Agenda and minutes

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

Following initial discussions the following have been invited to assist Councillors in scoping the review:-

·         Parks and Recreation Service – Ian Walmsley

·         Services for People – Donna Sager

·         Life Leisure – Malcom McPhail and Ian Dixon

·         Stockport Homes – Gill Bennett and Jo Cole

Suggested issues at this stage for discussion include

·         Considering Open Space and Play provision specifically for 14-19 year olds.

·         What is the current level of provision/type?

·         Role of the Council and Partners to engage with young people/how are facilities promoted, use encouraged? Barriers – perceived and real?

·         Spending of S106 monies and the role of Parks Group

Councillors are requested to consider the issues outlined above (and any others they wish to raise) and determine the scope for the review identifying the key points they wish to investigate and which groups or individuals they would like to invite to future meetings.

Officer Contact: Stephen Fox on Tel: 474 3206 or email: stephen.fox@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager explained that following the first informal meeting of the Panel a number of officers from within the Council had been invited to attend the meeting to discuss issues relation to open space provision for 14-19 years olds including:-

·         What is the current level of provision/type?

·         Role of the Council and Partners to engage with young people/how are facilities

·         promoted, use encouraged? Barriers – perceived and real?

·         Spending of S106 monies and the role of Parks Group

Councillors asked questions of and held discussions with Donna Sager, the Deputy Director of Public Health, Ian Walmsley – the Council’s Greenspace Manager and representatives of Stockport Homes and Life Leisure.

A number of comments were made/issues raised:-

·         The allocation of section 106 monies both in respect to Local Areas of Play and Equipped Areas of Play and for Formal Recreational Play Provision.

·         Parks and Green Spaces aim to provide an offer or range of facilities for the whole family rather than targeting specific age groups.

·         The Greenspace Strategy is currently being refreshed.

·         The Deputy Director for Public Health agreed to undertake a survey with Council apprentices and report back the findings to a future meeting of the review panel.

·         The outreach work undertaken by Stockport Homes during school holidays and how they responded to complaints of anti-social behaviour.

·         Community Programmes undertaken by Life Leisure which were delivered all year round – notably ‘Street Games’ a programme working in partnership with a national charity. It was noted that over the course of the last 12-18 months opportunities for grants and funding had diminished.

·         Life Leisure has a strong network of sports clubs throughout the borough so that information could readily be distributed.

·         It was suggested that the consultation being undertaken in respect to the ‘Local Plan’ aimed to engage with teenagers and that the results of that survey could possibly feed into the review.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and comments be incorporated into the review.

Future meetings will be held as follows:-

·         Wednesday 1 November 2017 – Evidence gathering

·         Wednesday 6 December 2017 – Evidence gathering

·         Wednesday 24 January 2018 – Evidence gathering and formulation of draft recommendation

·         Wednesday 28 February 2018 – Consideration of draft final report and sign off

RESOLVED – That future meetings of the Review Panel be held on the following dates:-

·         Wednesday 1 November 2017 at 4.00pm

·         Wednesday 6 December 2017 at 4.00pm

·         Wednesday 24 January 2018 at 4.00pm

·         Wednesday 28 February 2018 at 4.00pm