Minutes of Meetings

DATE 30.1.19

TIME 19.00

LOCATION Ballifeary Road, Inverness

PRESENT

Jaci, Matt, Nicola, Yvonne, Helen, Fergus, Cris, Jon
and guest Paul Harrington from HIE.

APOLOGIES

Liz , Ali.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST
None declared

REVIEW OF ACTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES

Feedback from Impact Hub questionnaire-

AP1 completed -Training requirements for group still to be received.
AP2-Constitution review in process by JF, PH and DTAS it will be completed in time for Stage 2?

Update of current position NMPG

C /F-website authorship, pen pictures, plus links to other bodies

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
Approved by Matt, seconded by Nicola and signed by Jon then filed.

MAIN AGENDA
Update on minutes format – CF
Suggested by Karen (from Impact Hub) that we use a more formal approach and ensure we nominate and sign and file for possible need in future .

Update on funding applications – JF
JF introduced PH who explained his background and roles HIE Development member and advisor to Land Fund.
He has advised & helped us gain Start up assistance funding, he will support us towards our CAT application, ensuring we have robust applications at every stage of the process.
PH advised NMPG to visit other groups involved in with CAT such as
Pyramid in the centre of Glasgow. Nicola has been in contact with group at Strathpeffer and will meet with them in the next few weeks.JF reminded us Diane Campbell has contacts and can help with expenses to meet with
other like minded groups.
JF & CF to attend Highland Hooley in the Town House on 19th Feb invited by Gordon Barr (Arch Heritage Fund – AHF) as chance to network. If interested can apply online. JF & PH meeting Gordon at 3.30pm same day.
If we are not successful …we will be given reasons and be able to improve our application and apply again…If we don’t receive full amount may have to apply for remainder of funds need from other grant bodies.
If we are successful we hope to receive £24,500 (includes (£5,000) from AHF.Keeping £1,000 set aside from the Start up grant we received means our application looks more attractive to funders.
Once we have the Funds in place we can begin the next stage of booking consultants etc then develop timeline that we can strictly adhere to ..we hope!

Update from CALA – JD
Jaci reported CALA moving forward-Care Inspectorate have visited the building /grounds with view to long term focus- special emphasis on sanitary issues-broadly supportive.
A temporary structure/ short term solution eg a Yurt may be an answer to the need for an Early years child centre in the area -Jaci has met with the Council to discuss the prospect but is always mindful of the aims of NMPG during such discussions/will keep us informed of progress. She reported that the hedge around the “garden area” has a been removed unfortunately
AP-JF & Jaci have meeting with HLH on the 7th Feb. They will report back
AP -Paul stressed partnership with CALA and demonstrating the need for Early Years Care in the area is very important to NMPG plans.

Update on SCIO constitution – JF
Jon reported ‘almost there’ with updates then it will be ready to agree at a future meeting, prior to including it as part of our SCIO application

Financial update – NM
Nicola reported the NMPG have £1,169.26 left in our account of which £1,000 is being kept back by HIE to be, possibly, returned and added to SLF Grant We hope to receive the SLF decision on Wed 6th February. Once JF receives the decision he will contact us all.
AP- Nicola to send PH missing receipt for meeting booked (£22.00)
AP- Matt to follow pat HLH -contact Nicola
AP- Any items not accepted as ‘proper expenditure ‘by HIE will be paid for by JF/CF

Offer of lease from HC discussion – All
Discussion about how this offer came about and what it means-Pablo emailed suggesting a possible lease of £1.00 a year and said in email .Council not keen on NMPG taking ownership. All agreed we want continue along the ownership route and that our aim is Accessibility for all to the Northern Meeting Park.
AP-Go ahead with Route to Ownership & ensure our Business Plan progresses and is robust.
AP-PH to send email to JF with example from Barra of similar situation.

Easter & Summer events – All
Agreed to organise -1st wk in Easter – Sun 7th – Sun14th April & 1st wk Summer holidays- Sun 7th – Sat 14th July.
Matt -Shinty & Jaci -CALA offered to organise events
Teddy Bears picnic as event during Easter Open week- day to be decided
Helen to find out about Summer holiday club planned and report back
AP-Jon to book above dates and check out cost of Insurance.

AOB
Helen reported Planning permission for flats opposite NMP had been turned down but was being appealed.
Nicola & Helen to attend an Events Planning training event on Thursday 21st Feb.
PH reported HLH have an agreement to promote Strathpeffer and suggested we find out the cost involved and consider requesting same agreement for the NMP in future.
Bank arrangements discussed Nicola reminded us that when Bank account was we set up initially we decided we’d stay with Northern Meeting Park Group and not include SCIO in title just the SCIO number on letterhead and literature.

NEXT MEETING
Wednesday 27th February at 50, Balliferrie Rd at 7pm.
Thanks to Ali & Nicola for their hospitality.

MINUTES of  MEETING at NORTHERN MEETING PARK – held at The Cameron Centre – 11th December 2018 AT 7.00 PM

PRESENT- Nicola Macrae -NM, Ali Macrae-AM,Mathew McIver -MM , Yvonne Thain -YT, Jon Ford – JF, Cris Ford – CF,

 APOLOGIES-, William Ford-WF Jaci Douglas -JD,David McDonald –DM Fergus Weir-FW, Helen Smith -HS,

Review of latest questionnaire-feedback by Impact Hub

Karen ……… from Impact Hub opened the meeting by presenting a brief resume of her background.

She continued by discussing the results of the recent Health Check  questionnaire of  the NMPG. 

She also raised some questions regarding our draft constitution which were considered and discussed by those present.

AP 1-Karen to provide written feedback re the Health Check to JF.

AP 2-JF to amend the Constitution following the discussion and circulate  to Trustees for comment/acceptance.

Update of current position of NMPG

Due to lack of time the latter part of the meeting was brief and covered the subjects below-

1.Future meetings-

• Future meeting dates to be set at the next meeting so we have dates in diaries to be used if needed.Meeting to be arranged involving local Community and Paul H

2. NMPG website had been launched

• JF asked trustees to accept /reject the offer made in recent email to be an author of the NMPG website

• JF requested ‘pen pictures’ for the NMPG website, if trustees are interested.

• Following links to be added to website in due course-course-Women Shinty, Community Council,Parent Council,Northern Meeting park Cricket, Cathedral, Eden Court, CALA,Local schools.

Next Meeting of NMPG – Wednesday 30th January 2019 at 7pm at Nicola and Ali’s.

6th November 2018 AT 7.00 PM – THE CAMERON CENTRE

Purpose of meeting:- To meet and consult with the members of the Community Councils and Parent Councils from the 3 Wards adjoining the NMP to update them on our purpose and progress in attaining the Norther Meeting Park as a Community asset.

All the above organisations were  invited to attend.

PRESENT- Board members –Nicola Macrae -NM, Cris Ford -CF, Jon Ford -JF,

David McDonald –DM.

APOLOGIES –William Ford-WF, Helen Smith-HS, Jaci Douglas-JD.

Representatives -Yvonne Thain – Chairperson of St Joseph’s Primary, Zarek Mastyro – member of Bishop Eden’s Primary Parent Council, Zosia Fraser-Chairperson of Balferrie Community Council.

JF-opened the meeting by explaining the purpose of the meeting as above and asking the representatives for their support in contacting and engaging with the wider Community and asking them to air any questions or concerns they had.

Discussions covered the following-

• Possible funders -Macdonald -historical,Historic Scotland,Tesco-bags for life
• Progess so far – considered encouraging by all attending but agreed we must involve the wider Community more if we are to access successfully grants and assistance in the future.
• Need to increase local membership -imperative to have large local membership when applying for grants etc
• Booking system for future +possible Janitor for Northern Meeting Ground
• Concerns about Highlife Highland procedures – state of ground-following recent concert plus lack of communication with schools prior to events
• Use of ground -beware of over use between April to October & Schools football -No training if ground too wet /change areas of ground during training to protect grass.
• Parking Issues -ongoing concerns regarding extra activities at NMP increasing this

Suggestions for engagement- 

1.Arrange Easter Fun Day for Community -NMPG take forward

2.Open Event at Bught Stop- hot drink /mince pies etc -arranged for Thurs 29th Nov’18 at 7pm

3.Possible stall at events in Aquadome -display posters leaflets

4.Suggested contact Val Sweeney re follow  Newspaper article include membership details /need

5.Banner on NMP Gates-approach High life re possibility of their approval

6.Make appointment to meet HT of Dalneigh and explain project /secure her ideas/support /experience re engaging with the parent population.

Action Points-

AP 1- DM- to contact football parents re permission to send  JF their details so he can approach re membership go NMPG

AP-2 -Further involvement of Eden Court & Cathedral-NMPG take forward

AP- 3 -Include drainage of playing surface in Plan/Bid-add to ???

AP-4- Consider insurance if 2 bodies using ground at same time-check out-JF

Northern Meeting Park Steering Group Strategic meeting.

Tuesday 18^thSeptember 2018 – Eden Court

Introduction of Community Ownership Support Service (COSS) –www.dtascommunityownership.org.ukvideo on home page gives an overview of Asset Transfer.  The website holds useful tools and information.  (Any questions on content and where you might find something, email Diane diane@dtascot.org.uk).

Diane Campbell (COSS Advisor) introduced community asset transfer as laid down in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  (The Act)

Asset transfer is a process to allow a community organisation to take over publicly owned land or buildings, in a way that recognises the public benefits that the community use will bring.  This may be at a discounted price, with a grant or other support, or simply the agreement to transfer something the public authority did not plan to sell.   A key element of any asset transfer is to demonstrate understanding of sustainability and the need to earn income from the asset by delivering chargeable services. Earned income is essential to cover the costs of running an asset and therefore sustaining the delivery of community benefit activity that cannot be charged.

In 2014 the Scottish Government introduced the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015(CEA).  This act strengthens the legislation that has gone before.  It reflects the policy principles, community empowerment and improving outcomes and provides a framework which will:

• empower community bodies through the ownership, lease and management of land and buildings and strengthening their voices in the decisions that matter to them; and
• support an increase in the pace and scale of public service reform by cementing the focus on achieving outcomes and improving the process of community planning

The CEA introduces new key Community Rights to communities of place (geographic) or interest (united by a common interest), and places requirements on public agencies. This includes the right to:

• request information on any public asset that interests them
• request the transfer of a public asset (and it doesn’t have to be surplus)
• acquire that asset if the public body cannot offer a good reason not to (i.e. there is a presumption in favour of transfer)
• to decide on the price it wishes to offer, based on the economic, social, health or environmental benefits it will add
• to appeal any adverse decision, first with a public body and then with the Scottish Government

Diane explained that the purpose of the evening was to take a strategic approach and produce an initial action plan that would allow the group to clarify what they want to do.  A clear idea of what they want to do will help in the effective management of advisors.  They have been offered support by Enterprise Accelerator and Architectural Heritage Fund.  (highlighted links take you to additional information)

Diane’s role as COSS advisor for the group is to keep them focused on the principles of the act and the process that they should go through to submit a valid and strong asset transfer request.

The Steering group is currently in the ‘negotiation’ stage with Highland Council who own the Northern Meeting Park.   This stage allows both sides to discuss the implications of community ownership and to develop plans that will deliver community benefit. This stage is not part of the legal process but is suggested within the Guidance Notesfor the Act

It should be noted that a Community Asset Transfer Request could be submitted for lease or ownership now, or at a future date, whatever the community determine most appropriate.  The negotiation stage may provide indication of what the public body thinks would be most appropriate. The Act makes it clear that an eligible body can submit an asset transfer request on the terms and tenure which is most appropriate to deliver the project. Feasibility research and business planning is important to help determine the best and most appropriate terms and will support a strong request.

Introduction of Steering Group – asked to tell us what they see as their role in the group and what they hope to get from the event.

Jon  – Chair.  Jon’s role is the linking and liaison person to other stakeholders and helps with the continuity of the project development.  He hopes to see a short to medium term plan coming out of this event.

Nicola– Treasurer.  Nicola sees her role as facilitating the use of the park and pavilion.  She wants this event to help her to better understand how community asset transfer works.  Nicola also sits on one of the local Community Councils.

Ali – considered by the rest of the group to be a ‘calm voice’ and ‘getting to the point of an issue after listening to discussion’ He is keen to better understand community asset transfer.

Chris– her role is support for the chair and takes the minutes.  She is hoping to see an action plan coming out of this event.

Jaci– liaison between Cala (child care provision) and the group.  She hopes to find clarity of how the external body she represents can input to the process.

Helen – represents the school with regards their use of the park as their playing field and want to ensure that this continues alongside the need for wider community use.  She is hoping to get an overview of the process. Helen also sits on one of the local Community Councils. (same one Nicola)

Skills Assessment

As a very new group it is important to emphasise your knowledge and experience that relates to the activities you will carry out to develop and deliver this project. An established group with a history of success can more easily demonstrate they have the experience to deliver.  Individually you have significant transferrable skills and collectively you could demonstrate this.

Diane undertook to send a link to a Capacity Needs Analysis Tool  focussed on asset acquisition projects.  Using this tool produces an overview of the skills and experience within the organisation and identifies gaps. We discussed how to attract new members and volunteers. It was suggested that breaking down the tasks and encouraging people by targeting their interests and skills may engage more volunteers, not necessarily steering group members at the beginning of their involvement. (Module 5 Governance handed to Jon)

Agenda

Quickly went over the proposed agenda and asked for any additions that may arise, none added.

It was explained that the agenda was a lot to get through in the 2 hours allocated but we would see how the time and discussion went.  Diane acknowledged that getting a Vision and Mission statement agreed during the event was unlikely but the slides were included in the presentation to get the group thinking about these.

Findings from Consultation to Date

Diane had prepared a quick illustration of the findings from the community consultation which took place during a two week opening of the park in July 2018.

NOTE – there were other suggestions made, this is a quick snapshot.  FURTHER WORK is required for this to be an accurate representation of the results from the consultation.

The group were asked if they can identify short, medium and long term goals from the list of desired activities from the community that accompanied the pie chart.

With the information available it was not possible to identify what can and cannot be delivered against community suggestions at this stage and more work developing ideas would be required.

After discussion it was agreed that the absolute bottom line for the group is having the park open to the public for use, delivering the activities identified as important to the community from the consultation.

The preferred position of the group is to have full community ownership and community control.  This will allow them access to funding to renovate the pavilion and open the grounds to deliver community benefits as identified by the ongoing consultation.

Looking at options

Diane asked if they would be in a position to open the park grounds, as a volunteer group, under a lease or management agreement in the meantime.  She suggested this as an option during the time that they are developing the overall project to include future use of the pavilion.  This will allow them to deliver some of the desired benefits whilst working up the project proposal to take on ownership and secure development funds. Development funds would initially allow the group to engage appropriately qualified consultants to carry out the feasibility work and a business plan for the future sustainability of the project.

Discussion was had around the experience of the 2 week opening in July.  It was volunteer resource intensive and expensive because of insurance costs required by Highland Council.  This was funded by Scottish Land Fund as part of the community consultation.

The group were not keen to repeat this on an ongoing basis.  If it was to be considered in future there would need to be a contribution from Highland Council or Highlife Highland towards costs and human resource.  The suggestion of a Participation Requestwas muted as a possibility to initiate a discussion on the current service delivery at the Northern Meeting Park.  The Highland Third Sector Interfaceis the support organisation for Participation Requests.

Positive experience that opening for a short two week period helped to demonstrate demand and gather community opinion.  Another short term opening event may be useful for a purpose that would contribute to the project development.  However the group would want to be clear about their reasons and sure that it would deliver their required outcomes before putting too much volunteer effort and funds into this.

Proving the Need

It is important that a community proposal references existing strategies. They should demonstrate that what they plan to deliver fits with the aims and objectives of the public body that owns the asset.  Taking a look at the assessment frameworkfrom Highland Council at this stage will help you to scope this.

There are many policy and strategy documents available online which details research already done.  These documents are useful to reference when demonstrating that there is a need for the planned activities with regards community benefit and better service delivery.  This helps to demonstrate that the aims of the project will be in line with the services delivered by Highland Council and that the outcomes have the potential to reduce pressure on their budgets.

Action– Ali will use the list produced by Diane and do further research to identify other useful reference documents that can be passed on to advisors.

Highland Council Our Priorities

https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/695/council_information_performance_and_statistics/381/our_priorities

SIMD (Scottish Index for Multiple Deprevation) for Inverness http://simd.scot/2016/#/simd2016/BTTTTTT/14/-4.2236/57.4804/

Scottish Government – National Outcomes https://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms/outcome

Inverness BID –  area map and website with links to Business Plan http://www.invernessbid.co.uk/projects/Inverness_BID_Area

COSS Website – www.dtascommunityownership.org.ukAsset Transfer and Community Rights in particular

Place Standard – using the tool to investigate the place http://www.dtascommunityownership.org.uk/community/community-place-plans/tools-and-resources/place-standard

 Identifying Potential Project Costs

Finance module 4 passed to Nicola.  This module helps groups to identify the type of costs they need to consider and find the answers to.

Action– Nicola will prepare spreadsheets to outline the costs that need to be identified to allow the group to create a financial plan.  The spreadsheets will include all of the elements in the slide above as well as the costs to transfer the asset to community ownership.

Note – This action will relate to the actions to be taken by Chris on identifying income generation opportunities and Jaci and Jon with regards discussion with potential tenants.

 Identifying what activities would earn income. 

Several of the suggested activities could be charged.  For example, weddings, festival venue, lease to Cala, lease to Calman Trust.

The group should consider creating a full list of all the activities that could be charged and finding out how much the market might allow them to charge for that service.  This provides a base line for the potential, profitable activities that contribute to the future sustainability of the project plan.

Action– Chris has undertaken to consider this aspect and begin to bring together some information on profitable activities.

Action– Jaci and Jon  – Proposed anchor tenants, Cala and Calman Trust, are important factors in identifying expected income.  These organisations will have specific needs and will possibly want to suggest what physical changes to the pavilion they would need to allow them to operate.  The amount of rent that could be charged for using the space will be important. Until further feasibility work is carried out how much to charge is unknown.  A suggested figure could be included for internal use at this initial stage.  This can be updated when rental income becomes clearer in future.  Discussion about their expectations of the physical changes required and their expected timescales, etc will be continued by Jaci for Cala and Jon for Calman Trust.

Ongoing Stakeholder Engagement

To make sure your project remains focused on the needs of the community it is important to continue to engage with them. To do this it is useful to create a stakeholder analysis to identify and continue to add to groupings of stakeholder types. A mind map is a good way to approach this.  An example of what that might look like has been provided below.  This helps to design appropriate communication plans for different stakeholders.

Mind Mapping Example

Below is a stakeholder analysis taken from the Forestry Commission which shows how a mind map structure might look when complete.  This can also be added to over time as new stakeholders engage with the project.

The subject matter sits within the centre of the map and describes the objective.  The inner ring, connected to the subject (slightly lighter purple), depicts groupings of stakeholders that might be involved.  The next (lighter purple again) depicts the detailed breakdown of the groupings of the inner ring.

Below is the detail of one ‘branch’ of the map showing how this particular branch is constructed.  Mapping starts from the centre and works outwards to the edges.

Using NMP Project as the central ‘node’ identify different stakeholder types to create the next set of ‘nodes’ and you then break those down further?

Action– Jon and Helen have undertaken to begin the process of creating a stakeholder analysis to help the group take decisions on how they will continue to communicate and engage with each type of stakeholder. The book Involving Your Community was passed on as a useful guide for creating a communication plan.

Vision and Mission Statements

In terms of ongoing communication and focus it may be helpful to create a vision statement for the project.  Several slides were provided to give examples of what a vision statement might look like and what it includes.  This was not covered in detail but the slides have been noted below and Diane can provide further information if they group would like to do this in future.

 

Action Planning

Throughout the evening we recorded actions that would help the group to move forward. An action plan was completed as the last step in the process.

Action planning templates were given to Jon for future use.  Referring to an action plan during meetings helps to keep actions on track and generates discussion.  Individuals can work on actions alone or work together in a sub group at any time between formal meetings.

The progress on actions will be reported at formal meetings by the named person against that action. The summary of the report (verbal or written) should be recorded in the minutes.  A copy of written reports can be added as an appendix to the minutes of the meeting.

Agreed actions and those responsible are noted against each section above.

The full action plan with dates for completion and agree outputs is

Action? What will you do?	Resources? What do you need to do it?	Who? The name of a person in the room during discussion.	When? A date set by the person taking responsibility for the action.	What result? A note of what the responsible person has undertaken to produce from the action.
Identify reports that prove need.	Internet access, Highland Council aims, Health and SIMD, etc	Ali	December 10th	Initial list linking back to community wants and needs to pass to consultants
Create spreadsheets for financial elements	Finance Module 4 Estimated costs for e.g. Transfer/building development/events management/ongoing maintenance	Nicola	October 30th	Draft spreadsheets to be populated as costs identified
Find out what activities could earn income	List of community ideas /initial ideas from Steering group/comparison of charges by others	Chris	January 31st2019	Outline indication of profits
Stakeholder analysis and communication strategy	List of people, organisations and others with an interest in the project ‘Involving Your Community’ booklet.	Jon and Helen	Initial meeting 24thSeptember with follow up action	Initial mind map (or similar)-  add to as stakeholders emerge
Create Vision and Mission Statements	Understand what these are and their purpose.  Internet info on creation	All (led by one person to volunteer)	January 2019	A short explanation of what the project is about to help with comms
Identify Barriers to make sure risk is mitigated as much as possible	Continued risk assessment throughout development of ideas	Nicola responsible for keeping this on the agenda discussing with all	ongoing	Initial and ongoing risk assessment. Strategies to deal with risk discussed and recorded.
Keep action plan up dated	Completed action plan and deadline dates	Jon – as Chair of meetings	Ongoing	Action plan template updated at meetings

Diane Campbell COSS advisor 20/9/2018

MINUTES of  MEETING at NORTHERN MEETING PARK

Thursday 12th SEPT 2018 AT 7.00 PM

PRESENT – Nicola Macrae -NM, Ali Macrae -AM, Jaci Douglas -JD,Mathew McIver -MM, Jon Ford-JF, Cris Ford -CF.

APOLOGIES-, William Ford-WF, Helen Smith – HS,

This meeting was arranged due to the lack of response received from the 

invitation distributed to the 3 Community Councils  neighbouring NMP to attend a progress meeting re transferring NMP to Community ownership. We had hoped to discuss our aims/plans  and Hera their views/ideas and gain their  support.A room at Eden Court had been booked for Wed 12th Sept at 7pm to approx 9pm.

Main Agenda item.

How to engage the wider community, especially the 3 Community 

Councils that are neighbours to  Northern Meeting Park?

Discussion  followed:-

NM attended Balliferry CC meeting and confirmed that they’d received the generic invitation email but hadn’t realised the need to confirm their 

attendance.

It was felt that the summer break had impacted on the circulation of invitation e mail and confirmation responses. Indications that CC are interested and it was decided we should try again using  a 2 stage approach for CC’s and local communities.

Stage 1

Send another invitation e mail, making it very clear we need a response by ? date to  be sent to the 3 neighbouring Community Councils and to the Parent Councils of  Primary schools -Dalneigh, St Josephs & Central and the High School.

AP-book Eden Court  or another local venue for 1st week in Nov – allowing plenty of time for invitations to be received, discussed and representatives to reply-CF

Stage 2

Include Ward managers plus local Community via school’s named aboveDate to be decided after Stage 1 meeting. Possibly place advert in Courier for this meeting. Advertise on NMP Facebook use a moving  image to catch interest.

AP- Contact school’s for permission and provide ‘written invitation’ to be inserted in newsletters /websites-JF & CF

AP-Use Signpost to ask them to circulate invitation to relevant Community groups.

AP- JD to email CF with contact for Signpost

Other points discussed-

Possible funders to approach-Big Lottery, Funding for solar panels/ground source heating. Jon has accessed numerous possible funding agencies.

Other matters touched on but decided to stay focussed on developing a Business plan following DTAS meeting and not get distracted….

AP-JF to forward  ??? for comments

AP-JF to renew  contact with Isobel re Catering centre for NMP and /or Cantraybridge.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING –NMP Strategy Meeting with Development Trust on Tuesday 18th September at 7pm at EDEN COURT.

NB – Date for your diary – workshop meeting with Enterprise Accelerator  on Monday 15th Oct at Eden Court  at 6.30pm – venue still to confirm.

MINUTES of  MEETING at NORTHERN MEETING PARK

Thursday 9th August 2018 AT 7.00 PM

PRESENT – Nicola Macrae -NM, Ali Macrae -AM, Jaci Douglas -JD, Jon Ford-JF, Cris Ford -CF.

APOLOGIES- Mathew McIver -MM, William Ford-WF

MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING- 25.08.18-Passed by whole meeting.

Carried Forward-from previous meeting –

Planning for Park Opening

AP FW to draw up so ideas on marketing strategy

FAQ’S

AP-FW to progress technical methods

MINUTES -09.08.18

Review of Open Weeks-NM. Nicola had collated the information from the 248 review cards collected. Very positive reception to Open weeks and helpful comments  and suggestions received.Review comments and suggestions aligned with ours and suggestions from Eden Court meeting. Will use as evidence of support for grant application and to inform us in the future eg Traditional activities, Wedding venue etc

Consider for Future:-

• Weather played large part in 2week success.
• Word of mouth & Social media helped with success
• Need more people to actively help run if open NMP again!
• Promotion materials to take away eg pencil with Facebook address 
• Badges to identify staff

AP-NM to copy results to all Board members

Financial Situation-JF

First instalment of £1,000.00 paid into NMP Bank account  and approx half used for insurance and Open weeks resources. Receipts saved for report to HIE so can provide before securing the next instalment.

Cala Update -JD. David Haas has discussed opportunity for CALA to use Park earlier for ‘Outside Child care ‘venture . JD reported very interested but not possible for them in near future and would not agree to anything that would jeopardise  NMP asset transfer plans.

Next Steps for NMP- 

1. 1.Continue to address perception NMP does not belong solely to  NC Cricket  alone -show/be inclusive -plan for future.

2. 2.Continue to raise NMP profile -Sleep over for Homeless -raise funds for ‘Mikey’s Line’ maybe.

3. 3.Discussed possible holiday opening for Park to involve Dalneigh and other local school for Fun Day.

AP- CF to email Mathew re his suggestion on Fun day and activities plus ask him to speak to HT at Dalneigh re this and for suggestions of how to involve Dalneigh parents /community in NMP plans.

AP-JF to contact Highlife re possibility and DTAS for their views.

4.JF reported David Hass wants another meeting with him on Tues 9th Oct.

The Group felt we should present written proposal re CAT following Strategy Meeting on Tues 18th Sept-see below

AP -JF to contact DTAS for their views re small select meetings .

5.The Group decided to invite members of the 3 Community Councils  neighbouring NMP to attend a progress meeting re transferring NMP to Community ownership- to inform and gain support.

AP – CF to book Eden Court for Wed 12th Sept at 7pm to approx 9pm

AP- NM to attend Community Council meeting on 4th Sept and to  remind CC they are invited to NMP meeting and find if any apparent issues.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING – Wed 12th September at 7pm in The Maclean Room ,Eden Court – The meeting is to inform Community Councillors and invited others about the progress we have made towards transferring the Northern Meeting Park into Community ownership.

NB Date for Diary – NMP Strategy meeting with Development Trust on Tuesday 18th September at 7pm at Crown Court.

Meeting held at 50, Ballifeary Road , Inverness at 18.30  – 30.4.18

Persent- Nicola and Ali MacRae , Helen Smith, David MacDonald,Jaci Douglas,Cris & Jon F, Fergus Weir

Apologies- Matthew McIver, William Ford

Agenda

• Discussion re concerns raised by HS & DM re school usage NMP

Below is an email received from Helen Smith following the meeting which sums up the discussion and outcomes.

“Just wanted to give you a quick update after David and I attended the NMP steering group meeting this evening. David and I (well, mainly David who did a great job!) raised various concerns about local schools and school clubs having continued and affordable access to the NMP if it transfers into community ownership. I think we were given a good hearing and that the concerns were taken on board.  We suggested that there would need to be an official users’ policy recognising and protecting the needs of the three local schools and their associated clubs.

It was agreed that the Parent Councils of the three schools (Central, BE and St Josephs) should:

a          be asked to detail the use the schools currently make of the NMP (type of use and frequency), and detail any ways in which this might develop/change. This should include gathering information from relevant staff in terms of use of NMP by classes as well as from parents involved in running school clubs at the Park. 

b          be asked how they would like to liaise with the NMP Steering Group from now on – perhaps each PC would like to have its own representative or else the three might like to band together to appoint one shared representative who could represent the interests of all three schools.

David has agreed to represent Central PCif that is OK with the Central PC committee (I would certainly support this) to get the information needed and feedback required for Central, and to liaise with the other two PCs to see how they would like to proceed in terms of (a) and (b) above. 

Dalneigh PS PC also need to be consulted as Dalneigh is included in the geographical area which has been identified as being the local community for the proposed community asset transfer but, as Dalneigh has its own playing fields, its needs are probably different from the other three schools.  It would probably make sense forDavid to contactthem initially on the same lines as suggested above for BE and St Josephs.”

AP – David to contact schools and feedback to group.

At this point Helen and David were invited to stay and become members of the committee but they chose to delay that decision until David had spoken to the schools. Ann is also committed to other groups so was mindful of spreading herself too thinly. The invitation, however, will be extended again at the next meeting. They did, however, stay for the rest of the meeting..

Discussion was had about how we might maximise the dissemination of information regarding the work and objectives of the group. It was suggested that a list of 10 FAQ’s be posted on our facebook page and website* and we distribute via email, to all those registered on our data-base of NMP “friends”

AP – JF – Draft list of FAQ’s and responses and distribute to committee for comment.

• Election of Post Holders

Secretary – Christine Ford: Nom by FW Seconded by AMc.  Carried unanimously

Treasurer – Nicola MacRae: Nominated JF, Seconded CF. Carried unanimously

Chairperson – Jon Ford: Nominated FW Seconded by NMc. Carried unanimously

• Update re progress-JF

JF gave an update of where we were with regard to other interested parties and discussions that had taken place with them.

Those parties included HIE, Impact Hub, DTAS, COSS, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness Cathedral, HES, CALA, Calman Trust (Artysans).

Discussions included common goals for the area, financial/technical/ business and application support and potential partnership working.

• Introduce Jaci Douglas-CALA

JD – Chief executive of CALA (Care And Learning Alliance) was invited to give an outline of the role of CALA in Inverness and the discussions that had taken place between JF and her in previous meetings.

She told the group that since her first meeting with JF she had had the opportunity to take our ideas to her board and that they had agreed that the potential for partnership working and the establishment of a child care facility (and other services) at NMP warranted further investigation and action. To that end CALA will now undertake a “feasability” study for the venture.

Jaci also confirmed that she would become an member of the working group on behalf of CALA.

• Trial Opening.

JF told the group that he was to attend a meeting with Highlife Highland tomorrow to discuss and hopefully finalise the trial opening of the NMP, planned for the 2nd – 16th July 2018.

AP – JF to report back at next meeting.

AP – Agenda item at next meeting

• Constitution

The Draft constitution was agreed subject to some typographical changes.

• AOCB

 Bank Account

AP – JF and AMc to arrange meeting with bank (Santander) to finalise bank account

Date and Time of next meeting

7pm on the 7th June at NMP

Meeting  at the Crown Court.  28.10.17

In attendance : Dave Dugdale, Mike Evans, Peter Collinson, Dev Srivastra, Christine Ford and Jon Ford

Apologies : Danielle Lee and William Ford

Venue : Crown Court Hotel

Date 28.10.17

Again, I felt really excited as I left having discussed lots and making some crucial decisions. Talking shop this is not!!

• We agreed on the project being called “Love this Park” (although it may have to change because of a technicality )
• We agreed that, long term, we should form a Company Limited by Guarantee of that name and that all of this group would be subscribers to that company with a financial liability of £1-00 each. The consistency of the company can (and probably will) be changed at a later date as we develop and grow. Initially, we felt a working group size of about 8 was optimal.
• We agreed that the open meeting should be held at the end of January 2018 at a venue to be confirmed (the three options preferred are 1. Eden court theatre 2. Highland Council main chamber and 3. Inverness Leisure Centre. Cris Ford is to contact all 3 to check availability and cost. She will have a mandate from the group to make a decision if one needs to made on the spot.
• Crucially, we agreed that our target group for the open meeting will be Inverness and surrounding area wide. We felt that doing this was the right way to go for a place such as the NMP which was a City attraction and a place that, historically been used by people from a very wide catchment area. Doing this would enable us to see not only who was interested but where they came from and how wide the “community” area actually was. Ultimately, this project is about re-involving everyone in this local treasure.
• We agreed on a publicity strategy for the meeting which included Radio, newspapers, posters, personal invitations, mail shots and posters as well as using the HC internal news system.
• We agreed that developing a skills base was essential eg legal, financial, construction, business management etc was essential. We tasked ourselves with looking for such people with the hope of getting them involved.

We discussed and were happy with the initial ideas of how we would hope to use the Park.

• Cafe/Bistro at Mosque end
• Training facility and bakery in kiosk
• Office/ meeting/ display space under stand
• Open air entertainment facility (theatre, film, music) in front of main stand
• Possibly new building where old stand used to be.
• Training facility and bistro to work in tandem (target group : people with learning/ emotional issues). Forming route in to employment.
• Cricket to continue links with Mikeys line and Activeness. Possible links in to training facility.
• Existing school users get properly marked pitches and running tracks

The open meeting might change some or all of this.

NMP CATS meeting  – 21.9.17 – Crown Court Hotel.

Aim.

To form a steering group whose task will be to take the CATS project to the next stage of holding an open meeting.

Objectives

By the end of the session those attending will, through input from organiser and discussion:

Understand the CATS purpose

Understand how that applies to NMP

Understand the process involved

Be aware of the commitment needed

Have helped identify the tasks needed to have been completed in order to hold an open meeting

Know the purpose of the open meeting 

Know their role in organising this meeting.

Learning Points

CATS purpose – 

An asset transfer request has to be made by a community transfer body to a relevant authority.  The community transfer body can make a request about any land or buildings which the relevant authority owns, or rents from someone else.  They can ask to buy or lease the land or buildings or have other legal rights, for example to use the land.

The relevant authority must listen to what the community transfer body wants to do with the land or building.  If their plan will help people more than other ways of using the land, they will be allowed to do it.

If the relevant authority does not agree to the request, the community transfer body can ask for the decision to be looked at again.  Scottish Ministers have the final say.

How does this apply to NMP? –

• NMP is Council asset.
• List exists and NMP is on it

The process: –

Show map and discuss.

• We are at stage 1
• Already have done work at stage 2

Commitment –

• Say no more !
• Tasks for open meeting

Brain storm – Who what where when how

• Venue, method of letting people know, what to say, how to say it, 
• AS A FIRST STEP IN ESTABLISHING A MANDATE FOR SETTING UP A GROUP TO EXPLORE COMMUNITY ASSET ACQUISITION.
• HAVING OPEN COMMUNICATION WITH THE COMMUNITY FROM THE OUTSET WILL DEVELOP TRUST AND BUY IN FOR THE ASSET PROJECT UNDER CONSIDERATION.
• TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH A LARGE AND VARIED GROUP OF PEOPLE DURING THE ACQUISITION PROCESS.

Meeting with Balifeary Community Council on 21.8.17.

AIM

To inform the group of a proposal to take on the Northern Meeting Park under the Community Asset Transfer Scheme and to start the process of forming a Steering Group.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the presentation those at the meeting will

1. Know what the CATS is.
2. Understand the position of NCCC in the process.

3. Have an appreciation of the process to achieve a transfer of asset
4. Know the Asset
5. Have had the opportunity to ask clarification questions
6. Be invited to form a steering group to take the process forward
7. Have been invited to the NMP.