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Document Sample
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Wednesday 12 September 2007
MINUTES
PRESENT: Councillor Malcolm Graham (C)- Gateshead Council
Councillor Jim Turnbull - Gateshead Council
Councillor Robin Stanaway- Gateshead Council
Sheila Johnston - Development & Enterprise,
Gateshead Council
John Usher - Nexus
Jon Mallen Beadle - The Gateshead Housing Company
Steve Graham - Connexions
Hugh Kelly - Gateshead Community Network
Fiona Snowball - Police East Team
Doreen Dabrowski - Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service
John Sparkes - Bridging NewcastleGateshead
Ged Donovan - Thomas Hepburn School
Chris Ord - Learning and Skills Council
Bob Campion - Learning & Children, Gateshead Council
Colin Huntington - Local Environmental Services,
Gateshead Council
Anne-Marie Forster - Gateshead Council
Gillian Warnes - Legal & Corporate Services, Gateshead
Council
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE:
Councillor David Bollands - East Area Support Member
Councillor David Napier - Felling Ward Member
Councillor Paul McNally - Felling Ward Member
Councillor Linda Green - Wardley and Leam Lane Ward Member
Councillor Stuart Green - Wardley and Leam Lane Ward Member
Councillor Tom Graham - Windy Nook and Whitehills Ward Member
Councillor Doreen Boyes - Pelaw and Heworth Ward Member
Ken Kemp - NEXUS
Phil Southall - Go North East
Anne Purvis - Empower Gateshead
Ian Stevenson - Gateshead Council
David Shimmin - Gateshead Council
A Anderson - Local Resident
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M Burnett - Local Resident
E Alexander - Local Resident
Jean Taylor - Local Resident
Lily Axford - Local Resident
J Lamb - Local Resident
Isabel Waters - Local Resident
T Turnbull - Local Resident
E Moor - Local Resident
C Morley - Local Resident
P Snowball - Local Resident
D Davidson - Local Resident
A Sawyer - Local Resident
R Sawyer - Local Resident
A Bertdrell - Local Resident
A Green - Local Resident
E Green - Local Resident
K Boyle - Local Resident
M Mulligan - Local Resident
G Cordingley - Local Resident
R Cordingley - Local Resident
D Ward - Local Resident
S Parker - Local Resident
B Smith - Local Resident
J Brown - Local Resident
J Thompson - Local Resident
F Tillbrook - Local Resident
T Graham - Local Resident
W Hurst - Local Resident
J Gilmour - Local Resident
M Allan - Local Resident
J Munday - Local Resident
Tom Wood - Local Resident
M Kennedy - Local Resident
M Bray - Local Resident
E McDonald - Local Resident
1. APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Steve Bramwell, Alma Lang, Esther
Ward, Steve Stokoe and Andrew Harland.
2. MINUTES
The minutes of the last meeting held on 11 July 2007 were agreed as a correct
record.
3. APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR
The Forum were informed that Hugh Kelly of Gateshead Community Network and
John Sparkes of Bridging NewcastleGateshead had been nominated for the
position of Vice-Chair of the Forum.
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An appointment would be made at the next meeting of the Forum.
4. NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING PROGRAMME
The Forum had previously received a report on the development of neighbourhood
plans and agreed to receive regular updates on progress towards putting plans in
place in all neighbourhoods in the East area.
Details of the proposed neighbourhood clusters and the timetable for developing
the plans were set out as follows:
Pelaw – September to November 2007
Windy Nook and Staneway – October to December 2007
North Felling (part, Old Fold and Nest), Sunderland Road North, Sunderland
Road South, Baltic (part, St James Village) – January 2008 to May 2008
Central Felling, High Felling, Falla Park – June 2008 to August 2008
Wardley East and West – September 2008 to November 2008
Bill Quay – December 2008 to February 2009
North Felling (part, Felling House, Brandling and Stoneygate) – March 2009 to
May 2009
Leam Lane Central, Leam Lane East, Leam Lane West, High Heworth – June
2009 to August 2009
The plans will be developed by talking to people who live in the area and listening
to the issues which they raise.
RESOLVED - That the proposed neighbourhood clusters and timetable for
developing the neighbourhood plans be agreed.
5. TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENTS AND THE ROLE OF THE QUALITY BUS
PARTNERSHIP
Ken Kemp of Nexus and Phil Southall of Go North East made presentations to the
Forum on developments in bus services and the role of the Quality Bus
Partnership.
Buses are seen as important to address national and local problems such as
congestion, regeneration and social inclusion, however, patronage has dropped by
30% over the last ten years. This has led to a smaller network with poorer service
frequency, a focus on core routes only and an increase in fares.
There are various options to move forward with public transport strategy and
legislative changes in the draft Local Transport Bill should lower the barriers to
Quality Contracts, making them a more viable option and will also address some
competition issues to allow more sensible co-operation between bus operators. A
Quality Contract can deliver a stable, integrated network with improved reliability
but at an additional cost. A local Quality Partnership can potentially have an
influence on network design, offer full consultation with local people, have stable
fares linked to the cost of the business and have an oversight of patronage and
revenue data via the Partnership Board. However, there may be difficulties around
competition law and having more than one operator in an area.
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A Partnership will be established in the East area of Gateshead between the
Council, Nexus and Go North East and will be the first of its kind in Tyne and Wear.
It is hoped that this partnership can offer all of the benefits previously described
and it is aimed to have it fully established by January 2008.
In the future Nexus will continue to lobby for greater determination of local delivery,
work on all options with the emphasis on partnership working in East Gateshead
and will make bids for major schemes to improve bus journey times and develop
park and ride schemes.
Go North East have made an investment of £50m to provide 100% accessible
buses within Gateshead and in partnership with Nexus now have 100% of all buses
with CCTV. 50 new vehicles have also been purchased which have new technology
and are more environmentally friendly. The bus company have previously worked
in partnership to deliver initiatives such as the loop service and believe that the new
partnership in East Gateshead will give stability to the public transport service and
transparency in relation to costs. Go North East believe that the partnership in East
Gateshead is an important opportunity to demonstrate creative and collaborative
thinking and value for money to the public purse.
Members of the public in attendance at the meeting raised the following issues with
regard to transport in the East area:
Routes of buses not taking in the streets where there is the most demand;
Consultation with residents on changes to bus services;
Securing existing bus services in the area such as the 68;
Lack of public transport in the evening;
Social need for public transport.
It was suggested that a specific meeting could be held with local residents to
discuss the bus services and the partnership being established in East Gateshead.
Nexus would liaise with Empower Gateshead and the Gateshead Community
Network to set up this meeting.
RESOLVED - That the information be noted and a further meeting arranged
to discuss transport issues in the local area.
6. OPERATION GOLDFINCH
Inspector Fiona Snowball gave a presentation to the Forum on the aims and work
done as part of Operation Goldfinch.
Operation Goldfinch is a two week multi-agency operation which looks at
enforcement and community engagement in a specified area. The operation is an
extension of the problem solving model and aims to identify crime, anti-social
behaviour, and environmental and other issues through positive engagement with
the local community. It is intended for the operation to have an immediate impact
and also to identify issues which can feed into the development of a neighbourhood
plan.
Operation Goldfinch is led by the Police and the Council’s neighbourhood
management team and also involves Local Environmental Services, The
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Gateshead Housing Company, the Fire Service and Arson Task Force, local
schools and the local community. In the East area, Operation Goldfinches have
been carried out at the Nest Estate, Fewster Square and Pelaw, with mini
operations at Brandling, Old Fold and Stoneygate.
Operation Goldfinch had taken place in Fewster Square last year with aims of
communicating with all sectors of the community and particularly engaging with the
business community, assessing young people’s service provision, discussing the
feasibility of a CCTV system for Fewster Square and looking at aesthetic
improvements in the area. A number of achievements were made immediately as a
result of Goldfinch including the creation of a business forum and clean ups of
Fewster Square and Oliver Henderson Park. In the year following the operation
there have been a number of actions including targeted work from Police and
wardens, improvements in traffic calming and Fixed Penalty Notices issued for dog
fouling. There has also been a feedback presentation and newsletter distributed in
the area.
The Operation Goldfinch in the Pelaw area was currently ongoing and things were
progressing well. Pelaw had been chosen as a location for Goldfinch due to hidden
criminality in the area, issues around the metro station and line, limited community
consultation and engagement to date and a need for partners to build up a
knowledge base of the neighbourhood. Residential surveys had been carried out at
1200 houses and 68 businesses has also bee surveyed. A large number of
responses had been received and many of these were favourable but problems
such as young people congregating on estates, disturbances from local pubs, sales
of alcohol to children and safety on the metro were raised. Following the completion
of the operation, the surveys, and environmental assessments done by young
people will be analysed and a neighbourhood plan developed to improve the area
and services.
It was highlighted that Operation Goldfinch did not include the Bill Quay area but
there were problems in Bill Quay Park which borders Pelaw. The riverside path was
also raised as an issue for both Pelaw and Bill Quay but it was reported that work
was going to take place to improve the path.
It was queried if all metro trains had cameras in the carriages for the driver to
observe if passengers were causing a disturbance. It was stated that cameras were
on metro trains but the driver would not always be able to monitor what was
happening. Passengers were advised to use the Help Point once they had got off
the train and report what they had seen on the train.
RESOLVED - That the presentation be noted.
7. NEIGHBOURHOOD REGENERATION FRAMEWORKS AND BNG STRATEGIC
COMMISSIONS IN GATESHEAD
Karen Anderson of Bridging NewcastleGateshead and Stuart Timmiss of
Gateshead Council made a presentation to the Forum on housing market renewal
and the regeneration frameworks drawn up for areas within the pathfinder area.
Bridging NewcastleGateshead (BNG) was established as one of nine housing
market renewal pathfinders across the country. The organisation is independent
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from the Council and has representatives from One North East, English
Partnerships and the Housing Corporation. The objectives of BNG are:
To have an overall role for each area, fit with the city region and regional
strategies, i.e. strategic alignment
Target markets to be held and attracted
Timing and the varying rate of change
Key investment needed
Complementary programmes: skills, jobs, respect and social cohesion and
support to help people through disruption
NewcastleGateshead has a number of advantages which include being the regional
capital, having an advanced manufacturing sector, distinctive urban assets, a
thriving arts and culture scene and huge links with the rest of the region. It is felt
that housing is the key to successful regeneration but it must include good design
and be sustainable. Market renewal through BNG has a whole place approach
which looks at the following issues:
Degraded environment in places
Green space that doesn’t always appeal or function well
Social problems – undermine the community – Respect agenda
Improving educational achievement and training for employment
Connectivity between neighbourhoods to the centre
Perceptions of the area.
Within Gateshead the BNG areas are Pelaw, Heworth, Felling, the town centre,
Deckham, Saltwell, Bensham, Dunston and Teams which take in 77,000 properties.
The key schemes in the Gateshead East area include a neighbourhood plan for
Felling, new homes at Sunderland Road, assistance with BoKlok scheme,
assistance with demolition at Sunderland Road and Felling, site assembly at
Freight depot and support for private rented sector accreditation and housing.
BNG will submit a business plan to the government in November to apply for
funding until 2018.
The Council is committed to investing money in the BNG areas as it believes that a
strong housing market will attract population into the area. Within the East area,
plans are looking at the physical environment and also the infrastructure of the
area. Where the Council has acquired property, it is intended that new housing will
be sustainable, affordable and suitable for families. It was highlighted that new
housing would be built on Sunderland Road and the freight depot site in North
Felling. Work was also taking place in the Brandling area to remove unpopular and
unattractive maisonettes. Any work carried out has been done so with the support
of neighbourhood management and consultation with local people about plans for
areas and although there has been a lot of clearance there has also been a great
deal of investment in the area too.
It was noted that attracting new people and retaining the existing population was
very important and it was queried if there was any likelihood of bringing back a ferry
service across the Tyne from Bill Quay. It was acknowledged that people did not
always live close to their place of employment and there was currently a study
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being undertaken on the wider Tyne and Wear area - the ‘city region’ – and
transport and accessibility was a major issue within this. Any new transport
developments had to sit within a wider regional framework.
RESOLVED - That the presentations be noted.
8. AREA FORUM WORK PROGRAMME AND ACTION PLAN
The Area Forum Work Programme was presented to the Forum. Attention was
drawn to the secondary school education review which the Forum would be
consulted on at its next meeting. The Thomas Hepburn School Council were going
to be approached to get further details on the issue they had raised about play
areas.
It was suggested that unemployment was an issue which should become part of
the work programme, particularly as there was going to be European Social Fund
money available to address worklessness and adaptation of the workforce. It was
also proposed that a time-limited task group could be established to look at this
issue.
RESOLVED - That the Work Programme and comments made be noted.
9. UPDATE FROM PARTNERS
Nexus
It was reported that there had been a slight delay to the work on Felling metro
station footbridge. The site compound was complete and the works would be
completed by March 2008.
10. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the East Area Forum will be held on Tuesday 16 October
2007 at 4.00pm.
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