18th March 2008 from 6.15pm to 7.15pm
at Christ Church Hall, Bedford Road, Hitchin
The Chair, Councillor Judi Billing, welcomed everybody to the Town Talk and said that this would be the last Town Talk of this Civic Year and that the next Town Talk would be on 3rd June 2008 (venue to be advised).
There were two additions to the Town Talk Notes from the meeting on Tuesday 15th January 2008:
1. Under ‘Lack of Response to Councillor Surgeries'
‘A further report will be taken to the Committee in June on an improved system
to ensure that valuable customer feedback is received and acted upon appropriately in the agreed timescales.'
2. Under ‘Freedom of Information Act - Council Interpretation'
A written statement and information will be available at the Town Talk meeting on 3rd June 2008.
Items to be discussed at this Town Talk:
- Sunday Car Boot
- Police Report
Issues raised by members of the public present:
- Public Transport
- Arcade Toilets
- Graffiti
- Parking
Sunday Car Boot
The Reverend Michael Roden requested that the Sunday Car Boot be relocated because it was affecting the life of St Mary's Church as they were timetabled against each other. This was causing social tension as Sunday trading was increasing, choking church life.
The Church has four to five services on a Sunday, with a congregation of 350 to 700, growing by another 240 at the main service. With a significant number of elderly members of the congregation car parking is essential and there has been an immediate 25% economic impact which may affect keeping the Church open in the week.
The Market Committee is aware of the issue and is trying to resolve the problem. There had been lots of discussions with possible solutions. The Car Boot will go on until the end of May and then will depend on the operator after that date. No consultation took place before the Car Boot started.
The Council are being asked to look at it again in terms of location. The Town Centre Manager suggested that the Lairage Car Park could be open to shoppers every Sunday and that the bottom of Portmill Lane Car Park be exclusively reserved for Church members.
Parking
Residents perception of the decriminalisation of parking was positive during the hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday. It was well policed and well enforced. But on evenings and weekends there was zero enforcement and it was a parking free-for-all. Signage was inadequate regarding the restrictions and there was a lack of clarity regarding pavement parking, whether parking attendants can enforce or the police.
The resident asked for three actions:
1. Signs and Lines
The Council must bring signs and lines up to the required standards so that there is clarity about the restrictions that apply and as a result Penalty Charge Notices once issued can be upheld.
2. Enforcement
The Council needs to have some enforcement activity - even low levels - covering evenings and weekends.
3. Council and Police
There needs to be clarity about which body is responsible for pavement parking and this body needs to focus some effort on enforcement, including at evenings and weekends.
Judi said that there was a Parking Report on the agenda for the Committee later that evening.
Arcade Toilets
A resident said that there was discrimination against women with regard to the Arcade toilets. The men have access to all five cubicles and the women to three, ie the men have exclusive use of 2 and the women have exclusive use of none.
It was suggested that one of the unisex toilets should be exclusively for women only.
Judi said she was happy to take this back to see if this could be done.
Graffiti
The resident said that there appeared to be an increase of graffiti in the town, particularly in Walsworth and Bearton wards. He mentioned a number of sites.
Inspector Julie Wheatley said that the police had identified a syndicate who are being dealt with and there are plans for reparative justice for the young people to clean it up.
The police had also been taking photographs of the graffiti to enable them to identify tags.
There is a graffiti hotline for members of the public to report graffiti. 01462 474338.
Public Transport
A resident said that there appears to be cutbacks in evening public transport when in fact we should be increasing public transport.
Councillor David Billing said that this was a political decision when North Herts District Council decided not to subsidise the contracted bus services.
Councillor Bernard Lovewell said that he was a great advocate of buses but unfortunately people weren't using them in the evening and companies won't run a commercial service nor the Council subsidise empty buses with the increased demands on taxpayers' money.
The question was asked whether there is a record of how many people use free passes - yes there is a way to record people using free passes.
There is a commitment to look at innovative ways to provide public transport such as smaller buses.
It was said that in Peterborough they had traffic counsellors visiting people in their homes to discuss their travel plans. This apparently increased the usage of public transport.
It was also raised that visiting Stevenage Hospital in the evening can be difficult as the last bus leaves before the end of visiting.
It was suggested that in the new Civic Year bus companies be asked to come to the Hitchin Area Committee meeting.
Police
Inspector Julie Wheatley announced that all crime had reduced by 10% in Hitchin. There has been a big impact on violent crime which may be due to operations. Robbery was up marginally and some of this was attributed to ROTW.
Ongoing work was being done with reference to the young people on Windmill Hill and more sustainable funding for youth diversionary activities was being sought. Lighting and litter bins had been identified as improvements from the audit that took place and this would be discussed at the Joint Action Group meeting in April.
Inspector Wheatley then went on to advise of the priorities identified by the locality and Neighbourhood panels and that every effort would be made to resolve these issues, working together with other agencies.
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