To take any questions from members of the Public.

Please note: Members of the Public are requested to inform the Democratic Services Officer before the meeting begins if they wish to ask a verbal question to the Committee.

The Committee received one written question and one verbal question from a member of the public. These questions related to a proposal for a café facility in Alexandra Park.

The Committee received one written question and one verbal question from a member of the public. These are set out below:

Question from Mr Michael Ware

What is the Council's reaction to a proposal from myself and my partners to finance and build a community cafe in Alexandra  Park. Our thinking is as follows:

·                     The park is heavily used by young children, bowlers, footballers, cricket players and basketball players particularly doing the summer months.

·                     There are no amenities for refreshments or toilets.

·                     There is spare land adjacent to the playground where we could site a single storey community cafe serving light refreshments and containing a toilet.

·                     The cafe would lease this land from the Council

·                     We would finance and construct a timber farmed building designed to add to the aesthetic of the park whilst being environmentally friendly and incorporating renewable energy technologies.

·                     Similar cafes operate successfully in the parks in neighbouring parks and boroughs.

·                     We are currently meeting architects and building providers and can make drawings available to you.

·                     The cafe would be open during day and early even in the summer months and at the weekends in the winter.

·                     It would act as a community hub for the neighbourhood with a small meeting room, noticeboard, wifi etc.

·                     The cafe would be owned and managed by myself and my fellow shareholders.

·                     We would raise the funding as far as possible from the local community utilising the Government's Enterprise initiative Scheme (EIS) which confers significant tax advantages to investors in schemes such as these.

·                     There would be a net income to the Council from the lease and we would use a share of the profits to enhance the other facilities in the park.

Response to question

Dear Mr Ware

We are grateful for the details of your proposal to develop a community café within Alexandra Park.

The Council has already been looking at this type of proposal, including the café in Bourne Hall (the operation of which we have successfully taken over in recent months), as well as the new privately managed café in Auriol Park. A review of these operations, including the costs and benefits of extending similar enterprises to other areas within the Borough will be completed by June 2018.  We will then be in a position to consider the best way forward for future café sites across the Borough. 

We want to ensure that should it be decided to extend the café provision, that any new enterprise is successful and able to provide our residents with a quality service. You will appreciate therefore that it is vital that we fully understand and assess the commercial opportunities and viability of both private and Council managed facilities within our parks and venues, before making recommendations and moving forward.

Verbal question

The Committee received one verbal question from Mr Michael Ware regarding the review of café operations being undertaken by the Council. The Chairman informed Mr Ware that he would receive a written response regarding this matter following the meeting.