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 read out the emergency evacuation procedure.

Cllr Mark Roper was absent.

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.

There was no urgent business.

Chad Allen addressed the Sub-Committee on the issue of English Ivy as summarised below:

1.  He was campaigning for the removal of English Ivy in the Bath area due to its negative impact on trees.

2.  He would like to see additional tree planting and the removal of English Ivy in Alice Park.

3.  This would benefit the area and support the Council’s Clean Air Zone.

In response to a question from Mary LaTrobe Bateman he confirmed that it was best to remove the Ivy 2m-4m from the trees and it was important to start at the top rather than at ground level to protect any nesting birds.

The Chair thanked Mr Allen for his statement and advised him that as the Trust had a contract with the Council’s Parks Department to carry out works in Alice Park, the Sub-Committee was bound by that framework and was not able to give him authority to carry out works to the trees.  Cllr Joanna Wright suggested that it would be useful to meet with Mr Allen on site so that he could highlight the problems relating to English Ivy in Alice Park. 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of 2 February 2023 as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2023 be confirmed and signed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

1. Hire of Alice Park

The Chair confirmed that London and Country Mortgages Limited would be hiring the park for a day for a company event and this would not impact on public use. 

2. Petanque Club

The Chair confirmed that there had been a formal agreement with Bath Grand Cru Petanque Club to use the Alice Park as its home base for the upcoming season along with the use the notice board to advertise matches.

3. Clock

In response to a question about how to ensure the clock on one of the buildings within the park was set to the right time, it was agreed that this would be discussed at the next meeting.

It was noted that there had been a meeting on 22 February where it was agreed that officers would produce a proposal based on the feedback from Members and this would be reported back to a future meeting. 

In relation to finance, the Chair advised that Members now had an idea of how much money was required to pursue the project.  He confirmed that he would be meeting a potential funder to discuss part funding the project and would report back after that meeting. 

The Chair noted that it was the last meeting of the current administration and thanked Members for their support along with officers from Parks, Finance and Legal and Democratic Services.