YCC 2021 Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of the Youth & Community Committee held at 8.00pm on 15 July 2021 at Woody Heights recreation area Linchfield Road and Jubilee Park Thackers Way Deeping St James

Present: Councillors Hall, Halls, Little, Shinkins-Hoppe and Councillor Olson (as an observer) 

22.1 To elect a Chairperson.
It was proposed seconded and RESOLVED that Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe should remain Chairperson.

22.2 To receive apologies of absence.
All present.

22.3 To receive declarations of interest.
None received.

22.4 To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2020.
Agreed and signed as a true copy.  

22.5 To receive the Clerk’s report 
The School fencing dividing the playing field from Woody Heights recreation area has continued to be vandalised despite CCTV being in place. Where ever possible CCTV footage has been provided to the School of culprits damaging the fence for them to pursue the matter either within School or with the Police. One of the issues that has come to light is that the trees in the playing field are overhanging the skate park and also need the canopy heightening so that they are not impacting on the fencing. Grounds maintenance of the area is the responsibility of South Kesteven District Council who have told the School that the trees are heathy so no work is scheduled to take place on them in the foreseeable future. The Clerk is trying to arrange a meeting with a representative from the School and the District Council to see if this can be reconsidered or an alternative solution agreed. 
Woody Heights skate park continues to be used by people of all ages and abilities. I have become aware that a number of adults who are very good skateboarders visit the park from outside of the area which as they arrive in cars can cause parking issues.  
The Fire brigade did attend Woody Heights on Saturday 1 May 2021 although no fire was found (prank call?) although the Firefighters in attendance did speak to those present.  
The outdoor gym equipment sited around Jubilee Park after funds were raised by the Friends of Jubilee Park and consultation suggested it should be installed as a trim trail around the park does not appear to be used as much as anticipated – not sure if there is any way that this can be promoted or it’s use encouraged. At the time of its installation there was talk of a trail path being installed to link each piece of equipment. 
The community group KinD (Kids in Deeping) are working within the Friends of Jubilee Park constitution to raise funds to improve the play area which the Parish Council have agree in principal to take over responsibility for once renewed. Of all the equipment within the gated play area at Jubilee Park the 3 wooden pieces owned by the Parish Council are the ones that have deteriorated the most.  
Litter continues to be a major problem at all the parks and open spaces despite there being numerous bins at all the sites. Most of the litter is recyclable being confectionary wrappers and drinks bottles but some of it points towards the use of cannabis and the consumption of alcohol. There has also on occasion been evidence of fires being lit, together with a small amount of minor graffiti. 
The outdoor gym equipment sited around Jubilee Park after funds were raised by the Friends of Jubilee Park and consultation suggested it should be installed as a trim trail around the park does not appear to be used as much as anticipated – not sure if there is any way that this can be promoted or it’s use encouraged. At the time of its installation there was talk of a trail path being installed to link each piece of equipment. 
The Police Community Support Officer does visit all the parks on an ad-hoc basis at different times and on different days. No reports of incidences have been directed to the office from the Police although the recent Police report did suggest reports of ASB had increased as lockdown restrictions had been lifted. 
The annual independent operational inspection of all the play equipment owned by the Parish Council has been arranged to take place at some point in the next month by a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents approved provider. The reports will direct what improvement and repairs are required. 

22.6 To receive update reports from both the providers of activities during the Summer for primary school aged children

Our Forest School 
Five mornings from Monday 26 July to Friday 30 July 2021 
“There are 82 children (42 from DSJ and 40 from Linchfield) attending. The capacity at each session is 32.
No applications have been refused.
Every child has 3+ sessions (unless the parents have requested 2, due to their own availability).
All special requests for set days have been met. 
All parents have been emailed directly to offer them their allocated sessions, with the exception of 3 or 4 at each school for which there were no email addresses on the application forms. The Schools offices have kindly offered to distribute this information for Our Forest School.
The ages of the children attending are:
17 x 5-year olds, 20 x 6-year olds, 8 x 7-year olds, 12 x 8-year olds,12 x 9-year olds,
9 x 10-year olds, and 4 x 11-year olds
The process of planning the activities for the sessions is now underway. 
Deeping Scout Group have kindly offered to loan 2 of their large mess tents for the duration of the playscheme, to provide shelter from the sun or rain.”

Madcaps out of School Club 
Five mornings from Monday 2 August to Friday 6 August 2021 
“An advert will be put on social media to fill the remaining places 
Deeping Scout Group have offered the use of some of their tents as cover for outdoor activities.
Government regulations have changed for the Summer as they are not insisting that the children are ‘bubbled’ but Madcaps will continue to be cautious and put some restrictions on mixing in place.” 
The Clerk has also posted an item on the Parish Councils Facebook page directing people to the Madcaps email for further information, so fingers crossed the remaining places will get filled.  
22.7 To inspect the recreational play facilities at Woody Heights and Jubilee Park and make any observations and / or recommendations. 
Woody Heights recreation area.
There were approximately 30/35 individuals using the facility ranging in age from early teens to mid-twenties.
The Members took a walk round Woody Heights looking at the damaged fencing and it was acknowledged that the tree growth pushing on the fencing from the trees in the playing field needed to be addressed along with all the other trees and hedges around the boundary.  This would happen in the Autumn. 
The teenagers using the multi-use games area were asked how the facility could be improved and were enthusiastic about the facility being caged to avoid the ball ending up on the skatepark or in the playing field.   
Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe volunteered to obtain some quotations for the this work along with the costings for the installation of some goal posts on the remaining green area. 

Jubilee Park 
The members visited the Thackers Way end of the Park and noted the location of the flagpole and the empty plinth where the vandalised memorial bench had been located.
There were no individuals using the play facilities but two dog walkers did comment that the grass cutting was terrible and asked if anything could be done to improve it. The Clerk advised that South Kesteven District Council were responsible for the ground maintenance of the park so the Parish council were unaware of the terms of the contract but it was obvious that the cut grass was not collected and due to the length of what was lying on the surface it was not cut as regularly as the Parish Council owned Woody Heights for example.  
Whilst looking at the play equipment Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe posed a question to the other members – as well as taking on the responsibility of the gate play area once it had been refurbished should the Parish council also take on the responsibility of the rest of the park which they have enhanced with a number of assets and use for events? This item was on the agenda at the council meeting on 29 July 2021. 
The grass was cut by the same contractor that the Parish Council use for Woody Heights and the Riverbank although at present under different contractual terms. South Kesteven District Council had provided their costings for grass cutting, hedge maintenance (of one hedge) and operational play equipment inspections. The cost of surveying and maintain the tree stock also needed to be considered. Members needed to be aware that there were some neighbourhood issues to considered e.g. the dumping of building and garden materials over the boundary walls and fencing. 
The Clerk will contact the Parish Council’s Insurers to see what the financial impact of owning this land would have on the premium. 
 
22.8 To note the date of the next meeting – 7.45pm on Thursday 16 September 2021