Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       To update the Committee on the progress to date and seek approvals for the next stage of the pilot initiative.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is requested to support the recommendations made by DTNI in relation to the future management of Clarendon and Ulidia Playing fields by the community and agree: 

 

·        to seek the consent of DFC to the grant of a lease for a term of 25 years, at a nominal rent at each site; and

 

·        that, if DFC approval is received, an award of £20,000 per annum be made to each lessee, subject to periodic review against the projections of the business case, with the review period to be negotiated as part of the lease.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

            Background

 

3.1       The People and Communities Committee, at its meeting on 9th November 2021, received the attached report from the Directors of Neighbourhood Services and Physical Programmes and approved the commencement of a pilot scheme to identify future management models for a number of Council assets. The pilot is testing the decision-making value of a draft Community Management Assessment Framework and toolkit previously developed for Council by Development Trusts NI (DTNI).  Sites chosen reflect the existing variety of management models, functions and end user demographics found among council assets.   The key output from each pilot will be a recommendation as to the future management model. The preferred management option will be that which delivers the greatest community benefit and supports the council in delivering the outcomes of the Belfast Agenda.   

 

3.2       DTNI was appointed to take forward the pilot and work directly with community-based organisations identified at the following sites:

 

·        Clarendon Playing Fields;

·        Ulidia Playing Fields;

·        Hammer Pitch, changing rooms and community space;

·        Willowbank Multi Sports Facility;

·        Tullycarnet Park Boxing Club;

·        Former Upper Ardoyne Youth Centre;

 

3.3       The sites at Ulidia and Clarendon Playing Fields have now been assessed by DTNI and its recommendations form the body of this report. Assessment of other sites is ongoing and reports will be presented to the Committee as DTNI makes its returns.

 

3.4       Ulidia Playing fields has been under community management by Rosario FC since 2016. Through means of a partner agreement, the club deliver community development outcomes through sports programming. Quarterly reporting ensures the outcomes are monitored and a grant is assessed and paid accordingly.  The agreement is due to terminate in 2023 and the process of developing the business case has included consideration of the significant  outcomes delivered  through community management of the site in the last 6 years.

 

3.5       Clarendon Playing Fields has been managed by Clarendon Development Association under a number of Facilities Management Agreements since 2005. In 2016 council moved away from entering into such agreements which had been focused largely on site management, and moved towards  the partnership model with a social, community outcomes focus. The community benefit delivered by CDA at Clarendon playing fields was acknowledged by committee in 2017 with agreement for the club to have preferential use of the site and to locate a portacabin there for the delivery of homework clubs and youth activity.  The legal agreement at Clarendon has been overholding since 2016.

 

3.6       Under the current legal agreements, facilities at these sites have been used to deliver community development outcomes at a local level through and alongside sports outcomes.  

 

            The council is in receipt of requests from both communities for the continuation of community management of the sites rather than a reversion to council management. The requests from Rosario FC and Clarendon Development Agency have been the subject of ongoing engagement between officers, elected members and the organisations for some time.

 

3.7       In both cases the applicants were proposing that their long-term management of the site would have greater community benefit than a reversion to Council management at the termination point of the current legal agreement. They also identified opportunities for capital development at both sites using external investment but neither have the security of tenure required to be successful in a funding application. 

 

3.8       DTNI was asked to work with the two community organisations to assess their capacity to undertake the future management of the site and to determine the benefit to the community in their doing so. This was to be achieved through development of a community benefits realisation plan and a business case to demonstrate the organisations long term sustainability. These documents would support identification of a recommended mechanism for the transfer of the asset to community management assessed against the draft framework.  

 

            Key Issues

 

3.9       Given the similarity in scale and functionality of the sites at Clarendon and Ulidia and the similar aspirations of the community organisations currently delivering services at the sites,  the same recommendation has come forward for both sites, ie. that the existing Clarendon Development Association and a newly formed Rosario Development Company each enter into a long-term lease with the Council.  Both organisations are requesting that the lease is rent free in order to support a sustainable financial model focused on the delivery of sporting programmes and community provision at the sites.  DFC approval will have to be sought for this on the grounds of an evidence base of ongoing community benefit.

 

3.10     It should be noted that the current model of management is not by lease and so no rent is currently applied.

 

3.11     The exact lease terms will be subject to the approval of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to the grant of a lease and to the approval that detailed terms can be agreed by estates and legal services officers.

 

            The business cases provided by DTNI have been based on a term of 25 years and assume the following roles and responsibilities: 

 

Responsibility	Owner
Premises insurance	BCC
Buildings Maintenance	Lessee
Pitch Maintenance	Lessee
Perimeter Maintenance (fencing and trees)	BCC
Synthetic pitch surface replacement	Potentially shared

 

            Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.12     Clarendon Playing Fields

 

            In the case of the current agreement at Clarendon PF, the Council insures the facility and pays premises costs including utilities for the changing pavilion. Council pays the development association a fee for their day-to-day management of the facility and the association manages the bookings and retains the income. The fee paid (assessed against RPI annually) was £18,888 last year. 

 

3.13     DTNI is recommending that, under the new legal agreement, the Council pay the development association £20,000 per year in order to ensure the sustainability for their business model. Financial modelling contained within  the business case suggests that by year 5 of operation the association may have in the region of £50,000 to reinvest in the site. Based on the association’s aspirations for capital development of the site it is not possible at this time to identify if and when the current 3G synthetic pitch surface may need replacing so there may be a need for council to contribute capital to the pitch surface replacement if the site has not been developed by the end of its useful lifespan which is potentially 2028. 

 

3.14     Based on current costs to the Council, a long term lease including a payment of £20,000 to Clarendon Development Association would largely reflect the current cost for the site and represent no major financial change.

 

 

            Ulidia Playing Fields

 

3.15     This site is currently operated by Rosario FC under a partner agreement the terms of which give responsibility for the management and maintenance of the site to the Council, which retains all income from the bookings to offset costs. The annual average income from the site is £42,808.

 

3.16     In line with all other partner agreements, the Council pays Rosario FC £20,000 for the delivery of sporting programmes at the site from a budget held for this purpose by the Sports Development Unit.   When the original grass pitch, on which the partner agreement was based, was upgraded to a synthetic floodlit surface Council agreed to pay up to an additional £2,000 per month to support the club to staff the extended opening hours.  The current maximum payment in any year to Rosario FC is therefore £44,000 paid through the Sports Development Unit assessed against the sporting outcomes delivered by the club. 

 

3.17     DTNI is recommending, as with the Clarendon site, that under the new legal agreement the Council pay Rosario Development Association £20,000 per year in order to ensure the sustainability for their business model and generate a small reserve annually for reinvestment in the site.  The 3G pitch surface is likely to reach the end of its useful life by 2029 and, dependant on the value of reserves achieved by that time, the Council may be required to contribute Capital towards replacement.  

 

3.18     Based on current costs, a long-term lease to Rosario Development Association including a payment of £20,000 annually would represent an annual saving to the budget of the Sports Development Unit of up to £24,000 but an average loss of income from the site of £42,808. This can be managed from within existing revenue budgets. 

 

3.19     Based on the assessment carried out by DTNI and the business cases put forward as part of that work, officers are recommending that not only can greater social outcomes be achieved through long term community management of these sites but that the potential for further capital development of the sites increases under community management.

 

 

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment

 

3.20     The final Community Asset Management Policy will be screened in line with Council Policy.

 

            Both groups have existing agreements with the Council.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.