Issue - meetings

MATTERS RAISED BY INTERESTED GROUPS

Meeting: 16/02/2010 - Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee (Item 42)

42 MATTERS RAISED BY INTERESTED GROUPS pdf icon PDF 50 KB

Jacob O’Callaghan of the Hornsey Historical Society will raise the following matters:

1.                  Congratulations to the acting General manager and the Trustees on the proposal at the Board meeting of 12th January to formally abandon Haringey Council's strategy of selling the whole Palace to a single developer.

2.                  To consider the acting General manager's ideas for additional sources for income, and to support further investigation. To offer Hornsey Historical Society’s help with this.

3.                  To note with some concern the Trading Company General Manager's account of the Stakeholder Forum of 24th October 2009, as presented to the Board on 12th January; to compare this with Dr Allison Milward's excellent report as circulated to participants; to give comments; and to ask the Board and the Council to simply recognize the wide and growing consensus of opinion that a single local authority like Haringey is not the best trustee for a large landmark historic building like Alexandra Palace, and to clearly prioritize their plans, and their representations to the Charity Commission, on how to change this. To consider original Option 2 (attached) as presented to the Stakeholder Forum.

4.                  To ask if there is any progress on reviewing the roles of the Advisory and Consultative Committees, and to offer Hornsey Historical Society's representative's comments on this.

5.                  To offer Hornsey Historical Society's support for facilities for visitors to Alexandra Palace, and putting it “on the map”.

Minutes:

The Committee noted the comments made by Jacob O’Callaghan of the Hornsey Historical Society as detailed below:

1.                  Congratulations to the acting General manager, the Trustees and the Council on the proposal at the Board meeting of 12th January to formally abandon Haringey Council's strategy of selling the whole Palace to a single developer.

The Chair advised the meeting that the strategy had not been to “sell” the  Palace but to award a long lease to as single developer.

The Interim General Manager, Alexandra Palace and Park, clarified that the Council had never been consulted on this as Trustees had agreed to abandon the existing strategy.

2.                  To consider the Acting General manager's ideas for additional sources for income, and to support further investigation. To offer Hornsey Historical Society’s help with this.

The Interim General Manager, Alexandra Palace and Park highlighted that consideration had been given to the idea of making Alexandra Palace Way a toll-road but this was not progressed as it would require an act of legislation to be passed. Some Committee members expressed that a 20p charge, for example, would not be unreasonable and could generate a lot of income for the Palace.

Gordon Hutchinson commented that potential car-parking charges in the Park and Palace might be to the detriment of local residents visiting the Park and Palace. The Interim General Manager acknowledged this and advised that there would be substantial consultation before Trustees were asked to decide on this matter.

3.                  To note with some concern the Trading Company General Manager's account of the Stakeholder Forum of 24th October 2009, as presented to the Board on 12th January; to compare this with Dr Allison Milward's excellent report as circulated to participants; to give comments; and to ask the Board and the Council to simply recognize the wide and growing consensus of opinion that a single local authority like Haringey is not the best trustee for a large landmark historic building like Alexandra Palace, and to clearly prioritize their plans, and their representations to the Charity Commission, on how to change this. To consider original Option 2 as presented to the Stakeholder Forum (known as the ‘Ultimate Solution’).

The Committee noted Option 2 – a legally and financially Independent Board with Statutory Advisory Committee and Executive Management and recognised this was a popular solution amongst interested groups at the stakeholder forum held in October 2009 although concerns about how to achieve this were apparent.  The Chair emphasised that no potential governance structures had been ruled out and there would be further consultation via the Palace website and roadshows.

Some Committee Members emphasised that the governance structure was not the most important aspect as long as agreed values and the behaviour of those governing the Palace and Park were applied.  It was noted that many of the Palace’s problems were financial and any option would only work if there was a source of revenue, therefore any independent move would need to be backed by commercial funding.

4.                  To  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42