PAPER F
MINUTES OF RYDE TOWN COUNCIL’S FACILITIES AND ASSET
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HELD ON
TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER 2020 AT 2.00PM USING THE ZOOM VIDEO MEETING
FACILITY AND STREAMED VIA YOUTUBE
Present:
Cllr Karen Lucioni (Chair), Cllr Henry Adams, Cllr Adrian Axford, Cllr
Michael Lilley and Cllr Ian Stephens
In Attendance:
Jon Baker, Shona Parnell, Liam Pearce
1/20
PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
There had been no public questions submitted.
2/20
APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Cllr Lou Temel.
3/20
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None declared.
4/20
ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN
Cllr Adams nominated Cllr Stephens for the position of Vice Chairman of the
Committee and this was seconded by Cllr Lilley. After a show of hands, it was
unanimously:
RESOLVED:
THAT Cllr Ian Stephens be elected as Vice Chairman of the Facilities and Asset
Management Committee
5/20
REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS
There were none received.
6/20
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 November 2019 were reviewed.
RESOLVED:
THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2019 were agreed.
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7/20
UPDATES ON FACILITY CONTRACTS
The following updates were received by the committee:
i.
Lifeguard Station
Members were presented with an annual report from the Ryde Beach
Lifeguards.
The Committee wished to place on record they’re thanks to the Lifeguards
for all the work that they had carried out throughout the summer season and
during very difficult times owing to the Covid 19 pandemic. It was agreed that
the Town Council should recognise their vital work publicly by issuing a press
release with a public show of thanks from the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, local
ward member and Chair of the Committee. The Mayor and Chair would
contact the Beach Lifeguard Manager to arrange the meeting and press
release.
The Beach Lifeguard Manager would also be invited to a future meeting to
advise on how the visitor statistics within the report were arrived upon as well
as address any other matters around beach safety.
ii.
Beach Safety
The committee were concerned that the area around the Harbour was a risk
to public health with incidents of people falling into the sea at high tide. It was
therefore suggested that safety signs were erected around the harbour to
warn of the hazards. It was also suggested that signs were also put in place
at various point along the beach to indicate where Life guards were present.
On the issue of the build-up of sand that was coming up against the Harbour,
a local contractor had been approached to provide quotes on collecting the
sand and transferring it to Appley Beach. There was also the possibility that
the Isle of Wight Council could finance the operation.
iii.
Planting & Watering
Members noted that on the whole the Summer planting had been a success
and the winter planting process was now underway. It was also noted that
the large pots in the Western Gardens needed to be filled with more soil to
allow the plants to be more visible.
With regard to the large planters that were provided to Southern Vectis to be
utilised at the bus station on the Esplanade in order to create a barrier
between bus traffic and pedestrians, these had not been put into use. Instead
seating had been placed there to form the barrier. It was therefore agreed
that the planters should be retrieved from Southern Vectis in order for them
to be used elsewhere in the Town.
Members were also pleased to note that South East in Bloom had sent a
certificate of achievement to Ryde Town Council in recognition of its public
plants and flowers and a press release would be issued to promote the
accolade.
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iv.
Allotments
Despite the Covid 19 pandemic, the allotments had been in regular use and
they continued to be a popular asset of the Town Council with a long waiting
list of potential future tenants.
The annual rents were 70 percent paid up for 2020/21 financial year and the
remaining balance would be chased in the coming weeks.
Japanese knotweed continued to be monitored and there was no major
outbreak to report on. Legionella testing had also been carried out in
accordance with the Town Councils legal responsibilities.
v.
Skatepark
The Facilities and Procurement Officer advised members that she and the
Clerk had met with the Isle of Wight Council to discuss renewing the lease
for a further year. The Town Council would prefer a much longer period or
the possibility of a Freehold, but agreement on this was looking unlikely for
2020.
It was also noted that there were possible future options around purchasing
the park and potentially moving it. Owing to its location, the wooden ramps
were deteriorating due to it being close to the sea and this could pose future
Health and Safety problems to its users if it was not maintained correctly,
which in itself could present sizeable costs.
Cllr Lilley proposed and Cllr Adams seconded that a small Task and Finish
Group be established in order to look at all options for the future of the
Skatepark. Its membership would be established outside the committee but
would consist of members of the Facilities and Asset Management
Committee and would meet informally with relevant stakeholders who have a
vested interest in the Skatepark invited to contribute.
The Mayor advised members that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
between Ryde Town Council and the Isle of Wight Council that would look to
deal with many asset and facility issues in a more coherent way as opposed
to dealing with matters separately, had been in draft form for some time. In
order to expedite the MoU, it was noted that a delegation of Ryde Town
Councillors should meet with leading Cabinet Members of the Isle of Wight
Council in order to reach an agreement. Such an MoU would help aid the
Town Councils position with regard to the Skatepark. Any outcomes would
be reported back to a future Facilities and Asset Management Committee
meeting
Following discussion it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT a small Task and Finish Group be established to look at all
options around the future of the Skatepark
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vi.
Public Toilets
The Facilities Team advised members that some of the issues around
cleaning had been addressed and there were regular meetings with the
contractors in order to discuss issues.
All toilets had initially shut down from 23 March 2020 owing to the national
Covid 19 lockdown, but since early June 2020, all had reopened successfully
with social distancing measures in place.
The toilets in St Johns Road continued to shut early owing to Anti-Social
issues. A local security company may need to be approached to monitor the
facilities in the same way as with the Western Gardens Toilets.
The Committee wished to place on record they’re thanks to the Facilities Staff
in getting the toilets back into public use during difficult times.
vii.
Network Ryde
The Committee received and noted a written report from the Youth Work
Manager of Network Ryde.
It was noted that the first meeting of the Network Ryde Sub Committee which
superseded the Steering Group held its first meeting on Wednesday, 30
September 2020. Owing to their being young people on the Sub Committee,
it was held in private session as would all future meetings.
The Committee was advised that Ryde Town Council and Network Ryde
were working closely together with regular weekly Team Meetings in order to
communicate better.
Members wished to place on record they’re thanks to all staff in keeping some
services open during the Covid 19 Pandemic and noted in particular the
success of the Virtual Youth Club which had been attended by some 56
young people.
Finally members were advised that a Garlands of light festival would take
place over Christmas which would be a Covid friendly display of immersive
lighting to celebrate Christmas. There would also be a HSHAZ led Christmas
Heritage Project.
8/20
COMMITTEE SCHEDULE
Members were advised that a schedule would be circulated for comment after the
meeting and presented for agreement at the next scheduled meeting
9/20
KICK START SCHEME
The scheme was now near to its required amount of recruits
The application to the Department for Work and Pensions to be an area
representative for the Kickstart Scheme and be delivered in conjunction with
Network Ryde had been agreed by the Acquisitions and Commercial Management
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Committee on 14 October 2020 . Interest had been expressed, with the required
amount of 30 placements nearly met. One of the new placements would be for a
new Facilities Officer Trainee for the Town Council.
10/20
FIVE YEAR FACILITIES MANGEMENT PLAN
A long term plan was required in order to identify various jobs and projects over the
coming years.
It was noted that there should be a good line of communication between standing
committees. Such an example was St Thomas’s Church where the instigation of the
purchase of the building was carried out by the Acquisitions and Commercial
Management Committee but once the sale had been completed, it should be
monitored regularly by the Facilities and Asset Management Committee.
Another facility that needed to be on the plan included Ryde Harbour. This was close
to being transferred to the Town Council from the Isle of Wight Council, with a
handover date of 1 April 2021 set and a transition period of handover planned. Once
completed, the Facilities and Asset Management Committee would have the
responsibility of monitoring its management.
11/20
ELECTRICITY AND GAS RENEWAL REPORT
The Facilities and Procurement Officer advised that in order to manage the Town
Councils energy supplies in a more efficient way, the option of having all electricity
and gas supplied by one contractor needed to be explored. This would allow one
contract which could then be reviewed annually.
The option to look at more renewable green sources of energy was also being
explored, which would fit in with the Islands Biosphere Status and conform to
aspirations of the Town Council’s Corporate Plan.
Information on prices and potential suppliers would be circulated to members when
available.
12/20
SAFER COMMUNITY FUND AND PROJECTS
Following an increase in anti-social behaviour in the town, members believed that
there needed to be an initiative set up in order to address the amounts of incidents
that had been largely as a result of alcohol and drug misuse.
Such incidents had a detrimental effect on the towns future regeneration strategies
and many local business owners and residents alike were becoming concerned at
the rise in such occurrences.
The Town Councils Clerk had met with the Isle of Wight Councils Cabinet Member
for Community Safety and their Community Safety Operations Manager to discuss
and try to address issues. Whilst there was a public order in place in Ryde to ban
the consumption of alcohol in public places, there appeared to be little enforcement
of the law.
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There was a view that a project could be developed where orders could be enforced
at a local level by means of utilising Environmental Officers which Ryde Town
Council remunerates the Isle of Wight for some weekly work. Alongside this could
be a social project in conjunction with Housing Providers.
An application to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) would need to be
submitted by the end of October 2020 in order to receive funding in order to set up
a Ryde Pilot Scheme.
However there was an issue in where the funding needed to be directed. It could
not be applied to an area that was already under the auspices of other agencies and
therefore the exposed gaps needed to be identified.
The Chair advised that should a grant funding application not be possible or
successful, then other initiatives that were in operation around the country such as
the Cornwall Safer Town Partnership could be explored and which could be
managed by Ryde Town Council with areas of funding correctly identified.
Members were reminded by the Mayor that the PCC had been invited to attend three
Full Council meetings in the past but had declined on each occasion.
It was therefore suggested that an informal discussion takes place outside the
meeting to look at options around creating such a scheme for the benefit of the town.
Cllr Lucioni proposed that the Grant Funding Application should continue to be
made, which was seconded by Cllr Lilley.
RESOLVED:
THAT a submission of an application for the Safer Communities Fund be
agreed
13/20
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
RESOLVED:
THAT the next meeting of the Facilities and Assets Management Committee
will be held on Monday 26 January 2021 at 2pm via the Zoom Video Meeting
facility should Covid 19 restrictions still be in place.
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