Archived decisions

UNCONFIRMED Item 6

Sir George Staunton Country Park

Stakeholder Forum

Minutes of Meeting

Held on Monday 12th May 2008, at 10:00am,

in the Garrett Room, Staunton Country Park

Present

Hampshire County Council

Cllr E F Gale

Cllr. Mrs A Buckley

Forestry Commission

Mr. Graham Nottage

Mr Simon James

Rowland's Castle Parish

Cllr. Mrs M Harvey

Horndean Parish Council

Cllr Mr Richard Hart

East Hampshire District Council

Cllr Mrs D K Denston

Mr S d'Este Hoare

Havant Day Services

Mr. Terry Hart

Local Member

Cllr Mrs E. M Byrom

Havant Borough Council

Mr Jeff Crate

Sir George Staunton Country Park

Mr Lewis Paterson

1. APOLOGIES

      Mrs June Parkinson, Hampshire Gardens Trust.

      Mr Paul Thomson, Hampshire County Council.

2. MINUTES OF STAKEHOLDER FORUM

      The Minutes of Stakeholder Forum meting held on the 9th October 2007 were agreed.

3. UNCONFIRMED MINUTES OF THE JOINT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

      The unconfirmed minutes of the Joint Management Committee held on 27th November 2008 were noted.

4. PARK MANAGERS UPDATE

      The Forum considered the report of the Park Manger outlining recent work and developments at Staunton since the previous update presented on the 9th October 2007.

      Following a strong start to the season a number if issues have meant that visitor figures for the 2007/08 financial year were 5% lower than those of 2006/7. This equates to a drop of approximately five thousand visitors and will have an impact on the budget outturn.

      Despite the disappointing visitor figures the team at Staunton have continued to develop and maintain the standard of the attraction. 2008 sees more restored pathways, a new play trail introduced to Leigh Park Gardens and much needed access improvements to the retail and visitor centre areas.

      Following his presentation the Park Manager was asked a number of questions by the members of the Stakeholder Forum;

      Q. Why did we win the Best Attraction award?

      A. The Park Manager answered that Staunton had been nominated and then voted for by members of the public who read the Portsmouth News.

      Q. Retail Space - What is intended?

      A. The Park Manager answered that the aim is to enhance retail spend through offering a better and more relevant product range that fit with our brand. An additional benefit of relocating the bulk of retail away from the Visitors Centre is that this will allow us to better sell the Staunton experience to visitors entering the Park.

      Q. Are we going to advertise Staunton Live! this year?

      A. The Park Manager answered that the event would be advertised. As a fundamentally community event this would be focussed locally.

      Q. Do we have a leaflet to advertise the new Play Trail?

      A. The Inspirational Surroundings free walk leaflet encompasses the new play trail and is available from the Visitor Centre and Victorian Coach House. The leaflet is also currently being re-designed and a slightly more up to date version will soon be re-printed.

      Q. Do we have any Hampshire Apple Tree's in the Walled Garden?

      A. We do have a range of apple tree's within the walled garden with Hampshire provenance. This is likely to be expanded in the future as the diseased box hedging is replaced by espalier grown fruits.

      Q. Will the Orchids in Hammonds Land woodland pasture be affected by the proposed reservoir?

      A. Hammonds Land woodland pasture does not fall within the site of the proposed reservoir.

      Q. Do we have any Wedding's in the Barn coming up?

      A. The first wedding service and reception will be held during June.

      Q. Have we thought about doing experience day's - i.e. like at Chessington where older children can pay for experience days and help out with the animals?

      A. This has been considered in the past and is certainly a possibility.

      Q. Comments were passed on regarding fishing on the lake as follows;

        There are too many tench and not enough carp.

        A. The fishery is regularly monitored in partnership with the Environment Agency and fish population and structure is believed satisfactory. Similarly to many inland waters there have been issues with cormorants damaging the stock levels (particularly silver fish). An Environment Agency licence has been granted in 2008 to manage this.

    The surface on the island needs to be filled in

        A. The lake path and swims were resurfaced and vastly improved two years ago. There is now a programme of ongoing maintenance which should address any issues.

      Q. How many Annual Angling Club members do we have?

      A. The Park Manager answered that there was somewhere in the region of sixty annual members, but we do also sell day to the fishery.

      Q. Did we work with Youth Service to help with the Play Trail?

      A. The Park Manager answered that we had worked with a number of local schools and services (including youth) and plan to continue as we further develop the trail.

      Q. What has happened with Lottery Bid?

      A. The last bid had failed so we were in the process of reviewing our position prior to preparing a new bid. As part of this process we are reviewing our Vision Statement.

RESOLVED:

That the Stakeholder Forum note the content of the Report.

5. THE STAUNTON VISION - A REVIEW

      The Forum considered the report of the Park Manger outlining recent work to review and update the Vision for Staunton.

      It was felt that this is much more succinct Vision will assist us to develop management of the site and its clarity will aid in preparing future funding bids.

      Following his presentation the Park Manager was asked who is the Vision aimed at? The Park Manager answered that this was a Vision to guide the future management of Staunton, but should also be able to be understood by our visitors.

RESOLVED:

That the Stakeholder Forum note the content of the Report and support the introduction of the proposed Vision.

6. DATE OF NEXT STAKEHOLDER MEETING

      The next Stakeholder Forum Meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th September 2008, 10:00am, at Sir George Staunton Country Park.

7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

      The Park was invited to post details of any forthcoming events on the Havant Borough Council website.

      It was suggested that name cards for the next meeting.

      Staunton and Havant Day Services were continuing to work toward establishing a partnership based at the former nursery site.