Agenda and minutes

Colin Marr was nominated and there were no further nominations.

RESOLVED that Colin Marr be elected at Chair of the Joint Committee for this meeting.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Cooke and Nigel Willmott.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Stewart, Williams and Waters, Jane Hutchinson, Gordon Hutchinson, Rachael MacDonald, Mike Tarpey, Liz Richardson and Val Paley.

Members of the Committee are invited to disclose any interest they may have in any of the items appearing on this agenda.

Councillor Demirci declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 (minute 21 below) (Review of Premises Licence for Alexandra Palace) as Chair of the LB Haringey Regulatory Committee and a member of the Licensing Committee which would be considering the licence. 

Councillor Reid declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 (Review of Premises Licence for Alexandra Palace) as he was a member of the LB Haringey Regulatory Committee and Licensing Committee which would be considering the licence. 

Both Councillors Demirci and Reid left the room during consideration of agenda item 6 (minute number 21).

Councillor Beacham declared a personal interest as a member of the LH Haringey Regulatory and Licensing Sub Committee, although he would not sit on the Committee considering the Alexandra Palace premises licence.

Councillor Jenks declared a personal interest as he was a member of Warner Estate Residents’ Association (WERA).

i)          To approve the notes of the Joint SAC/CC meeting held on 31^st May 2011 (attached).

ii)         To note the minutes of the Advisory Committee held on 31^st May 2011 (attached).

iii)        To note the draft minutes of the meeting of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 9^th May, 21^st June and 21^st July 2011 (attached).

iv)        To note the draft minutes of the meeting of the Consultative Committees held on 21^st July (attached) and 6^th September 2011 (to follow).

a.         Joint (Informal) Statutory Advisory Committee and Consultative Committee

The notes of the Joint SAC/CC meeting held on 31^st May 2011 were agreed as a correct record, subject to the minor grammatical amendments proposed by David Liebeck at minute APSC11, bullet point 3.

b.         Alexandra Park and Palace Statutory Advisory Committee (SAC)

The minutes of the Advisory Committee held on 31^st May 2011 were noted.

c.         Alexandra Palace and Park Board

The draft minutes of the meeting of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 9^th May, 21^st June and 21^st July 2011 were noted.

Matters arising

Some members considered the Board’s response to the SAC’s recommendations (specifically the three questions posed in relation to the Firoka Licence on Page 8 of the agenda pack) to be unsatisfactory. Their comments included: 

·        In the table of the Board’s responses to the SAC (pages 10-11 of the SAC agenda pack) the response to question ii was different to the Board’s response recorded in the minutes of 21^st June 2011.  

·        The advice of the Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Trust Solicitor should not have been obtained in relation to this matter because he had a conflict of interest by having been legal advisor to the Trust during 2007 when the Firoka licence was signed.

·        Mr O'Callaghan went on to say he regretted having to return to this matter and that he would like nothing better than to "move on". However, he said the trustees had to recognize that they had a legal duty to do their utmost to conserve the assets of the trust and to try and obtain the return of the four million pounds loss occasioned by their failure to evict Firoka after the expiry of the lease in August 2007. He did not know whether they had been given advice on this by the trust solicitor; if they had and not followed it, they were in breach of trust; if they had not, the question of negligence needed to be investigated. Mr O’Callaghan also said he would write to the new Chief Executive of Alexandra Palace about his concerns in this matter.

The Interim General Manager reminded members of the investigations and the review of governance of Alexandra Palace already conducted in response to the Firoka dealings.  The Board had conducted many open and private discussions about the history around Firoka and the Committee were urged to appreciate that some matters could not be discussed in open forums for legal reasons.

The Committee was urged by the Chair of the Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust, who recognised that the lessons learnt from the Firoka deal were extremely important, to look forward and concentrate on the future regeneration of Alexandra Palace.  Further reviews of Firoka would be costly and the money could be spent on much needed repairs to the Palace’s structure.  These comments were supported by the Interim General Manager and Councillor Demirci.

AGREED

i.          That the Board be asked again to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To receive the report of the Park Manager, Alexandra Palace, updating the Advisory Committee on events and works within the park.

The Joint Committee received the Park Activities Update report, introduced by Mark Evison, Park Manager as set out in the report.

NOTED

• Alexandra Park had achieved Green Flag and Green Heritage awards for the year and would be informed on Friday 16^th September if it had achieved a London in Bloom award.
• Park staff were dealing with a minor algae bloom in the boating pond caused by problems with the pond aerator.  The pond water had been tested with satisfactory results.
• The Chair mentioned that the Board’s letter of objection to the Coronation Sidings application had not been included in the LB Haringey Planning Committee agenda pack (for the meeting on Monday 12^th September 2011). The planning permission had been granted, but he doubted whether the Board’s objection would have influenced the decision..

AGREED to note the report.

To receive the report of the Managing Director, Alexandra Palace Trading Limited (APTL) advising the Advisory Committee on forthcoming events to the end of the financial year.

The Committee received the Forthcoming Events Update report, introduced by Rebecca Kane, Managing Director - Alexandra Palace Trading Company Limited (APTL) as set out in the report.

NOTED

• The Chase ‘N ’ Status music festival on 25^th November 2011 would close at 6am which was when public transport routes re-started , making it easier for patrons to travel home quickly and quietly from the venue. APTL was delighted to announce that the number of music bookings has trebled in the last 2-3 years.
• In response to concerns raised it was noted that dates for the Farmers’ Market had not been scheduled into the report because they had not been confirmed at the time of publication.   The Committees were reminded that they could access information (updated daily) at the following link:    http://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/
• The London Open House weekend was being held at Alexandra Palace including access to the TV studios and theatre foyer and featuring a book signing by Maggie Butt ref ‘Ally Pally Prison Camp’.
• There would not be a fireworks event this year due to budget pressures.
• A Committee member congratulated APTL on the All Tomorrow’s Parties Event in July 2011.

AGREED to note the report.

Rebecca Kane, Managing Director – Alexandra Palace Trading Limited,  will verbally update the committees on the review of the premises licence, the consultation period and hearing process. Comments will be sought to assist Alexandra Palace in its preparation for this case.

Clerks Note: Councillors Demirci and Reid left the room during the discussion of this item

Rebecca Kane (MD APTL) gave a verbal report on the review of the Alexandra Palace premises licence, which is issued by LB Haringey’s Licensing Department. This review had led to a complaint from a local resident about noise, anti-social behaviour of patrons leaving the premises, litter and public nuisance and a lack of stewards at exits during the 28/29 May ‘Swedish House Mafia’ event.

Ms Kane explained how APTL had addressed each of the issues, how APTL officers regularly met with the relevant statutory authorities before large events take place and that a new post event clean-up firm had been appointed.

The consultation for the premises application was due to end on Monday 19th September and representation in support or objection could still be made.  The meeting agreed that as part of the review process the Statutory Advisory Committee (SAC) should submit a letter of support for the way in which APTL discharged its duties in relation to the premises licence. It was also agreed to place on record that the Advisory Committee was wholly satisfied with the manner in which APTL was seeking to deal with the 5 issues raised by the complaint.

AGREED that the Statutory Advisory Committee be asked to submit written representation to LB Haringey’s Licensing Committee in support of the licence incorporating the comments above.

Clerks Note: Councillors Demirci and Reid re-joined the meeting.  A record of the full discussion of this item can be found at Appendix A (attached).

To receive a verbal update from Andrew Gill, the General Manager – Alexandra Palace, on the Governance of Alexandra Palace.

The Committee received a verbal update on governance from Andrew Gill, Interim General Manager – Alexandra Palace. 

NOTED that the Trustees’ Handbook was being updated to reflect changes to the Council’s constitution and to include a new policy on the Bribery Act and other policy changes.

a.         75 Years of television

John Thompson of the Alexandra Palace Television Group reported on the work undertaken by the Group in conjunction with others to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the world’s first broadcast TV service from AP on Wednesday 2 November 1936. The Group’s intention had been for a public event on that day and he regretted that for operational reasons APTL had been unable to accommodate this

The Managing Director APTL stated that the event might be better held on the weekend of 5^th / 6^th November and highlighted that they were collaborating with the BBC re content plus there would be lots of media coverage via the BBC about the event.

Jacob O’Callaghan commented on the importance of marking this historic event, mentioned the recent BBC TV programme ‘The Hour’, which related to the early days of AP and suggested a meeting between John Thompson, Rebecca Kane, Andrew Gill and himself to ensure the event is successful.

The Committee congratulated and thanked John Thompson and Officers for their work on this.

AGREED that the item be included on the agenda for the next Board meeting on 18^th October and that the Managing Director APTL, the Interim General Manager – Alexandra Palace, Councillor Bob Hare and the Chair of the Board work together to organise the event with the assistance of other committee members as appropriate.

b.         Haringey Heartlands Planning Application

Clerk’s note: The members of the Committee who were members of the LB Haringey Planning Sub-Committee abstained from the discussion on the Haringey Heartlands Planning Application.

The Chair highlighted that the Haringey Heartlands Planning Application would be considered by the Council’s Planning Sub-Committee on 22^nd September 2011 and that no formal objection had been submitted by the Board.

AGREED:  That the Statutory Advisory Committee be asked to make a submission to the Council’s Planning Department including the Committee’s ground for objection that the development would spoil and blight the views from the Park, which has Conservation Area and Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) status, and that there were Council policies in place to protect these views.

c.         Dog Waste Bins

A Committee member highlighted disappointment that the current dog waste bins were being removed (due to coming to the end of usable life) and would not be replaced. It was explained that dog waste was no longer classed as “clinical waste” and can be placed in ordinary litter bins and this would save maintenance costs. 

AGREED that the Committee lamented the loss of the dog waste bins and encouraged their replacement and that the Board be recommended to reconsider replacing the dog bins or increasing the size of general bins.

d.         Car Parking Charges

The Committee noted that there would be an update at the next Board meeting on 18^th October 2011 on the communication plan being worked on by a project team in relation to potential charging for car parking at Alexandra Palace.

e.         Monthly Stakeholder Forums

The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Tuesday 8^th November 2011

Tuesday 10^th January 2012

TuesdaY 6^TH March 2012

The dates of future meetings were noted:

Tuesday 8^th November 2011

Tuesday 10^th January 2012

Tuesday 6^th March 2012

The meeting ended at 21:15 hrs.