Agenda and minutes

 No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 September 2020,

be received and approved as a correct record.

The Scrutiny Research Officer introduced the report and reminded Members that the Play Park Accessibility review was added to the Scrutiny Workplan 2020/21 at the July 2020 meeting with the Committee setting introductory terms of reference for the review at its 24 September 2020 meeting.

The Terms of Reference were set at follows:

Review Objectives

·         Ensure that all parks and open spaces in Ashfield are accessible with appropriate adaptations and equipment

·         Ensure that all consultation exercises undertaken by the Council regarding parks and open spaces are fully inclusive.

Methodology

·         Reviewing Council policies/strategies relating to accessibility, particularly regarding parks and open spaces

·         Exploring the Section 106 allocation process

·         Gaining a full understanding of what facilities are already in place

·         Potential for a site visit to a best practice example of an accessible and inclusive park/open space

Involvement

·         Community Groups

·         Planning/Community Engagement/Place and Wellbeing

·         Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks and Town Centres.

The report also outlined the importance of inclusive play and the right for all children and young people to have the freedom, time, space, permission, and opportunity to play throughout their childhood and teenage years.

To enable such play, most local authorities had ownership of many parks and open spaces that could be made accessible to everyone.  Ashfield District Council, in particular, have many excellent, award winning parks that are a pleasure to visit and should be enjoyed by all its residents and children without hindrance.

Many notable, national charities offered a plethora of information and guidance regarding the types of equipment available to meets the needs of children with varying disabilities and differing types of playground layout and formats to ensure optimum accessibility, inclusivity and enjoyment.

The Chairman acknowledged the importance of play for all and suggested that local authorities most probably had access to informative data in relation to its numbers of children experiencing a range of disabilities and impairments that might benefit from an increase in accessible play equipment.   This data, if available, could also be split down in towns to enable any new, accessible equipment to be located in areas of most need.  It was agreed that the Committee could contact the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Team to see if such information was being captured or could be accessed as a starting point for the review.

Members suggested that in addition to the Play England website, the Play Quest and Living Made Easy websites were also excellent and contained a wealth of information regarding the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of accessible playground equipment and safer surfaces.  All Members were encouraged to take a look at the information on offer from all the sites indicated.

At this point in the meeting, the Chairman asked Councillor Dale Grounds if he wished to talk about his experience of inclusivity within parks and open spaces being the father to a young son with Autism.

Councillor Grounds proceeded to speak as follows:-

“Children with special needs do not often have the same opportunities as other children to engage in physical  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS.11

The Scrutiny Research Officer advised Members that he had been asked to include a new topic onto the 2020/21 Scrutiny Workplan with regard to Homelessness and in particular the Council’s current eviction procedures.

Many tenants were experiencing extreme stress at being served with an Eviction Notice with only minimal time being given to enable them to move out and find another place to live.  It was felt that an intermediate process could be examined to give vulnerable tenants more time and notice to secure alternative accommodation and avoid being made homeless.

RESOLVED

that the Homelessness review be added to the Scrutiny Workplan for 2020/21 with draft terms of reference being presented to the next meeting of the Committee for consideration.