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PACT Update – July & August 2002

Welcome

Welcome to this edition of the PACT Update, which covers July and August 2002 and looks forward to the next few months in Phoenix Area Co-ordination area. If you have any information to share through the Update please send it to the Area Co-ordination Office before the end of every month.

Neighbourhood Plan

The draft Hillfields Neighbourhood Plan 2002 – 2005 has now been published for consultation. There are two versions available. The full document is very detailed and is 101 pages long, but a 12-page summary in newsletter format is also available. Both documents are available from the Area Co-ordination Office or can be downloaded from the Hillfields website. Both versions include a consultation response form and there is an online consultation form on the website. The deadline for comments is 23^rd September.

We will be holding an important Neighbourhood Planning Consultation Event on Tuesday 10^th September. The event, called “This is Hillfields” will be similar to the NRF “bean counting” event that we held in February. It will give local residents the opportunity to comment on the Neighbourhood Plan and will also show local residents what is being done with the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the Objective 2 Action Plan. We will also be giving local organisations the opportunity to showcase their services. All of this will be combined with lots of fun activities. For more information contact Jessica Pinson at the Area Co-ordination Office.

A meeting has been organised to provide feedback relating to the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund in Hillfields and to create the opportunity for local people to stay involved in the process. The meeting has been organised by the Local Strategic Partnership and will take place on Tuesday 24^th September at 6.00 p.m. at St. Peter’s Community Centre. Contact the Area Co-ordination office if you would like to attend.

WATCH

The official opening of the WATCH ICT Learning Centre took place on Friday 19^th July. The main speakers were Jim Cunningham MP, Ursula Russell, Chair of the Learning and Skills Council, Dave Sternberg, Head of Community Economic Development at the City Council and Steve Bennett, Personnel Manager at Peugeot. Steve was very complimentary about the role that WATCH had played in the recent recruitment drive at Peugeot. The launch event was very well attended by partners and members of the local community. For more information about the ICT Learning Centre and the opportunities available contact Vicki Urch on 7655 0563.

Jobs and Training

WATCH managed to find jobs for 14 people in June, 47 in July and 30 in August. WATCH has just started a free Driving Theory course in partnership with Henley College. This 11-week course takes place every Tuesday from 10 a.m. – 12 noon with a maximum of 14 clients and further courses are planned when the current one ends. The course is open for all unemployed people in the local community. For more information contact Kam Rai at WATCH on 7655 0565.  WATCH has also secured some money from the Learning and Skills Council to enable 32 people to improve their employability and to obtain fork-lift drivers licenses. For further information contact Gina Bansi or Colin Smart at WATCH on 7655 0565.

Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Partnerships are holding a Regeneration Conference on Tuesday 17^th September from 9.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m. at the Football Ground. The conference will focus on the Coventry and Nuneaton Regeneration Zone initiative, the SRB 1 and 2 combined schemes evaluation and it will give the opportunity to learn about other funding opportunities from Europe, the Community Fund etc. If you would like to attend, then book a place by contacting Matt Daly, Promotions Officer at CSWP on 7670 7415 or E mail matt@cswp.org.uk

The CBED project has now started in Hillfields. CBED (pronounced “See-Bed”) stands for Community Based Economic Development. The project has been operating very successfully in other priority neighbourhood in Coventry for the past three years and has now extended to Hillfields using Neighbourhood Renewal Fund resources. The project is a partnership approach, led by City Development and Preet Grewal has been appointed as the lead worker for Hillfields. Preet is based with WATCH but will be working in an outreach mode throughout the Hillfields and Charterhouse neighbourhoods. The project aims to create jobs by supporting groups and individuals to get involved in community enterprises that contribute to the regeneration of the neighbourhood. For more information contact Preet Grewal on 7655 0563 or E mail p.grewal @watch-hillfields.org

Environment

A major initiative to help keep Coventry clean is being launched in Hillfields and Longford. From the beginning of September anyone caught dropping litter will be subject to an instant £50 fine. Posters are being put up around the area to warn people of the new “get tough” approach. The success of the approach will be evaluated in November and lessons from the experience in Hillfields will be used to plan the extension of the scheme to the rest of the city. For more information contact Roger Alexander on 7683 2293 (Roger.Alexander @ coventry.gov.uk) or Nigel Fisher on 7622 5052 (Nigel.Fisher @ coventry.gov.uk)

The Singer Residents Group have been given permission to improve and maintain one of the shrub beds in Colchester Street. It is hoped that this will lead to greater environmental awareness and encourage group members to become more active in future environmental activity in their area. Other Residents’ Groups willing to become engaged in environmental improvement work are encouraged to contact Nigel Fisher at the Area Co-ordination Office on Coventry 7622 5052.

Coventry City Farm are holding their AGM on Tuesday 17^th September at 7.30 p.m. at the farm in Clarence Street. Details of the charity’s activities and future plans will be revealed and anyone willing to get involved would be very welcome to attend. Contact the Farm on 7622 5323.

Community Safety

Unfortunately we were not successful with the bid we made to the Capital Modernisation Fund to improve the security of shops on Stoney Stanton Road. Work will continue with the shopkeepers to identify other sources of assistance to address the problems faced in the street.

The Hillfields Neighbourhood Warden Project is set to expand. With funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, the team will expand from one to five members with a team leader and four wardens to cover Hillfields. When fully staffed and trained the team will patrol Hillfields up until 10.00 p.m. at night. For more information contact Karen Buttle, Community Safety Officer, on 7622 5052.

West Midlands Police have released crime figures for the past year in the Hillfields sector. Compared to the previous year they demonstrate a reduction in robberies, burglary and vehicle crime but a slight increase in wounding and assaults, the latter being mainly due to a change in reporting. For more information contact Inspector Nick Clark at the Hillfields Sector office on 7653 9073.

The Coventry Community Fire Station Partnership is organising an evening of Fire Safety presentations at the Methodist Central Hall at 6.15 p.m. on Tuesday 24^th September 2002. The evening will be linked to the quarterly general meeting of the Landlord Accreditation Scheme and will include presentations on a number of fire safety matters. If you would like to attend contact Phil James, Station Commander at Radford Road Fire Station.

Community Events

St. Peters Community Centre will be celebrating its first anniversary with a programme of events during the weekend of 14^th /15^th September. On Saturday 14^th there will be a fun event for all the family from 1.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. This will include bouncy castle, balloon modelling, face painting, tombola, bottle stall, Splat the Rat, Reading Café, fun bikes, treasure hunt, Veselka Ukrainian Dancers, together with music and dance. On Sunday 15^th there will be an Anniversary Celebration Church service at 10.00 a.m. followed by the official opening of the Ovie Williams Hall at noon. For more information contact Balraj Somal on 7663 2877.

Planning is under way for the Hillfields Community Bonfire 2002 which will be held on Saturday 2^nd November. We would like lots of people to volunteer to help with the planning of the event, the preparation of the site during the days before the event and to help on the day itself. If you can give some support, please contact Jessica Pinson at the Area Co-ordination office.  

Health

The defibrillator campaign has moved into a new phase. With most of the money now raised or promised, work has started on the detailed planning, purchase of the equipment and training of staff. Our thanks to Whitefriars Homes North who have agreed to host the defibrillator with the concierge scheme and to make it available to anyone in Hillfields 24 hours a day. Whitefriars have also donated the final missing £200 to the campaign. For more information about Hillfields Heartstart contact Natalie Bazeley at the Area Co-ordination Office.

A seminar about pregnancy and postnatal research commissioned by Coventry and Walsall’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategies is being held on 9^th September from 1.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. at the Hillman Lecture Theatre at Coventry University. The research examined the housing needs and experiences of young parents. The seminar will provide the opportunity to hear the views of young mothers, grandmothers and professionals, receive the final report, hear about how the last research project has been implemented and participate in multi-disciplinary workshop discussions.  To book a place contact Soulla Pollard, Teenage Pregnancy Secretary, Fax 7622 6280.

The British Epilepsy Association meet at 7.30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month at the Friends Meeting House, Hill Street. They would welcome anyone to come along for practical advice and information or support and understanding. For more information phone 7659 6072.

Children and Young People

WATCH has started a small project in partnership with the Education Service’s Behavioural Support Unit to enable young people who are excluded from school to continue their studies. For more information contact Liz Cotton on 7655 0565. A project to create a Study Support Centre for two evenings per week at the WATCH Centre has been supported under the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. This will enable young people to get advice and support with homework or other issues relating to their education. The project will start later in the year. For more information contact Bill Hall on 7655 0565 or Marie Dallas on 7652 7423.

The Venue –Youth Arts Project in Foleshill in partnership with the European Network of Animation are organising an international animation activity in Coventry during this autumn’s half term break. Animation in this context does not refer to cartoons or computers but describes the actions of animating individuals and communities to develop activities or actions for themselves. There will be approximately 25 youth and social workers from across Europe taking part in the activity with possibly a further 6 workers from Coventry taking part. The activity will look at ways of working with young refugees and asylum seekers. It is not a sit down conference but about getting into the local communities and doing face-to-face work with the young people concerned. Issues covered will include problems of integrations between indigenous young people and refugee young people, racism, discriminations, good practice, sharing experiences, learning new methodologies and so on. If you would like to get involved in the planning or operation of this event, contact Nik Paddison at the Venue on 7666 3993 or 07971 782637.

Hillfields Young People’s Centre and its partners organised a very successful programme of free summer activities for young people under the name of “Summer Lafta”. The programme ran for three weeks from 22^nd July to 9^th August and included sporting activities at Sidney Stringer CTC, music workshops, arts and crafts at Hillfields Young People’s Centre and trips out each Friday. For more information contact Sheila Bidmead on 7625 7031.

The Children and Family Education Service put on a programme of summer holiday activities for Primary School children across the Central District. Activities in Hillfields included two play schemes at Hillfields Play Centre between 22^nd July and 1^st August. A general play scheme was held on weekdays mornings and a special programme for children from asylum seeker families was held in the afternoons. In total 148 children attended the two schemes. On Fridays the play schemes joined together for family coach trips. These included a family barbecue on Newbold Comyn in Leamington, a trip to Hatton Country Park and 150 people descended on Drayton Manor Park. These trips, shared by local families and the families of asylum seekers were a fantastic success – our congratulations to the organisers. After the hard work of the summer programme the Play Centre re-opens for normal business on 9^th September. For more information contact Caroline Blockley on 7663 4647.

WATCH’s CV1 Young People’s Project is planning to set up weekly young persons drop in sessions in the Hillfields 12 Tenants Support Office in Paul Stacey House. The sessions are for young people aged 13 – 25 who may feel isolated or are at risk of potential anxiety / stress related issues. The sessions are being organised jointly with the Vibes NSF Project at MIND. For more information contact Liz Cotton on 7655 0565.

Information and Advice

Coventry Refugee Forum is a place where all refugee communities and those working with them can meet together and discuss problems and achievements. The Forum is holding a special meeting and lunch to talk about learning English, difficulties with health needs and helping our children. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 17^th September from 12 noon – 2 p.m. at Coventry Refugee Social and Information Centre on the Village Square in Hillfields. For more information contact Penny Walker at Coventry Refugee Centre on 7622 7254.

There were 2771 visitor sessions on the Hillfields website during July 2002 and 3214 during August. The average stay on the site was a remarkable 22 minutes. There have now been over 55,000 visits to the Hillfields website since it was established in its current form.

The Citizen’s Advice Bureau has now started additional advice sessions in Hillfields. These operate from the Harnall Lane Medical Centre on Harnall Lane East. The sessions are for people registered with the practice and are held on Monday mornings from 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. Appointments can be made through the reception at the surgery on 7622 4640. These sessions are in addition to those already operating at Hillfields Health Centre.

Housing

Work has now started on the programme of clearance in the Hillfields Flats. Pearl Hyde House has been designated as an active clearance block and negotiations with individual tenants are progressing. For more information contact Brian Tidman on 7622 6471.

Voluntary and Community Groups

The Singer Residents Group are holding their AGM on Wednesday 4^th September at 6.30 p.m. at St. Peter’s Community Centre. All residents of Charles Street, Vine Street, Colchester Street, Winchester Street, Raglan Street, Alma Street and Lower Ford Street are invited to attend.

Charterhouse Neighbourhood

 The draft Charterhouse Neighbourhood Plan 2002 – 2005 has now been published. Copies are available from the Area Co-ordination Office. There will be a consultation stall at the “Festival on the Fields” event which will take place on the Charterhouse Fields on Saturday 7^th September from 1p.m. – 4p.m. Charterhouse Residents are planning a fun event including music, food and stalls.

Area Forum and Area Co-ordination

The next meeting of the South Central Area Forum will take place on Thursday 26^th September at 1.30 p.m. at St. Peter’s Community Centre. The agenda will include the new neighbourhood plans for Hillfields and Charterhouse, feedback from a public meeting in the Charterhouse area and proposed new arrangements for community involvement in the Forum. This is a public meeting and everyone is welcome to attend.

With effect from 1^st September Area Co-ordination is now part of the Chief Executive’s Directorate under Stella Manzie.

Employment Issues

The June Unemployment data has now been published. Information for St. Michael’s and Cheylesmore Wards and the Hillfields and Charterhouse neighbourhoods is shown below. The unemployment rate in St. Michael’s Ward has gone up over the past months and remains above the 10% Community Plan target.

Children and Young People

Area Co-ordination is holding a SRB5 Youth Block Grant Scheme city-wide celebration event on Tuesday 10^th September from 6.30 p.m. – 9.30 p.m. at Area Co-ordination North West Office at Radford Road Fire Station. The event provides the opportunity to see what youth groups and young people across the City’s priority neighbourhoods have been doing and to value their achievements. For more information, or to confirm your attendance, contact Sarah Cave, Area Co-ordination Policy and Support Team on 7683 1074.

The summer Arts Workshops held at St. Anne and All Saints Church Hall was attended by 21 children and the play scheme at Whitley Abbey Primary School, now in its second year, attracted a further 50 children.

Housing

The City’s Housing Strategy, 2002 – 2008, has now been launched. There are three key documents, the Strategy itself, the Housing Strategy Action Plan and Coventry in Context which provides background information to the strategy. To obtain a copy of these documents contact Ayaz Maqsood on 7683 1958.

Welcomes and Goodbyes

Congratulation to Pete Longden who has been appointed as Youth Service Manager for the Central Division. Pete takes over from Carl Bowen who has moved to Bristol. We welcome back Amy Foster who has been appointed as team leader of the expanded Hillfields Neighbourhood Warden Scheme and Inspector Nick Clark who has taken over as the Hillfields Sector Inspector at Little Park Street Police Station. Welcome also to Preet Grewal who has taken the position of CBED worker, based at WATCH, and to Devina Harrison who has become the Committee Officer for the South Central Area Forum.

Planning Applications

Some of the key planning applications in Hillfields, Charterhouse and Cheylesmore Ward received in over the past month are listed below. This is not a comprehensive list. Anyone wanting to be put on the mailing list to receive weekly details of all planning applications should contact Ian Prowse, in City Development on 7683 1227. All planning applications can be inspected in the reception of the City Development Directorate, Tower Block, Much Park Street, during normal office hours.

·        11407/C 3 – 5 Coronation Road. Erection of two terraced dwellings (re-submission)

·        50224 89 – 117 Cambridge Street. Demolition of existing buildings and erection of 11 dwellings with new access and associated car parking.

·        7 & 8 King William Street Change of use from retail (Use class A1) to private members club including extension, alterations and car parking.

·        50222 2 Carmelite Road. Change of use of shop to living accommodation.

·        50168 Land at the junction of Mile Lane and Puma Way, Coventry University Technology Park. Erection of Business Unites (Class B1) 2 and 3 storey buildings, associated access, car parking, open space, landscaping and boundary treatment.

·        24216/E St. Benedict’s RC Junior and Infants School, Leigh Street. Extension to provide additional classrooms, offices and nursery unit; extension to car park.

·        TELO/50177 Land East of Humber Road. Erection of 15 metre monopole antenna, equipment cabin and fencing.

·        40387/B 149 Far Gosford Street. External alterations to front and side elevations, canopy to entrance and external lighting.

·        23404/Q Institute Night Club, Ford Street. Installation of two roof mounted antennas and one wall mounted antenna.

·        35611/A 6 King William Street. Demolition of existing rear extensions with three storey replacement.