Venue: Countryside Centre, Hinchingbrooke Countryside Park
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election of chairman To elect a Chairman of the Group for the ensuing Municipal Year. Minutes: RESOLVED
that District Councillor M G Baker be elected Chairman of the Group for the ensuing Municipal Year.
COUNCILLOR M G BAKER IN THE CHAIR. |
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 26th April 2013.
Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of the Joint Group held on 26th April 2013 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
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Members' Interests To receive from Members declarations as to disclosable pecuniary, non-disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in relation to any Agenda item. See Notes below. Minutes: No declarations were received. |
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Appointment of Vice Chairman To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Group for the ensuing Municipal Year. Minutes: RESOLVED
that District Councillor R J West be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Joint Group for the ensuing Municipal Year. |
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Membership of the Group To note the Membership of the Group for 2013/14 as follows:
(a) Cambridgeshire County Council
Councillor Sir P Brown
(b) Huntingdonshire District Council
Councillors M G Baker, Mrs M Banerjee, R B Howe and R J West. Minutes: The membership of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group for 2013/14 was noted as follows:-
(a) Cambridgeshire County Council
Councillor Sir P Brown.
(b) Huntingdonshire District Council
Councillors M G Baker, Mrs M Banerjee, R B Howe and R J West. |
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Senior Ranger's Report PDF 71 KB To receive a report by the Senior Ranger on park activities for the period April to October 2013. Minutes: In receiving and noting the contents of the Senior Ranger’s report, comment was made as follows:
(a) Staffing
Members were advised that Nick Atkins, full time Café Assistant, had left at the end of September. The position had been advertised and interviews would be taking place soon.
(b) Volunteers
The Group noted that the number of volunteer days worked currently stood at 683, providing 4098 hours of work.
(c) Countryside Centre
Details of the number of users of the Countryside Centre for the period April to September 2013 compared to the previous years were presented. Income from the Centre was reported as being low when compared to the previous year’s figures. The Senior Ranger reported that this was attributable to users reducing their expenditure by hiring out the facilities for half days and not ordering any lunches. However, Members were encouraged that the number of schools using the Centre had increased.
(d) Café
Members noted that although the Café had seen an increase in income over the summer, the target surplus of £19,000 was unlikely to be met. The Accountant explained that officers would be reviewing the Countryside budgets to ensure targets are challenging but also realistic.
The Green Spaces Manager reported that the management of the Café had been included in a review of the Council’s catering services, alongside the café and hospitality services at the Leisure Centres and Pathfinder House. As a result of which, a suggestion to contract out the operation of the catering service was agreed. Members were advised that contractors would be invited through the tender process to bid for either all the services, a combination or alternatively just the service that they specialised in.
In the discussions that ensued, Members raised concerns that they had not been involved in the process and stressed that the café was working well. Furthermore, Members felt that any change in management could potential lower the current standard of service and result in an increase in prices. A suggestion was made that all the Council’s catering services should work together to obtain the best price possible for supplies.
In response to Members’ concerns, the Accountant reported that the tendering process would be required to follow the Council’s Codes of Financial Management and Procurement.
Having suggested that the process was a market testing exercise, the Services Development Manager for the Operations Division agreed to circulate to the Group a briefing paper on the proposals.
(e) Events and Activities
The Senior Ranger informed the Group of the various events and activities that had been held since the last meeting. Members noted that the Summer Events Programme had promoted 27 events, attracting 1410 attendees.
(f) Park Management
The Senior Ranger informed the Group of the various work being undertaken at the Country Park, including repairs to the path around the lake after the winter and the installation of a 40ft container for the adapted bicycles project.
(g) Friends of Hinchingbrooke Country Park
It was reported that since the last ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Date of next meeting To note that the next meeting of the Group will be held on Friday 21st March 2014. Minutes: The Group noted that their next meeting would be held on Friday, 21st March 2014. |