Bid to add councillor to parks charity board fails

Leazes Park is one of the parks overseen by Urban Green Newcastle

An attempt to add an elected politician to the board of a charity responsible for a city's parks has failed.

Newcastle's parks are managed by Urban Green Newcastle (UGN) but the charity is expected to run up a deficit of £6.7m by 2029.

Liberal Democrat councillors wanted to use the local authority's right to appoint an elected official to UGN's board at a council meeting on Wednesday.

But Labour councillors, who control the local authority, voted down the plan claiming it would be "inappropriate" while consultants carry out a review in to the charity's future.

UGN was handed control of 33 parks and more than 60 allotments by the council in 2019, with the expectation it would attract more income than the cash-strapped civic centre.

It was hoped Urban Green would become self-sustaining within 10 years but it has already used all of the £7.7m subsidy it received from the council.

Newcastle Lib Dem leader Colin Ferguson raised the motion

The bid to add a councillor to UGN's board was raised by Newcastle Lib Dem leader Colin Ferguson.

"If we want more control, as this council has stated, we should take what is available to us," he said.

"We are custodians of the city’s green spaces on behalf of the people. We must be custodians for the next 125 years."

No elected councillors have sat on the board since May 2022. Council assistant chief executive Matt Wilton is now the authority’s sole representative.

Labour leader Nick Kemp said any councillor placed on UGN's board would face additional responsibilities.

"It is therefore always necessary to consider whether the person appointed can carry out their role effectively and also meet their duties to the company," he said.

"This is particularly the case with elected members, who are responsible for policy-making at the council."

The council recently agreed to give UGN a further £1m to balance its books for the next 12 months.

Mr Kemp said offering UGN the funding was "better value for money" than the alternative, which would be the council taking back responsibility of the parks.