Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed all present.

He invited Jacob O’Callaghan to say a few words in tribute to Mr Robert Hawes, a former member who had recently died.  Jacob commented on Robert’s formative work in saving the studios and theatre, without which the current heritage programme would not have been possible.

Apologies for absence were received from Denis Heathcote, Kevin Stanfield, Kevin Pestell, Caroline Hayter, Val Paley, John Thompson and Councillors Egan, Gorrie and Jenks.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Cooke and Demirci.

Councillor Engert was in attendance as substitute for Councillor Jenks.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii)          may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests, and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Councillor Hare declared an interest in that he was Chair of the Alexandra Park and Palace Allotments Society.

i.          To approve the minutes of the informal Joint Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committees held on 10 October 2013.

ii.         To note the minutes of the Advisory Committee held on 10 October 2013.

iii.        To note the draft minutes of the meeting of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 29 October 2013 and 19 November 2013.

RESOLVED that

i.          The minutes of the Joint Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committees held on 10 October 2013 be approved.

ii.         The minutes of the Statutory Advisory Committee held on 10 October 2013 be noted.

iii.        The draft minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 29 October 2013 and 19 November 2013 be noted.

REPORT TO FOLLOW

Duncan Wilson introduced the report as set out.

NOTED:

·                It was intended that a full review of the Consultative Committee membership would be carried out before the first meeting of the 2014/15 municipal year.  There were four organisations that would be unlikely to stay in membership: Ice Skating Club, Angling Association, Garden Centre and Lakeside Café, either because they were defunct, had withdrawn, or had simply not responded.  The eligibility for one membership of one other organisation was currently under review.

·                If any members knew of other organisations who met the membership criteria (which could include national bodies) and would like to be considered for membership of the Committee, they should contact the clerk.

·                Duncan Wilson, Clifford Hart (Democratic Services Manager, LBH) had met with the Chairs of the SAC and CC in November 2013 to discuss governance issues – the purpose of the meeting was to make progress in formalising the joint committee.  Further work would be needed which could involve consultation with the Charity Commission.  Meanwhile, it had been agreed to remove ‘informal’ from the title of the joint meeting.  Other changes might require legislation changes.

·                Duncan Wilson advised that he would be commissioning legal advice on the options available in 2014 and this would be reported back in due course.

·                Some SAC members expressed concern that the identity and authority of the SAC was being compromised.  The Chair reassured members that the main objective of the November meeting, which had involved the Chair of the SAC, was to find a solution that retained the full statutory status of the SAC, and that he would have further discussions with Denis Heathcote about this.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Duncan Wilson introduced the report as set out.

NOTED:

Fireworks

·                The fireworks were a great success compared to previous years, where it would cost the Palace over £100k to run – this year a small profit was made, and this was due to the hard work of Emma Dagnes and her team.

·                There were some concerns expressed: to do with the beer festival, parking, viewing areas, the herras fencing near Newland Road, VIP provision and the family funfair.  These concerns would be taken into consideration when planning the event for this year.

·                The team were looking at separate tickets for the beer festival.  It was important that this was run at the same time, in order to make the event commercially viable.

Event sales

·                There was a strong calendar of events for the coming few months.

·                December saw the most successful darts event at the Palace, and this would be returning to the Palace again this year.

·                It was unlikely that Red Bull would return again this year – usually they would not use the same venue two years running, so it was lucky that they had held two consecutive events.  However, it was anticipated that they would return every four years.

Fundraising

·                It was felt that a separate development committee was required in order to achieve the fundraising potential of the Palace and Park.

·                Most charities had the same sort of committee.

·                The Alexandra Palace and Park Board would be discussing this in more detail at the next meeting on 13 February 2014.

Parking

·                The Council were currently on site collecting data.  A further count would be taken in better weather, and conclusions / options would be available in Summer 2014, with a public consultation to follow.

Learning / Community update

·                Huge progress had been made with the volunteering scheme.  Over 150 applications had been received and volunteers were now being used.

·                Details of the Palace tours were available on the website.

·                Alexandra Palace was now part of the London Heritage voluntary management network, who were looking at the volunteer strategy.  Once this had been reviewed, it would be shared with the Committees.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Kerri Farnsworth introduced the report as set out.

NOTED:

·                HLF had carried out their first formal review and were happy with the progress made so far.

·                The Council match funding contribution would be considered by Full Council in February 2014.

·                The design consultancy, Feilden Clegg Bradley, had been commissioned to produce the detailed design brief and work this into a detailed plan.  This included the interpretation brief, which at one stage had been seen as a separate job.

·                Purcell (surveyors to the fabric) were progressing work and a draft report would be available in 2-3 weeks.

·                Work was continuing on interim repairs to the theatre and the north wall.  The costs would be around £25k, following further damage after the recent bad weather.

Commercial development

·                A meeting of the Alexandra Palace and Park Panel (an ‘emergency panel’ of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board) had been convened to appoint legal advisors to assist the trust in defining all options for commercial development partnerships.  Possible options included development of a hotel and development of the Great Hall.  The hotel development might require a 125 year lease as allowed for in the 1985 Act.  Soft market testing had been carried out and indicated considerable operator interest in the hotel, and more limited developer interest in the hotel and events business. The process of appointing any partners would need to follow OJEU rules.

·                Further consultations workshops would be held to look at the next phases of the work programme.

·                Further information would be available at the next meeting in April.

Park Update

·                Work had completed at the cricket club ground.

·                The Section 106 funded project for improvements on the eastern boundary of the Park was viewed favourably and was expected to go to Planning.  The Chair commented that it was unfortunate that the Trust was dependent on the vagaries of s106 funding for things that the Trust would want done anyway – he would have liked to have seen a more imaginative play area near the Campsbourne end, and asked that at some point for an opportunity  to review the Park’s funding and priorities.

·                The Chief Executive said that it might be possible to commission a parks strategy as had been done for the palace.

·                345 Pre-School Nursery at The Grove - the Committees were asked to comment and agreed to endorse the plans to improve the grounds and extend the opening hours. Gordon Hutchinson informed the Committees that Friends of Alexandra Park were happy with the proposals.

·                WW1 Park poppy commemoration – the Committees were asked to comment on the proposal for planting poppies in beds along the main road through the park.  The Alexandra Palace Garden Centre had offered to donate seeds for planting.  The first seeds would be planted in February. The proposal was welcomed.

Update on the Regeneration Working Group

·                The report from the Chair of the RWG was noted.  The Chair commented that if the purpose of the group was mainly to brief Haringey Council, then it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148.

Nigel Willmott wished to place on record a note of thanks to Julie Parker (Director of Corporate Resources, LBH), for her support to Alexandra Palace and Park during her time at the Council.

Item raised by Jacob O’Callaghan

Access to historic areas of the Palace, and future use of the building.

Jacob O’Callaghan introduced his paper that had been sent to the Committees in advance of the meeting –

Access to historic areas of the Palace, and future use of the building

To ask the trustees if there has been any change in policy regarding

(a) whether tours of, and events held in, these areas are regarded (as in the past) as a not-for-profit activity,  part of the charity's main function (free access to the public for education and recreation, while covering the expenses of such access),

(b) or if they are now to be seen as a profit centre, to be organised solely by paid employees or commercial third parties

(c) the involvement of the existing voluntary organisations in planning and execution of such events

and to initiate a public discussion on the implications of any new policy changes regarding use of the building as a whole, for the people of London who own it; their access and use of it, and for the future of the charity and the future role of the voluntary organisations within it.

Jacob O’Callaghan added that it was important to remember that there was still a role for the groups in terms of the Palace, for example, tours of the Palace could be run in conjunction with the groups who support those particular areas.  It was also important to strike a balance between profit making centres and parts where something needs to be given back to the community.  In addition, he said there were large parts of the Palace, including the Great Hall where there were restrictions on their commercial use.

Duncan Wilson responded to the item raised and said there had been no changes in policy with regard to these items.  This was confirmed by Councillor Cooke as chair of the board.  Duncan Wilson made clear that any profits made by the Palace were retained for the Palace and the Park as the Trust was a ‘not for profit organisation’.  All charities worked in this way.  The intention was to run the theatre as a business unit that also allowed for access by community groups.  This was the basis of the HLF bid.

Mr O’Callaghan acknowledged the reassurances that had been given.

Nigel Willmott commented on the excellent work by Isobel Aptaker on the tours of the Palace which had so far taken place, and added that these tours did not put at risk the work of the ‘friends’ groups.

None.

NEW DATE – Thursday 3 April 2014

NOTED the date of the next meeting on 3 April 2014.