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Council report on trf of parks contract obtained through FOI (Freedom of Information request)

Sharing this, as I think people should be aware of the council's plans for parks.Cabinet Report Parks Tranformation

The plan seems to be to drive as much revenue out of them as they can and reduce the maintenance. It doesn't sound as though money raised will be spent back on the parks.People using parks are now being referred to as customers, rather than park users or the public. Sounds as though you will be welcome if paying to attend an event or to access a pay to use facility, but not otherwise.The notion of a local Authority as providing public services seems to be lost.A Lampton 360 company will run parks and be responsible for developing them. Accounts available on other Lampton 360 companies have virtually no information in them, so no chance the public will know what money is raised through parks and what its spent on.One mention of Friends groups in the last paragraph to say they will be consulted with other stakeholder on new specifications, which it says elsewhere in the report will be reduced.

Steve Jones ● 2718d10 Comments

The new cafe in Gunnersbury park has prices over 100% higher than the previous cafe prices.This is an ordinary public park, not a Royal Park or tourist trap.Yet another example of grabbing as much cash a possible for dressed up nonsense.It will be just like the loss made on Garden waste. Charges that result in so little uptake that the whole thing makes a loss.People should have enough sense not to pay such silly prices and boycott such contemptible initiatives.An example of things to come.I bet this is billed as yet another achievement in election literature or more likely not mentioned at all.No wonder the small business in a similar form of bullying by Trustees and local authorities in nearby Walpole Park carry such poignance

Raymond Havelock ● 2709d

So have l everyone should

Jean Harrison ● 2710d

I have signed the petition

Paul Fisher ● 2717d

Also things have moved on somewhat since this report which was done on the original date of the end of the Carillion contract in November 2018. The Hounslow borough-wide Friends of Parks Forum has formulated their own 'Manifesto' which has gone to candidates of political parties in advance of the local elections, and several other borough Friends Forums across London have done the same. So future councillors can be in no doubt of what will be expected of them with regard to the preservation and protection of our precious open spaces.

Vanessa Smith ● 2717d

Now the Heritage Lottery Fund want to withdraw funding from parks. Our parks and open spaces are under threat as never before, with councils so stretched this funding is vital.I just signed the petition "Protect Heritage Lottery Funding for Parks"  and wanted to ask if you could add your name too.This campaign means a lot to me and the more support we can get behind it, the better chance we have of succeeding. You can read more and sign the petition here:https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/protect-heritage-lottery-funding-for-parks?bucket=email-blast-8_3_2018_fl_park_kick

Vanessa Smith ● 2717d

Who's Parks are Our Parks?They are not really the councils parks.The council is simply the organisation trusted with the upkeep of the parks.Most parks in the borough and others were donated or bequeathed to the towns people of the area they are located in.Many are covered by covenants.So Our means the residents of the towns not the local authority.

Raymond Havelock ● 2717d

Will all the money received from running events in the park go back to funding the running costs?

Neil Chippendale ● 2717d

Lampton companies - the ones with any trading - have published accounts to March 2017.I attended an update today on the transfer of the parks service from Carillion - via one month with the liquidators PWC - to LBH via its subsidiary Lampton Greenspace 360. This has gone smoothly and personally I am rather proud that LBH got out of Carillion before the troubles really hotted up. The library contract was terminated (early) last August and LBH had already negotiated an early termination of the parks, allotments and cemeteries contract - the collapse of Carillion means it was brought forward in a hurry. This happened without hitches and to the immense credit of the officers involved.Parks are for the public and we are utterly determined to keep all our parks going and have committed to no park or library closures despite the continuing extreme cuts to local authorities' funding from central government - until 2010 by far the largest element in Local government income.There will be events in our parks, both community-run events  for nominal fees and commercial events for substantial fees, some of which will be unpopular, but will be used to defray the costs of running parks which are considerable.At least the money is now all coming back to the community rather than being syphoned off by a commercial company

Guy Lambert ● 2718d

Link to Report belowCabinet Report Parks Tranformation

Bernard Allen ● 2718d

'Accounts available on other Lampton 360 companies have virtually no information in them'From experience, that's generally a good indicator of a company trying to cover up as much of its activities as possible.  Certainly not what you'd expect from a pseudo- publicly owned operation.

Lorne Gifford ● 2718d