Behind-the-door-itis - Page 2

Acrylic-bob · 11-12-2005, 19:06

Before we all get too excited about the amounts of money there is available, consider this. Not too many years ago HBC decided that we should celebrate the gift of the rock gardens in Oak Hill Park. The stream that is supposed to run through them from top to bottom has never been much more than a damp stain and a couple of sludgy puddles for as long as I can remember it.

So HBC decided to chuck an astonishing amount of money at it to get it all spruced up and looking bonny. I think the figure was in the region of £30,000, though I could be wrong. Go and have a look at it today; broken paths, patchy planting, overgrown with weeds, the pond at the bottom was planted with a species of reed which have been allowed to run riot and now clog it completely. And the stream...still a damp stain and a couple of sludgy puddles.

You see, HBC are very good at spending lots of money to "improve" things. But they are not too hot at finding the funding for maintenance. Loads of cash for short term cosmetics but nothing for the day to day bills that keep places of interest ticking over. This is the main reason why the parks are in such a state.

So any money that comes from the lottery to improve public parks had better have with it a fairly substantial ring-fenced maintenance grant, or in twelve months there will be little to show for the hard work and money spent.

Neil · 11-12-2005, 19:31

I have been in Oak Hill park this afternoon. I did not notice your damp stain but I did see a very nice and fairly large kiddies play area.

Gayle · 11-12-2005, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

So any money that comes from the lottery to improve public parks had better have with it a fairly substantial ring-fenced maintenance grant, or in twelve months there will be little to show for the hard work and money spent.

Actually A-B you have found a pretty major flaw with most of this type of funding - sustainability. There are a number of really good initiatives about at the moment, one of which has funding from the Arts Council, but only until 2008. It's also what happened with the Community Wardens - it's relatively easy to get the money but you have to ensure that it's maintained.

However, having said that - careful management of funds and the right applications can ensure that it's possible to continually source new money to continue developing (and at the same time maintaining) things.

Acrylic-bob · 12-12-2005, 03:29

Neil: Did you notice that it was built on that part of the park where they used to have greenhouses to grow their own plants? Have they got around to turfing it over yet or is it still bare earth? Also did you notice whether there has been any attempt to clear and replace the burnt out Bandstand? Or is it still fenced off?

Gayle: Until the start of the seventies all the parks were well maintained, as a matter of course. If you are going to attract new funding to take the place of capital investment which you cannot afford, I can see no reason on earth why the money for maintenance cannot be found. It comes down in the end to short-sighted short-term budget policies and a council which chooses to run its services on shoe string because it prefers to spend our money on projects to make Councillors look good. That and lax financial management of inefficient, high spending departments and the general culture of incompetence.

Gayle · 12-12-2005, 18:22

Can't argue with you A-B, you've hit the nail on the head!

park381 · 12-12-2005, 20:27

So HBC were granted £5000 to come up with a restoration plan for rhyddings park in 1997..............what took them so long, looks like the grant was spent on other things. HBC must be way down at the bottom of the league...............Think you could be right a-b lets scrap HBC and move over the border, I noticed they got £2+M for corporation park

Gayle · 12-12-2005, 20:31

They got the money to write the plan, I believe they wrote it but then the problem was 'match'. This is the money that most funders insist you provide yourself. So in the case of Rhyddings Park's £1m grant, the funders will provide £900k but HBC have to find the remaining 10%. So whilst the bid was written and everyone knew what needed doing but HBC had to raise the £100k. Can it be a coincidence that the Council has managed to find the 'match' money a few months before a certain Councillor is up for re-election.

park381 · 12-12-2005, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

Neil: Did you notice that it was built on that part of the park where they used to have greenhouses to grow their own plants? Have they got around to turfing it over yet or is it still bare earth? Also did you notice whether there has been any attempt to clear and replace the burnt out Bandstand? Or is it still fenced off?

A-B they have'nt even leveled the old pavilion area off yet. How long is it since that was burnt down

Gayle · 12-12-2005, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by park381

A-B they have'nt even leveled the old pavilion area off yet. How long is it since that was burnt down

It was the very end of July last year - I know this because it was a week before the Mela and it gave us a right headache. We still had to recreate another stage in front of it again this year. Apparently it will be sorted out by next year so we've been told!

SPUGGIE J · 12-12-2005, 20:42

If its anything like the Broadway fiasco then you could be in for a long wait.

garinda · 12-12-2005, 21:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gayle

They got the money to write the plan, I believe they wrote it but then the problem was 'match'. This is the money that most funders insist you provide yourself. So in the case of Rhyddings Park's £1m grant, the funders will provide £900k but HBC have to find the remaining 10%. So whilst the bid was written and everyone knew what needed doing but HBC had to raise the £100k. Can it be a coincidence that the Council has managed to find the 'match' money a few months before a certain Councillor is up for re-election.

Good for Rhyddings Park, and for Oswaldtwistle, but what do other residents feel about the £100,000 found by HBC in Brtitcliffe's home town when the rest of the Borough's parks are in such a poorly maintained state?

SPUGGIE J · 12-12-2005, 22:37

They have a handy "emergency fund" aka a slush fund.

vitty · 12-12-2005, 23:31

I would very much like to do a piece about this for the Observer.

Bob - where did these figures come from?

I'm off work this week, but I will either pass it on to a colleague or do it next week.

Anyone got anything to add?

Acrylic-bob · 13-12-2005, 04:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitty

I would very much like to do a piece about this for the Observer.

Bob - where did these figures come from?

The lottery figures come from the report quoted in my initial post you will find a link at the bottom of that post.

For the rest, I think a trawl through back copies of the AO would be your best bet.

At a pinch you could use the Freedom of Information Act and ask HBC to spill the beans - it would be interesting to see what you came up with, if anything. You could also do a search on the forums using various park names as a keyword. We have all written at length on the subject of our parks, particularly Milnshaw, Gatty, and Oak Hill there should be lots of quotable stuff there as well as pictures.

Gayle: Yes, what a coincidence! I wonder where it was diverted from. Strange also that money can be found for this and not for the Community Wardens. But, of course, we all know that it is everybody else's fault that money cannot be found to fund the Wardens and nothing whatever to do with the shameful mismanagement of council funds by the Idiot-in-Chief.

Gayle · 13-12-2005, 14:01

A few dots are starting to join up in my mind - which is good!

Anyway a few weeks ago I posted the attached thread - I posted it mostly so that you wouldn't all leap on me because the person had a similar name

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=17889

Anyway, the point of that thread is about an audit on all our green spaces that's being done by some consultants appointed by HBC.

Then this thread started to wander onto the amount of money spent on parks

Then, I received an email a few minutes ago from Hyndburn Community Network

Research on green spaces and outdoor recreation provision
The council has appointed external consultants to undertake a comprehensive audit of parks and gardens, children's play areas, civic spaces, footpaths, cycle ways and bridle paths as well as outdoor facilities such as tennis courts and bowling greens.

The study will examine the quality, distribution and use of spaces and facilities and will include all sites whether managed within the public, private, voluntary or education sector. The consultants will appraise the capacity of space and/or facilities to meet the demands being placed on them now and in the future by seeking to identify the extent and type of use. This will help the council and its partners to secure external funding, improve provision and inform land use planning policy, in terms of protection and future allocation of outdoor recreational space.

If you represent a community, voluntary, faith sector group, private/business or the education sector and have an interest in open and green space please contact the council to get involved in the consultation because they are keen to promote the consultation process and to seek involvement from the wider community.

Contact Planning at HBC for further information:

Tel 388111

Email: [email protected]

Anyway, it all links up nicely to this thread

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=18437

Sorry, it's been a bit long winded but it would appear that our council is acting on the parks and it is likely to be going for some of the funding.