Issue - meetings

9.10pm

The Committee received a report for the Urban Growth Project Manager providing an update on progress in delivering the West Central Area priority projects being funded from devolved developer contributions.

The following points were noted.

       i.          Works to deliver the Centre 33 community meeting space project were under way.

     ii.          The benches in parks and open spaces in the Area would be delivered from September 2013, following consultation and project appraisal in the next few months.

   iii.          A working group had been established to deliver the project of improving access to the Midsummer Common community orchard.

   iv.          Improvements to the Histon Road Recreation Ground entrances would be more complex to deliver as this involves a public art element. The Head of Street and Open Spaces confirmed that her staff and the artist who will be appointed to the project would seek to deliver the improvements that the community wanted.

Susan Stubbs

The Friends of Midsummer Common welcomed the Orchard project but had concerns that it could be delayed by repeating consultation that had already been carried out. There were also concerns regarding the status of common land.

The Head of Streets and Open Spaces assured Ms Stubbs that her team would not go over old ground.

Chris Wagner

Penarth Place play area is not mentioned in the report. When will this be delivered?

The Urban Growth Project Manager confirmed that project ideas that have not yet been prioritised would be considered as part of the second prioritisation round later this year. The process for this next round was due to be reported to the Community Services Scrutiny Committee in June 2013.

County Councillor Nethsingha stated that this project had not been agreed as one of the initial projects and there was no guarantee that it would be approved next time. However, the current play provision was being looked at as part of the general maintenance programme. It was suggested that Councillor Cantrill could give more information on this matter and would be requested to respond by email.

Action

Concerns were raised that community groups, such as St Mark’s Church, had invested in report and plans to take their projects forward when they had no firm guarantee that they would be funded.

Members noted that more information about devolved decision-making and prioritised projects could be found on the City Council’s Developer Contributions web page (www.cambridge.gov.uk/developer-contributions).