Newcastle parks transfer on hold for now as council set to stage full debate amid funding fears

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The transfer of Newcastle’s parks back into the hands of the city council has been put on hold for now, amid questions over how the authority will pay for their upkeep.

Newcastle City Council’s Labour cabinet agreed last month to cut off its support for Urban Green Newcastle (UGN).

The charity was handed control of 33 parks and more than 60 allotments in 2019 on a 125-year lease, in what was described as a “visionary” plan for the city’s green spaces that it was hoped would protect them better at a time of swingeing council budget cuts.

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But worries about the trust’s own finances prompted the council to pull the plug on UGN in November, with it having been expected that its assets and staff would transfer back to the civic centre by the end of January. 

Now, however, the U-turn move to scrap the charity is effectively on pause as it comes under closer scrutiny – with a major debate now due to be held in the new year.

Liberal Democrat opposition councillors launched a formal ‘call in’ of the decision, having raised concerns about how the council will find the minimum £1.5 million per year needed to maintain the parks.

At a special overview and scrutiny hearing on Thursday afternoon, councillors resolved to refer the issue for a debate by the full council before it can proceed.

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Ouseburn Lib Dem councillor Mike Cookson, who led the call in, accused the local authority of not properly consulting the public about Urban Green’s demise and questioned the finances behind the decision, with worries that the council will “close off” access to the kind of grant funding that UGN had secured £2.8 million of since its inception.

He also aired fears about the state of the assets, including derelict buildings like the Fisherman’s Lodge and the Banqueting Hall in Jesmond Dene, that the council will be taking back.

Labour’s deputy council leader, Alex Hay, insisted that the cabinet decision was “grounded in extensive work and based on sound evidence”.

He said that UGN’s financial challenges had become “unsustainable” and that, even if it was not wound up, the council would be “indirectly exposed” to the same financial risks because the charity would still be requesting public funds to cover its deficits – which it estimated itself as totalling £6.9 million over the next five years.

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Coun Hay added that he believed the risk of Heritage Lottery Grant funding potentially totalling millions of pounds being clawed back if the council replaced UGN was “minimal”.

He also warned that a delay to the handover could impact the orderly transfer of staff and leave the parks in an uncertain position.

Labour councillor Clare Penny-Evans also questioned what the point of holding a full council debate in January was, if the likely outcome was that the authority would “get  to the same decision”.

But Lib Dem Gareth Kane urged the council to learn what he called the “reckless leap in the dark” of UGN’s creation by fully considering the implications of a U-turn.

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The committee was evenly split on the vote over whether to take the UGN decision to a full debate, four Labour members opposed and four Lib Dems in favour, but chair and opposition leader Colin Ferguson held the casting vote.

He said there are “fundamental risks and challenges inherent in this decision that we absolutely must give full consideration” – even if the outcome does not change.

A council spokesperson said: “Overview and Scrutiny Committee determined the matter should be discussed at a meeting of Full Council. City Council, which next meets on the 22nd of January, will determine whether to refer the decision back to Cabinet for further consideration.

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“We are in regular communication with Urban Green Newcastle and their staff and will keep them informed throughout this process. We await the decision of members once the matter has been discussed at Full Council.”

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