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How should decisions for parks be made?

Decisions in a Parks Charitable Trust would be made by trustees and directors. But how this works and how decisions in the charity are made are very important questions.

How closely should a parks charity stick to the values of local communities?

More Info

Board of Directors

Decision Making

Trading

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Contribute your ideas and opinions to shape the future of our parks!

Civic Centre Workshop Three

Civic Centre Workshop Three
24/04/2017

"The first challenge for a potential Parks Charitable Trust would be to map out people’s values about parks. We think this could be possible via a multifaceted approach that uses both digital application and more face to face analogue approach to reach people and collect their values about parks. These values should be used to base a Charitable Trust constitution. Outreach activities, community engagement activities and consultation of trading thereafter would be still important but there are concrete challenges to it , which we need to be aware of and realistic about." —Workshop Team One

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Gosforth Trinity Church Workshop

Gosforth Trinity Church Workshop
24/04/2017

"There should be a mechanism for making the trustee accountable (voting/membership).
It should be as accountable as the City Council. It shouldn’t be that the directors take decisions without communities having a say as the Board of directors would not entail democratic mechanisms." — Workshop Team Two

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Civic Centre Workshop One

Civic Centre Workshop One
24/04/2017

"We have questions and concerns around accountability – we would though admit a trust trial period where an initial structure could be put in place and tested." — Workshop Team 2

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Civic Centre Workshop One

Civic Centre Workshop One
24/04/2017

"A charity would be an interesting model – but how long would it survive? How can you ensure that the Charitable Trustees do not pursue their own interests rather than act in the interest of Newcastle Parks and Newcastle’s residents?
Perhaps a large charitable trust could support local groups of volunteers develop their communities and maintaining the parks." — Workshop Team One

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Ruth Connolly

Ruth Connolly
23/04/2017

The terms of the trust should be open to public scrutiny as should be business case for the new trust. Will these be posted online or made easily available? The terms of the trust will determine the ultimate future of the parks. I agree with the comment below that the responsibilities of the trustees should be made clear to them and also made clear to the people on whose behalf they hold these parks in trust. Will structures be put in place so that the trustees are expected to consult/communicate regularly with the communities they serve? The trustees will also be taking on a significant and demanding role. What incentives will they have to take the job on?

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Martin Laban

Martin Laban
20/04/2017

The government should be running it. I feel like if this proposal was turned on its head, where a Charitable Trust was currently running the parks and and a proposal was for it to be taken over by government it would be so much more compelling. It is simply the short comings of the current government to proritise the parks that has lead to this position.

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Lucille Valentine

Lucille Valentine
08/04/2017

A member of the Newcastle youth council, Northumbria and Newcastle University student councils, should be co-opted as a trustee every single year because otherwise, the voice for teens and students are hard to include. And they must be. Out of town students especially seem unaware of all of the parks in the city. And the trees are good for us, and for them. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/the-japanese-practice-of-forest-bathing-is-scientificially-proven-to-be-good-for-you

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Jesmond Dene Workshop

Jesmond Dene Workshop
23/03/2017

"The responsibilities of trustees need to be watertight. Company law says that trustees / directors cannot work against the interests of the organisation they are representing. Vested interest must be declared. I don’t believe public vote is a good idea or parks groups veto. There should be clear guidelines for the trustees from the outset bared on the consultations." — Workshop Participant

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Jesmond Dene Workshop

Jesmond Dene Workshop
23/03/2017

"Newcastle City Council must ensure that trustees and directors who are appointed act on the interest of the city and its parks. Trustees CVs should be made publicly available for public scrutiny. Friends of parks and volunteers should be involved in the trustees and directors’ appointment. On the board, there should also be a volunteers and groups’ representative." — Workshop Team 4

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Leazes Park Workshop

Leazes Park Workshop
21/03/2017

"It is hard to make suggestions without knowing even how big a Parks Trust would be. What its structure should be. Community representative would be essential but how many from each park? Knowing the structure of the Trust would be necessary, but the importance of community cannot be overstated." — Workshop Team 2

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Leazes Park Workshop

Leazes Park Workshop
21/03/2017

"Generally, decisions should be taken by a team of experts, but for big decisions (such as redevelopment etc.) should involve communities – consultation would be important." — Workshop Team 3

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