Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Clifford Hart 

Items
No. Item

54.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Kevin Pestell, John Apperley, Gordan Hithinson, Caroline Hayter (for whom J Hutchinson was substituting) and Val Paley (for whom H Williams was substituting), and also from Paul Brayebrooke.

 

NOTED

55.

URGENT BUSINESS

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New Items will be dealt with at Item 8 below).

 

Minutes:

The Chair sought clarification as to whether there were any items of urgent business.

 

The Clerk to the Consultative Committee advised that he had been notified of an item of business raised by Mr Willmott on behalf of the Friends of the Theatre relating to a question to the Board regardingthe Board's policy towards the AP Theatre and as a request to the board to discuss and outline its policy.

 

The Chair agreed to take the item under urgent business.

 

NOTED

56.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Members are asked to declare any interest in respect of items on this agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests.

 

NOTED

57.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 114 KB

(a)               To confirm and sign the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 October 2008 (attachment A);

 

(b)               To note the Minutes of the meeting of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 21 October 2008. (attachment B), and special meetings held on 5 November 2008 (attachment C)and 6 January 2009 (attachment D); and

 

(c)               To note the Minutes of the meeting of the Alexandra Park and Palace Advisory Committee held on 7 October 2008. (attachment E), and 10 February 2009 (if available).

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

i.                    Minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee – 14 October 2008

 

The Committee briefly discussed the circulated minutes and queried the figure quoted in page 8 – penultimate paragraph of £750K for the overall running costs per annum for maintaining the Palace. Following clarification from the General manager of the inaccuracy of the figure the Chair asked that the minutes be corrected, and that the correct version be circulated to the Committee, and posted on the web.  The Committee also queried the name quoted in page 10 – ‘Mark Thomas’ and that this should read ‘Mark Thompson’.

 

There being no further comments it was;

 

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee held on 14 October 2008 be agreed subject to the amendment at page 7 of the minutes and amendment at page 10, and that the amended minutes be circulated to the Committee for information, and placed on the web.

 

 

 

ii.                  Minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board – 21 October, & 5 November 2008, and 6 January 2009

 

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 21October, and 5 November  2008(special) , and 6 January 2009 (special)  be noted.

 

Following a brief clarification and discussion in relation to the issue of raising issues contained within the minutes as circulated when there was no opportunity to question items discussed under matters arising.

 

The Clerk advised that if Members had any matters they wished to raise then they could do so at this point. The Clerk also advised that if there were any issues the Committee wished to put to the Board then this could be done via a resolution agreed upon by the Committee, or also channelled through the three Consultative Committee members who sat on the Board.

 

Mr O’Callaghan commented that he wished to raise an issue in relation to the operation and performance and activities etc at the Palace, together with the deliberations of the Board, as partly reflected during the discussion at the Board on 6 January 2009 in relation to the Accounts, and sought clarification as to whether the accounts had been unanimously agreed and signed off.

 

The Chair, in response advised that he would take the item under any other business.

 

NOTED

 

iii.                Minutes of the Alexandra Park and Palace Advisory Committee – 7 October 2008, and 10 February 2009

 

The Clerk advised that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2009 were not available.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Minutes of the Alexandra Park and Palace Advisory Committee held on 7 October 2008 be noted.

 

 

  

 

  

58.

PARK ACTIVITIES UPDATE pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Report of the Park Manager – To update the Committee on forthcoming events and works within the Park.

 

Minutes:

The Chair asked for a brief introduction of the report.

 

In a succinct introduction to the circulated report Mr Evison gave a brief update of recent activities carried out in Alexandra Park and answered points of clarification.

 

The Committee then raised the following points of concern;

 

·        The difficulties with the Thames Water work at the Bedford road end of the lower road and the resultant difficulties with traffic movement etc and the expected completion of the works the following day;

·        issues relating to pathway surfaces and the preference to gravel as opposed to the use of tarmac (being visually un-natural in landscaping terms);

·        the problem with drainage in the general vicinity of the upper part of the Lower Road with running off of water , and issues of drainage blocking and urban flooding in the vicinity of the Park, and also across the  Borough, and in London as a whole;

·        the issue of restricting speed of vehicles across the Park given the number of vehicles exceeding speed limits, including buses , and the need for some clear indication of the Park entrances now that the gantrys no longer were at each end, and the need for signage at both ends of the Park stating ‘you are entering/leaving the Park’ to celebrate the fact that a Park was what was being driven through, as well as clear speed restrictions of 20 mph;

·        the usage of the road as a cut through, and its status as a private or public road and the consequential maintenance/upkeep costs and whether such cost should be met solely by the Trust, or with a contribution by the Mayor of London/TfL;

·        the proposed  expansion of deer enclosure which would require planning permission, and the issue of the increase in ‘Lime Disease’ which can be contracted from Deer and the need to ensure regular checks by vets to ensure prevention;

·        the absence of byelaws on the notices boards around the Park and whether these could be placed on notice boards;

·        Discussions in relation to pros and cons of the proposals by Warner Estate Residents Association in respect of a proposal for a all-weather path to replace the present informal, and very muddy, desire line from the top of Park Avenue North across the Redston Road playing fields and the old race-course to join the Lower Road at the eastern end of the car park, and the Committee’s discussion in relation to ‘desire lines’ for the path across the particular area, and the Committee’s endorsement ( on a vote of 7 for, and 6 against) of this proposal for recommending to the Board, noting that the proposal will be considered by the Alexandra Palace and Park Board on 24 February 2009, and endorsed by the Alexandra Park and Palace Advisory Committee on 10 February 2009;

 

There being no further discussion it was:

 

RESOLVED

 

i.                    that the report and discussions be noted;

ii.                  that the Park Manager be asked to investigate the possibility of for signage at both ends of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

59.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Report of the General Manager, Alexandra Palace – To advise the Committee on forthcoming events to the end of the financial year 2008/09.

 

Minutes:

The Chair asked for a brief introduction to the report.

 

The Managing Director of Alexandra Palace Trading Limited (APTL) – Ms Kane, referred to the circulated report and the events shown therein.  Ms Kane confirmed that those events shown in italics were yet to be confirmed, and she also highlighted the 3 large events confirmed – the Bike, Dinghy, and Railway modelling exhibitions. Ms Kane commented on the knock on effects of the recession and the fact that people did not have as much readily available disposal cash therefore this would have an influence but the sales team at APTL were currently working to secure events that were yet to be confirmed.

 

In commenting on the number of successes during the past year Ms Kane made particular reference to the Darts event during late December to early January 2008/09 and its high attendance, noting that the event hosted up to a max of 2500 on any one day. The other main event s were the Annual Fireworks display and also the immensely popular Knitting and Stitching event, which showed the each attracting a diverse range of attendees.

 

The Committee then discussed the report and Ms Kane responded to a number of comments in relation to individual events.

 

Arising from the discussions the Committee commented on the issue of publicity for free events that were available at the Palace, citing in particular the event that took place in late December in terms of the tour of the Palace, especially the part that involved the Theatre and TV studios., and how such publicity could be improved. Ms Kane confirmed that the website was currently being revamped which would go some way to improve this. In response to other comments Mr Loudfoot and Ms Kane confirmed that public events were shown on notice boards in and around the Palace and Mr Loudfoot undertook to review the matter of public information in and around the Palace and Park, in conjunction with Mr Evison.

 

Further discussions also ensued in relation to the monies collected at the Fireworks event and whether this money could be put back into the up keep of the studios/theatre and other parts of the Palace.

 

Mr Loudfoot undertook to report the matter to a future meeting of the Committee in respect of the income share out for such events including a breakdown of the amounts etc.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the report be noted.

 

60.

ITEMS REQUESTED BY NOMINATED REPRESENTATIVES pdf icon PDF 12 KB

i.          ITEM RAISED BY WARNER ESTATE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

 

Proposal for all-weather path to replace the present informal, and very muddy, desire line from the top of Park Avenue North, across the Redston Road playing fields and the old race-course, to join the lower road at the eastern end of the car park

 

Minutes:

(i)    Proposal for a path at Redston Fields

 

 

Professor Hudson raised the issue of the proposal for a path at Redston Fields as detailed in the circulated document by the Warner Estate Residents Association.

 

In detailing the proposal as circulated, Professor Hudson commented that the matter had also been discussed by the Statutory Advisory Committee, who had endorsed the proposal for consideration by the Alexandra Palace and Park Board.

 

The Committee then had a lengthy discussion in relation to the proposals, the main points being:

 

  • the direction of the proposed path across an area originally intended for a football pitch and by having such a path would pr3vednt such usage in the future
  • the natural ‘ desire lines’ of individuals using the area currently and where the best possible sighting would be
  • the number of people actually desiring the path to be placed in this location and whether there had been a survey carried out of residents in the near vicinity to the Redston entrance
  • whether the path could be routed around the edge of the Park up towards the Lower Road, to the existing path which would then conserve and keep the green space intact
  • the need to ensure the proliferation of tracks and ‘desire’ lines stops and by the introduction of such an outline edge path would prevent such proliferation
  • the need for a visual idea of the path and the likely need for a site visit
  • the need for clear professional advice in terms of the proposed citing and its overall effect on the existing green space etc

 

Following a summary by the Chair, on a show of hands there being 7 for and 6 against, it was:

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Alexandra Palace and Park Board be asked to note that the Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee  endorses the proposal of the Warner Estate Residents Association for an all-weather path to replace the present informal, and very muddy, desire line from the top of Park Avenue North across the Redston Road playing field and the old race-course to join the Lower Road at the eastern end of the car park, and requests that the Board gives consideration to and approves the proposal as outlined.

 

 

The Clerk reminded the Councillor Members that should the matter be brought to the Board then should it endorse the proposals, which would require planning permission, those Board Members sitting of the LB Haringey’s Planning Committee would require to declare their interest and if were to agree the proposal at the Board, and would then have to not take part in consideration of the item at that Committee.

 

61.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS