Wednesday - Town Council Recreation Committee meeting Tonight the Town Council’s Recreation Committee considered a motion to change its policy regarding the West Park lakes. It chose not to do so, and was right not to do so. It is not possible today, as the motion requested, to say that ‘we have our ecological areas’ and to therefore declare the West Park lakes are solely ‘for recreation’. Any environmental project nowadays has to include a clear statement of how it will incorporate public recreational access … and conversely, no recreational facility can ignore environmental concerns. Everything nowadays has to have both a recreational AND an environmental purpose. Moreover, Councillors have been elected to take care of the Town Council’s assets, and to act wisely and cautiously for the good of the whole community. Therefore, before we change our policy on the Lakes – as the motion sought to do – the Town Council needs to seek answers to four questions: 1. is the new policy achievable? 2. is it affordable? 3. is it sustainable? And, fourthly, is it better than the policy we’ve got already. For 17 years we have been implementing more-or-less a consistent policy vis-à-vis the lakes. We have regularly been asked to review that policy, and there is consequently a weight of documentation, reports, investigations, expert opinion and experience available to us. We are able to say categorically that some things don’t work because we have tried them – and they don’t work. Tonight we were given no model, no reports, no evidence, no new information which contradicts what we know already. So, until new information turns up, therefore, the Town Council does best to continue with what it is doing. An amendment was proposed, therefore, which accepted the first paragraph of the motion but proposed an amendment to the rest of the motion. The bit we accepted was: ‘(i)That this Park is to be viewed as a Recreation Amenity first and foremost for use and enjoyment by the general public. Wildlife are a welcome addition but not the primary purpose of the Park. Its primary purpose is to serve the public as an amenity open space, with play equipment and other recreational use, similar to the Parks at Woodham, Simpasture, Moore Lane, St Oswalds, Byerley Park, Horndale and Town Park.’ Thereafter, however, we amended the motion to read as follows: (ii) that officers be asked to look into alternative ways to dredge the lakes (iii) that an adviser be engaged to comment on the hydrology and ecology of the lakes (iv) that the council reaffirm its policy, approved at the Council meeting of 7 September 2011, regarding the maintenance and cleaning arrangements of the lakes (as per the officers report, para 3.1) (v) that the council endorse the action of the Town Clerk asking the Friends of West Park to stop clearing the pondweed from the top lake unless specifically requested by the Environmental Officer and under his supervision. It was the response of a responsible Council. Firstly, in its final point, it stated that the Town Clerk was correct in asking the Friends volunteers to stop pulling out pondweed until the Council could meet, tonight, to see if it wanted the pondweed pulling out. Secondly, the amendment’s third point confirmed that the policy which officers must apply to the Lakes is the existing policy. This amendment confirms the existing environmental solution, and included in that is the stipulation that volunteers must go into the lakes only at the request and under the direction of the Environmental Officer. However, what the amendment also did – and very reasonably in the circumstances – was yet again to ask, in its first two points, for yet more expert opinion … in case we might be able to improve our management and maintenance of the Lakes. What this means is that – if we are wrong – reports will come back to this Council which tell us how we can improve the way we manage the Lakes ... in which case we will consider them. But it will be a considered change of policy, based on evidence, such as befits a wise Council. I do hope that this might now be a platform upon which Council and volunteers might be able to put the issue aside, and seek a partnership approach, rather than a confrontational approach, to making West Park the excellent public amenity we all want it to be.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:39:54 +0000
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