Friends of Marple Memorial Park Community Meeting Report

1.0 Background

There had been interest shown by the local community in forming a Friends of Marple Memorial Park group, to look at making improvements to and developing ideas for the park.

It is the role of the Community Development Team within the Parks and Recreation Service to help with community group development and therefore, a meeting was organised to gauge the level of interest by the community for a friends group.

The meeting was well attended and the feedback for the establishment of a Friends group was positive. Another date was set for a further community meeting to be facilitated by the Community Development Team.

It was envisaged that this meeting would enable the identification of the needs of the local community with regard to the park, development of a Friends group and generation of ideas for a park Action Plan.

The Community Development Team contacted a number of stakeholders, inviting them to the meeting. These agencies and individuals included:-

Ward Councillors
Youth Service
Police
Bowling Teams
The Marple Website
Marple Regeneration Partnership
Marple Carnival Committee
British Waterways
Marple Senior Citizens Association
Marple Civic Society
Marple Community Council
Scouts
British Legion

Posters and leaflets were also produced and distributed throughout the area.

The following sections detail the purpose, methodology and results of the community consultation meeting.

2.0 Aims and Objectives

The aim of the meeting was to:-

Work with the local community to promote and develop community action for the park.

Objectives:-

To identify issues regarding the park e.g. appearance, environment, young people, community involvement and community safety
To identify ideas and improvements for the future
To encourage local people to be involved in the project and form a Friends of Marple Memorial Park Group.

3.0 Method

The open community meeting took place on Monday 17th November 2003 between 6.30pm and 7.30pm at Marple Library.

The meeting was structured as two workshops in order to gather as much information as possible and to let everyone have his or her own say. After this there was opportunity for participants to ask questions and find out about what would happen next. A full meeting agenda is provided as Appendix 1.

In addition, forms were provided for participants who may have felt that they had not had sufficient opportunity to communicate issues. A freepost envelope was in case participants wished to complete the form at a later date. Contacts were also provided to facilitate further communication.

The first workshop looked at the importance of five issues by asking people to score their importance. They were then asked to look at how they felt the community performed in terms of these issues.

The issues were:-

Environment and Appearance
Sport/Play and Recreation
Community Safety
Community Involvement
Young People
Nature

Participants used pre-designed tables to score the importance against the performance.

The second workshop used maps of the area to help people identify the good and bad aspects of the park and look at initial improvements. By using the map participants were able to specifically locate any problems or opportunities.

Following this, people were asked to express their interest in forming a Friends of Marple Memorial Park Meeting group by 'signing up' for further meetings.

The results of both workshops are available in the following section.

4.0 Results

As well as members of the community, members of staff from the Parks and Recreation Service also attended and a Councillor from Marple Area.

4.1 Workshop 1 – Importance and Performance

There were two groups taking part in this exercise.

Environment and Appearance

In relation to importance, rankings of 1 and 2 were given for this category. In relation to the performance, rankings ranged from 2 to 3 with an average ranking of 2.

Sport/Play and Recreation

In relation to importance, rankings ranged from 1 to 2 with an average of 2. In relation to the performance, rankings ranged from 2 and 3 with an average ranking of 2.

Community Safety

In relation to importance, only rankings of 1 were given for this category. In relation to the performance rankings ranged from 2 to 4 with an average ranking of 3.

Community Involvement

In relation to importance, only rankings of 1 were given for this category. In relation to performance, rankings ranged between 3 and 4 with an average ranking of 4.

Young People

The relation to importance, only rankings of 1 were given for this category. In relation to performance rankings ranged from 2 to 3 with an average ranking of 3.

Nature

In relation to importance, rankings ranged between 1 and 3 for this category. In relation to performance, rankings ranged from 2 to 3 with an average of 3.

4.2 Workshop 2 – Future Mapping

The following lists all the comments provided by participants.

Appearance and Environment

Flowerbeds are attractive and well maintained
Entrance is much improved
War Memorial improved now the bushes have been cut back and replaced with lower ones
Bowling green well cared for
Broken windows of surrounding buildings
Vandalism
Gaps in the fence below the bowling green
Old council offices are a disgrace and in poor repair
Pathways off main entrance are dangerous – lifted by tree roots
Clear litter from teen area
Poor maintenance of War Memorial

Community Safety

Poor lighting
Community safety issue at night
CCTV in area around buildings/offices
Better lighting around offices
Improved safety

Facilities

Scout Hut/Senior Citizen's Centre- well-used community facility
Need a good community hall
Under 11 play area is good
Confusing car park layout
Improved signage and links to the canal
Toilets
Interpretation boards (history etc)
Cut area by junior play for informal football games
Permanent Christmas Tree
Area for Nature Reserve near tow path
No litter bins at main entrance (off Hollins) – only a poop-a-scoop bin
More litter bins
There was a verbal suggestion by one participant to do a walk around the park.

4.3 Friends Group

Participants were asked to 'sign up' to forming an action group for the park. Ten people signed up to forming a Friends of Marple Memorial Park and were keen to move forward. The group agreed to set a date for their first committee meeting to adopt a constitution and elect a chairperson, secretary and treasurer.

5.0 Results of Additional Forms

Two people completed and returned the additional forms that were provided to participants.

The comments further supported the results detailed in the previous sections. Inquiries were passed to officers within the Parks and Recreation Service.

6.0 Conclusions

There is community interest in the park.
There is opportunity to raise the profile of the park through the Friends group.
There is opportunity for local people to make a difference to the park through the Friends group.

7.0 Recommendations

The Friends group should develop an action plan for the park.
Further consultation should be undertaken by the Friends with other with other groups e.g. Youth Service.
This report should be made available to all members of the community who attended the meeting.
The group should explore initial ideas or opportunities for the funding of projects to be identified.
The group should ensure involvement in park development with all stakeholders.