Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Deborah Collins and Mary LaTrobe Bateman.  Cllr Dave Harding was in attendance as substitute for Cllr Deborah Collins.

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 were no urgent items.

There were no items from the public.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Alice Park Trust Sub-Committee of 18 April 2024 be confirmed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

1.  Alice Park Café Bookings

2.  Young Persons Music Event in September

3.  Corporate Event Update

4.  Health and Safety at Events

5.  Policy on Charity Stands using Alice Park

1.  Alice Park Café Bookings

The Chair reported that the café proprietor, Tony Hickman was looking for the approval of the Trust to advertise for events in view of the fact that some of the events would require the approval of the Trust.  It was suggested that the adverts include a mention that there would be additional costs associated with larger and corporate events.

RESOLVED that approval be given to Alice Park Café to advertise events subject to mentioning the additional costs for larger/corporate events.

2.  Young Persons Music Event in September

The Chair reported that at the recent Larkhall Festival, young people had been involved in playing music and she had been speaking with the café proprietor about holding a music event specifically for people under 25 to bring young people into the park in a safe way and use the event to bring in other organisations such as Project 28 and Off the Record.  She suggested that this could be an afternoon/evening event in September and confirmed that the Council Events Team would be requested to help with input from the Safety Advisory Group. 

The Sub-Committee supported the proposal and suggested that schools also be included in the event.

RESOLVED that a young people’s music event be held in Alice Park in September.

3.  Corporate Event Update

The Chair reported back on the Corporate Event held by L&C Mortgages on 6 June.  She confirmed that the event had been better managed than the previous year and had only received 2 letters of complaint and she thanked the Council’s Events Team for all their work in supporting the event which had raised a lot of money for the Trust as well as supporting 4 sessions for children run by Bath Area Play Project. 

Cllr Saskia Heijltjes confirmed that the nursery had given feedback that they had appreciated the music not starting until after 5pm but had been concerned about the use of cars within the park. 

It was suggested that future event organisers would be reminded to comply with risk assessments which would include stewards to ensure cars were not brought into the park.

It was confirmed that there were no issues of litter being left behind after the event. 

4.  Health and Safety at Events

The Chair raised a concern that at the recent Larkhall Festival, some cars had been parked within the park and were driven out during the event creating a hazard to park users, particularly young children.  She suggested that the Trust may need to consider closing the car park to the public for future events.  The Council’s Events Officer agreed that this was an acceptable approach, she recommended that the car park could be in use for the team organising the event and users be encouraged to attend using public transport/active travel.  It was noted that this could be achieved by barriers/stewards rather than locking gates.  In response to a question about procuring barriers, it was suggested that Volker may be able to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To agree action to be taken in relation to the renovations required to the flag and pole.

The Chair drew attention to the representation from a local resident which had been circulated with the agenda papers requesting the renovation of the flag and flag pole. 

The Parks Manager advised that a flag pole was required should the Trust consider applying for “Green Flag” status.  The Sub-Committee discussed the use of the flag pole and suggested that different flags could be used to tie in with different events. 

In view of the current position where the Trust did not have a budget, the Chair undertook to look at finding a solution to improve the rope for approximately £50 subject to the approval of the Sub-Committee.  This was agreed. 

RESOLVED that Cllr Joanna Wright look at options for improving the rope at a cost of approximately £50.

To discuss:

1.  Maps

2.  Press Release

3.  Request for funds from the Mayor of Bath (sponsorship to include links to Beppu in the park)

The Chair reported that she had been working with Mary LaTrobe Bateman and representatives from Bath Urban Treescape to develop the project within Alice Park.  She updated that:

1. Two maps would be designed one for children and one for adults and she would circulate the final designs to the Sub-Committee.  Five thousand maps would be produced, and a number would be kept within the café.
2. Bath Urban Treescape had requested £300 for the maps, and she had applied for funding of £500 from the Mayor's Office to create a Beppu walk in Alice Park using the cherry trees which would integrate the work of the chartered trustees and links with Beppu.
3. There had been an event held to coincide with Larkhall Festival where members of the public were encouraged to vote for their favourite tree in Alice Park.

To consider a proposal by the Road Safety Team to use funding to improve the markings on the cycleway at Alice Park and use miniature signs/beacons/traffic signals within the existing layout for an initiative to run road safety education sessions for nursery and Key Stage 1 children.

The Chair reported that Volker, the Council’s highways contractor, had recently entered a partnership with the Road Safety Team to work on potential initiatives involving road safety and was interested in developing the existing ‘road scenario’ in Alice Park. She confirmed that she would be meeting Volker to discuss the proposals for improving the markings and the use miniature signs/beacons/traffic signals within the existing layout of the ‘play road.’

The Sub-Committee welcomed the initiative and Cllr Saskia Heijltjes and Bryan Johnson stated that they would also be interested in attending the meeting. 

The Sub-Committee is asked to agree to reimburse Cllr Joanna Wright for the sum of £10 for money spent on a special treatment to mitigate damage to the cherry trees which resulted from an act of vandalism.

The Chair asked the Trust to reimburse her with £10 spent on emergency mitigation works following damage to the cherry trees due to vandalism.  It was noted that there was the wider issue of whether the Trust should agree an annual budget with Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Chair was continuing to discuss the future management of the park with the Cabinet Member, Cllr Tim Ball and the Chief Operating Officer.  She also reported that the Finance Officer would be bringing a recommendation on a short term solution to the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED that the Cllr Joanna Wright be reimbursed with £10 on emergency mitigation works following damage to the cherry trees due to vandalism.

The Chair of the Alice Park Trust Sub-Committee plays an active role in managing bookings for users of the park on behalf of the Trust and has requested access to the Council system that will allow her to monitor payments. 

The Sub-Committee is requested to consider this request.

The Chair asked the Sub-Committee to request that Finance Officers look at a system which would allow Members to monitor payments to Alice Park Trust.

RESOLVED that Finance Officers look at a system which would allow Members to monitor payments to Alice Park Trust.

To consider if the Trust can use a dedicated fundraising platform to facilitate multiple avenues of fundraising.

Bryan Johnson raised the following issues:

1. Could he recruit local residents to help with fundraising for the Alice Park play area project?
2. Could a fundraising platform be used?

The Sub-Committee agreed that any task group set up would need clear parameters, terms of reference and governance structure.  In relation to whether a fundraising platform could be used by the Trust, the Chair undertook to discuss this with the Council’s Legal Officer.

RESOLVEDthat

(1)  Bryan Johnson draft parameters, terms of reference and a governance structure for a task group consisting of local residents to fund raise for the Alice Park play area project.

(2)  Cllr Joanna Wright seek a legal view on whether the Trust could use a fundraising platform.

The Chair referred to a recent incident where the toilets were blocked, and the café proprietor had paid a drainage company £151.20 to clear the blockage as the contractor had not been able to resolve the issue in a timely manner.  It was noted that there seemed to be a problem in the process when incidents occurred during the weekend.  The Sub-Committee agreed that Tony Hickman should be reimbursed for this expenditure.

The Sub-Committee agreed that there were outstanding concerns about the contract and asked Cllr Oli Henman to raise this with the Cabinet Member.

Bryan Johnson undertook to provide officers with a list of issues which he asked to be addressed to enable the Sub-Committee to make an informed decision about whether there was an alternative to the current arrangements.

RESOLVED that Tony Hickman be reimbursed for £151.20 paid to unblock the drains associated with Alice Park toilets.

To discuss:

1.  an event to announce the plan for a new play area to local residents

2.  a time line for its start and completion and budget

3.  sponsors

4.  an appeal for support and donations 

5.  and a plan of how people can leave a legacy to Alice Park 

The Chair updated that she had spoken to Dbd play and a design would be prepared by Wednesday 26 June which she would share with the Sub-Committee.  It was noted that a decision on CiL bids had been deferred due to the General Election. 

It was agreed that a discussion on legacies be deferred for a future meeting when Mary LaTrobe Bateman was in attendance.

1. Re-location of planter on London Road

Cllr Oli Henman reported that there was a planter in his ward which needed relocating due to feedback from local residents and asked if there was any interest in it being positioned in Alice Park.

It was noted that it was a large planter that would need the assistance of the Highways team to relocate and also that it would need to be in a location where it could be guaranteed that the planter would be maintained.

It was suggested that it may be better located in an urban environment where there was less green space, but that the Trust was open to the suggestion of it being relocated to the park if a suitable location could be identified.

2. Corporate Parents

The Chair referred to the role of Councillors as corporate parents and stated that she would like to support care experienced children in finding a space within the park and this could include participation in an art project.  The Trust supported this suggestion. 

3. Filming of tennis courts

The Chair stated that she had misunderstood the recent request for filming in the tennis courts and that there was a need to improve the process in managing the use of the park.

RESOLVED that the next meeting be held on Friday 6 September 2024 at 10.30am.