Agenda item

The Community Resources Manager introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

·       The Committee noted that progress updates are published every six months on previous schemes approved by the Area Committee. The latest was published in August 2022. The next will be published in February 2023.

·       A total of five projects have submitted full proposals with a total cost of £257,510 requested from Community Infrastructure Levy. No funding has been requested from Section 106.

·       There is some discrepancy between outline and full proposal costs. For parks applications in general, when officers report their cost estimates they do not change the original request from the community group, but the true cost of delivery is usually higher. 

·       CIL funds available at Oct 2022 are: £94,910.31.  If all proposals are approved, there will be a £162k CIL deficit to carry forward into the following year.

Discussion Notes:

Gordon Avenue Traffic Calming

·       £50k is considered a reasonable budget for these works and there has been no change in estimates. The recommendation is to fund in full.

·       This road is used as a cut through and is in a residential area. Traffic frequently breaches the 20mph limit, due in part to the width of the road. It is also near to a school so is heavily frequented by children.

·       Works will begin next year. Summer 2022 is the starting point for road schemes due to vacancy issues.

Oldbury Court Estate Pathways

·       The actual cost of delivery of the project is £29,750. This means a funding gap of £19,750. Committee will have to decide whether to commit the additional funding. 

·       There is the possibility of some match funding, but this is still being investigated.  

·       The £30k is to improve the main entrance at Goffenton Drive, it will not improve pathways. After investigation from officers, the park is a registered heritage landscape, so modifying paths is unlikely to be permitted.

·       The entrance will receive a tarmac surface. It is currently very muddy so this will improve access.

·       Without adding new pathways, existing pathways may be improved. Members should flag particular areas to officers for investigation.

·       Officers can talk to Historic England about what is possible once the money has been allocated.

Argyle Road Playground Improvements

·       This site is contained in the Barton Hill Trust area, with BCC maintaining the play area. BCC cannot make changes without the approval of the Trust.

·       £155k has been requested. This is the first stage in a concept that would total £185k. 

·       This project is to enhance the playground, including an outdoor gym and multi-use games area (MUGA).

·       The original application was to do a wide range of improvements, but this has been scaled back to be more realistic. A youth orientated park / outdoor gym is the preferred asset due to the close proximity of a secondary school.

·       The figures include a £23k commuted maintenance sum.

·       The £155k is much more than can be delivered with the available budget. However, a lower sum could still deliver something useful.

Floodlights at the Vench

·       Basic application with a £26.5k request. The lighting will cover the adventure playground and main park for children and young people.

·       This is an area that attracts anti-social behaviour and vandalism. The lighting will improve security and enable the park to be used in evenings. 

Accessible Paths Over Purdown

·       The initial application was for £16k, but the real cost is likely to be £18.8k. The committee will need to decide whether to approve the increase.

·       This is a major walking route to the primary school but is steep and muddy.

·       The proposal is for gravel “touch points” to improve some of the surface of the path. The budget cannot cover a fully surfaced path.

There was a discussion about how an overspend in this year would leave a smaller budget (or no budget) for next year and the lack of certainty about the future pipeline for CIL funding. There was also a discussion about the amount of time between approving each of the projects and their actual delivery.

Upon being MOVED by Cllr Mack and SECONDED by Cllr Wilcox it was RESOLVED (by unanimous vote) that the following applications be APPROVED with these funding allocations: