Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall. View directions

Contact: Alistair MacLellan  Email: alistair.maclellan@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Mary Arnold and Annalisa Saba.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

Declarations by Members of Any Personal and Prejudicial Interests in Respect of Items on This Agenda

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 173 KB

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 12 June 2013 (copy attached).

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2013 were approved as a correct record.

 

Matters Arising

Tennis Courts

The Queen’s Park Manager noted that the in-person advance booking system had been reviewed over the summer and that feedback had been largely positive. In response to a question from a member the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath confirmed that there were no plans to implement an online booking system given that the in-person system was working well and that furthermore this would have a detrimental impact on existing staff time and resources, given that activities such as the drafting of a business case would need to be carried out.

 

In response to a question from a member the Park Manager confirmed that the current allocation of four courts for coaching children and two for adults had proved satisfactory and had not been expanded upon.

 

Personal Trainers

A member raised her concerns over the use of the Park by personal trainers, noting that Wandsworth had recently introduced licences for such activity at the cost of £350 per annum. She felt that it was inappropriate for persons to be profiting from the use of City of London facilities at a time when City of London resources were under pressure. She highlighted a recent Atlantic Sports Development Soccer School held in the Park during July and August that had been sponsored by a local Estate Agent and advertised locally. She noted she had no issue with such events in principle, given what they offered to local residents, but with the fact the City of London was not receiving, arguably, income it was entitled to from such activities.

 

The Superintendent said that he shared her concerns but that the issue was governed by the legal powers at the City of London’s disposal. He added

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Superintendent's Update Report pdf icon PDF 402 KB

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath (copy attached)

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

The Superintendent took the opportunity to note that the past few months had been difficult due to the Queen’s Park Manager being on secondment to West Ham Park on a two to three day per week basis, in order to assist the Superintendent of City Gardens and West Ham Park until the vacant West Ham Park Manager position was filled.

 

The Queen’s Park Manager then updated those present on the following issues:

 

Background

 

·         He noted that the Park had been busy since the last meeting of the Group, seeing over one million visits. He further noted that, whilst it was not made explicit in his written update, the Park’s popularity needed to be seen in the context of the recent City of London report The Value of Green Space to London and Londoners. Moreover within the Park the Children’s Play area and the Children’s Zoo remained popular with consistent visitor numbers.

 

Ecology and Environment 

        

·         Lawn maintenance in the Quiet Garden would be carried out, with an outside contractor coming in to spray for weed, worms and moss. Staff would carry out in-house maintenance, including scarification and aeration, with support being provided by staff within the wider North London Open Spaces division.

 

·         Summer bedding was being removed from the Quiet Garden and would lie fallow until spring 2014.

 

·         Maintenance work would be carried out on the shrub border between the main body of the Park and the Quiet Garden.

 

·         A variety of new grasses had been planted around the pond in the Children’s Zoo at the suggestion of the visiting vet. The area had been ‘goat proofed’ to prevent the planting being damaged.

 

·         New wooden planters had been installed next to the Children’s Paddling Pool.

 

·         Hazel trees and hedges would be planted in the new Children’s Playing Area and would potentially

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Questions

Minutes:

Dogs

A member of the Group noted that dogs in the Park were required to be kept on leads, and that this had been the case for 15 years. She added that when this rule was first instituted it had been enforced by staff using whistles. However, she voiced her impression that the number of dogs off leads had increased significantly and that the rule was no longer enforced as well as it had been, and that this needed to change. She acknowledged that the Park Manager had put signs up to raise awareness.

 

The Park Manager noted that both he and staff still carried whistles and that these remained useful tools for enforcement. He added that the past 15 years had seen a reduction in staff resources within the Park and that this had implications for the level of staff presence and enforcement that was possible. He noted that staff were regularly reminded of their enforcement duties at staff meetings. He added that the Park Supervisor maintained a log of staff enforcement incidents and that in 2013 there had been 854 dog-related incidents and 1013 cycling incidents. The dogs figure represented an increase from 488 reported in 2012, and so there had clearly been an increase in the issue within the Park. He concluded that anti-social behaviour was a local police priority and so police regularly entered the Park to ensure dogs were not dangerous.

 

In response to a question from a member the Park Manager confirmed that the main cause of dogs being let off their leads appeared to be a lack of awareness of Park byelaws amongst the public.

 

The Superintendent added that it would help to carry out a period of vigorous enforcement to help raise awareness. He commented that any perceived lack of enforcement may

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Any Other Business That the Chairman Considers Urgent

Minutes:

Superintendent of Hampstead Heath

The Chairman noted that this was the last meeting of the Queen’s Park Joint Consultative Group that the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath would be attending before he moved on to his new role at Wimbledon and Putney Commons in early 2014. He took the opportunity to thank the Superintendent for his 12 years at the City of London and to wish him well for the future.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Dates of the Next Meeting

The next meeting will take place on 11 June 2014 at 12.00pm in Parliament Hill Yard, Highgate Road, London, NW5 1QR.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting will be 11 June 2014 at 12:00pm in Parliament Hill Yard, Highgate Road, NW5. The meeting will be preceded by a walk on the Heath commencing at 10:00am.  

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.