Issue - meetings

The Report of the Interim Head of Finance and S151 Officer.

The Finance Team Manager presented the report to members.

A member expressed concern regarding the amount of the subsidy paid to the Owen Street recreation ground by the working party and suggested that by reducing the amount paid, savings could be made to the working party’s budget. A member asserted that Coalville Town Football Club who use the ground are a profit making organisation which would be in a financial position to contribute more of their own income in order to maintain the ground’s upkeep. It was suggested that the field could be used for events and that it was unfair to subsidise a financially successful organisation so heavily and it was suggested that the land could be sold to the club for the market value.

A member responded that the football club had many young people who play and train there and that this, alongside match days, bring in good value for money and business into the town. The importance of considering what value expenditures bring back to the community was noted.

The meeting was informed that the football club pay £2,000 per annum for the use of the Scotland’s playing field, and a member suggested that they could be contributing more than this amount. Officers confirmed that they had arranged to meet with Mr Rennocks, Chair of the club, in order to discuss financial arrangements.

Members queried the savings around planned preventative maintenance and were advised that some of this expenditure would be pushed back into the future financial years in order to make savings this year. Officers confirmed that the only statutory service would be for cemeteries and burials.

A member made enquiries with regards to deferring expenditure on the London Road cemetery wall and asked whether it would still be considered to be safe in a year’s time. Officers responded that the wall was subject to close monitoring and that at present it would not be in imminent danger of collapse.

A member asked for clarification on the planned events and was advised that due to events planned for the King’s Coronation and another significant event, Cinema in the Park would unlikely to be scheduled for 2023. It was asked how much Cinema in the Park cost, what it brought in and what the shortfall would be. Officers clarified that the income it brought in was around £14,000, the actual cost had been £41,000, £26,000 of which had been funded by Coalville Special Expenses ty and £15,000 of which had been funded  from the general fund. Therefore it was clarified that the total net cost had been £27,000 of which the working party had picked up £16,000 of the cost.

It was asserted that the rental of pitches for stallholders had been relatively low however officers replied that the stallholders had a variety of options and therefore would have chosen to trade at other events which would have charged them lower rent.

A member suggested that ticket prices for this event had been low and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27