Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy Michael Welbank and Deputy Dennis Cotgrove.

There were no declarations.

The Chairman thanked Dr. Peter Hardwick for his service as a Member of the Group and welcomed Virginia Rounding to her first meeting.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2011 (copy attached).

The public minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2011 were approved.

MATTERS ARISING

Children’s Play Area (item 4).

The Queen’s Park Manager thanked the Queen’s Park Area Residents’ Association (QPARA) for helping to progress the replacement of play area equipment.

Beehives (item 4).

The Queen’s Park Manager advised that the honey produced on site was available at the Queen’s Park Café.

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath (copy attached)

A report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath providing an update on management and enhancement matters that had taken place in Queen’s Park since the last meeting in November 2011, was considered. The Queen’s Park Manager guided the Group through the report and during the discussion, the following was noted:

Sport and Recreation

·       The Queen’s Park Manager advised that leaflets would be produced to advertise various events, including Sunday walks, ping-pong, football and general exercise.

·       The Queen’s Park Farm currently received approximately 170,000 visits per annum and the Play Area received approximately 235,000 visits per annum. In response to a Member’s query, the Queen’s Park Manager advised that these figures were comparable to the number of visits to similar sites across London and undertook to report these figures to a future meeting.

·       In response to a Member’s query, the Queen’s Park Manager advised that tennis coaching would continue in the winter. Furthermore, the ping pong tables currently in Queen’s Park would be placed in the tennis courts over winter and continue to be available for use.

·       There had recently been an outdoor film screening in the park, which unfortunately had a low turnout due to poor weather. Three further screenings were scheduled for the summer.

·       In response to a Member’s query, the Queen’s Park Manager clarified that both primary and junior schools used the park for sports day events. There was no charge for local schools’ use of the park to hold. Requests were managed on a first-come first-served basis and it had not been necessary to reject any bookings so far.

Conservation and Heritage

·      Officers were currently progressing the tender process for the Queen’s Park Conservation Management Plan. An update would be provided at the next Group meeting.

Landscape Management

·      Due to recent weather conditions, a Lime tree had

In response to a Member’s query, the Queen’s Park Manager advised that the play area would cost £370,000 in total, split into three building phases. The purchase of play equipment on the first phase would cost £80,000. The City had so far allocated £64,000 over two years to the project. The Group noted a donation of £10,000 from QPARA and thanked the Association for its generosity. The Director of Open Spaces advised that the City was currently managing a number of capital projects and due to the budget reductions it was currently not possible to allocate any additional funding to the Queen’s Park play area.

In response to a Member’s query, the Director advised that she believed the project did not fit with any current City Bridge Trust campaigns and that it consequently may be difficult to obtain a grant. In response to a Member’s query, the Director advised that it may be possible to provide facilities for fundraising events in Guildhall, but a formal application would need to be raised with the Remembrancer.

In response to a Member’s query, the Queen’s Park Manager advised that progression to the end of phase two of the project would cost £200,000. The play area had been designed to be built in its entirety and there was a risk that, if the project finished at the end of stage one or two, the area could look unfinished. A Member suggested that the project could be broken up into smaller phases in order to make fundraising more manageable. The Queen’s Park Manager undertook to submit a report on the matter to the November 2012 meeting of the Group.

Wednesday 21 November 2012 in Guildhall – starting at 12 noon.

Wednesday 21 November 2012 in Guildhall at 12 noon.