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Decision details

Play Area Strategy - Working Group

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: No

Decisions:

As Members were aware, Councillors approved the draft Leisure Strategy at the Community, Health and Housing Committee on 5th March 2018.

 

The strategy was an overarching document that drew together all the Council’s leisure and recreation opportunities within the Borough and how this could be supplied and improved to meet current and future demand of residents.

 

One element of the strategy was to review the provision, supply and condition of play areas within the Borough.  This work stream was identified early within  the working process of producing the leisure Strategy and had been highlighted in previous update reports.

 

Whilst the Leisure Strategy took a holistic view of the Boroughs leisure and recreation facilities it did not identify the specific work programmes that were required to address supply, demand and condition within each workstream.

 

To achieve this, supporting strategies were needed that focused more on the detail of the workstream. To this end it had been identified by Officers that  there was a need to produce a Play Area Strategy focusing specifically on the provision, supply and condition of play areas within the Borough.

 

Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Hossack SECONDED to approve the recommendations in the report subject to the following amendments:

 

1.    The current leisure strategy working group aids the development of a new play area strategy to be brought back to the next committee.

 

3.   That Members instruct Officers to undertake an ‘audit’ of the Council’s play sites to determine those areas that require more immediate attention on individual items and to report the findings of this audit back to the next committee.

 

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

 

1.    The current leisure strategy working group aids the development of a new play area strategy to be brought back to the next committee.

 

2.    That Members agree to and instruct Officers to commence and move forward with the refurbishment of the toddler area at Courage Playing Field, outside of the work stream for the Play Area Strategy. That this be achieved using existing resources within the capital works programme.

 

3.    That Members instruct Officers to undertake an ‘audit’ of the Council’s play sites to determine those areas that require more immediate attention on individual items and to report the findings of this audit back to the next committee. 

 

Reasons for Recommendation

To ensure that the Council had a robust strategy in place for the future provision and refurbishment of its play facilities around the Borough.

 

To ensure that resources, both financial and staffing could be adequately planned for as part of the Council’s medium to long term financial plan.

 

To ensure that the existing play area at Courage Playing Fields was refurbished and remains fit for purpose and use for the residents of Shenfield and the surrounding area.

Report author: Stuart Anderson

Publication date: 10/07/2018

Date of decision: 03/07/2018

Decided at meeting: 03/07/2018 - Community, Health and Housing Committee

Accompanying Documents: