Agenda and draft minutes

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Discussion and ideas gathering for the park improvements.

1.    Main meeting – welcome and introductions (6pm)

The meeting was chaired by Councillor Kent who welcomed everyone, set out the housekeeping rules and reminded residents that the meeting was non-political.

2.    Back Park improvements

Councillor Kent invited Karen Stafeckis, McLaren Regeneration Development Director and Rob Wolfe, CHY Consultancy Managing Director to outline the proposal.

Karen explained that York Central Developers (YCD) want to give back to the community and have previously contributed an amount of £50k which was allocated in form of grants via the Two Ridings Community Foundation York Community Fund to York’s voluntary and community groups supporting purposeful community action and creating a sense of belonging. Further £50k of funding was committed by YCD and Back Park was identified as a location to benefit from improvements. It is understood that that parts of the site are neglected and underused. YCD would like to understand residents’ ambitions on how the site could be improved with the use of dedicated funding and tonight’s discussion starts the process.

Rob added that to enable maximum social impact the project will be undertaken as a co-design with the community and local voices informing emerging improvement proposals. All ideas are welcome i.e. how the site is used currently, what is wrong and what could be improved. St Barnabas School will be visited to gather feedback from families and young people and local groups and organisations will be consulted as part of the process.

At tonight’s meeting residents were able to look at a printout of a satellite view map of Back Park and provide initial ideas using post it notes.

Q – What is the timescale of the project?

A – A brief will be created by the summer, using feedback form tonight and other planned engagement sessions. Following that we will work with our in-house design team with the view to deliver the project at approximately this time next year. Decades ago, Back Park was donated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to the City of York Council (CYC) who are now responsible for its upkeep. The intention is to work together with CYC to deliver the project.

Q - Cllr Taylor added that the amount of £50k offered by YCD towards the project should be used as effectively as possible to maximise the community benefit. He asked if YCD are able to commission contractors directly, or will have to go via the CYC procurement process?

A - Karen replied that this is being discussed with CYC. The preferred route would be to involve designers and manufacturers who are appointed directly by YCD, as opposed to going through the public procurement process.

Q – Will you be consulting with all demographics and asking everyone how Back Park is used?

A – Yes, the intention is to speak with as many people as possible to inform improvements which appeal to and are accessible to everybody.

A comment was made that Back Park is a great asset, however it is not maintained as it should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Representatives from some of the groups which received ward funding over the last financial year were present and Cllr Kent invited them to say few words about their project and experience of ward funding. 

Alan Slater, West Bank Park Bowling Association took on the role of the treasurer in November 2021. There are four clubs that use West Bank Park bowling greens.  Activities are subsidised from sale of refreshments from the Pavilion. Annual running costs of the bowling are circa £40k. Ward funding has been provided over the years to help with purchase of equipment such as pushers, dewy or installation of accessible gates. Without this support those improvements would not be possible Grass cutting machines require regular maintenance. New grass cutter costs circa £5k and a replacement cutting cassette is worth approximately £1k. The recent application to the Two Ridings Community Foundation York Community Fund was not successful and turned down on the grounds of insufficient collaboration. This was very disappointing for the Club, as it was felt that evidence of collaboration between four clubs using the greens and community volunteers should be sufficient.

The most recent improvement work was repair to the concrete gutters around bowling greens, and the next fundraising target will be purchase of a new ‘Dennis’ type grass cutter. The club relies on fundraising and without sufficient income it will have to fold, similarly to no longer existing club at Clarence Gardens.

Malcolm Britton, York Railway Bowls and Social Club echoed the preceding speaker experiences of running a bowling club. The Club tries to keep the fees low to retain and encourage new membership. The Club separated from York RI some years ago via asset transfer process. Maintenance of the grounds also involves mature trees, which can be costly to look after. The Club received financial support from the ward towards the clubhouse accessibility improvements. Attempts were made to apply for funding from other grant giving bodies, but it is usually a protracted process requiring grant writing skills and you often compete against several other bidders. In comparison, the Club found ward funding process to be much more accessible. The Club is much more than bowling, with fitness classes and children’s parties taking place at the clubhouse. Annual running costs of the Club are circa £50k and the green is considered one of the best in the county. Installation of a new ramp and assisted door system have been carried out over the past couple of years to enhance the Club accessibility. Ward funding contribution helped as an enabler to secure match funding from Sport England, the funding body which required the Club to secure half of the funds from another source. The total cost of accessibility improvements was £15k which was funded via contributions from the ward, fundraising at events and Sport England. Those improvements benefit the Club and other groups using the clubhouse.

Sean Heslop, York Railway Institute CIO gave an outline of the organisation history. Founded in 1889 to stop railway workers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Sean from York RI CIO asked for support with information about any potential funding streams which could help with purchase of their building on New Lane site.

No other questions were raised, and Councillor Kent closed the meeting at 7:45pm