Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors V Diouf and Perkins.

·        Chesterfield in Bloom

5:05pm to 5:30pm

The Assistant Cabinet Member, Councillor Ray Catt, and the Principal Green Space Strategy Officer attended to provide members with an update on the recent entry to the East Midlands in Bloom competition. The results of the regional competition would be announced on 13^th September and there would be a ceremony on 25^th September at Ringwood Hall to announce the winners of the Chesterfield in Bloom (CIB) competition.

The Principal Green Space Strategy Officer gave Members an overview of the East Midlands in Bloom competition which included details of the Council’s submission. The judges’ visit, which took place on 7^th July, started with a 15 minute presentation by the council’s officers and CIB committee. A CIB portfolio was also produced to capture anything that was not seen on the day such as school gardens.

One area assessed by the judges was community participation and this category carried a significant weighting. Judges were interested in bulb planting, press releases, the use of social media, campaigns to promote CIB and how participation in projects was encouraged. To increase community participation the CIB committee had made school visits to encourage more involvement with the competition and arranged litter picks with volunteers; the portfolio document detailed the different groups that the committee had been working with.

The Principal Green Space Strategy Officer showed Members a video of a project funded by Marks and Spencer’s to create a new garden area in Holme Hall to support community cohesion. Work to create the garden had been undertaken by employees from Marks and Spencer’s, Chesterfield Borough Council, local school children and the community group, Holme Hall Unite. This presented an example of how small spaces could be used to create community garden areas with collaboration between community groups, schools and the council.

Initiatives used in Belper, which had been identified as the property hotspot of the year, were being examined to understand how they had improved the economic prosperity of the town and made it a more attractive area to live and work.

CIB were undergoing talks with Brimington Parish Council and Staveley Town Council to find ways of working together on projects. Discussions were also taking place with the Housing department to explore the possibility of having a category specific for council tenants. Members commented that Chesterfield Royal Hospital was having issues with cigarette ends outside the hospital doors and there was an enthusiasm to work with the community to create a garden area.

Members had concerns with how the judges’ visits were carried out and noted that members of the community groups were not introduced to the judges. The Assistant Cabinet Member responded that the CIB committee were given the opportunity to guide the judges as they had been the driving force behind the submission and had been briefed on the role. The Principal Green Space Strategy Officer added that they wanted to move away from it being predominantly council led however he would consider the members suggestions regarding introductions.

The Assistant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

·        Play Strategy

·        Leisure, Sport and Cultural Activities

·        Development of the site of the old Queen’s Park Sports Centre

5:30pm to 5:45pm

Play Strategy

­The Principal Green Space Strategy Officer attended to update members on the progress made to develop a new Play Strategy. A draft of the strategy had been completed and comments had been received from some officers. A public consultation had been prepared which would be accompanied by a summary of the recommendations from the strategy that the public could express a view on. There had been meetings between the Commercial Services Manager, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and the Lead Member for the Scrutiny Project Group to shape what the play provision offer could be going forward.

The strategy would be looked at over 10 years in total but would be split into 0-5 years and then reviewed again for 6-10 years. There were 78 play spaces in the borough which varied in the quality and value of play; consideration would be given to the play spaces with low value to decide what actions would be taken with them. A ward by ward breakdown of the values of play spaces was being carried out and it was expected that Members would see the proposals in September/October with the consultation following in October.

Members asked if money from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was used for play spaces. The Principal Green Space Strategy Officer replied that play areas are on the list for receiving CIL money however it was yet to be determined how the money will be divided up. Some play areas in new developments were not being adopted by the council and the developer remained responsibly for putting management in place.

Development of the old Queen’s Park Sports Centre

The Lead Member of the Scrutiny Project Group reviewing the development of the old Queen’s Park Sports Centre presented members with the project start report to allow the group to begin work. The Lead Member noted that the scope had been extended to include the design and build of the agreed option.

RESOLVED –

1.   That the update on the development of the Play Strategy be noted.

2.   That the project start report for the scrutiny project group on the development of the old Queen’s Park Sports Centre be approved.

5:45pm to 5:50pm

The Work Programme was considered. The Chair noted that the maintenance and cost of the council owned sports pitches had been discussed at the pre-agenda meeting and it was proposed to add this item to the work programme for the next meeting.

RESOLVED –

1.   That the Work Programme be approved.

2.   That a report on the maintenance and cost of the Council owned sports pitches be brought to the next meeting of the Committee.

5:50pm to 5:55pm

The Monitoring Schedule was considered.

RESOLVED –

That the Monitoring Schedule be approved.

5:55pm to 6:00pm

HRA Business Plan Steering Group

The Chair informed members that the Housing Manager would submit a report to Cabinet in September with the recommendations from all the groups that had been taking place.

RESOLVED –

That the update be noted.

6:00pm to 6:05pm

The Forward Plan was considered.

RESOVLED –

That the Forward Plan be noted.

6:50pm to 6:10pm

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 May, 2017 were presented.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes be accepted as a correct record and be signed by the Chair.