Agenda item

To consider the outcome of a survey of park users regarding possible improvements in Alice Park.  The survey was carried out by Mr Tony Hickman, the lessee of the Café/Tea Chalet. 

Mr Tony Hickman (Lessee of the Café/Tea Chalet) had undertaken a survey of park users in the first part of 2017 and presented his findings to the Sub-Committee.  The survey asked people how they would spend £100k to improve the park and set out a list of 22 different options.  The results had been independently verified.

The Sub-Committee members thanked Mr Hickman for carrying out the survey which had been a worthwhile exercise. 

Councillor Appleyard thanked the public speakers for their contribution to the meeting.  He also thanked the Legal Services Manager for his helpful advice and clarification.  He noted that the Council had identified Alice Park as the most suitable location for a skate park in the East of Bath.  The Council could only proceed to construct a skate park in Alice Park with the agreement of the owners (i.e. itself acting through the Alice Park Sub-Committee as Trustee).  It was clear from the user survey that people wanted some funding to be spent on improvements to other facilities in the park.

Councillor Appleyard then proposed that the Sub-Committee request the Council to allocate £70k, of the £97k provisionally approved, to provide a skate park facility.  If the Council then accepted the £30k that had been raised by community donations then this would be sufficient to provide a facility for young people up to the age of 14/15.  The remaining balance of Council provisionally approved funding, totalling approximately £30k, could then be allocated to provide improvements to other facilities within the park such as children’s play equipment.

The Legal Services Manager explained that because the proposal changed the way the funding would be spent this would have to be approved by the Council.  The Council would require confirmation that the £30k raised via donations would be transferred to B&NES before any commitments to the skate park project were made.

Officers confirmed that the skate park facility would be governed by B&NES Council under the terms of a licence which would include maintenance costs.

Councillor Ward had some reservations about this proposal.  He pointed out that the Trustees had to ensure the financial viability of the park.  Alice Park was a small space used by a wide cross section of the community.  He noted that some users were concerned about the provision of a skate park altering the nature of the park.  He understood the arguments put forward about encouraging young people to be active to improve their health and would be in favour of a smaller skate park facility.  He suggested a junior skate park costing in the region of £50-55k with the remainder of the allocated Council funding being used for other park improvements as there were a number of other facilities people would welcome.  He was not in favour of a skate park that would dominate Alice Park.

Councillor Appleyard expressed concerns that a less expensive facility may not attract the community funding and that the Trustees would then forgo the £30k that had been offered.

Councillor Norton suggested that an impact assessment be undertaken to consider the effect of noise and general impact of the skate park on Alice Park as a whole prior to any development going ahead.

Paul Hooper stressed the need for any facility being provided to have the assurance of through-life funding to ensure that there were no extra maintenance costs for the Trust.  He also asked members to consider the timing of the proposal as there was a possibility that further funds could be raised in the future.

The Legal Services Manager suggested that the Sub-Committee could agree to a skate park in principle subject to:

·  The Council funds being made available

·  The agreement of a site location

·  Lifetime funding for the site from the Council

·  Satisfactory licence terms

Councillor Patterson pointed out that the footprint of the skate park designs were similar regardless of how much they cost.  The additional cost involved making the design more intricate and challenging rather than increasing the actual size of the facility.

Councillor Appleyard stated that the possibility of a £50k skate park had never been discussed either by the Council when allocating the funding or by the Sub-Committee.  The cost mentioned had always been in the region of £100k.

Following further discussion the Chair put forward a proposal and it was unanimously:

RESOLVED:

(1)  To agree to the provision of a skate park in Alice Park, the size and design of which to be determined at the next meeting.

(2)  To formally ask the Council whether a proportion of the provisionally allocated funding could be reallocated and used to provide and/or improve other park facilities.

(3)  To confirm the availability of privately donated funding towards the provision of a skate park.

(4)  To request officers to carry out an impact assessment in relation to the skate park.