In accordance with Procedure Rule 24.1, the Chief Executive shall report
the receipt of a petition to the next meeting of the Council where there shall
be no debate or comment thereon:
In accordance with Procedure Rule 24.1 a petition was received on 4 February 2019 containing 362 signatures, and as required more than 20 of these are residents of the Borough. The petition was received from the Chair of the Bottesford Youth Club Committee and will be presented to the Council meeting. The purpose of the petition is as follows:
“We really need your
help to ensure that Melton Borough Council continues to fund a Youth Worker for
10 hours a week to guarantee that our local Youth Club can stay open after
February 2019. Bottesford is a village in the Vale of
Belvoir and forms part of the Borough of Melton in Leicestershire. Bottesford Youth Club is the ONLY youth provision for young
people in this area.
Melton Borough Council
created this funded role in 2007 to (successfully) address the significant
amount of anti-social behaviour coming from local young people - specifically
the increase in vandalism, graffiti, criminal damage such as damage to cars,
arson and antisocial behaviour in the village.
We were informed on
Tuesday 11th December 2018 that the funding for the Youth Worker role is likely
be stopped by Melton Borough Council and that you, the Melton Borough
Councillors, will be voting on this issue in February 2019.
Without this Youth
Worker role we are also specifically concerned about the following issues;
• That
a significant amount of anti-social-behaviour in the villages will return.
• That
the Young People of Bottesford and Vale of Belvoir
villages will be at an increased risk of being involved in “County Lines” drug
dealing/taking and other serious organised crime.
• That
the young people in the villages will not have a safe and fun environment to
meet up, play, and talk about any issues affecting them.”
Minutes:
In accordance with Procedure Rule 24.1 the Chief Executive reported on a petition which was received on 4 February 2019 containing 362 signatures, and as required, more than 20 of those were residents of the Borough.
The petition was received from the Chair of the Bottesford Youth Club Committee and Mr Brian McInerney, Treasurer of the Youth Club was in attendance to present the petition to the Mayor.
The purpose of the petition was as follows:
“We really need your
help to ensure that Melton Borough Council continues to fund a Youth Worker for
10 hours a week to guarantee that our local Youth Club can stay open after
February 2019. Bottesford is a village in the Vale of Belvoir and forms part of
the Borough of Melton in Leicestershire. Bottesford Youth Club is the ONLY
youth provision for young people in this area.
Melton Borough Council
created this funded role in 2007 to (successfully) address the significant
amount of anti-social behaviour coming from local young people - specifically
the increase in vandalism, graffiti, criminal damage such as damage to cars,
arson and antisocial behaviour in the village.
We were informed on
Tuesday 11th December 2018 that the funding for the Youth Worker role is likely
be stopped by Melton Borough Council and that you, the Melton Borough
Councillors, will be voting on this issue in February 2019. Without this Youth
Worker role we are also specifically concerned
about the following
issues:
• That a significant
amount of anti-social-behaviour in the villages will return.
• That the Young
People of Bottesford and Vale of Belvoir villages will be at an increased risk
of being involved in “County Lines” drug dealing/taking and other serious
organised crime.
• That the young
people in the villages will not have a safe and fun environment to meet up,
play, and talk about any issues affecting them.”
Before presenting the petition Mr McInerney explained the work and outcomes of the youth club in Bottesford and that the Youth Club Leader was exceptionally talented in his role. The club met 3 nights per week and up to 30-40 young people attended from Bottesford and other villages around the Vale. There were many different types of activities for young people such as dancing, football as well as a place to get together. He gave examples of areas of support needed by young people as being low self-esteem, bullying, fitting in with peers as well as support to those from unstable backgrounds. The Youth Club Leader used role models as a means of support and had received many testimonials to his approach and had built a good reputation for the club. Mr McInerney was aware that the Parish Council valued the club as did the older generation of the village as it had helped to reduce anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and graffiti in Bottesford and other villages in the Vale. He felt that £100 per week was not a lot to ask the Council to continue to fund for this outstanding youth service.
Following presentation of the petition to the Mayor, the Chief Executive advised that in line with the procedure rule, the petition would be referred to the next meeting of the People Committee to be held on 19 March 2019.