Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Democratic Services Officer read out the emergency evacuation procedure.

There were no apologies for absence or substitutions.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no urgent business.

There were no items from the public.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive an update regarding the appointment of an independent person to the Charitable Trust Board.

Martin Shields, Divisional Director, Environmental Services gave an update regarding progress on the appointment of an independent co-opted (non-voting) member of the Board.  One person had expressed interest in this position that had a great deal of experience in public service.  Details of the interested person along with their CV would be sent to members of the Board who could then decide whether to make an appointment directly or whether to form an interview panel to meet with the person before making a decision.

RESOLVED: To agree the approach outlined above to appoint an independent co-opted member of the Charitable Trust Board.

To receive an update from the Alice Park Sub Committee which met on 6 December 2016.

The Board received the following update from Councillor Michael Norton, the Chairman of the Alice Park Trust Sub-Committee regarding its work and decisions made at the last meeting.  The draft minutes of the Sub-Committee meeting were also circulated.

•  The Board have now appointed 2 co-opted independent members - Sujata McNab and Paul Hooper – who both attended the meeting last Tuesday.

•  The Sub-Committee received further information regarding the valuation of land and equipment and the sale of Cottage No. 2 at Alice Park.  Members have asked for further information regarding the charging regime for events within the park at the next meeting with a view to raising funds to increase the income of the Trust.

•  The Sub-Committee agreed the content of the submission to the Charity Commission and agreed to adopt the relevant Council policies for the Alice Park Trust.  Members also asked for a copy of a summary of the Council’s financial controls to satisfy themselves that appropriate controls were in place.

•  The main item for discussion on the agenda was the options for improvement at Alice Park which included proposals for a skate park.  A number of members of the public attended for this item and there were speakers both for and against the provision of a skate park.  This was a very emotive topic and there were strong views on both sides.  The Sub-Committee discussed the matter at length and considered the various options for the park bearing in mind that the Council has allocated £97k towards the provision of a skate park at this site.

There were some concerns about the consultation that has taken place and whether this had been wide enough.  There were also some questions around future maintenance costs which would have to be met by the Trust.  Some members were also concerned that if the skate park proposal did not go ahead that the allocated funding would be lost.  On balance the Sub-Committee decided that it did not have adequate information to make an informed decision at the meeting.

The Sub-Committee ultimately decided to proceed as follows:

To determine that a skate park development is in line with the Trust’s objectives and determine that, in principle, the skate park be progressed subject to:

(1)  Further information, analysis and reassurance on viability.

(2)  Establishing whether the Council will permit alternative use of the allocated funds.

(3)  Requesting interested members of the Sub-Committee to prepare a further consultation document, the form of which is to be approved at the next meeting of the Trust.

•  The Sub-Committee also considered a SWOT analysis of the park and made recommendations for improvement works with a view to compiling a comprehensive management plan.  Future capital funding will be sought from the Council for 2018/19.

•  Lastly the Sub-Committee noted the recommendations of the Tree Inspector to fell four trees in Alice Park for health and safety reasons.

•  The next meeting will be held in March on a date to be agreed.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To consider future meeting dates for the Board.  The Board is required to meet at least twice per year and suggested dates are set out below:

·  Wednesday 1 or 15 March 2017 – 10am

·  Wednesday 13 September or 4 October 2017 – 10am

RESOLVED: To hold future meetings of the Board on the following dates:

Weds 15 March 2017 – 10am

Weds 13 September 2017 – 10am