Manor Castle Woodthorpe Area Panel Minutes 2nd April 2004

MANOR, CASTLE, WOODTHORPE AREA PANEL

Meeting held 2nd April, 2004 at Woodthorpe School Training Room

	PRESENT:		Councillors Mike King (Chair), Jan Fiore, Pat Midgley and Jan Wilson.

			Also in attendance:-
			Councillor Martin Lawton
			Paul Redgrave	-	South East Sheffield Primary Care Trust
			Larry Angel	)	Woodthorpe Forum
			Donna Ford
			Clare Wilson
			Karl Barton
			Guillaumette Haughton

			Brett Nuttall	-	Green Estate

			Donna Jones	)	Sheffield Futures
			Sue Mansell

			Emma Barker	)	Street Rangers
			Steve Lavill


			Officers in attendance:-
			Richard Foster	-	Area Co-ordinator
			Mark Swancott	-	Area Support Officer
			Trevor Thorn	-	Development Services
			Scott Porter	-	Parks, Woodlands & Countryside
			Graham Mosley	-	Education
			Paul Robinson	-	Committee Secretariat

			3 members of the public attended the meeting.
............

1.		COUNCILLORS’ APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
		An apology for absence was received from Councillor Gill Furniss.

2.		PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
		There were no questions raised or petitions submitted by members of the public.

3.		MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
		The minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 27^th February, 2004, were approved as a correct record and, arising therefrom, it was noted that the South East Sheffield Primary Care Trust had written to Mr Goonan responding to the question which he had raised at the meeting in relation to the responsibility for any deaths caused through the use of emergency contraception.

4.		PRIMARY SCHOOLS REGENERATION PROJECT
		Graham Mosley (Education Directorate) reported on progress with regard to the scheme to rebuild Woodthorpe School and developments at other local schools under the Education Directorate’s Primary Schools Regeneration Project.
		He stated that as a result of the Department for Education and Skills’ (DfES) recent announcement that it was to provide £3.1m for the Woodthorpe School Scheme, a total of £17m had now been secured for capital improvements at primary schools in the area from Norfolk Park to Woodthorpe, £11m of which was being provided from the DfES.

		Woodthorpe School
		As regards the scheme to rebuild Woodthorpe School on its current site and provide new accommodation for the other services and community activities based at the School, Graham Mosley stated that Wilmot Dixon had been contracted to undertake the scheme and works were scheduled to commence towards the end of May and be completed by Easter 2005. He reported that the contractor had recommended that the new building be located slightly lower on the site in order to reduce earth removal costs and accordingly, design work on the siting and the layout of the school building were still being undertaken.
		He expressed his gratitude for the way in which the key participants, particularly Woodthorpe School, Woodthorpe Forum and Surestart, had constructively engaged in the development plans for the rebuilding scheme and indicated that this high level of community engagement had been recognised by the DfES as a key feature of the funding bid for the scheme.
		Larry Angel (Woodthorpe Forum) commented that the lowered location of the new building required the demolition of part of the existing community facilities corridor at the School, which included the child care facilities, and the current users of those facilities had now had to be informed of the need to relocate their operations within the remaining areas. He stated that the required relocations were achievable despite these new plans and the time scale providing significant logistical problems for the users, and this was acknowledged by Graham Mosley. Larry Angel added that despite the recent change to the plans, the process of consultation and liaison with the user groups in respect of the scheme over the past 18 months had been well managed by the Local Education Authority.
		Donna Jones (Sheffield Futures) commented that the scheme included the provision of alternative accommodation for Sheffield Futures, although the location of that accommodation had yet to be determined. A sum of £150,000 had been allocated for the youth provision element of the scheme although the value of the accommodation currently used by Sheffield Futures on the school site had been estimated to be worth in the region of £200,000. She outlined concerns regarding the suitability of alternative locations in the Woodthorpe area which were being considered for the youth facilities and stressed that the local young people had expressed a strong preference for remaining on the school site.
		Graham Mosley commented that the issue of determining the location of the youth facilities would be the subject of discussion with relevant parties over the next few months, and Members of the Panel commented that the main consideration in that process should be securing the best possible option for the young people in the area.
		In response to further questions, Graham Mosley commented that the primary task of the Project Manager would be to facilitate the construction of the new school, although this would involve liaison with the contractor and stakeholders in relation to operational matters. The Panel believed that the scheme required careful management in order to minimise the impact of the construction works on the current school operations and that the effect of the loss of the community corridor space and child care provision also required careful management.
		RESOLVED: That (a) the information now reported be noted; and
		(b) the Area Co-ordinator be requested to clarify the decision-making process in relation to the youth element of the Woodthorpe School rebuilding scheme and ensure that full consultation on the possible options in that respect takes place via the Woodthorpe Partnership Group.

		Other Schemes
		Graham Mosley outlined the developments which were taking place at other primary schools in the area, indicating that Manor Lodge and Wybourn Schools would be redeveloped by the Summer and that the scheme to amalgamate St Oswald’s and St John’s Schools was due to commence during the Spring.
		He also commented that a consultation exercise on revised proposals for the delivery of early years provision in the Wybourn area would commence in the near future, and that the proposals related to the establishment of a children’s centre within that Area incorporating the existing local provision and Surestart operations.
		RESOLVED: That the information now reported be noted.

5.		LOCAL NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL FUNDING PROPOSALS FOR 2004-06
		The Area Co-ordinator submitted a report containing details of the Panel’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Local Action Plan for 2004 to 2006, which had been developed by the Members of the Panel and had now been approved by the Sheffield First for Inclusion Partnership’s Technical Committee on 25^th March, 2004.
		The Area Co-ordinator stated that the Panel had been allocated £286,000 for both of the 2004/05 and 2005/06 years and he stated that approximately two thirds of the funding had been allocated to the cleaner, greener, safer theme with the remaining third being allocated to community based activities, and he outlined each of the initiatives to be funded through the Local Action Plan.
		The Area Co-ordinator reported that discussions would be held with the local community forums on the use of the resources within the supporting the forums’ element of the Plan and that, as regards the community cohesion fund (which was effectively a contingency to enable flexibility within the Plan), some funding bids had been submitted to him and he would welcome any other bids from local community groups. Arrangements would be made for those funding bids to be presented to Members of the Panel for consideration.
		In terms of the remaining elements of the Plan, the employment of the two lengthsmen for Woodthorpe and Wybourn would be continued, as would the revenue funding to the Green Estate Company to co-ordinate the delivery of improvements to open spaces in the Area and £50,000 would be allocated for capital improvements such as the provision of barriers to prevent motorcycle access to sites. The Area Co-ordinator added that the allocation to the Deep Pits Park Scheme was a provisional allocation as further investigations were being held on the financial arrangements for the scheme, and that the allocation to the Street Rangers Project was to ensure the continuation of the existing provision.
		Larry Angel (Woodthorpe Forum) added that the Street Rangers Project was also the subject of a funding bid to the South Sheffield Partnership and any support which could be offered to that bid would be welcomed.
		RESOLVED: That the content of the Panel’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Local Action Plan for 2004 to 2006 be noted.

6.		UPDATE ON KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AREA
		The Area Co-ordinator reported that a sum of £50,000 had been secured from the Home Office in respect of the implementation of anti-crime measures at open spaces in the Area and that the works in that regard had commenced at Pipworth Recreation Ground. He commented that the existence of the improvement plan for open spaces in the Area, as compiled by the Green Estate, had contributed to the success of the funding bid.
		He also reported that a masterplanning exercise in respect of the Woodthorpe Ravine was due to commence in the near future, the aim being to develop the site as a community resource incorporating some commercial activity, and that the local community would be consulted as part of the process.
		Following comments made by Councillor Jan Fiore regarding land disposals in the Area, Members of the Panel confirmed that local communities would be consulted on the future use of significant pieces of Council-owned land, particularly those sites included in the Council’s housing demolition programme, and that the Panel’s Lead Manager and Area Co-ordinator would maintain a watching brief on local land disposals.
		RESOLVED: That (a) the information now reported be noted;
		(b) the Area Co-ordinator be requested to investigate the potential for securing Section 106 monies for the development of the Woodthorpe Fish Ponds; and
		(c) in the light of the information now reported regarding the Green Estate’s involvement in the Liveability Fund Initiative in the Southey/Owlerton area, the Area Co-ordinator be requested to give consideration to the possibility of this Panel considering at a future meeting the Manor, Castle, Woodthorpe Area’s links with that Initiative and potential benefits.

7.		EXPLORING CREATIVE PLAY IN THE OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT – SEMINAR: 28th APRIL, 2004
		The Panel received and noted details of a seminar being organised by the City Council and Sheffield Wildlife Trust on the subject of exploring creative play in the outdoor environment and to be held on Wednesday, 28^th April, 2004.

8.		FUTURE MEETINGS
		RESOLVED: That (a) the next meeting of the Panel be held on Friday, 28^th May, 2004 at 1.30pm in the Deep Pits/Manor Fields Park; and
		(b) the Area Co-ordinator, in consultation with the Chair of this Panel, be requested to give consideration to the possibility of the Panel holding some of its meetings in the Municipal Year 2004/05 in the evening.

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