Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director, Commercial and Operations

Eddie Curry, Head of Parks, Open Spaces and Investment Funding, presented the joint report of the Corporate Director of Commercial and Operations and Director of Sport and Culture, which requests the Committee’s approval to release £200,000 from the Highfields Park Leisure Trust Dowry to bridge the funding gap on the restoration of the park.

The main cause of the £750,000 predicted ‘over spend’ is as a result of the Environment Agency revising policies which now require a different approach to the de-silting of the lake, to that which had already been agreed with the Agency’s support. Amongst the revised approach to de-silting is that the material from the lake cannot now be used to landscape other parts of the park, but is to be removed from site and disposed of in accordance with specific restrictions.

Officers have examined the proposals for the restoration, and, with the agreement of the National Lottery Funding Supervisors, have managed to change specifications and plans to reduce costs in other areas of the restoration.

To ensure the restoration can continue without further delays to the schedule and  incurring additional costs, the Committee is asked to approve the release of £200,000 from the Trust’s Dowry for the capital investment. This will leave £188,500 of uncommitted funds in the Dowry. Members of the Committee were informed that alternative options for funding would result in a delay to the works and the potential for incurring additional costs.  The proposal to release the funding from the Dowry also requires approval from the Charities Commission.  The Committee approval was sought for the Director of Sports and Culture to enter into those discussions with the Commission. 

Councillor’s questions were responded to as follows:

(a)  having previously received the full business case and plans for the restoration, the Charity Commission has been sent a copy of the report submitted to this Committee but although a response is yet to be received, colleagues are confident that the request continues to meet the charitable objectives of the Trust;

(b)  it is unlikely that there will be any further silting issues with the lake as additional silt traps will be installed as part of the lottery funded programme and, due to the tram works on University Boulevard, road drainage is now directed into the sewers and not into the lake;

(c)  if the Charity Commission is not fully satisfied with the proposed release of Dowry funds the Committee will need to reconsider how to proceed. In the event of any Charity Commission concerns being raised they would be reported back to the Committee.

RESOLVED

(1)  subject to the agreement of the Charity Commission, the release of £200,000 from the Highfields Park Leisure Trust dowry is approved to bridge the funding gap and help deliver the Park restoration project;

(2)  that authority be granted to the Director of Sports & Culture to enter into discussions with the Charity Commission seeking formal approval to release and use of  £200,000 from the Highfields Park Leisure Trust Dowry Fund on the restoration project

(3)  that detailed update reports, to include progress on the delivery of the restoration project and financial monitoring of the project  be submitted quarterly to the Committee.