Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Lower Central Gardens Trust Board, until the first meeting of the 2024/25 municipal year.

Councillor Gillet was elected as Chairman of the Board until the first meeting of the 2024/25 municipal year.

Voting Unanimous

To elect a Vice-Chairman of the Lower Central Gardens Trust Board, until the first meeting of the 2024/25 municipal year.

Councillor Bartlett was elected as Vice Chairman of the board until the first meeting of the 2024/25 municipal year. 

Voting: Unanimous

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Williams

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Councillor Bartlett declared a non-Pecuniary interest, in that he was a Director of BH Live Enterprises.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2023.

The clerk advised the Board that, due to the longstanding unavailability of the previous clerk, the minutes of the previous meeting were not available for the Board to review.

Councillor Bartlett expressed his concerns over the unavailability of the minutes and highlighted points made at that meeting, including his requests for items to be considered at future Board meetings that he felt had not been addressed, with particular reference to the budget of the trust. In response, officers advised they would work alongside the clerk to schedule an additional meeting to discuss the finances of the Trust. This would be confirmed with the Board following the meeting with an agreed date.

The report provides service update information to the Lower Gardens Trust Board to demonstrate the Council commitment to maintain the public gardens known as "The Lower Central Gardens" in Bournemouth for the recreation and enjoyment of the public in accordance with the terms of the Charity Scheme made by the Charity Commission on the 13 May 2011.

Items include:
- Council Directorates updates
- Proposed Scheme of Officer Delegations
- Events programme
- Concessions trading
- Operational service updates:

o   Grounds maintenance

o   Cleansing

o   Public conveniences

o   Community safety

Kate Langdown - Director for Environmental Services, presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report provided service update information to the Lower Gardens Trust Board to demonstrate the Council's commitment to maintain the public gardens known as "The Lower Central Gardens" in Bournemouth for the recreation and enjoyment of the public in accordance with the terms of the Charity Scheme made by the Charity Commission on the 13 May 2011.

Topics highlighted included:
- Council Directorates updates
- Proposed Scheme of Officer Delegations
- Events programme
- Concessions trading
- Operational service updates:

o   Grounds maintenance

o   Cleansing

o   Public conveniences

o   Community safety

The Board was reminded of the training with legal services that took place in July, which explained the role of the Trust Board. The Board confirmed that they had signed the conflict-of-interest and Charity Scheme documents prior to the meeting.

The Board was asked to note the challenging financial situation the council was facing. It was confirmed that the Trust would receive updates on the matter at future meetings.

Officers advised that included within the report were the details of internal restructuring, which took place in April 2023, including the new service leads covering the Lower Central Garden, and their roles within that new structure.

The Board queried who had the overall responsibility for the management of the activities set out within the report officers advised that matters that that impacted the park were managed by the Council’s Environment team, while commercial operations were managed by the Operations team and were not the exclusive responsibility of one person. Officers confirmed that anything outside of operational would then be brought to the Board.

The Board queried why the report did not include the financial details as well as commercial operation details.

The officers confirmed that the commercial operation of the Lower Central Gardens sat with the Commercial Operations team and did, and the report did not include finance as it sat under a separate service area.

The Board asked why the Pavilion was not mentioned in the report and queried who would be responsible for the Pavilion within the new structure. The Board suggested that if the Pavilion was under lease, then it would fall under the responsibility of the Trust. If the Trust was not responsible for the pavilion's maintenance, the Board asked why the charges for the site were reflected in the Trust's account. The Board went on to suggest that the internal aspects of the building would be managed by the leaseholder, but the maintenance of the building was the responsibility of the Council and was therefore reflected in the Trust’s accounts. Officers advised that they would seek more information as to who managed the Pavilion, what licensing contract it was under and whether the trust should be considering the Pavilion as part of their responsibilities and would feedback accordingly. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Board is requested to review the proposed meetings of the municipal year 2023-24 and determine whether these are deemed suitable. Currently, the Board meets twice a year, with the next meeting scheduled for 15 January 2024.

Additionally, the Board may suggest items they wish to be included on future meeting agendas.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed to be 15 January 2024.

The Board suggested that the schedule of meetings be expanded to include a third meeting per year, potentially between January and May, to allow for earlier sight of potential issues. Officers advised that any new meeting would need to be considered based on whether there was a need for business to be conducted. It was agreed that officers review the request in consultation with the Chair.

Regarding the tender of the ice rink, it was suggested that an informal meeting be held prior to January 2024 to discuss this.

It was agreed that the topics of revenue recognition and the Pavilion (condition/defects etc) be brought as items to a future meeting.