Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member Sustainability

The Cabinet Member Sustainability introduced the report. The strategy was born of two elements, the first, Cheltenham Festivals (CF) requests for a review of the design and usage of the Gardens to allow expansion due to increased demand and the second, concerns of residents about the increased use of Imperial Gardens and resulting standards of the gardens.

This culminated in a public petition which was debated at Council in December and resulted in a request that Cabinet attempt to resolve the issues, which in turn should be reviewed by the relevant O&S Committees (Environment and Economy & Business Improvement). 

There were no easy answers, simply saying yes to one and no to the other was not an option given how important both CF and the gardens were to the town. 

In consideration of all the issues, as set out in item 3 of the paper, two options were developed.

Option 1 favoured the primary use of the gardens as a public garden and denying CF increased usage of Imperial Gardens.  Restricting CF to the lower tier of ImperialGardens and reducing tentage would resolve resident concerns but would not address CF’s issues. 

Option 2 provided an opportunity to redesign Imperial Gardens to accommodate CF, achieving a ‘festival within a garden’ feel and allowing use of Montpellier Gardens.  Whilst offering a lower capacity in ImperialGardens, it would allow expansion into Montpellier Gadens and the positioning of flowerbeds between tents would ensure the retained look and feel of the garden whether the tents were up or down.  This would be beneficial to festival goers too.

The Cabinet Member Sustainability stressed that at present there were no detailed designs ready to be rolled out.  At this stage Cabinet was purely trying to set parameters for the design and appropriate limits which could then be put out for public consultation.  The results of this public consultation may then result in further changes.  He referred to an amendment to the recommendations which would bring back a further report to Cabinet before any designs were put out to tender. He hoped that any solution would be sustainable for some years to come but there also needed to be an acceptance that no solution could provide for unlimited expansion by the festivals.  Therefore there would be a need in the future to look at the usage of other council owned land or other sites on the outskirts of town.

He explained that £140,000 of funding had been made available in the budget to spend on the gardens.  The allocation set out in the appendix to the report proposed that this was spent on improving the infrastructure of both Imperial and Montpellier Gardens and would enable wider usage of both sites by a number of organisations.

He indicated that Cabinet favoured option 2 and recommendation 1 in the report had been amended accordingly with appropriate safeguards. Option 1 had been rejected as it didn’t meet the requirements of Cheltenham Festivals and it would not be possible to reduce the number of tents whilst staying in the lower tier of Imperial Gardens. This view been reflected by Overview and Scrutiny when they considered the report.

Maintaining the status quo was not an option because it was not working at the moment and had been the source of many complaints. The key to any solution was to reduce the density of tents in the gardens and to limit the usage so that there was sufficient recovery time for the gardens.   It will also be the responsibility of the festivals to make good any damage.  Generally there would be a focus on this refurbishment work at the end of the festival season. 

He stressed that it was not the intention to have large areas of hardstanding and this would be limited to small areas around the garden bar or other areas. There had also been some debate about sustainable planting but although this might have some role, he accepted that there was an expectation that there would be plenty of colourful displays in ImperialGardens.

The Cabinet Member Sustainability echoed the comments from some Councillors about the desire to reopen SkillicorneGardens to the public.

In responding to the proposals other Cabinet Members made the following comments:

• Any solution was going to be concerned with achieving a balance and reconciling the needs of the various interest groups. The £140K additional funding had been the right approach rather than to give the money directly to Cheltenham Festivals. It was likely that a second phase of funding would be necessary to satisfy the needs of all the various interest groups.
• Any decisions on this matter needed to be approached with caution and an appreciation of the history of the gardens and what they added to the essential character of the town. Imperial Gardens was considered a jewel in the town and it was very important that Montpellier Gardens continued to be a place of informal recreation. The extent of the red lines on the map of Montpellier Gardens in appendix D had caused some concerns and it needed to be understood that it was unlikely that all these areas would be covered in tents. Further discussions were needed with the festivals, the council and the friends of the gardens. 
• It was evident at the stakeholders meeting in January that a key concern was the damage to Imperial Gardens.  Therefore there was a need to find a creative design which reduced the damage, satisfied the requirements of Cheltenham Festivals and retained the character of the gardens. This was a tall order but should be given a chance to find a solution.
• The current damage to Imperial Gardens was unacceptable.There needed to be a proper risk assessment of the potential damage to the gardens as they were an asset for everyone to enjoy and not just festival goers. The standard of the gardens was also important for attracting tourism to the town
• A full public consultation was key to the success of this project.
• Any solution has to be sustainable for Cheltenham Festivals in the long term together with an acknowledgement that there will be no scope for further expansion in the town centre.

The Cabinet Member Sustainability emphasised that he was seeking a long-term agreement with Cheltenham  Festivals. He advised that MontpellierGardens will continue to be available for hire. The Literature Festival would be making use of these gardens in 2011. He confirmed that they would be paying a fee and would have to reinstate any damage.

Resolved that:

1. Option 2 of this report be adopted, subject to a maximum area of tentage of approximately 2750 M² for ImperialGardens.
2. The Assistant Director (Operations), in consultation with the Cabinet Member Sustainability and the Council Leader, produces an outline design for ImperialGardens for public consultation which shall take place during Spring 2011. 
3. Following public consultation and Cabinet agreement, the Assistant Director (Operations), in consultation with the Cabinet Member Sustainability and the Council Leader, undertakes a tendering process for design or design and works in ImperialGardens.
4. At the same time as 3, the Assistant Director (Operations), in consultation with the Cabinet Member Sustainability and the Council Leader, undertakes a tendering process for upgrades to infrastructure in MontpellierGardens.
5. The final decisions to go ahead with works in Imperial Gardens and Montpellier Gardens be referred to Cabinet, in time for completion of works over Winter 2011/2.