Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

RESOLVED

  that Councillor R J West be elected Chairman of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

Councillor R J West in the Chair.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 4th April 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 4th April 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive from Members declarations as to disclosable pecuniary and other interests in relation to any Agenda item.

Councillor Mrs S R Wilson declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in Minute No. 19/6 by virtue of her membership of Godmanchester Town Council.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

RESOLVED

  that District Councillor J M Palmer be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

To note the Membership of the Group for 2019/20 as follows:

(a)  Cambridgeshire County Council (appointment until 2021)

Councillor Ms A Costello.

(b)  Huntingdonshire District Council

Councillors J M Palmer, T D Sanderson, R J West and Mrs S R Wilson.

The membership of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group for 2019/20 was noted as follows:

(a)  Cambridgeshire County Council (appointment until 2021)

Councillor Mrs A Costello.

(b)  Huntingdonshire District Council

Councillors J M Palmer, T D Sanderson, R J West and Mrs S R Wilson.

To receive a report by the Senior Ranger on park activities for the period March – September 2019.

The Group received and noted the contents of the Senior Ranger’s report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on park activities for the period March - September 2019. In doing so, comment was made as follows:

Staffing

Members were informed of the challenges with staffing at the Country Park which included the long term absence of a member of staff at the nursery and the unusually high turnover of staff in the café. The Countryside Services Manager explained the issues experienced with younger staff at the café and the need to incentivise them more to proactively fulfil their roles.

Volunteers

Having been encouraged to note the success of the Summer Volunteer Thank You evening, the Senior Ranger reported that the Green Team voluntary disabled group were due to return to the Park in October 2019. It was not yet known how much time the team would be able to devote owing to a shift towards a more educational approach to their work.

Park Management

The Group were encouraged to note the range of work undertaken at the site over the summer months which included the installation of new bins which had been funded via a grant by Park Run, bench maintenance, repainting and re-staining park signage and cutting back overgrown vegetation from paths and maintenance of the wildflower meadows.

Planned works for the winter months included further maintenance work of the wildflower meadows, path maintenance on the top bridle ride in Bob’s Wood, opening of glades in woodland areas to encourage the growth of woodland flowers and tree felling. Comment was made by a Member that a more robust solution was required for the maintenance of footpaths. The Senior Ranger responded by informing the Group that he would be looking at alternative options once the current stock of path maintenance material had been utilised.

Questions were raised around the removal of play equipment from the play park as a result of routine health and safety checks. Concern was expressed that the equipment had been removed in August 2019 and not yet returned. The Senior Ranger reported that the Development Manager had been liaising with the contractor, but that a date for its return was not yet known.

Community Groups

It was reported that the Manager of the Fireflies Forest School had now become a committee member of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke Country Park. Members noted that the Huntingdonshire Bee Keepers Association had commenced refurbishment works to their viewing gallery and that weekly Mindfulness Walks had recently started in the Park.

The Chairman commented that he had attended the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Friends of Hinchingbrooke Country Park on 2nd May 2019 and commended the Countryside Manager for her talk on the Park’s 30th Anniversary Celebrations. It had been enlightening to see how the Park had developed over the years.

Café

Despite the extremely hot weather, £155,000 of income had been generated by the café over the first half of the financial year, which represented  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To note that the next meeting of the Hinchingbrooke Park Joint Group will be held on 13th March 2020 at 10:00am.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Joint Group would be held on 13th March 2020 at 10:00am.