Verbal update.
To undertake a Q&A session with the Cabinet Member on the parts of her portfolio relevant to the scrutiny panel:
Parks & Leisure.
Minutes:
The Panel undertook a questions and answer session with Cllr Julie Davies, the Cabinet Member for Communities and Civic Life regarding the parks and leisure elements of her portfolio. Questions from Panel members on agenda items 7,8 & 9 were also incorporated into this part of the meeting. The following arose as part of this Q&A session:
a. The Panel sought clarification around new sporting equipment and also what was happening with the tennis courts at Priory Park. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that resurfacing work was due to take place on a number of tennis courts in the borough and that overall, the Cabinet Member was pleased with the amount of investment that they had been able to put into New River and in terms of new equipment. Officers advised that they were working with the FA on a national scheme about improving local football pitches. It was hoped that they would lead to some additional investment in Haringey. More cover had also been put in place for tractor drivers to support sports pitch maintenance. In relation to the tennis courts at Priority Park, officers advised that there was a contract in place with Georgians who provided private coaching lessons on the courts, but that they also give free lessons to local residents. The Council was working with the LTA to improve the tennis court facilities and it was hoped that there would be two new courts and two mini-courts along with floodlighting, Planning Permission dependent. In general, the Cabinet Member advised that Haringey was down on swimming lanes and pitch space, but that the administration was seeking to improve this.
b. The Panel sought clarification about what was happening with the Haringey Walks campaign. The Panel also enquired what the Cabinet was doing to tackle health inequalities across the borough. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowdged the need to tackle health inequalities, especially post pandemic, and advised that this was taking place over several different portfolios. It was acknowledged that there was some work needed to improve the facilities at leisure centres and to increase participation levels, particularly in the east of the borough. Officers advised that Haringey Walks was still very much active and that 243 walks were delivered in the current year, with 2000 people taking part. Officers advised that they welcomed the Panel’s input as they developed the new physical activity & sport strategy next year. Part of this discussion, it was suggested, could be around where to target financial resources to get the best results i.e. Haringey walks or by funding leisure centre concessions.
c. The Panel raised concerns about the Finsbury Park boundary review and the stated aim of making the park more permeable. It was questioned why Sustrans were involved in this review and why the Council was starting from a point of view that the park should be more permeable. A previous EVA conducted by the police concluded that the park should be made less permeable and that gates should be locked. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the review was something she inherited as Cabinet Member, and that she welcomed increasing active travel rates. The Cabinet Member advised that she took safety issues in Finsbury Park very seriously, including VAWG. It was suggested that the lighting in Finsbury Park had made a significant difference to the safety of park users. It was also suggested that similar schemes in New York and Boston had made their parks safer by increasing the number of entrance and exit points The Cabinet Member advised that the review would involve consultation with the local community and that the police would also be heavily involved in this. Any safety concerns raised by the police would be taken on board fully. The Cabinet Member set out that the park was very large and had around 8 entrance points. It was suggested that there was a discussion to be had about whether all of these entrances were needed and whether it might be safer to have more exit points in certain places. The Cabinet Member assured Members that whilst there may be a working assumption that fewer boundaries could make the park safer, if this was not the case then they would not do it. Officers agreed that the ultimate outcome had to be a safer park and that there was no fixed agenda on how to take this forward.
d. The Panel queried what more could be done to reduce noise nuisance from large events at Finsbury Park. In response, officers advised that noise nuisance was managed through the licensing process and that the licence set out how loud the sound could be off-site. There were eight monitoring sights and these did not change from event to event. Officers acknowdged the point made about different events being located in different parts of the park and the effect this had on noise in certain parts of the borough. The noise for each event was actively monitored and there were reports available for each event.
e. The Panel sought assurances about what was being done to hold Fusion to account to ensure that they provided the services they were supposed to deliver. Given Fusion’s financial issues, the Panel also sought assurances around what would happen if they could not afford to continue to provide leisure services in Haringey. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged a level of dissatisfaction with the service provided and the fact that certain facilities were out of action. The Panel was advised that officers were pushing fusion hard to resolve the issues and that meetings had taken place with the Chief Executive of the national company to try and resolve it. The Cabinet Member advised that she would continue to assess how to best take this issue forwards.
f. In response to a question about provision of facilities for children in Finsbury Park, officers advised that there had been £759k spent on children’s play equipment over the last three years, including the creation of the accessible play space. Officers were working with the Friends group about further improvements including upgrading the skate park. The Cabinet Member set out that investment into play equipment would continue, including in smaller parks and green spaces.
RESOLVED
Noted