To receive questions or statements from the public.
Minutes:
(a) Ruth Stone, Founder of Burpham Wellbeing made a statement to the Council in respect of the need for greater access to public facilities in Burpham to enable more community use and connections. Ms Stone made the following points:
· Grateful to the Council for supporting Burpham Wellfest with grants for the past two years
· Following difficulties in hiring Sutherland Memorial Hall, the Burpham Community Hub was established, and it recently secured a lease to manage the Hall pending final agreement of terms and conditions.
· From its inception the Burpham Community Hub had applied to manage all of Sutherland Memorial Park's facilities for the benefit of the community, including three tennis courts, the Hall and a cricket pavilion.
· The tennis courts are not used most days because they need to be booked by an e-mail system which operates during office hours only.
· Since Wellfest was established, three years ago, the cost of hiring the Park had increased by 400%.
· If the Council did not have the resources to manage these assets, there was a committed community body that could manage them for the community’s benefit.
The Leader of the Council responded by stating that she had listened carefully to the representations made. The Leader was in the process of putting the new administration together, and that the new Lead Councillor for this area, once appointed, would wish to look into these matters and communicate with Ms Stone and the local community.
(b) Gavin Morgan, Guildford Heritage Forum made a statement to the Council in respect of seeking the Council’s continued commitment to supporting Guildford’s heritage. Mr Morgan made the following points:
· Whilst events such as Heritage Open Day and Car Free Day were good examples of how the Council and the community could work together in a meaningful way, it was clear that an honest partnership was needed between the Council and the community, drawing on the community’s considerable experience and knowledge.
· The Council was urged not to focus on just the heritage itself but on the value that heritage could bring to the town
The Leader of the Council responded by referring to her earlier statement that the Council would create more opportunities to engage with other groups who had interests in areas such as culture and heritage. The Leader welcomed the creation of a partnership between the Council and the community to take this further and would be happy to organise some meetings in that regard.
(c) Charlie Pope, representative of Burpham Football Club made a statement to the Council in respect of Football Facilities in Burpham and, in particular, Sutherland Memorial Park. Mr Pope made the following comments:
· Sutherland Memorial Park pitch facilities were widely considered among the worst pitches in the area.
· Fees for hiring the pitches were to increase by nearly 20% next season.
· The changing facilities were in desperate need of updating. The Football Foundation Guildford report had described them as “poor quality”. The position had been compounded by the loss of one of the changing rooms to the bowls club, which now meant that there was only one full size changing room, supplying two pitches.
· It was not possible to use the training facilities in the winter due to the floodlights on one side of the Park not being maintained and the astroturf being of very poor quality.
· For the past few years, the Club had not been able to access Sutherland Memorial Hall, which had been used previously as a clubhouse.
· It was hoped that this would change due to the work of the Burpham Community Hub.
· These issues also affected other sports groups that used the facilities.
· It was hoped that a plan could be devised with the Council to look at ways of providing and funding better facilities for sports in the area.
The Leader of the Council responded by acknowledging the issues and difficulties that Burpham Football Club was facing regarding the facilities at Sutherland Memorial Park. The Leader appreciated that such facilities were often required to be shared or have a dual use to enable other groups to use them. The Leader reiterated the need to have conversations with the users of these facilities in order to find a way forward.
(d) Matt Trevail, resident of Burpham, made a statement to the Council in respect of reduced public tennis facilities in Burpham and concerns over the Council’s role in getting better use out of sporting facilities. Mr Trevail made the following comments:
· Concern over the Council’s increasing lack of support or future planning had become extremely frustrating in recent years, with many issues having been raised in discussions and in emails with the MP, council officers, and the former lead councillor, including the re-opening of Sutherland Memorial Hall.
· Mr Trevail asked why the Council was forcing tennis out of Burpham and refusing to properly explore established online court and pitch management systems, which could be provided at no cost by the Lawn Tennis Association.
· The Council missed out on the chance to get involved in the recent Tennis Opened-up Project, which was a joint project with the government and the LTA involving Parks Tennis investment of £30.5 million.
· As a direct result of the pandemic Burpham Football Club was unfortunately, forced to fold with no support from the Council. Residents had been left with poorly maintained courts and artificial pitch with no booking system and poor management structure.
· The Council had recently decided to spend £15,000 pounds on a fence to separate one tennis court from the other two without any consultation with local users or experts from the LTA or FA.
· Concern that the Council had indicated that no tennis facilities would be available during the winter months.
· Whilst the Council had allowed one non-local commercial company to undertake, on an ongoing trial basis, the management of tennis facilities at Stoke Park, it would not allow any form of trial for the management of Sutherland facilities for local community groups who were dedicated to improving the facility for use by local people.
· Request that the Council reappoints somebody to take direct responsibility for sports development in the borough.
The Leader of the Council responded by stating that there would be a need for the new administration to review services across all service areas, particularly within the challenging financial constraints the Council was currently facing together with other issues such as inflation, and the cost of living. The Leader agreed that these facilities and sport were very important, as were so many of the other services that the Council provided.