Agenda item

To report progress on outstanding actions from the minutes of the last meeting, for information only.

The Assistant Director – Leisure and Local Services provided updates on matters not otherwise covered by the agenda:

Central Park Security

Following the decision not to renew the security and gate locking service at Central Park, the gates had remained unlocked since 31^st August 2025. Democratic Services had continued to liaise with relevant Borough Council teams to monitor reports of criminality.

Between 1^st September and the previous Committee meeting on 22^nd January 2026, eleven reports of alleged criminal behaviour had been received, ranging from anti-social behaviour to unconfirmed reports of a man with a knife. None of the incidents had occurred during the period when the gates were previously locked.

Since the January meeting, two further incidents had been reported to the Council’s departments:

·       youths scaling the roof of the toilet block (which may have occurred during the period when the gates would previously have been locked)

·       youths kicking Harris fencing.

Information had been requested from the Police in advance of the meeting but had not been received. Council departments had confirmed that no concerns had been raised by the Police since the last update. 

Given the number of incidents remained relatively low, the Assistant Director – Leisure and Local Services suggested that the Committee may wish to receive a further update at its June meeting, particularly as a result of lighter evenings. It was confirmed that Democratic Services would liaise with the relevant teams nearer the time and ensure that the Committee received an update, and that Members would be informed in advance should reporting patterns change.

The Working Group had not met since the last meeting.

Central Park Green Flag application

A judge had now been allocated to the Green Flag application. All judging would be completed by the end of May 2026, with further updates to be provided as the application progressed.

Highways

Members had previously expressed an interest in hearing from the County Council Portfolio Holder for Highways. Several attempts to secure attendance had been unsuccessful and, despite a recent change in the Portfolio Holder, a date had still not been agreed. It was now anticipated that this would be sought in the new municipal year.

Confirmation was provided that efforts would continue to secure attendance as soon as possible and that provisional dates of Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings for the new municipal year would be shared with the Portfolio Holder to facilitate this.

Community Governance Review

The provisional terms of the Stage 2 consultation plan and communications strategy were presented to the Working Group at its meeting on 12^th February 2026. The consultation launched on 2^nd March and would remain open until 5th May 2026.

The Chair of the Working Group, Councillor Mike Gilbert, had circulated information to all Members encouraging them to promote the consultation in the wards, community groups and through social media. Supporting information had been provided to assist with this.

It was confirmed that a further update would be provided to the Committee following the close of the consultation.