Agenda and minutes

Denis Heathcote (Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Association) was nominated to act as Chair until the arrival of David Liebeck.

AGREED.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Monica Whyte, Ken Ranson (Bounds Green & District Residents Association) and Jackie Baker (Palace Gates Residents’ Association).  Apologies for lateness were received from the Chair (David Liebeck) and Councillor Richard Watson.

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

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

i)          To approve the minutes of the Advisory Committee held on 2^nd November 2010.

ii)         To receive the draft minutes of the meeting of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 14^th October and 30^th November 2010 to be noted.

iii)        To receive the draft minutes of the meeting of the Consultative Committee held on 16^th November 2010 to be noted.

Statutory Advisory Committee – 2^nd November 2010

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Statutory Advisory Committee meeting held on 2^nd November 2010 be agreed as a correct record of proceedings.

Alexandra Palace and Park Board – 14^th October and 30^th November 2010

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board meetings held on 14^th October and 30^th November 2010 be noted.

Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee – 16^th November 2010

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee held on 16^th November 2010 be noted.

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

The Committee received the Park Activities Update introduced by the Park Manager, Alexandra Palace, Mark Evison, as laid out in the report, pages 35-38 of the agenda pack.

Page 36 – Paragraph 7 – Car Park Charging

Councillor Beacham highlighted that a unique selling point of Alexandra Palace was that the venue offered free parking.  The Committee noted that if a decision was made to start charging for car parking it would include consultation with Alexandra Palace Trading Company (APTL) and there would be a degree of flexibility to suspend the charges at any point  i.e. when large events were being held or for individual car parks.

Officers emphasised that data would be collected until early February and the results would be reported to the Advisory Committee at a later stage.

Page 36 – Paragraph 8 – Little Dinosaurs Planning Inspectorate Case

David Frith (The Rookfield Association) sought confirmation that the Alexandra Palace and Park Board of Trustees was satisfied to continue the tenancy despite the Tenant’s contravention of the lease.  The Park Manager explained that the matter had not been officially reported to the Board; however, there would be no contravention once the Tenant had removed the paving slabs and storage units as agreed.

Officers noted the suggestion that revenue could be generated by charging commuters for the use of the Palace’s car parks and highlighted that many commuters already parked in the Palace and walked to the nearby station.

Clerk’s note:  David Liebeck arrived and took over as Chair of the meeting.

In response to questions about the cost of implementing such a parking scheme it was noted that the car parking operator may pay the capital cost of setting up the scheme.

RESOLVED 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 report of the Managing Director, Alexandra Palace Trading Limited, Rebecca Kane and noted that a full schedule of events for the next financial year would be presented at the next Advisory Committee meeting and that 65% of business had already been contracted for 2011/12 which was a strong trading position.

The Committee were informed that the re-opening of the Alexandra Palace Ice Rink took place on Friday 21^st January 2011 and was a successful event.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To receive a report updating on Governance and the Future Vision of Alexandra Palace.

The Committee received the Governance and Future Vision Update presented by the Interim General Manager, Alexandra Palace, Andrew Gill who drew attention to page 56 of the report which provided timescales for further work to be conducted.

Officers noted Ms Hutchinson’s (Alexandra Resident’s Association) suggestion that the term “Ally Pally” not be used in the example job description for Independent Advisor to the Board.

In response to concerns raised about past problems where Trustee members of the Board changed frequently, the Committee noted that the term of office was for only one year due to the Council’s procedure of annually agreeing memberships for all committees.  This did not mean that membership automatically changed each year.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive feedback from the Statutory Advisory Committee Working Group on the possibility of having joint meetings of the Statutory Advisory Committee and the Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee.

The Committee received the  report of the Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committees Working Groups  on the possibility of having a joint committee and whether it would be more effective than the current two individual committees which often received and considered exactly the same information.

The Chair thanked the Consultative Committee Working Group for the report prepared in advance of the joint working groups meeting.

The Committee discussed the recommendations of the report which included adopting Model 1, a joint Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committee, on a trial basis and reviewing the possibility of adopting Model 2, a reconstituted single Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committee, in light of the experience of Model 1.

The Committee noted that the general consensus of both working groups was that joint meetings needed to be conducted within reasonable timescales.  The assumption would be that documents sent as part of the agenda pack had been read by all members and the length of time spent on certain items would be limited.

Members asked for clarity on how the joint meeting in Model 1 would be run.  It was noted that there would be a general meeting including both the Advisory and Consultative Committees where reports would be received and discussed and comments noted.  The meeting would then move into a Statutory Advisory Committee meeting where its recommendations to the Board would be agreed; Consultative Committee members could remain in the meeting but would leave the table.

The Committee was reminded that the Board was required to consult with the Advisory Committee and consider its recommendations, whereas there was no statutory duty for the Board to do the same with the Consultative Committee.

It was noted that operational matters would need to be discussed after the first trial joint meeting.  The Consultative Committee would consider the report at its meeting on 8^th February and the Board would consider it on 15^th February and a report to Full Council would follow.

Some members expressed concern about how a joint committee would work and that the number of potential  members on the joint committee might make it unmanageable. It was anticipated  that the residents’ associations with a member on each committee would have to decide if one or both of those members would attend the joint meeting(s). 

Councillor Watson suggested that Model 2 be adopted as soon as possible and this was supported by Councillor Demirci. The Chair reminded the Committee that it would be more appropriate to run  a trial meeting to see if a joint meeting was  workable.  For example, certain  members of the Consultative Committee had commercial interests in Alexandra Palace and Park; the membership of the Advisory Committee was restricted and was to provide direction and guidance to the Board on behalf of local residents and Councillors, who were directly affected by events in the Palace and Park.

It was noted that the Constitution of the Consultative Committee could be amended by the Council if any changes were required.  Should there be a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition (Clive Carter - Local Resident)

To discuss the possibility of Alexandra Palace applying for UNESCO World Heritage site recognition.

i.          External Fabric Condition Update

The Committee received the External Fabric Condition Update (tabled) presented by Mark Neale, Facilities Manager, Alexandra Palace, as set out in the report.

The Committee noted that the priority works in the asset management plan on Page 5 of the report would go towards reducing the deterioration of the building and not improvements.

Some committee members expressed concerns that the 10-year asset management plan was not the best use of money and that it would be better to use the total amounts for each area at once rather than over a 10 year period during which the Palace building would deteriorate further.The Interim General Manager advised that the asset management plan was a means of substantiating the bid for capital funds; it was not a funded asset management plan as the Trust did not have the capital funds to undertake the works therein.

Members were reminded of the scale of the investment required to arrest the deterioration of the Palace building and that the Palace relied on Council funding and the bids for capital funding had to be realistic.  The Alexandra Palace and Park Regeneration Working Group had been established to consider ways in which to increase support and funding for improvements to the Palace.

RESOLVED to note the report.

ii.         UNESCO

The Committee received the proposal to seek UNESCO world heritage site status for the south east wing of Alexandra Palace (pages 57 – 62 of the agenda pack), written and presented by Clive Carter – local resident.

Committee Members generally expressed support for the proposal in principle but concerns were raised about the amount of officer time that would be required and the cost of this time, given the financial austerity measures introduced by the Council due to the reduction in its budget.

In response to concerns Mr Carter explained that the proposal would take a long time, a number of years, and that some of the work would necessarily be taken on by officers and the Local Authority.  Sponsors could be approached but the starting point would be to obtain the agreement and commitment of the Board and the Local Authority. 

In response to a question Mr Cater confirmed that an application for USESCO Heritage Site recognition could only be made if the restoration works on the Palace were completed.

In response to a question about point 12 (Page 61), the General Manager confirmed that in March 2010 Trustees abandoned their former strategy of awarding a long term lease to a private developer.  New governance arrangements and strategies were in the course of being adopted by the Palace.

The Committee noted that Bromley Council had spent circa 20 years on its bid for UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition for the home of Charles Darwin - Down House, which had been deferred twice by the committee.

RESOLVED that Sue Cole, English Heritage, be invited to the next meeting of the Statutory Advisory Committee to provide information on what a bid for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To note that the next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be held on Tuesday 5^th April 2011.

The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 5^th April 2011.

The meeting ended at  21:05 hrs