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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Decision Session - Combined Executive Member Decision Session |
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Date |
7 October 2025 |
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Present |
Councillor Kilbane |
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Officers in attendance |
Laura Williams - Assistant Director, Customer, Communities and Inclusion |
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32. Appointing a Chair (10:01am)
Resolved: That Councillor Kilbane chair the meeting.
33. Apologies for Absence (10:01am)
There were no apologies for absence received.
34. Declarations of Interest (10:01am)
The Executive Member were invited to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests, or any disclosable pecuniary interests that they might have in respect of business on the agenda. None were declared.
35. Minutes (10:01am)
Resolved:
i. That the minutes for the Combined Executive Member Decision Session on 5 August 2025 be approved as a correct record.
ii. That the approval of the minutes for the decision session on 2 September 2025 be deferred to the following Combined Executive Member Decision Session.
36. Public Participation (10:02am)
It was noted that there had been three registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Councillor Ayre spoke on the Heworth Without Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and noted that City of York Council should represent the views of all and has made no attempt to engage with local public or to represent the wishes of the community. He highlighted that many residents were in favour of the scheme progressing.
Sammie Phoenix spoke on the Heworth Without MUGA and noted that positive feedback from in-person consultation had been ignored. Many local residents had become involved in local politics to represent the area and community’s views on the for this reason. She highlighted that the area was currently unusable and should be turned into a community sports area to benefit community. She also detailed how important a MUGA would be for young people and would be an important asset for the local community, she believed that many voices in support of the MUGA had been ignored and that the recommendations within the report were unfair to the local community.
Gwen Swinburn spoke on the Heworth Without MUGA and noted that the local community petition had been dismissed and influence of communities to effect change had been ignored and overturned, and she highlighted that decisions to date had overlooked the needs of St. George’s. She concluded that York’s most disadvantaged communities should be supported, and that accessible and open spaces in deprived areas should be prioritised. She urged the Executive Member to request for the Corporate Scrutiny Committee to investigate this matter.
37. Heworth Without Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) Outcome and Next Steps (10:20am)
The Assistant Director, Customer, Communities and Inclusion presented the report and noted that further consultation had been conducted by the Communities’ team, and that as the consultation sought views on the design of the MUGA rather than the location it wouldn’t have any bearing on decision to be made.
Resolved:
That the Executive Member:
i. Noted the outcome of the original public consultation undertaken in late 2022.
ii. Noted the outcome of the Heworth Without Parish Council vote on 28 April 2025.
iii. Authorised the return of the £46.7k s106 Hungate funding for reallocation to a new project.
iv. Agreed for officers to work with the planning team on a suitable alternative provision, and Public Health to target health and sports provision needs in the area, securing any associated agreed variations to the original s106 planning obligation.
Reason: To secure the spending of the Section 106 contribution from the Hungate Development for the purposes set down in the planning permission to help meet the demand for increased sports and leisure facilities for children and young people in the area.
Cllr Kilbane, Chair
[The meeting started at 10.01 am and finished at 10.25 am].