Sheffield Hillsborough and Graves parks campaigners lose bid to halt plan they fear is privatisation

A meeting of the council’s charity trustees sub-committee (September 15) was questioned by representatives of the Friends of Graves Park and Hillsborough Park. They are worried about plans to bring in a 25-year lease for a private partner to run a multi-activity hub in Hillsborough Park plus tennis courts at Hillsborough and eight other city parks.

The multi-activity hub would replace a multi-use games area (MUGA) with activities that are partly paid for, plus toilets and a cafe. The chosen operator would run, improve and maintain all the tennis courts. Funding from the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England will include new tennis coaching opportunities.

Both Friends groups argue that granting a long lease to an outside operator amounts to privatisation of publicly-owned parks space, something the council has rejected as untrue.

Four of the parks in the scheme, including High Hazels Park in Darnall, Graves, Hillsborough and Weston, are controlled by charitable trusts, of which the council is sole trustee. The other parks are Ecclesfield, Concord, Millhouses, Bingham and Hollinsend.

Caroline Dewar, of the Graves Park group submitted, questions about the ‘community interest company’ involved in the scheme, Courtside CIC, saying there is no such company. She asked questions about which other which companies were approached in the selection process and how many of them share the same directors.

She questioned whether there was a direct benefit for the Graves Park Trust and said that other park Friends groups were unaware that the scheme affected them, calling the consultation process into question.

In addition, she called on the committee to “encourage the council officers to work with the Friends of Graves Park to put together a business plan to restore the Rose Garden Café back to its former glory as a matter of urgency, so that the Friends can pursue applying for funding”.

Later in the meeting, committee chair Coun Ian Auckland put in place plans for a special meeting of the committee in October specifically to discuss the future of the cafe and its restoration and full reopening.

Ms Dewar also brought up the issue of land at Norton Nurseries, saying her group has waited eight years to work with the council on the next section of that land to bring it back to parkland.

All Ms Dewar’s questions and the written answers supplied were set to be displayed on the council’s website.

Andy Chaplin of the Friends of Hillsborough Park, who had also presented questions, said: “There is a groundswell of public opinion opposing this scheme.”

He said more than 2,000 people have signed a petition against it, as opposed to 412 supporters of the council’s online consultation.

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He said a three-month survey the group did indicates that six times as many people use the current games area than would use the tennis courts.

Mr Chaplin said: “There’s a big question about the financial viability of the scheme and because those details aren’t shared publicly, then there’s no way that we’ll know whether it stacks up or not.”

He pointed to the effect of the land disposal on people with mental and physical disabilities, adding: “It’s very unclear that there’s been any consultation with anybody apart from Cycling 4 All and I think that even they say it is not their preferred outcome but there are ways and means that it could be made to allow them to at least offer a service in Hillsborough Park.”

Sheffield Cycling 4 All are a charity that run weekly cycling sessions in the park for any adult who can’t ride a two-wheel bike due to disability or a long-term health condition. They currently use the MUGA for sessions.

Mr Chaplin also said the scheme would disadvantage people suffering from the current financial crisis if they have to pay to use some park facilities.

He conceded “some people seem to think having another cafe in the park would be quite useful 200 yards from the one that exists already and having more toilets in the park would be useful – having said that, there are going to be three public toilets and a Changing Places toilet in the park already and potentially, if the East Lodge gets developed, there’ll be another public toilet there.”

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Coun Fran Belbin said that several members have taken legal advice on whether committee members have the same legal role as trustees of other charities. She said that legally their role was to make sure that the parks are there for the benefit of the people of Sheffield.

Committee chair Coun Ian Auckland said they are discharging the responsibilities of the council’s role as corporate trustee.

Coun Belbin argued that a lot of objections fall outside the remit of the committee and are “misinformed”, adding “quite a lot refer to privatisation, private profits and so on which I don’t think are applicable to this scheme”.

“I think the activity hub itself looks like quite a positive development,” she said, adding: “The question is whether it’s the right development for Hillsborough and whether it is better than the existing space and the MUGA.”

She struggled with the decision as a big believer in free play but added: “I do have concerns, though, whether the existing MUGA really lends to that approach of free play at the moment because of the nature of it, it isn’t a varied space”.

She said it tends to be used more by boys than girls.

Coun Douglas Johnson was worried that the scheme for Weston Park has not yet been finalised, there were too many questions about the scheme in general and it could be achieved without the need for long leases.

He said he felt that the council was just chasing the funding from the Lawn Tennis Association.

Communities, parks and leisure committee chair Coun Richard Williams said some objectors fear that disposal is “the start of selling off charities land by stealth or whatever.

“I fully understand that, I know the history particularly of Graves Park – I wasn’t anywhere near the council when it happened but there’s been a lot of press about it.

“To me, looking at it logically, the disposal by lease is nowhere near selling off the land. It is a perfectly legitimate arrangement between someone who is investing in and running the scheme and protecting their investment so that they can actually recover their costs, perfectly legitimate.”

He added: “I would personally fight any attempt to sell off land. I give my personal guarantee. I’ll do everything I can to avoid that.”

Lisa Firth, director of parks, leisure and libraries, said that there are break clauses in the lease. She said talks are ongoing with Cycling 4 All to expand their activities to other parks.