Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Keith Iddon.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

No declarations of any interests were declared.

The Committee will look at the emerging Play and Open Spaces Strategy and examine whether the health and wellbeing benefits are being maximised. The tool that is used to assess the impact of new policies, strategies and areas of service is the Council's approved Integrated Impact Assessment; this includes an element that looks at the health impact.

To provide context officers will provide an update on progress with the Play and Open Spaces Strategy and its scope. Information will also be provided about the Integrated Impact Assessment and its use; a copy of the template is enclosed.

The Committee will assess whether the Strategy will have a positive impact and Members may wish to consider the following mini tasks:

1. Have all play areas, open spaces and sports pitches been included within the Strategy?

2. How well does the Integrated Impact Assessment lend itself to maximising the benefits of the new Strategy, as opposed to identifying and mitigating any negative impact?

The Committee will look at some specific case studies.

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list or scope for the task, rather to provide some direction for the initial meeting.

At the last meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, it was agreed that the whole membership would take a look at the emerging Play and Open Space Strategy to examine whether the health and wellbeing benefits are being maximised.

The Head of Streetscene and Leisure Contracts, Jamie Dixon delivered a presentation on the Strategy. Chorley had never previously had an overall Strategy that pulled together all the existing management and location plans of sites across the Borough.

Jamie explained that the Council had very high and ambitious standards that were above those of our neighbouring authorities and it was felt that a new strategy was required that would pull together the three key areas of play areas, playing pitches and open spaces. It would also provide detailed actions and assist with section 106 agreements in the future.

The five year strategy and action plan would combine the individual documents covering the three areas:

• Open Spaces – amenity/natural and semi-natural greenspace, provision for children and young people, parks and gardens, allotments, green corridors, churchyards and civic spaces.

• Playing pitches – football, cricket, rugby, hockey and bowling.

• Play areas – 81 sites (40 Council owned)

The aim was to protect, manage, enhance and secure sites, as well as identifying deficiencies in provision and future priorities.

Members were provided with the current list of all play areas, playing pitches and open space provision across the borough that had been compiled into the eight Neighbourhood Areas. Members were asked to look through the lists and notify the officers of any provision that had been missed. It was AGREED that this list be circulated to all Members of the Council so that a more complete list could be produced.

The tool that is used to assess the impact of new policies, strategies and areas of service is the Council’s approved Integrated Impact Assessment that included an element that looks at the health impact.

For its next meeting the Group AGREED to assess the potential health impacts for a number of sites on the list and identified the following:

• Southlands High School: Playing Pitches – Chorley Town West

• Canal Walk: Play Area – Chorley Town East

• Greenside: Playing Pitches – Euxton, Astley and Buckshaw

• Coronation Recreation Ground: Multi-use facility – Chorley Town West

The Group would look at each of the above site with a view to identify how the potential health benefits could be maximised.

The next meeting of the Group will be held on Thursday 3 October 2013 at 6.00pm in Committee Room 1, Town Hall, Chorley