Agenda and minutes

To be notified of the appointment of any Substitute Members

There were no substitute members reported.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on the 1 October 2019.

Resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 1 October 2019 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To consider proposals for the introduction of North Tyneside Council Play Site Strategy 2020-2030.

The Sub-Committee received a report which introduced the North Tyneside Council Draft Play Site Strategy 2020-2030, and was presented by officers from the Local Environment and Horticultural and Parks Services.

Play was an essential part of every child’s life and contributed to their development, mental and physical health, wellbeing and fitness.  The purpose of the Play Site Strategy was to set out the approach for the management and investment of play sites.

The Play Site Strategy supported the Authority’s ‘Our North Tyneside Plan’ priorities, providing a great place to live, work and visit, and the ‘Green Space Strategy 2015’. Importantly, the strategy sets out priorities for ongoing play site investment and provision, with the purpose of providing communities in North Tyneside with a network of high-quality play areas.  North Tyneside Council currently provided 57 outdoor play facilities across the borough.  Included within the play facilities were traditional play areas, wheeled sports areas, multi-use games areas, teen shelters, water play sites and the Adventure Playground located in Shiremoor.  Play site categories and standards were based on nationally recognised guidelines with five objectives; Quantity, Quality, Accessibility, Safety and inspections of play sites, and Management, as set out in the strategy. 

In 2007, North Tyneside Council received £5.5m of funding to improve play equipment across the borough bringing it up to national standards.  The then Play Partnership which consisted of the voluntary and community sector, and North Tyneside Council, had undertaken extensive participation and consultation activities throughout 2005 and 2006. Local provision was examined in detail and a variety of initiatives were undertaken with children and young people across the Borough.  The initiatives included mapping and a quality audit of local provision, along with the hosting of focus groups including children, carers and young people. Since the study there had been significant improvements in play sites.

The previous Play Strategy ‘Things to do, places to hang out’ ensured that North Tyneside Council, and its partners through the Play Partnership, worked toward the Authority’s key priority reflected in the Council Plan and the then Children and Young People’s Plan. This included providing a whole range of opportunities for personal and social development, recreational and cultural activity, creative self-expression and independent play. The outcomes that were achieved relevant to play sites were described in the 2020-2030 draft strategy.      

Since the initial strategy was adopted by the Authority, many improvements and other changes had taken place.  The main changes to occur were:

•      Many sites had been improved raising standards and increasing accessibility and quality;

•      Previous investments had enabled the Authority to deliver many of the 2007 Strategy actions points, resulting in larger and better equipped play sites;

•      Capital funding opportunities had changed: S106 residential sites, as other funding reduced; and

•      In 2015, the Authority adopted the Green Space Strategy, which underlined the importance of play in a child’s development.  The strategy also stated the current approach in setting standards for the provision of equipped play based on quality, quantity and accessibility.         

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item C&L15/20

In response to a member’s request for further information regarding the Sub-Committee’s work programme, the Chair commented that further to the recent Scrutiny Chairs and Deputies meeting and pre-agenda discussions, Members were encouraged to put forward additional items not already identified and, if appropriate, a particular topic for investigation (study group) for her attention via the Democratic Services Officer.