Agenda item

To consider a funding arrangement intended to secure the future management of Beechen Cliff and associated areas.

Councillor David Dixon in proposing the item said that officers apologised for having had to send members a supplementary late paper. He said that the proposal was an enabling one, which would allow officers to progress the matter. £500k for the project was already included in this year’s capital programme. The Council would enter into an agreement with the National Trust for them to manage and maintain Beechen Cliff in perpetuity, though the Council would retain ownership. As the trees on Beechen Cliff were all about the same age, there was a risk that they would all disappear at the same time. There was also the risk of land slips, particularly after heavy rain of the kind that had occurred recently. Therefore under existing arrangements the pressure on the Council budget from maintenance costs could only increase. The proposed agreement with the National Trust would therefore be highly satisfactory from every point of view.

Councillor Bellotti seconded the proposal and said that he thought this was an extremely exciting project. He noted that although consultants had been commissioned to prepare a management plan for Beechen Cliff in 1993, little had been done since. The trees on Beechen Cliff were a notable feature of the Bath skyline, which should be preserved. The steps on the Cliff were unsafe and needed work done. This project was long overdue. He thanked Councillor Dixon for bringing it forward and asked him to thank officers for their excellent work. He thought this was an excellent example of how the value of Council spending could be multiplied through partnership working. He noted that there were high levels of membership of the National Trust in the Bath Area. The Trust provided excellent interpretive information at its sites; the information the Trust would provide in Alexandra Park would enhance trhe educational experience for the many children who visited it. He said that the previous administration had had the opportunity to take this project forward at the same cost, but had failed to do so. It was, he felt, to the great credit of this administration that it was taking it forward.

Councillor Ball congratulated Councillor Dixon for bringing this matter forward. Future generations would be grateful to the current administration that a distinctive feature of the Bath skyline had been preserved.

On a motion from Councillor David Dixon, seconded by Councillor Bellotti, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously)

(1) To ENTER into a management agreement with the National Trust whereby the future management and maintenance of Beechen Cliff is undertaken by the National Trust in perpetuity while retaining ownership of Beechen Cliff by the Council;

(2) To TRANSFER the ownership of the adjoining fields and allotments to the National Trust as a gift;

(3) To WORK with the National Trust as it launches a Bath World Heritage Landscape Appeal for up to £2m, the proceeds of which would initially be used to provide the necessary cost of the maintenance of Beechen Cliff and then the cost of the endowment of Beechen Cliff, and thereafter the protection and maintenance of other landscape features in the world heritage site; and

(4) To CONTRIBUTE £500K (less the costs of immediate tree safety works), for securing the future of Beechen Cliff woodland as included for Provisional Approval in the Capital Programme for 2012/2013, subject to third party negotiations and a detailed project proposal, with the management agreement recognising the appropriate level of future liability and subject to the agreement of the s.151 officer.