Extraordinary Meeting October '11

WILDERN OPPORTUNITY GROUP EXTRAORDINARY COMMITTEE MEETING

Thursday 20^th October 2011 at Small Hall, Hedge End 2000 Centre at 7:30pm

AGENDA

• Apologies
• Chairperson Report on Outside Area
• Feedback from letters
• Discussion and Questions.
• Vote
• Conclusion and close of meeting.

Minutes of Committee meeting Thursday 20th October 2011

Attendees

Kate Clark (Chairman), Jim Mitchell (Treasurer),  Kelly Mitchell (Secretary), Kathy Evans (Play leader), Lyn Berry, Shirley Callen, Jo Parfitt, Kelly Cook, Lucy Smith, Tracy Rooney, Gemma Bradley, Nikki and Mike Burnett, Jane Morse, and Jade Barretto.

Apologies

Ros Bundy (Bookkeeper), Kerry Passingham, Stephen Hollis, Chris Exton, Louise Thompson, Mr. & Mrs. Pink, Tracy and Peter Evans, Caroline Weston, Liz Arnold, Joanne and Roger Pusey, and Cassandra Wyeth.

Chairpersons report about outside area

In September 1988 Wildern Opportunity Group was established in one of the rooms in Wildern School.  In January 1992 we had to relocate to Hedge End Day Centre.  The Day Centre was situated where 2000 Centre is now and we shared the grass outside with the Village Hall Playgroup, which was established there from 1972. 

In 1998 the Day Centre needed renewing and all the Committees involved with the Day Centre decided to work together to rebuild the Day Centre.   This is when the Hedge End Town Council offered the deal to build the new Community Centre and Town Council Offices using a Mortgage to fund it.  The provisions provided would be designed specifically for the use of the groups already involved with the Day Centre.  So the small hall would be for Wildern Opportunity Group in mind.  The grass play area was covered over for further car parking spaces and a concrete playground for both playgroups to share equally. 

As the Town Council only had to provide a concrete surface to play on Wildern Opportunity Group decided to raise the funds for a soft play surface instead and it would provide a safer and better quantity of surface to play on.  The cost of the surface was £7050 which was billed to the Town Council and we provided £5000 of the funds through donation, fundraising, a small grant and a loan to cover the short full from the Committee Association as the Village Hall Pre-school did not contribute for whatever reason. We shared the morning sessions splitting the time and sharing the equipment equally too and it worked well.

Over the years our Group has been able to extend it hours but the Village Hall has not.  Then in the 2009 Wildern Opportunity Group realised that the surface and outside provisions needed updating with the addition of a canopy area to aid with free flow play.  To be able to provide this we would have to apply for a Grant from Hampshire County Council of £50,000 to cover the cost and with funds to supply storage and equipment as well.  It was decided that both pre-schools should work together and apply for a joint grant as the playground is shared.  Unfortunately this did not go to plan and due to a misunderstanding and lack of prompt contributions to the grant application the Village Hall Pre-school felt the need to pull out.  After a lot of stress and hard work from Kathy and Jim we finally got the canopy, new surface, equipment and storage.

In 2010 our hours extended again and in March 2011 we requested the Town Council for netting to be placed around the entire canopy perimeter while the Village Hall Pre-school were playing so we could get 100% free flow.  This requested was rejected:

HEDGE END TOWN COUNCIL - MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE

RECREATION & AMENITIES COMMITTEE HELD 9TH MARCH, 2011

R59 Correspondence:

i) Wildern Opportunity Group, Chairman Jim Mitchell requests permission

to erect easily assembled and disassembled barrier fence to enclose the

area beneath the canopy so that Wildern Opportunity Group will have

100% free flow outside canopy area during the playground time for the

Village Hall Pre-school. Resolved: After due consideration members

agreed that the purpose of the canopy was to provide both shade and

shelter to children during outside play and, at this point in time, it is

essential that both pre-schools are able to use this facility. Therefore,

it was resolved that consent for the erection of a temporary barrier is

refused.

We reapplied for half the canopy area but this could not be entered into discussion again unless there was a material change as 6 months had not passed.  They did decide this.

HEDGE END TOWN COUNCIL - MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE

RECREATION & AMENITIES COMMITTEE HELD 13TH APRIL, 2011

ii) Wildern Opportunity Group - a further proposal to enclose part of the

canopy area to provide 100% free flow. In view of subsequent additional

information, that may result in a fundamental material change

to the resolution of Council, the clerk is instructed to invite further

consultation with the Town Clerk to ascertain further details and

whether a review is necessary.

The Town Clerk gave us a list of things to provide and then if we did this then it would be ok temporally and then be reviewed in September ’11.  When September ’11 came we were told it had to come down, as there had been complaints and it was only a temporary measure. 

This is when I started to try and get to the bottom of what the problem and complaints where and I met with Justine the Village Hall Chairperson to try and reach some kind of middle ground with the netting.  It was suggested by the Town Clerk to arrange a meeting between Chairpersons, the Town Councilor and himself to try and come to some kind of agreement.

During the meeting each party put across their points of view.  The Town Council and Town Clerk stating that the 100% free flow netting would not be allowed as it was not a mandatory requirement.  It was also stated that as the Village Hall had not asked for their small area to exist permanently that should be removed as well.  Both I and Justine stated that this would be petty for both provisions to be losing out.  Justine agreed that the Village Hall would not mind the area being there as long as she would be able to share the playground further as their hours had extended.  When their new area was ready they would no longer require the area unless their area became unsafe and they would like to be able to reuse it as before but with notice given until their area was safe to use again.  I suggested that this would have to be all written down within an agreement by the Town Council with Terms & conditions and agreed by both pre-schools.  I also said that this would be unlikely to be accepted as sharing normally means not just time but also the maintenance of the area and so far no contributions had been made by the Village Hall.  The Town Council felt that as the main contributor of the grant was HCC the provision should still be share equally.  I suggested an hourly rate be paid as a wear and tear contribution.  Justine felt that this would be fair but would have to be taken to their Committee on the 4^th November.  I agreed that I would take this to our committee, parents and staff for a decision to be made.   

I was warned that if the netting was to go to council again it would almost definitely be declined.   If the extended hours requested went to council it would definitely be accepted.  Remember ultimately the Town Council would prefer an amicable decision between both groups but it would be down to their decision as the land is the Town Councils.

This is very true as our Lease Hold agreement does not contain the outside area at all therefore we do not pay any rent for the provision.  Also the Village Hall Deeds are supposed to contain the outside area stating that we share these provisions and a peppercorn rent is paid to the Town Council.  Although on request for a copy of both these documents the reply I received was:

Kate – I have spoken to Jane and no, we don’t have a copy of the deeds or for that matter the rent agreement but in all honesty this has nothing to do with the matter in hand.  The land in question is the Town Council and ultimately, the Town Council has the final say, document or no document.

It is true what the Town Council states.  I have taken advise from LAWCALL and they stated we had no choice but to abide by the Town Councils final ruling and we had no rights over the area.  Also the advice from Children Links was to be amicable.  I suggest that are best course of action would be to accept the amicable agreement because a battle would just create more animosity between the Town Council, Village Hall and ourselves and it would be very unlikely that we would benefit anything from this except for the immediate lose of the netted area.   The new hours would be accepted in the first week on November anyway.  It is also likely the Village Hall pre-schools new area could be stalled further anyway.

I have done my very best to resolve this and now the choice has to be given to everyone to make this decision on what to do next for the best for our provision.  If you want to fight this I will have to step away from this and hand it to you to fight this battle as I feel I cannot take this any further.  Although I will help you with any questions you have and will try my best to answer them for you.

Feedback from letters

There were 9 return slips out of 44 families which is 25% return.  8 disagreed with the proposal which is 22%, 1 was a no vote which was 3%, and 31 were no replies which was 86%, 8 families didn't receive the letter.  We needed at least 19 votes to make it a majority.  The Opportunity Group staff did give a majority vote against their proposal of extra hours.

Discussion and questions

There was a heated debate where everybody gave their opinions about the proposal.  We concluded that a vote should not be taken until a proposal was put to the Village Hall Preschool.  Once this proposal is agreed at their committee meeting on the 4th November 2011, we would be amicable about their request for extra hours.

The Proposal

1. It is understood that a monthly depreciation cost of £x will be paid by Village Hall Preschool to WOP until such time as Village Hall Preschool no longer use the existing play area.

2. While the existing play area is in use by Village Hall Preschool that WOP will be using the netting that is currently in use to create their own free-flow space.

3. Once the Village Hall Preschool has their own play area they will no longer use the existing play area. From that point forward use of the existing play area by Village Hall Preschool will be at the discretion of WOP.

4. Village Hall Preschool set out a comprehensive roadmap of required steps for their move to their new play area including specific dates and target dates for each step.

Vote

No vote was taken.

Conclusion and close of meeting

The conclusion was to wait until the outcome of the Village Hall Preschool Committee meeting on the 4th November 2011 to find out their response to our proposal.  If they agree with the proposal then we will be amicable about their proposal of extra hours. This will start from the 8th November 2011.  If they disagree we will not be amicable and they will have to take their proposal to Council.

Next committee meeting will be held on Wednesday 16^th November 2011.