Agenda item

1.

Question from Fiona Wild to the Cabinet Member Sustainability

Please could I have an assurance that a drawing rather than a diagram, preferably in colour and properly to scale with surrounding buildings, will be shown to interested parties and available to the general public, before a final decision is made on the future layout of ImperialGardens?

Response from Cabinet Member Sustainability

Yes. The layout plan that will be produced for public consultation will be in colour, to scale and will show the surrounding streets and buildings.

2.

Question from Friends of Imperial Square and Gardens (FoISaG) to the Cabinet Member Sustainability

The Friends of Imperial Square and Gardens would like to ask the Councillors to be true to their promise to keep Imperial Gardens as the iconic floral hub of Cheltenham.  At present there are 48 colourful flower beds in The Gardens.
 
While we support the Festivals in their aspirations, Option 2 does require giving them a third more open area ground space.
 
We ask that this should be camouflaged in such a way that when The Gardens are re-designed they don't become a series of football pitches with flower beds dotted about to make a token impression.
 
We would draw your attention to a front-page article in the Daily Telegraph's Travel Section last Saturday, 19th March 2011 which highlighted the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival and how they have prospered with their re-located site drawing in visitors well above 100,000.   At the same time it has attracted top names such as former American Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
 
We also emphasise how important The Gardens are to the people of Cheltenham - evidenced this weekend when the sunny weather attracted a flood of people to enjoy the colour, warmth and eco-friendliness of Imperial Gardens in the heart of town.

Response from Cabinet Member Sustainability

Yes it is the Council’s intention to reflect the spirit of the commitments made in the cabinet paper of 15th March and this will appear in graphical form for public consultation – but the Council clearly can’t commit to actual numbers and locations of flower beds at this stage.

In a supplementary question a representative of the FoISaG asked that Councillors consider very carefully what was being given away and the significant safeguards that were needed if option 2 were adopted.  There was also a request that severe penalties be put in place for failure to immediately reinstate the gardens after usage. 

The representative submitted contrasting pictures of Imperial Gardens in full floral glory and in their current state, resembling what he described as waste land six months after the tents were taken down.  He had been interested to see that work had commenced earlier in the day to re-turf Imperial Gardens and felt this was a strange coincidence given that there was a Council meeting this afternoon. 

The Cabinet Member Sustainability accepted and sympathised with the concerns of not just the FoISaG but all residents in Cheltenham and assured them that care would be taken to ensure reinstatement was swift in the future.  Whilst the timing of today’s work to ImperialGardens could appear coincidental, the work had in fact been scheduled for last week and postponed until now as a result of the dry conditions.

3.

Question from Mr Ken Pollock to the Mayor

At the eleventh hour, during their recent decision meeting, Cabinet finally quantified a "limit" of 2750 square metres for Festival tentage in Imperial Gardens, increased by 38% from the 2000 square metres used last year (which already necessitated the removal of four circular flowerbeds, and has resulted in considerable damage to lawns).

Under Option 2, this increased tentage is said to be "dispersed" across the entire Garden, i.e. incorporating that ornamental 'half' which currently contains flower-beds and lawn.

Accordingly, as this increased spread will clearly entail major deletion of most of the present patterned layout of flowerbeds, will councillors venture to express their requests that the forthcoming “public consultation” (based on no more than an outline design, to be revealed shortly) be fed back for debate not only by the two Scrutiny committees but in Full Council, and for this to occur before any further Cabinet commitment on Cheltenham’s ‘iconic’ floral garden?

Response from the Mayor

The figure of 2750 m2 was already contained within the main body of the cabinet report, and was made a specific requirement by cabinet in choosing option 2.  Whether the issue is to be considered for a second time by the two scrutiny committees is a matter for the chair of each committee to consider. Whilst recognising that the final decision lies with cabinet, in view of the importance to the Borough as a whole, I would strongly request that cabinet refers the matter to full council for consideration before a final decision is made.  

In a supplementary question Mr Pollock noted that the response provided by the Mayor outlined her individual request and queried whether other Councillors shared this viewpoint.

The Mayor had made her request which she was confident would be noted by Cabinet and she was not in a position to comment on behalf of any other Councillors.

4.

Question from Mary Nelson to the Cabinet Member Sustainability

At a time of financial constraint (when even Public Toilets have to be closed, and all the flowerbeds in Sandford Park ‘s High Street pergola-garden are currently bare earth) a major redesign of Imperial Gardens is unjustifiable and unreasonable to many taxpayers of Cheltenham, and is clearly being undertaken solely to facilitate Cheltenham Festivals requirement to take over the whole of Cheltenham’s renowned Imperial Gardens in the Promenade.

Can the Cabinet member for Sustainability please clarify whether all the costs for the redesign and subsequent works to be undertaken in Imperial Gardens will be paid for by the Council, and that no funding, either for the design or for the works to Imperial Gardens, is to be provided by Cheltenham Festivals or by any of their sponsors?

Response from the Cabinet Member Sustainability

£140K has been allocated from council funds for works in Imperial and Montpellier Gardens. This will be targeted at improvements to the public space that will benefit all users, not just Cheltenham Festivals.  No other funding has been offered by third parties at the time of writing, and were it offered CBC would have to review each case on its merits.

In a supplementary question, Mary Nelson felt that the response offered by the Cabinet Member Sustainability did not rule out future acceptance of funding and wondered whether this could be seen by the public as commercialisation of a public space.

The Cabinet Member Sustainability explained that most Councils received forms of sponsorship and this was not something he would discount for CBC, though conditions of accepting such funding would be given full consideration as necessary.