Question 1 - Received by Matthew Francis
On 29 August 2024, the Leader of the Council made the decision, designated as D1552, under delegated responsibility, to approve the granting of a lease to the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner for part of the Civic Centre and part of Arnot Hill Park, along with the Heads of Terms for said lease. In the decision notice there were five enclosures, which were all restricted and not provided to the public, due to this, the only pertinent information released to the public as part of that notice, is the information I have just stated. This decision has now resulted in the removal of use for the public, of sixteen parking bays, out of forty six bays, from the Bowling Green Car Park at Arnot Hill Park, which are now allocated to Nottinghamshire Police. As this car park is close to the play park, and the area that families use with their children, this is impacting where they can park, with some having to park on the road outside. Also, as you can imagine this is potentially impacting disabled people, as the amount of bays that are close to the park, has reduced by just shy of 35%, these are people that need support and understanding. It has been ascertained through an information request, that Gedling Borough Council did not carry out a consultation in relation to this lease or the decision to implement it, did not carry out an Equality Impact Assessment to see what effect this would have on protected groups, including disabled people, should have only allocated fifteen bays, and as stated above, restricted all the enclosures on the decision notice from the public eye. Considering Gedling Borough Council's belief in transparency along with Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, can the Portfolio Holder for Life Chances and Vulnerability explain what Gedling Borough Council will do to rectify this apparent failure in governance?
Minutes:
One question was received, and the questioner was in attendance to ask their question. The question and answer is as follows:
Question 1 - Asked by Matthew Francis:
On 29 August 2024, the Leader of the Council made the decision, designated as D1552, under delegated responsibility, to approve the granting of a lease to the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner for part of the Civic Centre and part of Arnot Hill Park, along with the Heads of Terms for said lease.
In the decision notice there were five enclosures, which were all restricted and not provided to the public, due to this, the only pertinent information released to the public as part of that notice, is the information I have just stated. This decision has now resulted in the removal of use for the public, of sixteen parking bays, out of forty six bays, from the Bowling Green Car Park at Arnot Hill Park, which are now allocated to Nottinghamshire Police. As this car park is close to the play park, and the area that families use with their children, this is impacting where they can park, with some having to park on the road outside. Also, as you can imagine this is potentially impacting disabled people, as the amount of bays that are close to the park, has reduced by just shy of 35%, these are people that need support and understanding.
It has been ascertained through an information request, that Gedling Borough Council did not carry out a consultation in relation to this lease or the decision to implement it, did not carry out an Equality Impact Assessment to see what effect this would have on protected groups, including disabled people, should have only allocated fifteen bays, and as stated above, restricted all the enclosures on the decision notice from the public eye.
Considering Gedling Borough Council's belief in transparency along with Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, can the Portfolio Holder for Life Chances and Vulnerability explain what Gedling Borough Council will do to rectify this apparent failure in governance?
Response from Councillor Clarke:
I approved a decision to lease part of the civic centre to Nottinghamshire Police in August 2024 as this was a commercial decision with the council as landlord. The appropriate rules for dealing with land were followed and the report was not fully in the public domain as it contained information which was deemed commercially sensitive.
In respect of car parking, in order to ensure the police could operate effectively from the civic centre, a number of spaces within the park were redesignated for police parking. There was no removal of public disabled parking bays from the car park and the process under the car park order was correctly followed.
The decision to grant the police the lease of the park supported the council's ongoing commitment to collaborate with other public sector partners and has provided a visible police presence within the local community. The location of police at the civic centre should provide assurances to the park users that the park is a safe space for all.
It is of course important that our parks and open spaces, as well as all of our facilities, are accessible hence the provision of disabled parking within the park has not reduced as a result of this arrangement within the park.
Our facilities team will continue to monitor the impact of the redesignated parking bays on park users and address any specific issues as they arise. If something comes up Mr Mayor, then we'll look to alleviate if there is a problem that's showing. At the moment the value we've got is there are 130 police officers using this building on a daily 247 basis and I'd much rather see that than an empty building.