SCC CHAIR’S REPORT, for meeting of March 13, 2017

  1. SE Locality Improvement Plan Themes – Response from SCC – On Monday 27th February, a small number of councillors met to consider responses from SCC under the proposed headings of the SE Locality Improvement Plan 2017-22. Comments were then invited from all councillors and after a small number of additions and minor revision, the outcomes (below) are offered for approval at the 13 March meeting, following which the responses will be formally forwarded to the City Council for inclusion in the overall consultation process.

    We expect to see a draft Improvement Plan shortly.

  2. Southside Association – I met with Colin Christison, Chair of the Southside Association on Friday 17 February, to review joint working between our two organisations. We agreed that with a substantial shared membership and the sharing of minutes between our organisations, communication was good.

    Colin felt the Community Council could offer more leadership on local planning matters. I explained that we have been a little under-resourced in that regard, especially with Gloria having moved out of the area a few months back and having to give up her role chairing the Planning Group. Since this meeting, David W has expressed an interest in getting more involved in our planning functions, so I am hopeful that going forward we will be able to be more active on these issues. If any community councillors would like to support our planning work, I would be very keen to involve others.

    Colin and I didn’t fix a formal date for a further meeting, but I am in no doubt that close working between the Association and the Community Council is positive and we should pursue it at every opportunity.


South East Locality Improvement Plan: Consultation Response from Southside Community Council



Health and Social Care and Wellbeing
  1. Ensure the provision of community GP services.

  2. Reduce traffic on roads in the Southside area. Increase the attractiveness of Park and Ride options, by enhancing the facilities available at the parking/bus interchange sites.

  3. Improve air quality in the Southside. Improve the attractiveness of cycling as an alternative to the motor car. Reduce parking spaces in cycling lanes. Increase bicycle storage facilities for tenements.

  4. Residents who have support needs must be in receipt of appropriate support services. This applies particularly within emergency accommodation settings. The voluntary sector has a particularly significant role to play in this regard.

  5. Ensure universal access for those with physical disability, including making sure that pavements are of appropriate minimum widths, appropriate provision of dropped kerbs, etc.

Children, Young People and Families
  1. Improve play facilities, at, for example, East Preston Street School.

  2. Provide more facilities for teenagers - affordable clubs, free sport, art tasters, etc.

Place (environment, roads, parks, housing)
  1. Work towards restoring a balanced community, where the needs of older people and families are met alongside those of younger people. Working towards a more settled community, with a much smaller proportion of transient visitors and students, by limiting the proportion of holiday lets and student accommodation.

  2. Help ensure the maintenance and promote upkeep of our older housing stock, especially the tenements where the challenges of managing multiple owners are preventing adequate standards of building maintenance.

  3. Getting unsightly bins off the streets, and cleaning bins so that the neighbourhood is not blighted by dirtiness. Enforce the good management of trade waste bins. Test the idea of putting bins in underground receptacles.

  4. Prioritise the repair and upkeep of roads and pavements and street furniture (street lamps, road signage, etc) on a community-specific basis and in conjunction with community organisations/representatives with regard to priorities.

  5. Improve standards of environmental management. Encourage a shared approach to Council services, e.g., cleansing services should be encouraged to report street problems, including lighting maintenance issues, damaged pedestrian islands, fly tipping, etc. Enforce littering control. Promote public education on littering amongst young people, poster competitions at schools, etc. Prioritise more effective management of cleansing services, and develop joint approaches to these challenges in tandem with community representatives.

  6. Ensure high standards of management of open spaces.

  7. Encourage the respectful use of open spaces.

  8. Seek means of introducing more green spaces into the Southside, e.g., the compulsory purchase and demolition of long-term void business units to be replaced by new managed green spaces, along with permanent resources for their upkeep.

  9. Otherwise, make creative use of long-term void business units, for example, for pop-up art spaces, or other uses that deliver a community benefit.

Employability
  1. Promote and support business start-ups, especially achieving provable community, environment and social benefits. Guarantee that Council land will preferentially be committed to bids that support such start-ups.

Community Safety
  1. Community police resources must be secured.

March 2017