Residents from the Butts area have called for action on a number of problems that have beset the area. A meeting at the Spencer Club on 19 January, organised by ward Councillors Tony Skipper and Lindsey Harvard, was attended by some 30 residents and representatives from the police, the Planning Department, City Engineers and Neighbourhood Watch.

The Butts Residents Association held its first meeting in November and has drawn up three petitions to the City Council about vandalism, wheelie bins and litter on the streets and parking problems. The meeting addressed all these issues and more, with many suggestions for action being taken up by the officials present.

Local beat bobby PC Adrian Ormesher explained that the police hoped to be more effective in combatting crime now that they have changed their system by merging beat and response units; this should mean that there will be a beat officer available at all times.

Brian Quinney, from the Coventry Association of Watch Schemes (CAWS), spoke about the benefits of Neighbourhood Watch and the meeting agreed to form a Neighbourhood Watch system in the area. As a further measure against crime, if levels of burglary etc show the area requires it, the old wooden gating system will be replaced by metal during the next financial year.

Parking problems are particularly acute in the area due to the nearness of Coventry Technical College, the railway station, numerous offices and the city centre. There is a lot of conflict between residents and drivers from outside the area, some of whom park irresponsibly. Residents are keen to have parking permits, but the City Council is not in favour of them. The pilot permit scheme in Middleborough Road apparently costs residents about £150 a year, while the Butts area residents are pressing for free permits.

Amendments to waiting restrictions - getting rid of unnecessary double yellow lines - were also suggested. The residents' preferred option is to reduce the number of drivers cruising the area looking for parking spaces by changing the one-way system and installing bollards at the Butts end of Gordon Street. The Council's traffic officers will look at this proposal and report to the Transportation Committee this month.

Councillor Skipper, chairing the meeting, said that the area was a special case in unique circumstances and should be considered as such by the City Council. In the meantime, the Technical College has offered to include residents' representatives on a focus group to discuss the impact the college has on the surrounding area.

Wheelie bins being left out in the street is a particular problem due to the narrowness of the pavements and the Council has already sent out letters threatening to fine offenders. Whilst this is fairly widespread it was felt that students and private tenants are largely to blame and it was suggested that the universities and landlords should be contacted.

The dumping of rubbish in back gardens is also a matter of concern and it appears to be attracting rats. Residents' spokeswoman Linda Delargy said:

"The rats are big and they come out in the daytime as well as at night, when I have seen up to twenty. It's dangerous as well as unhealthy".

John Wellman, from Environmental Services promised a clean-up of the streets and to arrange for skips to be delivered for residents to have a 'purge' on unwanted items. Environmental Health officers will visit the area to devise a way of dealing with the rat problem.