Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alderman Ian Luder, Deputy Robert Howard, Wendy Mead, Mr Justin Meath-Baker and the Reverend Stennett Kirby.

There were no declarations.

Orders of the Court of Common Council, 25 April 2013:

(i)            Appointing the Committee

(ii)          Approving the Committee’s Terms of Reference (copy attached).

The Order of the Court of Common Council dated 25 April appointing the Committee and approving its Terms of Reference was received.

RECEIVED

To elect a Chairman for the ensuing year in accordance with Standing Order 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29. The Town Clerk read out a list of Member’s eligible to stand and Alderman Robert Hall, being the only Member to express his willingness to serve, was declared the duly elected Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 30. The Town Clerk read out a list of Member’s eligible to stand and Alderman Ian Luder, being the only Member to express his willingness to serve, was declared the duly elected Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

The Committee then nominated Miss Catherine Bickmore as the West Ham Park Committee Representative on the Open Spaces and City Gardens Committee.

To agree the public minutes and summary of West Ham Park business of the meeting held on 15 April 2013 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 April 2013 were approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Events

In reply to a question from a Member the Superintendent of West Ham Park confirmed he had spoken to the organisers of the Newham 10K Run and Half Marathon regarding his concerns over the event and was reassured that for future such events better arrangements would be made.

An update from the Superintendent on issues affecting West Ham Park.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Superintendent of West Ham Park. The following points were made:-

Finance – Approaching the end of the first quarter, the budget for the park and office are in line with projected spend. As should be expected at this time of year, the Nursery budget is showing a much higher percentage spend, as a result of bulk purchases of pots, plug plants and compost, but without the corresponding income to balance. This will look healthier when we send out our first batch of invoices in a few weeks’ time

Staff – in May, 2 students from the horticultural charity Roots and Shoots joined the team. This is as part of the CBT Grant funded ‘Growing Localities’ apprenticeship scheme. To begin with, the students will attend 2 days a week, progressing to 4-5 days from mid-July until the end of August. Similar placements are set up in City Gardens and with our partners, The Royal Parks, and at the end of the summer 3 candidates will be chosen to be taken on as full-time apprentices, training towards RHS level 2 over the next 2 years.

Works – The London Marathon Trust funded refurbishment of three of the tennis courts was completed to top course stage about 3 weeks ago; the courts have another 1-2 weeks of curing before the finishing painted surface is added. Elsewhere in the park staff have been hedge-cutting, strimming and grass mowing in preparation for the summer round of judging visits. The park is being judged for Green Flag on 13^th June and London in Bloom on 11^th July. The Nursery has been dispatching summer bedding since 28^th May and has so far delivered to Richmond and Greenwich Parks, Inner & Middle Temples and Lincoln’s Inn, and our

A report of the Director of Open Spaces on the work of the Friends of West Ham Park for the year 2012/13.

The Superintendent of West Ham Park introduced the report on the Friends of West Ham Park, commenting that there had been a slight decline in volunteer numbers over the past year, due in part to the change in emphasis to ensuring the quality of experience for volunteers over volunteer numbers, and to a natural draw-down in volunteer numbers following the 2012 Olympic Games.

During discussion amongst officers and Committee Members the following points were made:-

·         Given the high density of residential housing surrounding the park, anti-social behaviour (ASB) was much lower than one may expect from similar areas across London. Where ASB does occur, the key to combating this was to imbue a sense of ownership amongst the local community from an early age which is an aim of the on-going events programme. There is a natural ‘policing’ of local anti-social behaviour by regular users of the Park such as dog walkers or joggers coming forward to report instances of ASB such as graffiti, or encouraging fellow dog walkers to clear up dog mess.

·         The Superintendent planned to encourage the implementation of a volunteer model similar to that operating in the City Gardens, to encourage greater regular participation amongst the pool of volunteers in the Friends of West Ham Park. In time this would encourage volunteers to be more proactive and self-sustaining.

·         The Superintendent undertook to provide a briefing note using existing RSPB data on the comparison of bird numbers in the Park to a future Committee, and this would be considered as a potential project for an interested volunteer.

·         A Member commented that the high population churn in the local area of the Park was part-cause for the low number of active volunteers, with five particularly committed Friends of West Ham Park recently moving away from the area.

·         The

There were no questions.

The Value of Green Spaces to London and Londoners

The Chairman invited the Director of Open spaces to outline her presentation on the forthcoming Corporation of London report on the value of Green Spaces to London and Londoners that she had given to the Open Spaces and City Gardens Committee earlier that day.

During the discussion arising from her presentation the following points were made:-

·         The Director of Open Spaces commented that the strategic emphasis of the Directorate was to increase the Corporation’s existing Green Spaces in the City, and this was pursued through the Community Infrastructure Levy rather than through Section 106 monies – an example of this approach is the Aldgate Gyratory.

·         The Director of Open Spaces agreed that the use of delayed development sites as temporary Green Spaces such as in Newham was an excellent concept but that in the case of the City of London, land was seldom left vacant long enough for sites to be developed and planted.