Issue - meetings

The Committee received a presentation from the Senior Asset Development Officer regarding the Cherry Hinton Hall children’s play area consultation.

The presentation outlined:

i.                The amount of S106 funding for the project, £150,000 split between play equipment and landscaping, along with timescales for the tendering process and public consultation throughout 2020.

ii.               The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall were permitted the opportunity to comment for an additional week after the official consultation had ended.

iii.             The results of the consultation, including that 83% of responses were for the proposal, 12% against and 5% didn’t know.  Some comments classed as not relevant, such as the opinion that the S106 money should be used elsewhere – even though this was not an option – were omitted from the process.

iv.             Examples of comments, both positive and negative, received during the consultation.  Responses to some of the public concerns were also provided, including explanations of why some design choices had been made, and details of plans to mitigate concerns, such as CCTV to avoid anti-social behaviour issues.

A representative from the Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall made the following points.

      i.          The business case for the play area was being worked on in February 2020 but the Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall were not invited to be involved until the end of September, which felt like the group was being excluded from the process.

     ii.          The online survey made available as part of the consultation was poor, consisting of two questions and missing out on the opportunity to capture information on which people were engaging with the process, where those people were based and whether the new play area was likely to encourage them to visit the park. Additionally, they believe most of the responses arrived within the first 24-48 hours of the consultation, which suggests multiple responses were from the same people. 

   iii.          The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall would like the opportunity to be more involved in a better planned consultation.

   iv.          The increase in the footprint would impact on the residents closer to the boundary, including noise from the zip wire. Additionally there were concerns that any CCTV camera should be infrared for use at night, without a light which would disturb nearby residents, and that it must be a monitored camera which was an issue as there were problems broadcasting a CCTV signal from that side of the city to the Huntingdon CCTV control centre.

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

      i.          That the option of CCTV had been raised when the matter came for discussion with ward councillors, before the public consultation began.

     ii.          Requested CCTV cover the entrance/exit (if nowhere else was possible, but other areas welcome) to give the police a history of who went in/out and at what time.

   iii.          Modern CCTV cameras did not need special (bright) lights to provide pictures, so they should not cause any light pollution that would disturb residents.

   iv.          That the play area design looked engaging and challenging for all ages and abilities, and that some inclusive play equipment in the current area was mirrored in the new design.

    v.          With the area being a ‘destination park’ for families around the city, was there the option of additional seating for parents, alongside the three picnic benches provided in the design.

   vi.          It was unfortunate that the Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall were invited to take part towards the end of the process rather than from the beginning.

 vii.          Had any thought been given to replacing the unacceptable toilet facilities at Cherry Hinton Hall park. An increase in visitors to use the new play area would likely lead to higher use of the toilets.

viii.          Suggested tweaking the consultation to include whether  people were willing to pay to use the carpark .

The Senior Asset Development Officer and the Streets and Open Spaces Development Manager) said the following in response to Members’ questions:

      i.          Undertook to work with The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall in future.

     ii.          The boundary of the new play area had not been taken any closer to Walpole Road, it had only been extended slightly at the top corner to the minimal amount to allow provision for safe fall zones for play equipment.

   iii.          Historically there had been little investment in the play area. This was an opportunity to replace some (but not all) equipment.

   iv.          Extra benches could be included in the site brief.

    v.          Undertook to liaise with the Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Open Spaces regarding toilet provision and car park charges.

The Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Open Spaces said that toilet provision needed to be improved and made accessible for all. There was funding for this in the current budget. Toilet provision and play areas went hand in hand, so both would be opened together. More bike racks were expected. CCTV provision was subject to consultation.

   vi.          Stakeholders/Officers had to be mindful of the cost/maintenance of CCTV. This could be installed on-site, opportunities were being explored where this could occur.

 vii.          Council officers monitored CCTV in the area and had a hotline to the police to report issues.

viii.          The consultation was hosted on the City Council website and also undertaken through letter drop, which may have led to generic feedback (rather than responding to questions asked, and so affected responses).