Folkestone Parks and Pleasure Ground Charity - Wednesday 15 October 2025, 4:30pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

Folkestone Parks and Pleasure Ground Charity
Wednesday, 15th October 2025 at 4:30pm 

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  1. Cllr Jim Martin
  2. Cllr Jim Martin
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  1. Ms Jemma West
  2. Cllr Jim Martin
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  1. Cllr Tim Prater
  2. Cllr Jim Martin
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  1. Jonathan Smith
  2. Cllr Jim Martin
  3. Cllr Jeremy Speakman
  4. Cllr Connor McConville
  5. Cllr Jim Martin
  6. Cllr Tim Prater
  7. Cllr Jim Martin
  8. Jonathan Smith
  9. Cllr Jim Martin
  10. Cllr Tim Prater
  11. Cllr Jim Martin
  12. Webcast Finished

Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:00
Parks and Pleasure Grounds charity. This meeting will be webcast live to the internet.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:09
For those who do not wish to be recorded or filmed, you will need to leave the chamber.
For members, officers and others speaking at the meeting, it is important that the microphones
are used so the viewers on the webcast and others in the room may hear you. Would anyone
with a mobile phone please switch it to silent mode as they can be distracting.

1. Apologies for absence

Ms Jemma West - 0:00:33
So, yes, good evening, everyone, and we'll start with apologies for absence.
There's no apologies this evening.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:00:36
All right, jolly good.

2. Declarations of interest

Declarations of interest.
Trustees, any declarations to make?

3. Minutes

No? Okay, no declarations.
And item three is the minutes.
To agree as a true record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July.
Does anyone have any issues or comments to make with regard to the minutes?
Can I take a...
Happy to...
You have to propose.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:01:07
You have to propose to propose.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:01:08
I'm happy to second.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much, everyone.

4. Annual report and accounts 2023-24

And we move swiftly then onto item four, the annual report and accounts for 2023 -24.
and fortunately we have Jonathan here with us this evening who I assume is going to take
us through them. Thank you.
Jonathan Smith - 0:01:32
Thank you, Chair. Trustees, the paper before you brings the Fokston Parks and Pleasure
Ground Charity accounts for the financial year 2023 -24 for your approval having been
audited and achieved an unqualified opinion. Once approved, these will be filed with the
charity commission and published on their website. Including the addendum, there are
six recommendations with this report.
The first four relate to the accounts and noting the covering report and the final two
contained in the addendum relate to the audit fees associated with the audits of the 22,
23 and the 23, 24 accounts as well as the proposed fees for 24, 25.
Turning to the substantive content, as you will note from section two of the report,
the charity had performance which was largely in line with budget for the year with an operating
deficit of 13 ,000 against a budget of approximately 9 ,000 consumption of reserves.
This was indicative of the climate in 23 -24, which going back in time was at a time of
particularly high inflation and large increases in the cost of living.
A budget was set accordingly to consume a modest amount of the charity's reserves which
proved to be the case.
Unless there are any specific questions on the statement of accounts, these are brought
and submitted for your approval along with the associated fees as outlined in the
substantive report and the addendum.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:02:55
Do any trustees have any queries or questions for Jonathan?
Jeremy?
Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:03:06
Yes and apologies, I have a feeling I'm sure I've asked this question before.
I'm sort of slightly pre -empting what's coming up in the Cabinet report under capital funding
vis -à -vis the money set aside on capital funding
for land slip works in the coastal park,
which comes under the charity, doesn't it?
The question I'm asking really is,
there's no money set...
Why can't money be set aside from these accounts
for that land slip work?
Or does it all come out of the same pot anyway?
Or, I mean, is it just too...
Sorry, am I making myself clear?
Yes, thanks, thanks, thanks for speaking. I think I will have to take, I need to sort
of work out the delineation of the parts of the landslips, because I've not got the detail
on that. I may need to speak to the team that deals with the landslips specifically, but
I can take that away and revert back to, obviously these accounts, this is based on a set of
accounts that obviously were taken for today, which relate to the 1st of March 2023, to
the 31st, paper 24, but I can certainly take away that point related to the capital programme
and certainly for the council's side in any sort of money.
Well, it may be something that could be answered in that one.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Cllr Connor McConville - 0:04:27
Councillor McConville.
Thanks, Jeremy.
Yeah, I mean, as far as I'm aware, the land that the trustee has is in the coastal park
itself and not to do with the cliff faces.
If you go back to the cabinet paper where we approved the play park itself, there is
a map in there which shows what is FHDC land and what is charity land and it's quite clear.
I can't remember when we approved that.
It was July?
Yeah.
Maybe something like that.
So if you go back to that report, the boundary is in there for you.
And just while I was speaking, didn't notice anything wrong with the report, but obviously
as I join the cabinet after March 25, then I will abstain because I'm not listed as one
of the trustees in the report.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:05:17
Noted.
Councillor Projta.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:05:20
Thank you.
The first thing I wanted to say was a big thank you to Jonathan and the team for getting these
accounts to this stage, and getting us to the stage whereby, I hope, we're about to
sign them off.
We've come from a little way back, there was a delay in them, we were late at last getting
in last year's accounts than we would have wished, that the charity commission would
have wished.
These are now, this brings us pretty much up to date, and I believe that the next set
are following in pretty sharp order, to be honest.
so that will follow through
and manage due to an immense amount of work going back through
and getting these accounts into order, which as you can see from the orders of this report
they now very much are
so I'd like to say a big thank you for the work that has been done on that
and bringing us up to
that level of
that level of audited reports being in place
and in answer to Jeremy's case, obviously the
The Lees Strip itself is all rented out, effectively the District Council's names on the lease
from the Radnor Estate for the entire lot.
So the bit which is falling off onto the park is owned by the Council, therefore it's our
work to do.
The bit at the bottom that it's falling onto is effectively the Parks and Gardens land
at that stage.
So we're just very grateful not to sue ourselves for the fact that we've got stuff falling
on from our land.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:06:50
Thank you very much.
Any other questions?
I wonder Jonathan if you could just give me a clarification.
So under the recommendations, receive a note, that's fair enough, approve, I've got that.
March 31st of March, sorry, approved, appendix 1, got that.
to approve the letter of representation to Begbie's accountants.
I see that.
And receive and note the letter of comment.
So is this this second...
Which is the letter of comment?
Jonathan Smith - 0:07:33
Thank you, Chair.
The letter of comment is the letter from the auditors Begbie's...
Back to us.
Yes.
Yeah, okay, got it.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:07:41
No, it's in the pack.
I just wanted to know which was which.
That's fine.
That's great.
Cllr Tim Prater - 0:07:49
Oh, can I just say I was happy to move if that would be useful?
All the recommendations.
Including the additional recommendation which amends the auditor's fee for last year and
I believe for next year as well.
So that recommendation is in there and I'm happy to move that as well.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:08:06
I'm very happy to second.
All those in favour, please indicate.
Thank you very much and yet again Jonathan, thank you very much for all of your hard work
that goes into preparing such a clear set of accounts for us.
So, thank you.
And that's it I think, members, if you all trust these, sorry, we will see you back here
in approximately 20 minutes time.
Thank you.
Webcast Finished - 0:08:37
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