| Time: | 7.30pm | Place: | Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor David Levett (Chairman), Councillor John Booth (Vice-Chairman), Councillor Clare Billing, Councillor Dave Chambers, Councillor Julian Cunningham, Councillor T.W. Hone, Councillor David Kearns, Councillor Lorna Kercher, Councillor Ian Mantle, Councillor Mrs L.A. Needham, Councillor Mike Rice and Councillor Deepak Sangha. |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | Claire Morgan (Community Development Officer) and Hilary Dineen (Committee and Member Services Officer). |
| ALSO PRESENT: | At the start of the meeting 17 members of the public. |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 64 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Gary Grindal. |
Noted | ||
| 65 |
MINUTES Minutes RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 21 November 2012 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
| 66 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS There were no notifications of other business. |
Noted | ||
| 67 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS (1) The Chairman welcomed all those present at the meeting, particularly those due to give a presentation; (2) Members were reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary interest, Other Pecuniary interest or Non-Pecuniary interest, and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring either an Other Pecuniary interest, or a Non-Pecuniary interest which requires they leave the room under Paragraph 16.3 of the Code of Conduct, can speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote. |
Noted | ||
| 68 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - JACKMANS FUNDAY Alison Smither and Alan Bryl, representatives of Jackmans Funday, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation. Mr Bryl thanked Members for their support in 2012 and advised that the Funday had been very successful, with people commenting that it had been the best so far. The aims of providing a free day out for families had been achieved, with parents being delighted that there was no charge for rides and attractions. More than 30 stalls were at the Funday from arts and crafts to charity stalls and the Community Centre had been busy serving refreshments during the day and a bar in the evening. Mrs Smither informed Members that the aim last year had been that a proportion of any profit would be put towards refurbishment of the Old Library. One donation of £150 had been made to a family on the estate in time of need. This year the Funday was looking to support local schools with a specific project or purchase. Grant funding had already been secured from Hertfordshire County Council and applications had been made to Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation for funds to cover the costs of rides and entertainers. Fundraising events would be held to generate income as well as charging for stalls and a raffle. Any funding received from NHDC would help promote the Funday through the purchase of banners, widening of advertising, printing of a small programme and would cover the cost of outdoor staging. Members debated the presentation including whether the fact that the 2012 Funday had been held on the same day as the Town Centre event had affected attendance; whether only people from the Jackmans estate attended and whether the 2012 event had made a profit; Mrs Smither advised that attendance at the 2012 Funday had not been affected with over 100 people attending; that promotional leaflets were only delivered to residents of the Jackmans estate and that the 2012 event had made a profit of £700. The Chairman thanked Ms Smither and Mr Bryl for their presentation. |
Noted | ||
| 69 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - GARDEN CITY SAMBA Alison Fairchild and Claire Hammond, representatives of Garden City Samba, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and thanked the Members for their support in the previous year. They gave a verbal presentation and informed the Members of the following: - Garden City Samba was a community band which started 2 years ago; - Members were trained to play Brazilian Carnival music; - The band charged low fees and had concessionary rates; - Garden City Samba played 11 gigs last year of which 7 were in Letchworth Garden City; - The band played to a good standard and had a stable membership of 18 people aged between 8 and 80 years of age; - The Grange Community Centre offered free practice space; - The aim for the future was to generate income by performing at paid gigs and doubling the membership; - The band now needed a uniform and simple all-weather coverings, which they would like to be able to give to those members on concessionary rates. Members debated the presentation including whether Garden City Samba liaised with other similar groups; where members came from; how the band publicised itself and asked about membership fees. Ms Fairchild advised that they did liaise with other similar groups and had attended and played at the Luton Samba Conference; that the Band would prefer to be Letchworth based with Letchworth Members; flyers were produced and handed out whenever the Band played, but publicity was very expensive. Members paid 10 weeks fees at a time and were charged £70, with reduced and concessionary rates of £45 and £30 available. Ms Hammond informed Members that they would like to attract all types of people to join the band and that 60% of members came from Letchworth Garden City with the rest being from Baldock and Hitchin. The Chairman thanked Ms Fairchild and Ms Hammond for their presentation. |
Noted | ||
| 70 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - LETCHWORTH FESTIVAL STEERING COMMITTEE Ann Pegrum (Chair) and Sara Wold (Treasurer) of Letchworth Festival Steering Committee, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation. Mrs Pegrum thanked Members for their support in the previous year and advised that the 2012 Letchworth Festival had been very successful with approximately 100 events being held involving more than 200 local community groups, organisations and businesses. The event had enabled the groups and businesses to promote themselves, the people who attended enjoyed themselves and significant sums were raised for local good causes. 2013 would be the fourth Letchworth Festival and, as it had become established, organisations were now approaching the Festival Committee rather than the other way round, with several events having been confirmed before last year's Festival had finished. The Festival Committee was starting to take a more active role between festivals including offering workshops for event organisers on advertising, social networking and risk management for small events. The Festival Steering Committee was beginning to generate income, although was not yet self-sufficient and grant funding was being sought to support Proms in the Park and the small grants fund. Proms in the Park would be a free open-air event with music, dance and drama performed by local groups and grant funding would cover the costs of hiring staging, lighting and sound systems. The small grant fund was available to local groups with limited resources, a typical grant was £50 or to underwrite costs which may not be covered by ticket sales. This gave groups the confidence to put on events. Members debated the presentation including that groups that receive small grants from Letchworth Festival Steering Committee should be told that the funds had been provided by an NHDC grant; whether the 2012 Festival made a profit and what lessons had been learnt from previous years. They asked for the confirmation of the status of the Committee and enquired how money was raised to fund the Committee. Mrs Pegrum advised that NHDC was acknowledged in the programme and that groups receiving funds were informed about where the money came from; that steps were already in place to ensure that the lessons learnt were acted on including getting more people involved in the advertising and marketing of the event and that the Committee consisted of a group of volunteers with a constitution. Ms Wold advised that expenditure for the 2012 Festival had amounted to £9,000 and that the event had made a small loss of £100, although it was planned to increase income in future by introducing raffles etc. She informed Members that the Committee was currently very reliant on grant funding but did raise money from raffles throughout the year. The Chairman thanked Mrs Pegrum and Ms Wold for their presentation. |
Noted | ||
| 71 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - GROWING PEOPLE Alison Shersby and John Cliff, representatives of Growing People, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a PowerPoint presentation as follows: - Growing People provided effective intervention for positive mental health by the use of skilled and qualified horticultural therapists; - 1in 6 people affected by a mental health issues during their life (approximately 16,000 in North Herts); - 3% will have either bipolar disorder, psychosis or personality disorders (approximately 500 in North Herts); - 34 gardeners used the service in 2011/12 of which 78% were male, 28% female and 89% white British, 11% other ethnicities; - People were now moving on from being service users to being supported volunteers; - The aim was to develop a website which would promote greater understanding of the benefits of horticulture, recruit more gardeners, build a facebook community to support isolated gardeners and publicise promotional, social and fundraising events; - £1,000 grant funding had been requested which would pay £856 to design the website and £144 for the domain name and hosting of the website. Members debated the presentation including where gardening took place; whether local colleges had been approached regarding other sites; how many people using the service came from Letchworth and whether physical disabilities were catered for. They queried whether the group networked with other similar groups; what benefits would derive from the provision of a website and where funding for the group came from. Mr Cliff advised Members that the majority of work was done at Rose Hill although they were looking at other sites including Aston Ward, Lister Hospital which would enable the group to connect with people whilst an inpatient therefore making it easier to transfer once discharged. Of the people who gardened last year 38% came from Letchworth, in regard to people with physical disabilities arrangements were made for each person attending based on their needs and abilities and the group worked closely with other groups including Mind Yourself and were part of a network of horticultural projects. Growing People had identified that it needed to grow and generate more income. To enable this a site was being sought that would allow capacity to double. A specification had been drawn up regarding the website with aims including to appear as the first page on search engines and the ability to link the site to Facebook and Twitter. Qualified staff were paid a wage, which was 50% funded by Hertfordshire County Council Mental Health Services until 2014, other funding was generated through grant applications and future funding may be through clients using their personal budgets. Ms Shersby advised that one college had been approached regarding the provision of sites, however they felt that it was too complex an area for students to be involved, other colleges would be investigated. The Chairman thanked Ms Shersby and Mr Cliff for their presentation. |
Noted | ||
| 72 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - THE FENNERS GROUP Jane Glyn, a representative of the Fenners Group, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation. Ms Glyn informed Members that she was an artist and teacher with a studio in the Fenners building in the Wynd, which currently had 16 artists, all Fellows of the Digswell Arts Trust with a wide variety of specialities including ceramic, musical instrument makers, printers and textiles. The artists had previously held a drop-in Big Draw event to which approximately 100 people from Letchworth attended. The Fenners building had 2 large teaching rooms in which it was planned to hold weekend art workshops to enable families to work with the artists and it was hoped that one free event could be held each month The Letchworth Festival was a good way to launch this and schools would be invited to send 5 pupils each to partake in weekday events during the Festival. The Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation were keen to support this venture and any grant funding received would pay for materials and equipment for these events. Members debated the presentation including whether all of the artists were CRB checked; whether artists would be paid; whether the Fenners artists had any connection with Letchworth Arts Centre and how many people attending the events would be from Letchworth. Ms Glyn advised Members that it was planned for pupils to visit the Fenners building and work with artists who were all CRB checked; artists would be paid for attending the events; friendly interest was shown between the Fenners Group and the Letchworth Arts Centre and the planned events would be targeted towards people from Letchworth. The Chairman thanked Ms Glyn for her presentation. |
Noted | ||
| 73 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - LETCHWORTH AND BALDOCK SCOUTS GANG SHOW Phil Ross (Producer and Director) and Apryl Goodwin (Committee Member) of the Letchworth and Baldock Scouts Gang Show, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation. Mr Ross informed Members that Gang Shows had been produced since 1955 with every form of Scouting being involved. The Letchworth Gang Show would be held at St Francis Theatre for 3 nights and involved 72 members half of which came from Letchworth and half of which came from Baldock. Gang Shows enabled participants to make friends and boosted confidence. Grant funding would be used to pay for the hire of St Francis Theatre and rehearsal halls. Ms Goodwin informed Members that the organising of a Gang Show began immediately after the finish of the previous run of shows with rehearsals starting in October and the cast working hard each Saturday afternoon and the show taking place each March. Members debated the presentation including how had previous Gang Shows been funded and what charges would be made for St Francis Theatre. Ms Goodwin advised that funding had previously been raised through ticket sales, fundays etc and asked Members to note that no funding was available from the Scouting Organisation. St Francis Theatre had charged £1,689 for the previous 2 years, but were increasing their fees to £1,800 this year. The Chairman thanked Mr Ross and Ms Goodwin for their presentation. |
Noted | ||
| 74 |
CHAMPION NEWS AND FINANCE REPORT Report Appendix 1 - Budgets Appendix 2 - Grant Application - Jackmans Funday Appendix 3 - Grant Application - Garden City Samba Appendix 4 - Grant Application - Letchworth Festival Steering Committee Appendix 5 - Grant Application - Growing People Appendix 6 - Grant Application - The Fenners Group Appendix 7 - Work Programme Appendix 8 - Grant Application - Letchworth and Baldock Scouts The Community Development Officer presented the report of the Head of Policy and Community Services entitled Champion News and Finance Report and drew attention to the following: 2013 LETCHWORTH FESTIVAL STEERING COMMITTEE The Community Development Officer advised that the group were applying for two distinct areas of grant funding being £1,500 for Proms in the Park and £500 to provide support to individual groups who wished to put on their own events during the Festival Fortnight. Other funding sources were being applied for including £4,000 from Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, £2,000 from Garden Square Shopping Centre and £1,000 from Hertfordshire County Council Member Locality Budget. JACKMANS RESIDENTS GROUPS The Community Development Officer advised that the Jackmans Improvement Group had not met for 2 years and had now been formally disbanded with the £21 held in their bank account being donated to Jackmans Funday. BOX CLEVA PROJECT The Community Development Officer advised that this project was due to start on 6 February 2013 at the Letchworth Garden City Academy and to date they had received 20 referrals. CORTEX CHRISTMAS DAY EVENT The Community Development Officer advised that approximately 40 people had attended the event, which had been supported by other groups including Cheap as Chips and Shelter. COUNCILLORS SURGERIES The Community Development Officer advised that Councillor Surgeries would be held on 16 February 2013, 16 March 2013, 20 April 2013 and 18 May 2013. She suggested that the surgeries be moved from Leys Square into Garden Square Shopping Centre in order to benefit from a greater footfall. UK'S FIRST ROUNDABOUT Councillor Needham advised that she had seen the plans regarding replanting of the UK's First roundabout and had made a few suggestions. Planting would start in the near future and would be more colourful than in the past. HIGHWAYS The Community Development Officer asked Members to comment on how Highways issues should be dealt with in the future. Members agreed that the Committee should be able to comment on schemes and be able to make suggestions and that having this item on the agenda was a way of ensuring that issues were discussed. They acknowledged that other area committees had been more successful in raising issues, mainly due to them granting matched funding with every scheme suggested. MRS HOWARD HALL Members asked for the Manager of Mrs Howard Hall to be invited to present to this Committee regarding who was operating the hall and the types of groups currently using it. FILMING IN LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY Members asked that they be provided with an MIS update regarding the filming in Letchworth Garden City to include details of costs to the Council, compensation received, what lessons had been learnt and how would the involvement of Members in decisions regarding the use of the Town's facilities be ensured in future. BUDGETS AND GRANTS The Community Development Officer advised Members that there was currently £24,829 available for grant funding and that the total of all grants being considered at this meeting was £9,332. Members were concerned that they did not always have the full financial picture of groups who were making grant applications and felt that Members should see the accounts of all applicants. They agreed that the planned Overview and Scrutiny Task and Finish Group regarding Grant Funding would be extremely helpful and anticipated hearing the results of the review. RESOLVED: (1) That the budgetary expenditure, balances and carry forwards from the Development and Visioning Budgets be noted; (2) That the actions taken by the Community Development Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Letchworth Garden City be endorsed; (3) That the Community Development Officer be requested to put the dates of Councillor Surgeries on the NHDC website; (4) That the Community Development Officer be requested to ensure that all Members of this Committee see the accounts of all groups applying for grant funding; (5) That the Community Development Officer be requested to include Highways as an item in Champions News and Finance Report for every meeting of this Committee; (6) That the Community Development Officer be requested to invite the Manager of Mrs Howard Hall to present to the next meeting of this Committee due to be held on 13 March 2013; (7) That the Strategic Director of Customer Services be requested to produce an MIS update regarding the filming in Letchworth Garden City to include details of costs to the Council, compensation received, what lessons have been learnt and how would the involvement of Members in decision regarding the use of the Town's facilities be ensured in future. REASON FOR DECISION: To keep Members of the Committee apprised of the latest developments in community activities in Letchworth Garden City. |
Agreed | ||
| 75 |
GRANT APPLICATION - JACKMANS FUNDAY Members noted that the 2012 Jackmans Funday had been very successful and enjoyable. RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1,000.00 be awarded to Jackmans Funday from the Discretionary Budget towards the costs of hiring staging, licences and printing costs. REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community. |
Agreed | ||
| 76 |
GRANT APPLICATION - GARDEN CITY SAMBA Members expressed some reservations about the groups ability to become self- sustaining and felt that it was important that membership increased. Although they were generally supportive of the grant, they felt that the club's accounts should be reviewed and agreed that the Chairman should be authorised to consider the accounts and decide whether they were satisfactory. The Community Development Officer advised that there were currently 10 members paying £70 every 10 weeks, 5 paying £45, 2 paying £30 and 1 free child member with costs including insurance as well as travel etc. Any grant funding would be making contributions towards the costs of weather appropriate uniforms. RESOLVED: That, subject to the Chairman reviewing the club's accounts and being satisfied, grant funding of £485 be awarded to Garden City Samba from the Discretionary Budget towards the cost of providing subsidised weather appropriate costumes to members who receive concessionary rates. REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community. |
Agreed | ||
| 77 |
GRANT APPLICATION - LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY FESTIVAL STEERING COMMITTEE Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Terry Hone declared a non - pecuniary interest as he had previously given grant funding from his County Council grant allowance to this organisation. As this could be seen a pre-determination he advised that he would not take part in the debate or vote. RESOLVED: That grant funding of £2,000 be awarded to the Letchworth Garden City Festival Steering Committee from the Discretionary Budget towards the costs of the provision of a Proms in the Park event and to support groups who want to stage their own events. REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community. |
Agreed | ||
| 78 |
GRANT APPLICATION - GROWING PEOPLE Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Terry Hone declared a non - pecuniary interest as the group had received funding from Hertfordshire County Council and he had previously given grant funding from his County Council grant allowance. As this could be seen a pre-determination he advised that he would not take part in the debate or vote. Members debated the application and considered whether or not to defer a decision pending the acquisition of a site to operate from and whether to defer a decision to allow the group to approach North Herts College regarding the provision of a website. RESOLVED: (1) That the representative of Growing People be requested to approach North Herts College to discuss support that may be offered to provide a website for the group; (2) That grant funding of £1,000 be agreed, in principle, for Growing People towards the costs of developing a website for the group; (3) That the final decision regarding (2) above be deferred to the next meeting of this Committee in order to allow time for Growing People to comply with (1) above. REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community. |
Agreed | ||
| 79 |
GRANT APPLICATION - THE FENNERS GROUP Members felt that this was a worthwhile project which would help stimulate the economic regeneration of the Wynd although were concerned that various groups providing similar services liaised with each other to prevent replication of grant applications. RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1,500 be awarded to the Fenners Group from the Discretionary Budget towards the costs of provision of a 2 week art project which will be free to young people.. REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community. |
Agreed | ||
| 80 |
GRANT APPLICATION - LETCHWORTH AND BALDOCK SCOUTS GANG SHOW Members were supportive of the Gang Show and felt that it should receive grant funding, but were concerned that the Letchworth Committee should not make funds available for the benefit of residents of other areas. They agreed to support the event but asked that the group apply to Baldock and District Committee for further funding. RESOLVED: (1) That grant funding of £1,500 be awarded to Letchworth and Baldock Scouts Gang Show from the Discretionary Budget towards the costs of hiring the theatre for rehearsals and 3 performances; (2) That the Community Development Officer be requested to support Letchworth and Baldock Scouts to apply to Baldock and District Committee for further grant funding. REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community. |
Agreed | ||
| 81 |
WARD AND OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS - MEMBERS' REPORTS No Ward matters or Outside Organisations were discussed. |
Noted | ||