BOROUGH OF POOLE

ASHDOWN COMMUNITY USE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

MONDAY, 1ST MARCH 2010

The Meeting commenced at 4.30pm and ended at 5.40pm

Present:

Councillor Jeff Allen – Elected Member (Chair)

Elizabeth Jones – Ashdown Technology College (Governing Body)

Iain Stokes – SLM

Councillor Peter Adams – Elected Member

Jon Bland – Ashdown Technology College

Debbie Priest – PE & Arts Adviser, Children & Young People’s SQIS

Tom Darlington – Poole Hockey Club

Anne Murphy – Ashdown Technology College

Lisa Gardner – Democratic Services

  1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor Mrs Moore, Anthony Rogers (Leisure Services), Jennie Sykes (Poole Athletics Club), Caroline Stanley (Ashdown Technology College), Eleanor Smith (Ashdown Technology College), Colvin Aldous (Governor Representative, Vice-Chair), Keith Newman (Ashdown Technology College) and David Greenwood (SLM).

  1. MINUTES

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 11th January 2010, be taken as read, confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

  1. WELCOME

The Chairman welcomed Elizabeth Jones back to the Community Use Management Committee and Members wished her all the best in her continued recovery.

  1. MATTERS ARISING

Minute 3, 11.01.10 – Perimeter Fencing

The Committee was advised that agreement had been reached with regard to the boundary position on the sitefollowing a meeting with all interested parties and it was anticipated that the capital bid for the Perimeter Fencing would be presented to theChildren’s Services Capital Programme Board in the near future.

RESOLVED-

That an update regarding when the CapitalBid for the Perimeter Fencing would be presented to the Children’s Services Capital Programme Board be provided at the next Meeting of the CUMC.

Minute 3, 11.01.10 – Work Experience Placements

The Chairman referred to a response from Anthony Rogers (Recreation Manager, Leisure Services) regarding the possibility of SLM offering Work Experience placements for pupils in the Leisure Centre.

The Committee noted that SLM was happy to consider placements for local young people and had requested a proposal from Children & Young People’s Strategy, Quality & Improvement Service,outlining the expectation of roles undertaken and identifying the benefits to young people. The Work Experience placements needed to be constructive and manageable and whilst working in a Leisure Centre could seem glamorous from the outside, young people completing Work Experience in Leisure Centres often ended up cleaning or photocopying. Weekday daytime placements restricted opportunity and more could be offered if structured for holidays and evenings when, for example, work experience students might be able to assist coaching staff. It was noted that SLM already directly employed a large number of young people from local schools.

Elizabeth Jones confirmed that the School wished to progressWork Experience placements with SLM if possible and suggested it would be preferable if placements for Ashdown pupils could be arranged for other localities.

Debbie Priest added that Rossmore Community College might also wish to progress Work Experience placements with SLM and suggested that Rossmore Community Collegebe contacted to this effect.

RESOLVED-

That an update with regard to SLM offering Work Experience placements in the Leisure Centres be provided at the next meeting of the CUMC.

Minute 4, 11.01.10 – Astro Turf / Tennis Courts

A discussion took place with regard to the Astro Turf/Tennis Courts and Members highlighted the following points:

  • The repairs to the Athletics Track were ongoing and Leisure Services was aiming to achieve recertification by the beginning of the Summer Season;
  • The bids for English Hockey and SITAfunding had been successful at the initial, “in-principle” stages and further updates were currently awaited;
  • The remaining funding for the facilities might be obtained through Prudential Borrowing, which could be spread over the lifespan of the facilities;
  • The Tennis Courts/Astro Turfcould potentially be enhanced by incorporating the spare section of land adjoining the facilitiesand S106 Planning Obligations Funding might be appropriate for such works;
  • The spare land next to the Tennis Courts/Astro Turf might alternatively be used to provide a new leisure facility (e.g. a Netball Pitch) for which Heathland Mitigation fundingcould be considered;
  • Thespare land next to the Tennis Courts/Astro Turf and the area of waste ground nearthe main entrance, could be considered for additional Car Parking, due to the increasing parking pressures on the site.

RESOLVED –

That Leisure Services gives consideration to the above suggestions regarding the Outdoor Facilities andto the potential sources of funding.

Minute 5 (11.1.10) – Chiropractor (`Bounce Back’)

Iain Stokes advised that the Chiropractor based at Ashdown Leisure Centre (`Bounce Back’) would be willing to attend PE classes at the School, to give information on the skeletal system, healthy exercise (etc).

Minute 8, (11.1.10) – Haymoor Middle School Representation

The Committee agreed that it wished to ask the Borough’s Cabinet to consider approving an amendment to the Ashdown CUMC constitution, to enable a representative for Haymoor Middle School to be appointed as a User Representative on the CUMC.

RESOLVED –

That the Clerk progresses the request for the Borough’s Cabinet to consider approving an amendment to the Ashdown CUMC Constitution to enable Haymoor Middle School to be a User Representative on the Committee.

(Post-Meeting Note: Haymoor Middle School could fill the existing Vacancy for Community User Representative without a change to the Constitution and the Clerk / Debbie Priest would contact Haymoor Middle School prior to the next Meeting).

Minute 4, 11.01.10- Storage Container

Elizabeth Jones explained that the School was likely to paint its outdoor storage container in the coming monthswhen the weather conditions permitted.

  1. LEISURE CENTRE MANAGER’S REPORT

Iain Stokes, Senior Manager, gave a verbal Leisure Centre Manager’s report and drew attention to the following:

Haymoor Middle School Evening

  • Ashdown Leisure Centre had arranged two further activity evenings entitling pupils of Haymoor Middle School to attend free activities at the Leisure Centre and such evening sessions would also be offered to Canford Heath Middle School.

Memberships

  • Ashdown’s membership level currently stood at 733 - 66 new memberships had been sold during February against a target of 72,which included 30 new memberships taken out on an annual basis;
  • SLM was retaining members well despite strong competition and the average length of stay was 10.35months which exceededcompetitors.

SLM Newsletter

  • A Newsletter had been issued to 10,000 households overall in the Canford Heath, Waterloo, Oakdale and Broadstone areas and included advertising and discount vouchers for the Leisure Centre.

Shaping up for Leisure Event

  • The Leisure Services `Shaping up for Leisure’ Event would be held at the Leisure Centre on 22nd March,during which Leisure Services would be consulting with stakeholders on its vision for the next 10 years. There would also be a wide variety of stalls, interactive displaysand free taster sessionsfor different activities.

Holiday and After-School Activities

The Committee discussed Holiday and After-School activity programmes at the Leisure Centre and made the following suggestions:

  • Debbie Priest explained that deprivation funding would be provided for families on a low income from April 2010, giving an opportunity for the Council to sign-post families who were interested in attending leisure activities, but were not always able to do so;
  • SLM offered After-School activities from 3.00pm on weekdays which tended to be successful if they were linked to daytime activities and consideration could be given to holding further activities in the Sports Hall during the School Holidays;
  • Iain Stokes/SLM could potentially attend a meeting of Haymoor’s Middle School’s `School Council’ to find out what activities its pupils might be interested in attending;
  • The Hamworthy Club had hosted an excellent selection of activities at a recent Open Day and similar sessions could be offered at other venues across the Borough, including at Ashdown.

RESOLVED-

That Iain Stokes provides a copy of the Ashdown Newsletter to Debbie Priest; and

That Iain Stokes, Anthony Rogers, Jon Bland and Nigel Roberts meet to discuss what further activities could be provided at the Leisure Centre.

  1. GOVERNING BODY & HEAD TEACHER’S ITEMS

Hot Water / Heating System

The Committee was informed that Leisure Services, Property Services, SLM & the School were considering arrangements for appointing contractors in emergency situations to avoid duplication and the recent boiler repairs had amounted to nearly £8,000.

  1. USER REPRESENTATIVE’S ITEMS

Hockey Pitch “D’s”

Tim Darlington explained that the four D’s on the Hockey Pitch needed to be renewedin preparation for the forthcoming junior matches on Friday evenings, the potential additional competitions on Sundays and for other matches.

The Committee noted that the D’s were sprayed onto the sand with a specific type of paint and that renewing the D’s cameunder the Council’s responsibility.

RESOLVED –

That Iain Stokes contacts Leisure Services to discuss arrangements for renewing the D’s on the Hockey Pitch.

  1. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Quest Assessment – Litter Collection

Tom Darlington referred to the Quest Assessment Report for the Leisure Centre and noted that one of the recommendations was for a review to be undertaken of the resources allocated for general cleaning, high-level, non-member changing areas and also external litter picks.

The Committee acknowledged that litter was a continuing problem on the campus and suggested that the Clerk contacted the Head of Environmental & Consumer Protection Services for information on how Ashdown could be added to the daily schedule of trade waste collections in the area.

RESOLVED –

That the Clerk contacts the Head of Environmental & Consumer Protection Services for information on how the Ashdown site could be included on the schedule of daily Trade Waste collections, the associated costs etc.

  1. DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING

Monday, 10th May 2010 at 4.30pm at Ashdown Technology College.