Decision details

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 10.

The report sought authority to set up a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) to act as an independent development trust charity to raise future funds for Highdown Gardens, following the successful application for funding to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), in order to form part of the long term business plan for the sustainability of the Gardens.

The report provided the background to the recommendations and a number of options that had been considered as part of the process, including information on the legal status of Highdown Gardens, which were bequeathed to the Council in Trust, by Lady Stern in 1968.  The existing Charitable Trust was set up in 1968 in response to this bequest, with the Council being the sole Trustee.

Decision: 

The Joint Strategic Committee:-

      i.        approved the establishment of an independent development trust charity (CIO),  whose sole aim was to raise funds for Highdown Gardens;

     ii.        approved the appointment of the Head of Environmental Services to the Board of Directors of the new CIO;

    iii.        delegated authority to the Director for Communities to appoint the trustees of the new CIO in consultation with the Worthing Borough Council Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services;

iv.        approved the objectives of the CIO as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

v.         approved the Director of Communities registering the new CIO with the Charity Commission.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for this decision will be 5.00pm on 24 January 2020.