Members of the Committee are invited to disclose any interest they may have in any of the items appearing on this agenda.
Minutes:
There were no declarations of interests.
NOTED
At this point in the proceedings the Chair informed the Committee that at his invite, Councillor Cooke – Chair of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board was in attendance to briefly address the meeting in respect of the future of the asset. The Chair advised that Councillor Cooke had a further meeting to go to and would therefore only be able to stay in attendance until 20.00hrs.
Councillor Cooke, in thanking the Chair for his invitation, commented to the Advisory Committee that he felt that it was important for him to come to the meeting as there were obviously a number of questions that the Advisory Committee would wish to ask, and hopefully he would be in a position to respond. He also stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of the Board but in his capacity as Chair of the Board.
Councillor Cooke referred to recent events in respect of the future of the Palace and the fact that the preferred bidder and partner – the Firoka Group had, on 18 August 2008, withdrawn its interest in the development of Alexandra Palace.
Councillor Cooke further informed the Committee that the Board, on 26 September 2008, had considered an independent review of the licence entered into with the Firoka Group – the Walklate report, which was readily available on the Council’s web. The Board had endorsed the recommendation/findings of the review, as well as an action plan arising from the review in respect to governance arrangements.
With regard to the future of the Palace Councillor Cooke commented on the opportunty now open to the Board, given the history of the Palace over the past 25 years, to look at the pure potential of the Palaceand he felt that there was an exciting prospect for the Board during the next 6 months, in conjunction with the Local community, residents, statutory bodies and interested groups, to look at a whole range of isues in respect of the future of the Palace. Councillor Cooke also commented that by having an open and frank dialogue this would not preclude any idea or proposal and he was confident that this process would be a positive and successful one.
Councillor Cooke further commented that issues such as existing trusteeship would need to be looked at, and whether there were options for the transferof trusteeship in the future, and recognising what was the best interest of the Palace. Councillor Cooke concluded that he looked forward to hearing any comments of Advisory Committee.
The Chair thanked Councillor Cooke for his succinct comments and asked if there were any questions from the Committee.
Mr Aspden expressed his thanks at Councillor Cooke’s attendance, and that in part, as Chair, he was receiving ‘flack’ for a whole range of decisions that had been taken prior to his becoming Chair of the Board. In his view it was evident that Councillor Cooke was clear in what he would like the Board to concentrate on in the near future. Whilst it was the case that on occasions the Advisory Committee would disagree and give comment to the Board to that effect, the fact that the Chair of the Board had attended this meeting was of tremendous benefit, and hoped that such doalogue would continue in the future.
In terms of the future of the Palace Mr Aspden asked if there was a timescale as regards to discussions with interested parties etc and whether there had been a ‘Plan B’ in the event of the Firoka deal falling through.
In response Councillor Cooke advised that he was happy to attend meetings of the Advisory Committee but he stressed that he was not speaking on beghalf of the Board but in a personal capacity, however in that vein he would answer questions accordingly. Concerning whether there was a Plan ‘B’ there was no such plan and that at this stage there was no sense in moving forward in a ‘knee jerk’ way. Given the history of the Palace in the past 25 years it was an opportunity for lessons to be learnt and that there had to real understanding of the past events in order for the Board to effectively move forward, and he was confident that this would happen.
Councillor Cooke reiterated his earlier remarks in relation to everything should be brought to the discussions and that the Board should attempt, wherever possible, to put aside any political influences. There also needed to be further involvement with regard to community, resident, and other external influences and possible partnership, and the calling upon specialist expertise to understand and evaluate what was needed in the future. The future process needed to also be uncompromising. The Board had taken its decision to have an Away day for Trustees to hammer out the initial direction of the Board for the next 6 month, then onwards. In response to further points of clarification the Chair commented that it would be wrong to pre-empt how discussions would proceed.
The Chair sought clarification as regards the current repair state of the Ice Rink and how it would feature in the future plans for the Palace.
Councillor Cooke advised that the plant cooling system was now hugely out of date and now had approx 2 years of life left. It was a fact that the Ice Rink was of huge importance to local people and it had made a considerable contribution to the Palace. In terms of the palace as a whole Councillor Cooke commented that the in terms of the internal detail of the Palace there was no significant element that bond the different parts of the Palace together but it was a fact that the Ice Rink had been a constant feature for many years.
Ms Hayter referred to the CUFOS Building and the question of it being either inside or outside of the Palace’s footprint. Ms Hayter commented that the centre was a considerable local community asset and therefore, given that its lease was due to expire in 2011, the provision should continue after then. It was the case that the building was a self contained and separate entity and therefore should not be part of the footprint.
Councillor Cooke advised that he had had discussions with the CUFOS organisation the previous year as to the future of the operation, and that it would be taken account of in terms of the future strategy of the Palace.
The General Manager – Mr Loudfoot advised that in terms of CUFOS’s lease which expired in 2011 it was the case thatv this would continue in accordance with a variation of the Landlord and Tenant Act .
Mr Aspeden commented that he felt that the building should not be included within the footprint of the Palace, though it had not been part of any of the Firoka deal.
In response to further comments Councillor Cooke advised that the current occupants did not wish to have responsibility for the whole building fabric, and that the palace was respondible.
In conclusion the Chair thanked Councillor Cooke for his attendance and looked forward to him coming to future Advisory Committee meetings.
NOTED