Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Democratic Services Officer will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out on the Agenda.

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Joanna Wright.

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 4.4 Appendix 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.

Alice Park Tennis Courts

The Chair reported that:

1. The Council’s Property Services officers were putting in place an agreement for West of England Sports Centre (Wesport) to run several tennis courts within the area, namely Alice Park, Sydney Gardens and Keynsham Memorial Park.
2. Wesport would promote the tennis facilities, ensuring they were well maintained and would also provide a sinking fund for the replacement of the courts in the years ahead.
3. There was a requirement in the Tennis Courts lease to the Council that any occupations granted to a third party should be by way of a lease.
4. Council officers were requesting the authority of the Sub-Committee to give Bath and North East Somerset Council authorisation to grant Wesport the right to manage the tennis courts up until 31st March 2026 by way of a Concession Agreement.

It was noted that Wesport were currently running the tennis courts.  Marie LaTrobe-Bateman provided positive feedback on the quality of the tennis court provision.

RESOLVED – that Bath and North East Somerset Council be given authorisation to grant Wesport the right to manage Alice Park tennis courts up until 31st March 2026 by way of a Concession Agreement.

There were no items from the public.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2022 be confirmed and signed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Larkhall Festival

The Chair reported that there had been a more concerted move to make Alice Park a formal part of Larkhall Festival and the café proprietor, Tony Hicks was now a member of the Festival Committee.  He undertook to observe the arrangements to ensure that any commercial activity at Alice Park would result in a contribution towards the upkeep of the park. 

Community Garden

The Sub-Committee was informed that following the decision at the previous meeting, the Council’s Property Services and Legal officers were working towards finalising an agreement with the Community Garden.  The Chair advised that officers were currently investigating whether there could be a direct agreement with the Community Garden or if it had to be via Larkhall Transition. 

Noticeboard

The Chair reported that the noticeboard had now been installed by volunteers at no cost to the Trust.

To agree the Statement of Accounts and the Annual Report for Alice Park Trust for year ending 31March 2022.

The Senior Finance Manager introduced the report and advised the Sub-Committee that the accounts and annual report would need to be submitted to the Charity Commission by the end of January 2023.  The Chair undertook to draft some wording about the achievements of the Trust during 2021-2022 to circulate to members for agreement prior to the report being submitted.

The Sub-Committee RESOLVED to:

1. Agree and sign the financial statements of Alice Park Trust for year ending 31March 2022 and their submission to the Charity Commission.
2. Agree and sign the annual report for Alice Park Trust year ending 31March2022 and submission to the Charity Commission.

(1)  Procurement

Cllr Sally Davis updated that she and Cllr Joanna Wright had been in contact with the Council’s procurement officers and were working through a list of Council providers.  She reported that once the costs of the project were known, the Sub-Committee would be in a position to seek appropriate funding to move the project forward, although it may be necessary to install the play area in phases if all the money could not be secured in one go.

It was noted that the plan for the play area had been drawn up following consultation with park users and the Sub-Committee was looking at 60% adventure play and 40% traditional play with a range to suit different age groups.  It was further noted that the options of water and sand play would not be pursued due to the maintenance difficulties.

The Parks Manager confirmed that he had been in contact with the Council’s Procurement and Commissioning Manager who would be emailing recommendations for procurement routes.  He confirmed that the procurement framework would limit the number of companies that could be approached and that he had met with a play provider who had suggested the figure of £3-400k for the preferred scheme including the cost of groundworks, supplying, installing and servicing of equipment.  In response to questioning, the Parks Manager confirmed that the Council could not take on the groundworks, this work would need to be commissioned and it was better if the company installing the equipment could do this as the works were dependent on the design.

(2)  Finance

The Chair reported that he had spoken to a local resident with fundraising experience about supporting the project.  He had hoped that this would be a cost neutral exercise but had been advised that this was not best practice and therefore he was looking at alternative options such as paying for a few days of initial work to kickstart the fundraising activity.  It was agreed that community engagement was an important part of the process.