Charnwood Borough Council

ALL ABOUT CHARNWOOD

Leisure and Environment

Creating safe and liveable areas – cleaner, safer, greener living environments with a focus on deprived areas.

Clean and safe streets and public places with the Council maintaining and enforcing high standards of cleanliness throughout the Borough

• We have introduced a Street Management Team – seven street wardens introduced in 2006 and expanded to 18 in 2007. The team are responsible for reducing acts of environmental crime i.e nuisance parking, unauthorised distribution of literature, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, fly posting, dog fouling, accumulations of waste, correct waste transfer and fly tipping. Enforcement is through fixed penalty notices and active prosecutions. The team also enforce On and Off Street car parking regulations through the issue of Parking Charge Notices to help reduce congestion and make roads safer for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists. The team also run an education programme to change hearts, minds and public perception.
• Through close working with our partners, Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, we have reduced levels of anti social behaviour on the Warwick Way Estate through the introduction of CCTV to deter fly-tippers which residents stated were a problem on the Estate.
• Through the Charnwood Community Safety Partnership and in conjunction with Leicestershire Police we have established a new 24 hour CCTV Control Room which contributes to better community safety and addresses local concerns over the safety of our town centres.
• A yearly programme of work has been established to address the problems of litter and waste in areas of high student population. The introduction of this programme has considerably reduced the level of complaints.

A sustainable Borough which minimises waste and increases recycling

• We have achieved a 42% recycling rate by: expanding our kerbside recycling collection to include most plastics; introducing free bulky waste collections; introducing textured recycling bags to aid those with visual impairments; reducing the cost of the garden waste collection service from £26 to £15; and introducing recycling services to schools, colleges and Loughborough University.
• 86% of respondents felt satisfied with our waste and recycling service

• Queen’s Park and The Outwoods have been recognised as welcoming, healthy, safe, secure and sustainable places to visit. Both have been awarded with the Civic Trust Green Flag status

• We have enhanced leisure facilities within Charnwood to provide an opportunity for the people of Charnwood to improve their health and fitness through transforming the Leisure Centre facilities in Loughborough and Mountsorrel.
• We have refurbished the Town Hall which has a diverse repertoire ranging from jazz to the classics and which alone attracted 63,363 people in 2007/08. We have further supported arts and culture in the Borough and attracted over 203,000 visitors in 2006/07 to Arts Culture and Heritage activities.
• Leisure and Cultural Services were awarded Charter Mark status for Customer Service in 2007 and retained it in 2008, reflecting significant improvement in service delivery, customer focus and action.

Housing and Health

To nurture healthy and strong accessible communities – healthy, cohesive and engaged communities leading to active citizens and civil renewal.

High performance on housing repairs and rent collection and secure at least a 2 star rating for our Housing Service

• We have established an Arms Length Management organisation to manage the Council’s Housing Stock. In partnership with Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing we are aiming to achieve a 2 star status and attract £35m of inward investment for the Housing stock.

• We have established a partnering contract with Frank Haslam Milan (FHM) a social housing contractor to deliver our decent homes schedule. We involved tenants in the selection of our decent homes partner.

• Over 550 businesses in the Borough have been assessed under the ‘Scores on the Door’ Food Rating system. In the past year over 700 enforcement inspections for food and health and safety were undertaken to protect the health of residents.
• In partnership with the Primary Care Trust a new Health and Well Being award has been piloted which recognises businesses for their work on food safety, diet and nutrition, physical exercise and smoking awareness.

• We have supported a single access point for young homeless people at the bridge, an independent housing advisory service. The single access point is a ground breaking initiative in Leicestershire which provides a thorough assessment of the needs of vulnerable young people

Development and Regeneration

Maximising opportunities for a dynamic Charnwood economy – thinking and planning ahead to retain and enhance the strong Charnwood economy

Deliver the vision for Charnwood in 2015 by making decisions now that will provide quality homes, affordable social housing and places of work within sustainable communities served by accessible transport facilities

• Our partnership with Jelson Homes in Hallam Fields, Birstall won the 2008 ‘Rolls Royce Arts, Business and Sustainability Award’.
• We have secured significant external funding for the Loughborough Town Centre Masterplan and continue to work closely with the town team which is a group of local business and interest groups.
• We worked in partnership to join together a number of landowners to deliver a new Magistrates Court in Loughborough. This was formally opened in early 2008 and has been awarded a highly commended in the New Build category of the Charnwood Design Awards.

Customers and Partners

Putting customers and services at the heart of everything we do and to that end joining up our thinking and action with that of partners from across all sectors in the Borough

• We have established a Communities and Partnerships Team to increase community engagement, create community cohesion and build community capacity. Residents, Local Councillors, the Police, County Council and Church members have undertaken ward walks in parts of the borough to identify and improve ground level issues
• We have assisted Parish and Town Councils through providing IT equipment and having a nominated Partnership Manager who is the contact point for all queries.
• We have re-launched Charnwood Grants to provide capacity building in the voluntary and community sectors. Through the scheme we have supported the Gorse Covert Community Centre and The Hut on Ashby Road.