“After having read about St Stephen’s School’s concerns about their bill for use of Moormead in the press, the Council started a review, in order to find an amicable agreement.
To date we have met with the contractors who manage sports bookings – Veolia and reviewed the current prices and use of Moormead by St Stephens and all other schools who use pitches in other parks in a similar way.
We have checked and the rates being applied for the use booked by the school are correct, using the rates set annually by the Council, since St Stephen’s do make a lot of use of the site. The rates have not increased (except by 2.5% in line with inflation) but the school is now booking and being charged for all formal use of the park.
“Naturally, we want to encourage full use of the Park by the school and we have now made direct contact with the school. We have checked their actual use, the rates being charged and are meeting to discuss the grounds maintenance of the site next week. They are aware that we are taking the situation seriously and are sympathetic.
Since there are several schools which do not have their own pitches, we cannot treat St Stephen’s in isolation. We have therefore undertaken a review of all schools charges for pitches.
The current rates are set by the Cabinet Member and we will therefore need formal authority to change them. We will be presenting a paper to the Cabinet Member next week for his decision recommending that we identify schools with no playing pitches and ‘partner them’ with a nearby park which they use. We will set a ceiling price for sensible curriculum use which the school is able to afford. We hope that we can then work together with these schools to improve the parks they use for the benefit of everyone.
For now any invoices outstanding have been put on hold.”
– from Eve Risbridger, Head of Parks and Open Spaces, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Comments
I would be interested to hear if schools with playing pitches eg Chase Bridge, Vineyard etc pay extra money to the local authority for the use of their grounds
Karina Moses on 2007-03-29 09:21:24 +0000Since the schools and parks are all provided for and funded by the council (via OUR taxes, let's not forget) and provision of sports and exercise is part of the curriculum, this is just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Council has a duty to make the parks available to schools gratis. If they are allowed to get away with this, Saturday/Sunday morning football clubs will be the next victims.
And whilst they're about it, they should provide more bins and clean up all rubbish and dog poo!
Ed on 2007-03-30 09:56:01 +0000Schools that have dedicated facilities also get a grant from the council and this grant can only be used towards the maintenance costs of their grounds facility.
In the case of St Stephens the charges they pay also go towards the maintenance of the pitches they use.
It does sound like robbing Peter to pay Paul but the reality is the council has to operate within the constraints of any relevant rules and guidlines.
There are pots of money, if you like, set aside for specific purposes and these funds cannot be put to any other use, this is also the problem with some of the £54 mill but that is another story.
Last week Acting Head, local Councillors, School Governor and Council Official had a meeting regarding the above issues. It was noted without exception that the best should be done for the children and they must not suffer any disadvantage. We have already started to put some measures in place and there should be more details today from Cllr Acton who will be present at a meeting with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Head of Parks and open Spaces.
Cllr Ben Khosa
Ben Khosa on 2007-04-02 09:01:54 +0000